“To see the South Caves. I want to take a look at how many caves we have and their placement before we make final decisions of who should stay and who should go.”
Kira tilts her head and gives me a curious look. “You don’t know the caves?”
I do, actually. I know them by heart, and have been many times. But I’m itching to have alone time with my lovely mate, and this is the best way to do it. “I do, but I wish your feedback.”
A brilliant smile crosses her face and my cock surges at the sight of it. We definitely need to get away from the others, or else they’re all going to watch while I claim my lovely mate, because I’m not going to be able to resist touching her for much longer.
? ? ?
“Well?” I ask as she steps into the mouth of the South Caves. “What do you think?” I’m anxious to hear her thoughts.
She gazes up at the high ceiling. “You have stalactites.”
“I do not know this word.”
“The rock icicles,” she says, and points at them. “They’re not in the other cave. I think Harlow was right that the elders had rock cutters of some kind when they made your cave.”
I admit I’m a little dismayed that her response isn’t enthusiastic. If I’m in charge of this cave as Vektal wishes, she’ll be with me. I want her to like it here. I want her to be with me.
“These caves are very different,” I admit. “There is no bathing pool in the center of the cavern, for one.”
She gives me a prim look. “That is not exactly a bad thing. The less I see of other people’s junk, the better.”
I chuckle. Her modesty is strange. She’ll lose it eventually, but for now, I’ll enjoy her blushes and her squirming. “Do you not wish to see your mate naked?”
“I see you naked plenty,” she says, and her cheeks are pink as she steps past me, gazing around her. “It’s darker in here, and colder.”
I follow her. “The other cave is warmed by the underground spring, so it stays pleasant even in the brutal season. Here, we would need to rely on more fires.”
“Fires aren’t bad,” she says, her expression thoughtful. “We still have a lot of people eating cooked food. And the ceiling is high so the smoke won’t be so bad.” She heads toward one of the private nooks that are living quarters. There’s still an old leather screen propped up in front of the cave mouth as a nod to privacy. And she gasps. “My goodness. It’s so big in here!”
“Is it?” I feel a hint of pride return. “Do you like it?”
“As long as we don’t freeze in the winter, I think there’s potential,” she says with a small laugh. She pushes into the private cave and looks around. I follow her. It’s been at least fifteen full cycles of the seasons since this cave was inhabited, and I don’t remember who it once belonged to. In the center of the room is a dug-out fire pit with neat rocks circling it. There’s a flat section off to one side that probably housed the bed furs, and a few withered baskets that have been chewed at the bottom. She walks past all this, and then flashes me a smile and sticks her hand out. “Show me which one you had in mind for us?”
I return her smile and take her small hand in mine. I love the feel of her cold fingers lacing between mine for warmth, and the urge to drag her to the floor of the cave and claim her is nearly overwhelming. I stare down at her, my cock hardening in my loincloth.
“Cave?” She squeezes my hand. “Aehako?”
My name falling from her lips makes my balls tighten. Somehow, I manage to focus and turn, judging the maze of small caves attaching to the bigger one. Whereas the tribal cave is built like a ring, this one is more like a horn, where the entrance is wide and open and narrows further down into the side of the mountain. The caves at the front will be for the hunters, I have decided, and the fully sa-khui families. The humans are fragile and do not retain heat nearly as well, so they will need to be at the back of the cave, away from the snowy winds. There’s one particular cave I have in mind, and I steer her toward it. It’s smaller than a few of the others, but it has other charms.
There’s a screen covering it as well, faded painted symbols dancing along the hide. Kemli had a sister once, Koloi, but she died with the khui-sickness. Koloi enjoyed painting, much like Kemli’s daughter Farli now does. And her old cave still bears the remnants of her fanciful designs. I push aside the screen and duck to enter the cave, tugging Kira behind me.
Her pleased gasp tells me I’ve done well. “It’s so dark in here, Aehako. But are those…”
“Designs, yes. The woman who used to live in this cave painted the walls. Do you like it?”
“It’s so pretty.” She steps forward, toward the fire pit, gazing up where a trickle of light comes from overhead. “Smoke hole?”
I nod.
“That’s handy.” She gazes around again, and then points at the back of the cave. “What’s that?”
I take a few steps into the shadows and recognition dawns. “It’s the skull of a sa-kohtsk. There’s no bathing pool here, so they would hollow the skull out and line it with waterproof hides to make a small bathing pool—“
Her shriek of excitement echoes. “It’s a tub?”
I shrug my shoulders. I don’t know the word. “I suppose?”
Kira hops in place and then bounds toward me, grabbing my hand. “I want this cave. This one’s ours, right?”
I feel a sweeping sense of pride at her excitement. “Yes. This is what I picked for us.”
Her arms fling around my waist. “This is wonderful!”
To think that my Kira would be so excited by a bit of paint on the walls and a makeshift bathing pool. My hands go to her back and slide up and down her spine. “I am glad you like it.”
“I love it,” she says. “I can’t wait to move in. So much privacy will be wonderful. We’ll have time to clean things up and make it cozy before the winter comes.”
Winter is her word for the brutal season, so I simply nod.
She tilts her head back and gazes up at me, and there’s a hint of a smile playing around her lips. I’m entranced at the sight of it. “There’s one thing this place needs,” she tells me.
“Oh?”
She steps back and pulls her bag off her shoulder. I know she’s brought a waterskin and some of the root-cakes that the humans love for a meal, but I’m curious as to why we would need them now. She turns her back to me and moves toward the wall, toward the nook of the sleeping area. There’s a bit of a shelf mixed among the spiky edges of the cave, and she places an object there.
I see it, and a bark of laughter erupts from my throat.
It’s the courting gift I gave her – the replica of my cock, carved from bone. She’s brought it and made the cave ‘ours’ by placing it here. I laugh long and hard at the sight, and her happy laughter twines with mine. The sound of her carefree laugh – her happiness – makes my entire body react, and I pull her against me. “My sweet mate,” I murmur, and drag my fingers through her hair. “Did you bring that so I could use it on you?”
Her expression changes to one of shyness and she averts her eyes. But instead of a protest, her hands slide to the front of my tunic and she tugs at it.
Aha. So my mate misses my body as much as I miss hers. Need surges through me. I dig my fingers into the silky strands of her mane and tug it back, exposing her neck. I rake my teeth over the cords of her throat, and then drag my tongue over her skin.
She shivers. “I’ve missed you, Aehako. I feel like we haven’t had a moment alone in forever.”
“Look around you, my mate. There is nothing but privacy here.”
Kira tugs at the front of my tunic. “Then why are you still dressed?”
I nibble on her throat before releasing her. “So eager. It does a male’s heart good to hear his mate is so anxious to join with him.” I undo the laces of my tunic and then tug the entire thing over my head, leaving me only in leggings and loincloth. I spread my tunic on the dusty floor so my mate won’t have to sit on the cold rock.
She immediately begins to undo the laces of her cloak, and I stop her. “I will undress you.”