Barbarian's Prize(52)

The wind rips at my hair and clothing, and I realize that any sensible creature will already be taking shelter from the weather. I spot a bit of color at the base of a whipping tree nearby and head toward it. Jutting from the snow is one of the bones we use as a cache marker. This one is smeared with a bit of dried blood at the end of the bone and marked with three notches – Haeden’s cache, then. I mentally note the location and head back to the Elders’ Cave with my satchel of dung chips and firewood. We have Taushen’s kills and we have travel rations. I will return to the cache as our supplies run low.

When I return to the cave, Tee-fah-nee is sleeping, curled up in the strange stool, her hurt leg propped up and sticking out. She looks peaceful and I do not disturb her. Instead, I set down my supplies and fill the skins with snow to melt. The meat from last night’s catch is smoking on a spit, and I consider the small pile of fire-making supplies. If this will indeed be as bad a storm as Tee-fah-nee says, it will not be enough to keep her warm. We will need more.

I peer down one of the winding, dark tunnels of the Elders’ Cave uneasily. I do not like to explore here, like the human Har-loh and her mate. To me, this place is a reminder of the dead. I prefer to think of here and now. But my Tee-fah-nee will need much to keep her safe, and it is my job to ensure that. So I explore, and with every step I take, my unease grows. The ice has been thawed from the tunnels, revealing dark panels made of a strange, smooth rock that does not feel like rock at all. Lights flash and as I walk, more lights beam along my footsteps, illuminating my path.

I do not like this. I do not like that there are many privacy screens that cover each doorway, and they are made of the same strange stone. I do not like that behind each one is a cave full of strange objects that remind me just how different my Tee-fah-nee’s world is from mine. She knows what some of these things are. I pick up a small square made of the same strange stone and sniff it. I do not know what any of this is, nor do I know if it will burn. Unnerved, I return to Tee-fah-nee’s side, unwilling to explore further.

I know my world. I know my hunting trails, I know my snow and my mountains. I know my people. I know Tee-fah-nee will be my mate.

I do not care to know of anything else. I do not care about com-pew-turrs or strange stone caves with flashing lights or people that come from the stars. Only she matters.

I return to her side and watch her sleep, my mind unsettled by strange thoughts.

When she awakens several hours later, she stretches slowly and gives me a smile. “Hey. Sorry I slept for so long.” She rubs her eyes with delicate fingers.

“Never apologize to me.” She is tired and it has been a hard journey for her fragile human flesh. “How is your leg?”

She shifts and winces. “Stiff and sore.”

“Let me look at it.” I move closer to her and kneel at her feet. Because she is seated higher than I am, when I kneel in front of her, it puts us at an equal height. I gaze into her bright eyes, my body full of need for her.

Now should be the moment I claim my mate. Here, when we are alone and can explore resonance to its fullest. Wake, my khui, and claim her!

Silence.

Biting back my sigh, I place her ankle in my lap and carefully unwrap the bindings. Under the layers of fur and leather, her tiny ankle is still swollen larger than it should be, the flesh bruised. “Can you move it?”

She gives it a small wiggle and then sucks in a breath. “It hurts.”

I smooth my fingers over her lovely brown skin. Her legs are small and dainty and I want to run my hands all over her. “I will carry you wherever you need to go.”

Her wry look eases my troubled heart, and I stroke her leg.

“Mmm, that feels good.” She closes her eyes in pleasure. “I wouldn’t mind if you did that for a while.”

She wants me to touch her? I would have no greater joy. My hands stroke her leg, smoothing over muscle and skin. I caress her foot and massage her calf, careful to avoid the sore ankle. She shifts in her seat and sighs, and my cock stirs in response. Her sounds of enjoyment are making my body respond. I cannot help it – I am attuned to her pleasure. I want to give her more. I imagine taking her small, soft foot and rubbing it against my cock. Not her hurt one, but her other foot. I imagine her dragging her toes over my erection, the hot look in her eyes when—

“Do you think Josie made it?” she asks in a soft voice.

I look up and meet her gaze, and there’s worry there. I tamp down on my aroused thoughts. “I followed her for a while when I went out earlier, to make sure she knew where she was going.”

Her expression brightens and her eyes fill with tears. “You did?”