I toss the tooth-cleaning stick into the fire. I’ll go hunting later. For now, there’s a very enticing female who is just begging to have her cunt licked—
“Hell-oooo,” calls out a high, female voice in the distance. “Anyone there?”
Tee-fah-nee’s head snaps up. “Ohmigohd! Jo-see!” She scrambles to her feet.
All thoughts of fur-play are forgotten, and I follow my mate as she dashes toward the entrance to the Elders’ Cave. I dug a tunnel through the snow out to the open a few days ago, and it has not yet filled in. Footsteps crunch and my mate does a happy bounce, clapping her hands, as fur-bundled figures waddle in through the entryway, their snowshoes tracking snow inside.
“Jo-see!” Tee-fah-nee flings her arms around the first figure, giving her a long, happy hug. “You’re safe! I’m so glad!” Then she turns to the next one and her happy squeal gets louder. “Leezh! And Har-loh! You’re all here! Where are your bay-bees?”
The one called Leezh pulls off her hood, shaking out bright yellow hair. “Back at the cave. Stacy’s playing day-care while we have a girls’ night out. Or day out. Or whatever.” She looks over at me and smirks. “Sorry to interrupt the hon-ee-mewn.”
My Tee-fah-nee shoots me a look and her face is ruddy with color. “Oh, stop.”
Curious. I hang back and let the females catch up with my mate. They are all chatting excitedly, shedding their furs as Tee-fah-nee takes them in hand and brings them to the fire to dry out. She has no more limp – it has been two weeks and her delicate ankle is healed. She’s radiant with happiness right now, reaching out to touch Jo-see’s arm over and over again, her relief at the sight of her friend evident. The women all move toward the fire, talking about the sur-jree ma-cheen and how Har-loh wants to look at it again and Leezh’s kit is starting to crawl and Jo-see has been at the main cave for the last two weeks and the new caverns have been opened and how wonderful and spacious they are and how Tee-fah-nee should see them!
After two weeks of relative quiet, it feels odd to have so many voices talking again. I feel a pang of regret that my time here with Tee-fah-nee will come to an end, but we will go back to the cave and start our own fire together. The thought is more than appealing, and I press a kiss to my mate’s head as I pass the fire to get more fuel.
It grows silent.
“Well, that’s new,” Leezh’s voice is coy. “Someone’s been knocking boots.”
The words do not make sense to me, but Tee-fah-nee’s giggle does. My khui starts purring at the sound, and I hear hers join in. At once, the women gasp.
“No offing way,” Jo-see shrieks. “For real?”
“For real,” Tee-fah-nee says, and beams at her. “Salukh and I resonated.” She reaches a hand out to me and I put my palm in hers. There is such beauty and contentment in my mate’s face, I resonate even louder, the song in my breast one of pure happiness.
Leezh and Har-loh both exclaim happiness, patting my mate and pulling her forward to hug.
Jo-see bites her lip and the smile on her face fades a little. “I’m happy for you, but sad for me. Now I’m the only one left.”
Tee-fah-nee’s face grows sad and she extends her other hand to her friend. “Give it time. It’ll happen.”
“We’ll see.” Her expression looks like she doesn’t believe Tee-fah-nee.
“If the ma-sheen,” Tee-fah-nee begins. Then, she stops.
All of the females look at me.
I am not a fool. I can tell when a male is not wanted. I kiss my lovely mate’s brow again and then gesture at the fire. “Remain here. I will hunt something to feed all of you.”
• • •
I hunt for several hours to give the females time to talk amongst themselves. As I walk, I pick up fallen branches and dung chips, adding them to the satchel I carry over my shoulder for fuel. The snow is thick and crusty, and my legs sink up to the shin with every step, but the game is plentiful. I spend most of the afternoon checking traps and then bringing the fresh kills back to the cache I have been using to feed my mate. I add new game to it for the next hunter, and then bring home a fat scythe-beak for my mate.
When I return, the women are not in the main room. I find them all in one of the back rooms, with Har-loh halfway in the wall, pulling on what looks like a lot of colorful sinews. Nearby, Jo-see stands with her hands clasped, a hopeful expression on her face as my mate talks quietly to Leezh. Tee-fah-nee’s face brightens at the sight of me, and my khui immediately starts to purr the moment our eyes make contact.
“Oh, that is so damn cute,” Leezh proclaims. “I’d tell you two to get a room but you have a whole ship already.”