Transcendence(27)

It’s never felt like this before.

It doesn’t feel quite as good as Beh’s does, but it still feels good.

I touch hers for a while, too, but soon she turns slightly in her sleep, rolling away from me. It’s still chilly this morning, and Beh seems to realize this even though she doesn’t wake up. She pushes her back up against my chest, her body seeking the warmth I am all too happy to provide.

I drop my hand from my hair and wrap it around her waist, pulling her closer as I tug the fur up to her shoulders. She sighs and settles back down against the fur she has tucked under her head. I don’t know why she likes it like that, but she rolls up a few scraps of fur into a small ball and places it under her head when she sleeps.

My mate is strange.

But she is mine, and she can shove a fur under her head if she likes. I will keep the other ones over the top of her so she will stay warm.

I watch her face. She is peaceful and quiet in her sleep. As I look at her, I get a feeling in my stomach that I don’t understand. It doesn’t take long before the strange feeling moves lower, and I realize what it is. My tongue runs quickly over my lips as my mind begins to think of what it will be like to mate Beh.

She is my mate. I can mate with her whenever I want. At least, I should be able to…

I feel the fingers of my hand twitch automatically across her stomach. I brush against the smooth, soft material of her clothing as I move my hand down until it reaches the edge. I can feel a thin sliver of skin between the top part of her clothes and the odd, rough fabric of the lower part.

My heart begins to beat a little faster, and my neck and face warm with the flow of blood. I swallow once, and my gaze shifts along the length of her body. With my mouth open, I inhale her scent, and I feel myself grow hard. Instinctively, I rock my hips slightly against her back.

It feels really good.

I push against her a little harder, angling downward along her body. I reach inside her clothes, and I press the palm of my hand on her bare stomach. I pull her against me at the same time my hips push the opposite way.

There have been times when I have wrapped my hand around my shaft and moved it up and down until my seed has erupted. It always felt good to use my hand, but not like this—this is much better.

I rub against her again.

“Ehd?”

I didn’t hear her wake up, but I’m glad that she did. I touch my nose against the side of her cheek and rock against her again.

“Beh,” I sigh into her hair. It still smells good though the scent of fruit seems to be gone.

“Ehd!” Beh grabs at my hand, pushes it away from her skin, and scurries out of the pile of furs, away from me. She hauls the top fur toward her and wraps it quickly around the top part of her body. Many sounds come out of her mouth—loud, fast, and harsh.

I look over to her, confused. I don’t understand what she is doing.

Beh turns away and looks toward the fire, still making a lot of sounds. She is angry. That much is obvious, but what I’ve done wrong is a mystery. I start to move closer to her, but she cries out, stands, and wraps the fur more tightly around her shoulders. More loud sounds come from her mouth as she backs away from me and goes to the cave’s entrance.

I stand as well, following her outside. She is crying, and I don’t want her to be sad. Yesterday she was happy; I know she was. We had to work hard, but she was happy. Now she’s upset with me, and I don’t know why.

When I get close to Beh, she turns and narrows her eyes at me. I stop short as she holds her hand out and points at me with her finger.

“Ehd, no!”

Every muscle in my body halts.

I remember the sound from before, when I tried to help her undress at the lake. I take a quick step back, cowering slightly. Is she going to hit my nose again? I whimper and watch her closely as she pulls her hand back to her chest. She stands in the dim morning light and stares at me a moment. I can see hurt in her eyes.

I want to go to her, to hold her until she feels better, but I’m certain she won’t allow it.

“Beh?” I say softly.

Beh groans as her hands come up and cover her face. She rubs her fingers into her eyes so hard I’m afraid she will hurt herself, but when she takes them away, her expression is softer. She looks from me to the ground and back to me again before making more sounds with her mouth.

They are soft noises again, though, so I listen carefully. I don’t want her to say that no sound again. She doesn’t, and after a while, she sighs and takes a step toward me. I flinch a bit, and she holds out her hand to me slowly.

Tentative, I reach out my own hand. When our fingers touch, Beh comes closer and takes my hand in hers. She whispers more sounds as her thumb runs over the back of my hand. Her eyes meet mine, and they are expectant. She looks out toward the steppes, makes more sounds, and looks back to me again. Her eyes are questioning, but I don’t know what she needs.