Transcendence(70)

“Ehd!”

My head moves back to look at her as she makes her name-sound, another sound, and then mine. My hand reaches up and touches her lips softly.

“Khzz?”

Beh sighs and places her lips quickly against mine. Smiling, my fingers tickle her sides again before I push myself out of the furs and pull Beh with me. We have too much to do to lie down any longer. As Beh eats, I gather up the tools we will need for the day. When she’s ready, we head to the pine forest.

I use the large chunk of flint I have sharpened into a hand axe to break the logs into manageable chunks. Even though the day is bitter cold, and the sun is not shining, the work is hard and I soon discard my outer fur wrap, choosing to work wearing only the one that wraps around my waist. Beh watches me work and also busies herself stacking the pieces I have cut so we can carry them back.

We make two trips, but we still don’t collect much wood, and the day is already late as we head back for the third load. Beh’s noises have gone from quiet and occasional to a little louder and much more constant. I can see she’s not happy, and I assume it’s because of the cold weather and the hard work. Still, we need the wood, and we can only carry so much at a time.

Beh makes some more sounds and then stomps off toward a hollow log I had already discounted; it’s too eaten out by termites to be worth hauling back. She sits by it anyway, knocking it around, then sitting back on her heels and just staring at the ground. When I glance up from my work a moment later, I can see her shoulders shaking.

I jump up, worried she may have hurt herself, and find my mate staring at a piece of broken, hollowed-out wood with tears running down her face.

“Beh?” I drop to my knees and reach out, and Beh comes into my arms.

The day is late, and even though I know we should bring a couple more loads of wood back, I also need to take care of Beh. She is upset, and though I don’t know why, I know I have to care for her until she feels better.

There are only a few pieces of cut wood, so I lead Beh over to them and position her arms to carry them. Once she curls her arms up and around the logs, I bend down, put one hand behind her knees and the other behind her back, and lift her up.

Beh grips the wood a little tighter and lays her head against my shoulder, still crying, as I begin the journey back to the cave. I look down at her closely, making sure she is not actually hurt, and run my nose over hers so she knows I will care for her. I’m tired and my muscles are sore, but Beh comes first.

I carry my mate back home as dark clouds begin to form on the horizon. The wind picks up, and I hold Beh close to my chest as I pick up my pace. We barely get the wood into the crack in the rock before the clouds begin to pour rain from the sky.

Beh heats water in one of the clay pots, and her tears eventually dry. After we eat, I watch her stand at the entrance to the cave and watch the storm soak the fields outside. She stares without moving for a long time, but she relaxes back against me as I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist.

She turns her head back to face me, and I press my nose against her cheek, which earns me a smile.

We are stuck inside the cave for several days as the storm continues on, accompanied by thunder and lightning, but we make good use of the time. I barely notice it as Beh’s cries echo in my ears and throughout the cave.

I grunt with the force of filling her again and again as my mate’s hands run up and down my body—gripping my shoulders and arms, then sliding quickly down to grab at my backside and encourage my relentless pace.

“Oh…Ehd…uh…uh…”

The sound of my name-sound on her lips encourages me, and I grind against her with every thrust. I move my hand from her hip up her side and grasp hold of one of her breasts. I watch her face as my thumb and finger pinch slightly at the nipple—just as she showed me to do—and her mouth opens into a scream as she shudders around me.

Her fingernails dig into the flesh of my rear, pulling me deeper into her and holding me steady as I fill her with semen and the possibility of new life growing in her belly. As often as I am inside of her, I think it must be soon that she will stop her monthly bleeds as her stomach becomes round and swollen.

I can’t wait.

I slump against her, sweaty and worn out. Beh wraps her hands around my shoulders and drops her head back to the furs as she tries to relax her breathing.

The skies continue to pour upon us. My mouth presses against Beh’s throat quickly before I pull out of her and get up to tend to the fire. There is plenty of wood for now, but I am worried we may have trouble collecting enough for winter. Rain has been constant and violent since the night I carried Beh back to the cave, and we have not been outside since.