by Ruby Dixon
He steps forward and he doesn’t touch me, though he is close enough that our faces could practically press together if we were the same height. As it is, I’m staring at a lot of broad, velvety-blue pectorals. The baby dvisti in my arms snaps at a bit of fringe on his vest and begins to chew on it.
I suddenly feel flushed and overheated despite the ever-present ice. “My words?”
“You wish to practice in the furs.” His intense look pins me in place. “I wish to be the male you practice with.”
My eyes widen. He…he wants to go for what I suggested? “I thought you were waiting for resonance?”
“I have changed my mind. I wish to pleasure you.”
I feel my cheeks heat at those bold words. “Um, wow. That’s very nice of you. But you really don’t have to—“
“Make no mistake, Tee-fah-nee. This is my decision. I have thought many hours about how fine it would be to touch you, and I am eager to make you scream with pleasure instead of fear.”
Did all the guys here talk so forward to the women they took to their furs? No wonder all of the human women walk around with dreamy expressions. I resist the urge to fan myself and juggle the wriggling baby dvisti in my arms. “So like…now?”
His brows draw together. “Now?”
“Um did you want to practice now?” I feel stupid for even having to ask.
Realization dawns on his face and a slow, devastating grin crosses his handsome features. “You are eager.”
“I, what? No! I just meant—“ I break off, flustered. “You know what? Never mind. I was just bringing it up because you’re here and I’m here and—“
“And you are eager,” he interrupts again, looking pleased. “This is good. We shall come very hard together, Tee-fah-nee.”
Oh lord, the mouth on this man. “If you say so,” I reply faintly.
“Today is not good,” he says.
“It’s not?” Why do I feel weirdly disappointed by that?
“You have a kit to care for,” he says, and pulls a piece of leather fringe out of the biting little dvisti’s mouth. “He is hungry. And I must take this to my mother’s cave so she may prepare it.” He gestures at the carcass lying at his feet.
“Oh. Of course.” Duh, Tiffany. Where’s your brain? I know where my brain is, though. It’s all wrapped up in the thought of YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE SEX WITH THIS BIG GUY. And I’m utterly terrified and kind of curiously aroused at the same time.
“When shall we meet so I may give you pleasure?”
I blink. He’s leaving it up to me? That makes things…trickier. Because I have to basically say I can squeeze in an orgasm by noon if that’s good for you. Provided I orgasm, of course. Provided I don’t run away screaming. Provided I don’t chicken out of things entirely.
Putting it on me kind of scares me. It makes things entirely my choice. It means I’m asking for everything that happens. Which is a good thing, of course, but also terrifying. What if it’s awful and I freak out? What if I just can’t get aroused at all? I tense, and peek up at Salukh. He’s watching me with heavy-lidded eyes, that fierce, consuming look on his face.
Somehow I doubt boredom would be a problem with this guy.
“Tomorrow I guess? Somewhere private.” I don’t want to have our make-out parties in the main cave. That would be weird. “Is there somewhere we can go that isn’t out in the open?” The only place I know of that’s close by and not frequented by many people is the leather curing cave, and the stench in there isn’t exactly conducive to sexytimes.
“I know of a cave about an hour’s hike from here. It’s small but it will suit our needs. I will bring furs.” He nods solemnly. “You must be kept warm.”
Well, there’s no way to back out now, is there? Not with this big male looking down at me so intently and making all these plans to please me. “I don’t want to tell anyone what we’re doing, all right?”
His brows draw down. “You do not wish for them to know I am pleasuring you?”
I shake my head. “Among my people, taking someone to your furs for fun is…private.” I’ve heard that the sa-khui aren’t the same as us, that fur-hopping amongst single unmated women is no big deal, but the single women are few and far between and I’m not built that way. Plus, I have four other guys watching my every move and I don’t want one of them flipping out or getting super possessive. That would be bad. “If anyone asks, we’re going herb gathering, all right? That can be our code word for it.”
“Coad-werd,” he repeats. “I do not know what this is.”
“It’s a secret term you use. So when I say I want to go herb gathering with you….”
Realization dawns. “You wish to be pleasured.”
All this ‘pleasure’ talk is making me super flustered. “Sure. We’ll go with that.”
“Are there other human customs I should know? Other coad-werds?”
Well, there are condoms, but he can’t make me pregnant if we’re not resonating, so that doesn’t matter. And there’s nothing on this planet that I know of that would pass for lube – and nothing I’d be comfortable sticking up in unmentionable places anyhow. “I can’t think of anything.”
He nods solemnly, still devouring me with his eyes. “I will bring the furs tonight, so none will question why we bring them for a plant-gathering trip.”
“Good idea.” I wipe a stray bit of blood off his arm and then feel weird for reaching out and touching the guy. “You should probably bathe as well.”
He nods in recognition. “It will be part of my herb-gathering preparation.”
“Great.” I gesture at the cave. “I should, um, probably go back.” The thing in my arms wiggles, trying to escape.
“I shall too.” He nods at me again. “Then, tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.” I feel myself blushing again.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
• • •
It’s a good thing I have the baby dvisti to distract me from tomorrow’s upcoming make out session. I’m a nervous wreck, but the tribe’s reaction to my new pet means I don’t have a lot of time to spend thinking about Salukh. Farli is utterly enchanted. It only takes about five minutes before she declares she wants one, much to her mother’s dismay. The other sa-khui are just puzzled as to why I’d want to keep one.
My suitors? They’re not pleased that I have such a big gift from someone not even competing. They sit by the fire and murmur all night, casting unhappy looks in my direction, and Salukh’s too. For his part, Salukh is utterly oblivious to the bitter whispers, and so I ignore them too. Haeden takes one look at my baby dvisti, shoots Salukh a disgusted look, and then heads off to his own cave. It’s all very strange.
“He’s so cute,” Josie tells me as we fashion a crude gate from whippy tree branches, old privacy screens, and a bit of rope. There’s a small cave in the back of the tribal cave that’s gone unused, and it’s going to serve as the little dvisti’s pen. “He’s kinda bitey though.”
“That’s why I’m calling him Chompy. Or her. I can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl.” Chompy has too much fur and wiggles too much for me to check the undercarriage, so we’re going with a nice gender-neutral name. Chompy has also bitten me three times, Josie twice, and Farli once. He’s indeed a chomper.
The little dvisti prances around his stall as we secure the gate, sniffing everything and then testing things out with a few nips of his mouth. He bites the leather blankets I’ve put down for him, the handfuls of skinny leaves that Farli spent all afternoon harvesting, and anything else he comes into contact with.
“What are you going to do with it?” Josie asks. She extends her fingers over the rickety gate and Chompy trots up, licking her fingers and then making a sad bleating noise. “I think he’s hungry.”
“Domesticate him, I suppose. A horse might be pretty useful.”
“He’s more like a deer crossed with a sheepdog, though,” Josie says thoughtfully. She glances at me. “Haeden was pissed about it.”
&n
bsp; “He can be pissed. I don’t care. You shouldn’t either.”
“I don’t,” she says quickly. “I just know you don’t want to make anyone upset.”
She’s right, but for some reason, Haeden’s anger doesn’t bother me. For one, he’s always a sourpuss and Chompy’s appearance hasn’t really changed that. Haeden also hasn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in me, so I feel safe around him. I trust Salukh, too. He wouldn’t have given me the little dvisti as a present if he’d have thought it’d have encouraged the others to act badly.
I glance over at the fire and Salukh is seated there between his father Borran and elder Vadren. They have spear-points in their hands and are sharpening them while idly chatting. Salukh’s gaze is on me, though, and not his spears. Even now he watches me with intense, glittering eyes. I shiver and turn back to my tiny pet. “I should feed him.”
Anything to distract from the fact that Salukh’s focused attention is making me feel unsettled.
The dvisti graze on the thin, tough plants that manage to grow on the mostly-barren hills and valleys between the mountains that we call home. I grew up on a farm, though, and I know baby grazers – like foals and calves – can be fed a warm mash when the mama isn’t available. I mash up one of the not-potatoes and add water until it forms a goopy paste. I feed it into a bladder used for toting water and nip off the end and Farli holds Chompy for me as I feed him. It takes a while but we get some food in him, and once he’s fed, he’s a lot calmer when he returns to his stall.
I’m exhausted from a day of watching him, though, and thinking about Salukh. When Farli asks to put her furs in front of the pen so she can watch over the little dvisti, I gladly accept. I’m ready to crawl into my own bed and get some shut-eye.
But even as I do, I keep thinking about Salukh and what tomorrow will bring. I’m terrified I’m going to freak out on him. Just the thought of kissing is making me hyperventilate, and when I close my eyes, I can almost imagine the feel of rough, pebbly orange skin against mine. I shudder, queasy. The memories won’t go away and I wish they would.
I’d give anything to be free.
SALUKH
When Tee-fah-nee emerges from her cave in the morning, her eyes are hollow and unhappy. Dark smudges speak of a poor night’s sleep, and I wonder if she’ll change her mind. I also had a poor night’s sleep, but it was due to the fact that my cock was hard all night at the thought of being able to touch her this morning. Not even Haeden’s snoring could distract me from thoughts of her and her soft skin, her curvy body.
But she does not come to tell me she has changed her mind. She gives me a faint smile, checks on her little dvisti, and moves around the cave as if it were any other day. I watch her out of the corner of my eye, and then when I can stand it no longer, I approach her. She’s by the dvisti’s cave, talking softly to Farli. Farli does not speak the human language, but they communicate well enough, and it’s clear that Farli is fascinated by the little creature.
Tee-fah-nee looks over at me and gives me a faint, tired smile. “Farli’s going to watch Chompy for me while we go herb gathering.”
“Are you well?” She does not look well.
“Just bad dreams, that’s all.” Her smile does not reach her eyes. “I’m fine.”
“Then I am eager to gather herbs with you,” I tell her slowly. The falsehood feels strange on my tongue, but if that is what she wants to call it, so be it.
Farli clasps her hands and looks back and forth at myself and Tee-fah-nee. “Are you going to capture more dvisti kits?”
“No,” I tell her gently. “We must see if this one survives before we claim more. Tee-fah-nee and I shall go gather herbs.”
Farli’s young face is full of confusion. “You will gather herbs? But you are a hunter.”
“Today I am an herb gatherer,” I tell her. “You will watch the creature for Tee-fah-nee?”
She nods happily. “He no longer bites me. It is a good sign.”
“What are you two saying?” Tee-fah-nee asks.
I switch to her language. “Farli wishes us well on our herb gathering and is excited to watch your creature.”
She smiles at Farli and moves to her cave. “Let me get my cloak.” She returns a moment later and is bundled from head to toe in warm furs. “I’m ready.”
“Let us go before the day gets too late.” I turn to look at Farli, but she’s frowning at us. “What is it?”
“Your herb baskets?” Farli asks. “Do you not need them?”
Ah. I turn to Tee-fah-nee. “Farli wants to know where your herb baskets are.”
“Oh!” Her face darkens in one of the charming human flushes and she flees back to her cave. A moment later, she comes out with two baskets and shoves one into my hands. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Do not be embarrassed,” I tell her. “Your mind is elsewhere.”
“You can say that again,” she mutters.
“Your mind is elsewhere,” I repeat dutifully.
She just sighs. “Figure of speech.”
The words make no sense to me. I give her a curious look and she waves a hand, indicating it was nothing. All right, then. Basket in hand, I head out of the cave with her.
It’s a short walk for a sa-khui to get to the cave I have in mind; our strides are long and we handle the snow very well. It takes longer for my human companion, though. Tee-fah-nee’s strides are short and she struggles with the deeper snow, sinking with each step. I slow my strides so she can keep up, but as I do, I worry this is a poor choice. Should I have picked someplace closer to the caves? I do not want her to be too exhausted to practice mouth-mating with me. But she does not complain about the walk, and I am pleased; she is stronger than she looks.
The cave mouth appears just ahead, and I gesture at it to Tee-fah-nee. “I brought furs yesterday afternoon so we will be comfortable. Let me go and make sure there are no scavengers waiting.”
“Scavengers?” she asks, her tone wary. She pulls her heavy fur cloak tighter around her body.
“Metlaks will sometimes hide in our hunting caves. They are dangerous when cornered.” Usually they destroy everything they find when they do, because they do not like the scent of the sa-khui. “Wait here.”
She nods and takes my basket from my hands. I unsheathe one of my bone knives and approach the cave. All is well inside, the furs I brought undisturbed, and I gesture her forward. Tee-fah-nee enters the cave, and she is small enough that she does not need to stoop to enter as I did. “It’s small,” she says, surprise in her voice.
I grunt agreement. “Too small to use as shelter for hunters, and too close to the main caves. But it is perfect for our needs.” Light filters in from the entrance, and provides enough to see by. I did not bring a candle or fire-making equipment, as we will not be here by night. The cave is not warm enough for such things and it is not safe for Tee-fah-nee.
She sets her baskets down by the entrance and does not move forward. She is nervous, then.
I must make her comfortable. I pull off my own cloak and toss it aside, too warm now that I am out of the wind. Then I spread the furs out to create a nice, cozy nest for her. I gesture at them. “Will you sit?”
Her eyes are wide, but she does. She clasps her small human hands in her lap and looks around, as if she wants to look anywhere but at me. She is nervous. I am, too. I want to do this right. I want to fill her with pleasure and take away her memories of those who hurt her.
“I am not familiar with human mating customs,” I tell her. I rub my chest, barely covered by my thin leather vest. “I did wash for you, though.”
She gives a small, nervous laugh. “That’s a start.”
“What next, then?” I am trying not to be too eager…and failing, I suspect.
“Well,” she says softly. “Probably kissing.”
“The mouth matings? How does that work?”
She twists her hands. “Well, we put our mouths together and use tongues and lips to give each other pleasur
e. There’s really not a rulebook.”
“Ruhl-bookh?”
“A set of standards,” she corrects. “You mostly go by instinct.”
I am eager to try it. I want Tee-fah-nee’s taste on my mouth, against my tongue. The thought of her smaller tongue darting against mine makes my cock ache. Why did I wait so many days to say yes to this? I can barely restrain myself from grabbing her and holding her down in the furs and claiming her as it is. “Do you wish to put your tongue in my mouth, then?”
She blinks at me. “I…guess we should give it a shot.” But she doesn’t look eager. She looks terrified.
I sit forward and she flinches back. “We do not have to—“
“No,” she blurts out. “This was my idea, and we should try it.” But she wrings her hands again and looks frightened.
My heart squeezes. This is going all wrong. I knew she would not be eager, but I didn’t expect her to look as if I have driven a spear through her chest. I remain still as she shrugs some of her heavy furs off of her body and tosses them over next to mine. She’s dressed in a simple leather dress that goes to her calves and is edged with white fur and wears leggings underneath. Her body is covered from head to toe even after she removes her furs, and I catch no glimpse of soft exposed skin. But even frightened, Tee-fah-nee is lovely. She’s graceful with her movements, and my hand itches to sink into her curly hair.
She leans closer to me and puts a hand on my chest. She sits beside me in the furs and it takes all of my power not to grab her and pull her into my lap, to press her against my chest and hold her close. Instead, I put my hands down to my sides so I don’t inadvertently touch her. It strikes me that it would be a bad idea, especially right now. I can feel her small form trembling against me, even as she boldly straddles my lap and pushes her hips down against my cock.
“I can tell one of us is excited to be here,” she breathes. I think she’s trying to be funny but it just comes out breathless and wobbly.
“I will control myself,” I tell her. “Do not worry.”