It’s a small, too-square compartment with more of the flashing panels, but I’m pleased to see that there’s a square pallet covered with a soft, squishy, strange-feeling animal skin. I toss my cloak down over the pallet and gently lay Kira down onto the bed so I can examine her again. Worry makes my heart pound and I smooth a hand down her arms and legs and chest, looking for hidden wounds I might not have seen before. She seems healthy in body. I peel back the bandages over her ear. There are reddened holes along her lobe, and dried blood crusted inside her ear canal, but otherwise I see no issues.
There’s nothing to do but wait for her to awaken.
I slide onto the bed next to her and wrap my arms around her. She fits against me so perfectly. I sweep my hand over her hair and press my mouth to her strange, smooth forehead. “You are safe with me, Kira,” I murmur in a low, soothing voice. “No one will harm you while you are with me. I will fight to the death to keep you at my side. Enemies will look upon my spear and recoil in fear.” I run my hand down her small back. “Then, you and I will get a cave of our own. I am not sure how, but we will manage. And we will set up a nest of warm, thick furs to keep your fragile human body warm, and I will press my mouth to every inch of your soft skin and show you how much you mean to me.” My fingers graze over her face, tracing her small nose, her tiny brows. She is strange looking compared to the women of my tribe, but I have a great appreciation for her flat brow, pale face and sad eyes, and her small mouth that so rarely curves into a smile. I decide right then and there that I will act a fool around her if it will only bring a happy look to her face.
I will do anything for her.
I settle in to the bed, describing in great detail how we shall set up our cave. How my mother will fuss over the thought of having a daughter, as she has only sons and none of them mated. Of how my father will shake his head at my ways, but it won’t matter because it is all for Kira.
“The biggest, warmest bed in all the caves,” I decide. “Dvisti fur is the warmest and I will line our nest with that, and then ask Kashrem – that’s Maylak’s mate – to create soft coverlets that are softer than a kit’s bottom, but warm enough to please you. It will cost me much, but Kashrem’s always been jealous of my carving, so I shall create him some new tools, I think. Perhaps a few baubles for his kits.” I consider thoughtfully. I’ve always given away my carvings with ease, not concerned with getting anything in return. Now that I have a mate, I shall have to consider things more carefully, so I may provide all the things she wants. “And we shall need furs for the entrance of our cave,” I tell her. “To muffle your shouts of pleasure when I take you every night.”
Perhaps that is my own male pride talking there. I do not think Kira is a shouter. Not like Asha was. She will be the quiet type, the kind that comes with a widening of her eyes and a parting of the lips, and no more than that.
I picture it, and my cock grows uncomfortably hard. Time to think of other things. I stroke my hand down Kira’s arm. “I imagine that the first brutal season with my people will be hard on the humans. You struggle right now, but I will do my best to ensure that you are always warm and well fed. And when the snows are too high for even the hunters to go out, we shall stay in our furs all day long.”
Strange, how badly I want the life I am envisioning. My heart thuds hard, thinking of Kira, warm and smiling up at me from a long night of vigorous mating. Kira, with her belly rounded with my child. Kira, nursing a tiny human-sa-khui halfling, with a pink tail and stunted horns. What would our child look like?
Lost in pleasant thoughts, I continue to talk to my unconscious mate.
KIRA
My head feels like a cracked-open melon. Pain pounds in my brain, and I remain completely still, hoping that the lack of movement makes the agony dissipate. As I do, I hear a soft, low voice.
“I might have to stack the back of our cave with extra dung so I can keep a fire going for you at all times. I’ll just have to figure out something to disguise the smell. Maybe some of Maylak’s herbs. And I know you like your meat cooked, so there’s that to consider. And when it gets too cold at night, we can heat some snow in a quill-beast bladder. You can preserve them a certain way and place them at your feet to keep your furs warm at night. Either way, I’ll make sure you’re happy and comfortable.” Aehako’s big fingers trace my jaw. “But I’ll take care of you.”
My headache fades a little at his soothing touch. I’m cradled against him with my face pressed to his chest and my hand nearby. His arms are wrapped around me, hugging me against him, and it feels…like home. I keep my eyes closed, relaxing in the low thrum of his voice as he tells me all about his plans for ‘our’ cave and how we’ll weather the brutal season – the winter – together and all the plans he has for us. I have to admit that hearing him talk about his plans for the two of us together fills me with an incredible amount of yearning and muted joy. Joy because setting up a cozy cave with him sounds incredibly wonderful and I still can’t believe someone as fun and sexy as him is interested in someone as quiet as me.