I put my mouth over the end of his cock and take the head of it in my mouth, sucking lightly.
His entire body quakes, and a moment later, my mouth is filled with wet, salty heat. Rukh’s feral growl as he comes sends an illicit thrill through my body. A moment later, before I can truly appreciate his reaction, he staggers backward, staring.
I wipe the corners of my mouth delicately. “Guess that blew your mind. Pun intended.”
He pants, a sheen of sweat on his ridged brow. And he can’t stop staring at me, as if I’m some magical dick-sucking unicorn come to life. A giggle escapes me. Well, I wanted to distract the man. I definitely got what I wanted. “Feel better?”
“Har-loh…” Poor Rukh sounds utterly breathless.
“Yes?”
He presses a hand to his chest, then gestures outward, a frown on his face. I recognize that frustration. He wants to tell me something, but doesn’t have the words. I get to my feet and take his hand in mine and squeeze it.
“I know, big guy. I know.”
RUKH
Har-loh has shattered me from the inside out yet again. Just when I think I have learned all pleasure to be had, she shows me something new. I move toward her smiling, speckled face, and press my mouth to hers in the gesture she showed me earlier.
She looks startled, and then pleased. I will have to remember more of her gestures. I want to make her happy.
She shivers and tugs her furs closer to her body, reminding me that we are not here at the water’s edge for simple pleasures. One of the bad ones was nearby. Panic flares through my body again. He could have seen Har-loh taking me in her mouth and…doing things to me.
He could have taken her from me.
My chest squeezes tight at the thought. No one will ever, ever take Har-loh from me. I will rip them open with their own tusks if they should try. My hands clench, and it takes everything I have not to drag Har-loh against me.
I’ve never had a companion. I’ve never even thought of having one, and my memories of my father are long-distant. But now that Har-loh is here? I cannot bear the thought of her leaving me. My hands clench in her furs. If the bad one that is nearby tries to take her—
“Rukh?” Her small hand pats my arm, trying to get my attention. “Cawmdownbigguyh. Aymheer.” She smiles up at me. “Sokay. Allsokay.”
At the sight of her smile, my frantic anger dissipates a little. I’ll take care of the interloper and return to my sweet female. I pull my father’s knife out.
Her expression is troubled. “No, Rukh. No kill.” She pushes the knife down.
She doesn’t want me to go after them, to defend my territory. Does she know they are bad? I stare off into the horizon, where the hunter disappeared. I can go after him and track him down and kill him…but it will leave my Har-loh here, vulnerable. I can’t take her with me, because he cannot know I have her.
And I cannot abandon my Har-loh. My chest vibrates and purrs in that strange way it has been since I found her. I look over at her troubled face, and my heart aches. I don’t want to leave her.
I can’t leave her.
I sheathe my knife and grab her hand. Instead of heading back to our old cave, I will take her somewhere new, somewhere more remote. There are places even the bad ones don’t like to go. I will take her there, and she will be safe with me.
“Rukh?” she asks as I tug her along after me. “Wayrrwegoin?” When I don’t answer her, she plants her feet on the ground. “Rukh? Ansormee!”
I look over at her. Why is she not walking? A look down at her small feet shows she is not wearing the snowshoes I made for her. I release her hand, retrieve the shoes, and bend down to strap them to her feet.
She taps my shoulder. “Rukh? Wayrwegoin?”
Har-loh lets me put the shoes on her feet, but when I gesture that she should follow me, she doesn’t. Instead, she crosses her arms and gives me a frustrated look. I scrub my face with my hand and force myself to be patient. I will carry Har-loh if I must, but I need to get her away from here. Already the bad one might have found our footprints, or discovered the cave full of Har-loh’s creations. All of my important things – my knives, my waterskin – I have with me. Everything else can be abandoned, and will be abandoned, for Har-loh’s safety.
There are more caves, and better ones. I take her hand and gesture that we will walk. Not in the direction we came from, but a new direction.
Her brows wrinkle together in the funny, flat-face way she has. “Notgobak?”
I point ahead.
She points behind me and repeats herself. “Notgobak?”