Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,87

over and gives me a high five. “Girl, you hit that and you hit that until you can’t hit it anymore. He’s got some impressive equipment…almost as impressive as my man.” And she smirks at me.

I clutch my tunic to my chest, both proud of J’shel and embarrassed at Brooke’s words. “I thought you said no one was looking!”

“No, I said no one cares.” She laughs. “Seriously though, I’m happy for you and it explains all the enthusiastic screaming yesterday.” She fistbumps me and then saunters away back to her mate, who’s got his loincloth on and has sat down to work on a net.

“I wasn’t that loud,” I mutter to myself, slipping my tunic back over my head.

Once we’re somewhat decent, we eat fruit and chitchat. Brooke braids Taushen’s wet hair, then mine, and then tackles J’shel’s thick, messy avalanche of hair. My mate works on weaving leaves as Brooke expertly takes piece after piece of his hair and works them into an impressively intricate string of braids.

I lick my fingers, watching as J’shel works. It’s impressive how fast he can weave, but I suppose it makes sense with four hands. When it starts looking less like a net, I can’t help but ask. “What are you making?”

He holds it up. “A cover for your hips. I will make one for your teats, too. L’ren wore something similar on the island.”

“For me?” I’m touched. How thoughtful of him.

“Sweet, make me one too,” Brooke says, her hands full of his hair.

“I can make some for you,” Taushen tells her, possessiveness in his tone.

“Then hop to it, babycakes.” She grins at him. “Because I am tired of wearing sweaty leather.

“Me too.”

Taushen grumbles something under his breath but then the conversation turns easy once more. As the men work on “clothing” for us, Brooke braids hair, and I pretty much just hang out and listen. The men talk about hunts, and Brooke and I talk about the fruit here and how it compares to the fruit back home. Maybe it’s because I haven’t had fruit in so long, but I think the fruit here in the cave tastes ten times better than anything I’ve ever had at home. We discuss figuring out ways to preserve it and make jams, but that requires air-tight containers that we don’t have. We do have refrigeration, though, and so we toy with ideas of freezing fruit, or drying it and bringing the dried results home with us.

“There are things we can do so everyone gets a taste,” she promises me. “It’s all good.”

J’shel holds out my “clothing,” silent.

I can tell his mind is back on the monster outside, and how we’re going to get back home. He looks worried, like he’s no longer enjoying our lazy afternoon. My heart squeezes for him, because I know he wants to protect me and worries he’s going to fail. Poor man needs a distraction. So I hold up the top—which looks like a woven placemat on a loop—and feign ignorance. “Can you help me put this on?”

Brooke smirks, tying off the end of his braid. “Good timing, because I’m all done here.”

“Incredible timing,” I agree as J’shel gets to his feet and approaches me. I’m pretty sure Brooke’s timing wasn’t just coincidence. As she saunters over to her mate with a bit of swing in her hips, I’m almost positive that her thoughts are moving along the same direction as mine—that the men need a bit of stress relief.

Luckily I know a fun way to do so.

J’shel, that sweet man, moves in front of me and gestures at the top. “This part will cover your teats,” he says, explaining as if I truly do have no clue.

“Great, hold that and you can help me put it on,” I tell him brightly, and then slip my tunic off over my head, tossing it to the ground. I’m confident doing so because Taushen’s never looked in my direction all afternoon, and right now I’m betting Brooke is distracting him in her own way. The only one interested in a flash of “teat” is the mate standing right before me.

And he suddenly looks very interested.

I fit the “placemat” over my boobs, settling the loop against my neck, and then turn so he can tie the back of it. J’shel does so, his warm fingers skimming along my spine in a way that has nothing to do with getting dressed. When the top is in place, I turn around again and bite back