kisses until the heat in her eyes becomes impossible to resist. I take her back to the furs, part her thighs, and sink deep. This time, I do not mate with frantic energy. I take my time, savoring every sigh, every touch, every quiver of her cunt as it squeezes my cock. She comes hard, and I tease and caress her third nipple—her clit—until she comes again, and again. By the time I reach my own release, H’nah is dazed, a sleepy look on her face. She sleeps a great deal these last few days, and I do not know if it is because she now carries my kit, or if I am too vigorous in the furs…or the fact that we have no meat.
I have been hungry before. It is not something I wish for my curvy mate to experience. I do not want her to lose her softness. I do not want her face to grow hard and lean as I’chai’s did when food grew scarce.
I must protect her from the world.
I stroke H’nah’s cheek as she curls up in the furs and dozes. When I am satisfied she will slumber for a bit longer, I clean off, put on my loincloth, and then climb down to visit T’shen and his mate B’rukh.
By the water, T’shen’s mate is stretched out on her belly, her arms crossed under her chin. She dozes, from the look of her, while T’shen sits cross legged and sharpens his spear. He and I are alike in this thought—we know that above all else, our mates must be kept safe.
I say nothing in greeting, not wanting to wake his mate. He hears the rustle of vines and nods at me as I approach. When I sit next to him, I gesture at the sleeping B’rukh. “H’nah sleeps much of the day now.”
He nods. “My Brooke, too. I worry they need more food than we are providing. She says she needs pro-teen. I just say she needs meat.” He shrugs. “Even when I eat, I am still hungry. We cannot stay here forever.”
“I worry we will become too weak if we stay here much longer,” I admit to him. Already his face looks leaner to me. H’nah, too. “We must go while we are strong and capable. If we wait for a full turn of the moon, we might be too weak if we must fight Old Grandfather.”
“Do you think we must fight him, then?” T’shen frowns. “Even with an entire tribe of hunters I would still be wary. With just you and me…I fear we are staring death in the face.” He shakes his head, running a fingertip along the point of his spear. “He is too big and too dangerous to take head on. We must be sly.”
“As T'aashi was,” I agree, thinking of the old stories. “But we do not have the supplies that T'aashi did.”
“We have the chakk leaves,” T’shen points out. “Brooke and I had some last night. It was great fun, but her head hurts this morning.” He gazes out at his mate, his expression thoughtful. “I would normally take her to the healer, but of course there is no healer here. We are alone. I like that far less than I thought I would. Once, I wanted to explore this whole world with her, see new places and creatures…but with my kit in her belly, I realize how vulnerable she is. At least with the tribe there is safety in numbers. There are others to lean on. There is food for all. I want to take her back to the beach.” His mouth thins. “But then I worry this Old Grandfather will follow us back there and we will destroy everyone.”
I rub my chin, scratching at the bristle there. “I worry this too, but I think he will stay here. If we can get away, I do not think he will follow. He shows no signs of leaving this area and the calls he makes are those that he would make to a challenger in his territory. I think he views this as his home.”
“Lucky us,” T’shen mutters. “I have been thinking of ways to hunt Old Grandfather. We do not have to kill him, but we have to make sure it is safe for us to take our mates safely out of this valley.”
He has ideas? “I am listening.”
“The leaves we ate last night? Chakk? They were interesting, but I noticed that if I ate too much,