Raven's Return - Ruby Dixon Page 0,25

I can give him this while we wait.

But he shakes his head at me. "We should not." And he lifts my hand from his groin and presses a kiss to my palm.

It's the first time a guy's ever turned down a free hand job, and never so sweetly. I smile down at him and then snuggle against his chest once more, listening to his heartbeat and the waves of the ocean. When we get back, maybe I can steal a few more kisses, a few more moments with him before I have to adopt my “Raven” persona again.

The thought fills me with dismay, and I suddenly don't want to return to the beach at all.

It's in the morning that I come up with a plan to stall.

I'm still mentally fixated on U'dron's kisses and the feel of his big body against mine. I woke up this morning draped over him, vaguely aware of crawling onto his larger body when another crab scuttled over my foot. Sleeping on the beach is horrible, but waking up to find myself straddling U'dron and the enticing log in his loincloth? Not a hardship.

I might have been naughty and ground down against it as I got off of him, just to hear him groan. I fold my legs and sit by the fire, curled up with the blankets as U'dron adjusts himself and tends to it once more, putting on morning tea.

"We will leave soon," U'dron says, all authority. He glances over at me. "Juth has agreed that he will take supplies from the camp in exchange for your return."

I nod, yawning, only half paying attention. "I'm glad you're joining the tribe. I think you'll like it."

Juth just gives me a silent look. "I did not say we would join."

I blink, glancing over at U'dron. Is that not what this is about? He shrugs back at me. "Okay, well, maybe you'll change your mind when you see how nice it is there."

"I will not change my mind," Juth says. He gestures at the beach. "Out here, my son and I are free. There is no one to give us rules or tell us what to do. We belong to ourselves."

His words make me pause because he's right. Out here, we ARE free. Out here, no pretending is necessary. I'm suddenly in less of a rush to head back, and I think about kissing U'dron last night. So I pull out my acting skills, get to my feet, and immediately collapse again with a gasp.

U'dron is immediately at my side, worry on his face. "R'ven? What is wrong?"

"My stupid ankle." I rub it, wincing. It feels fine, but he doesn't need to know that. If I can't walk, we can't leave, after all. "Maybe something bit it last night?"

"Let me see." The big hunter takes my ankle gently in his grip, running his fingers over my skin. I suck in a breath at the small touch, because it feels so damn good. "There are no wounds."

"Maybe I twisted it, then."

Juth gives me a narrow-eyed look. I ignore him.

U'dron continues to check out my ankle, comparing it to the other one, and then shakes his head. "I will have to carry you back."

Wait, what? I reach for his hand and give him a pleading look. "Can't we just stay out here one more night? What's the harm? We can catch some fish and grill them up and just hang out by the fire."

He studies me thoughtfully, then looks over at Juth, who wears the same impassive expression he always does. "Very well, if you do not mind sleeping on the beach."

"It's fine. One more night isn't going to hurt anything." I give him a sunny smile.

I feel a little guilty as U'dron and Juth set to work. They don't like the look of the clouds too much, so they gather a lot of the driftwood and make a simple lean-to, and then U'dron carries me over to it. While they go fishing for food, I watch Pak, and we entertain ourselves by playing patty-cake. He's never played a hand-slapping game before, and the look of delight on his face as we finish the rhyme each time just makes me ache. Poor kid needs a family and friends to be around. I think of quiet little Rukhar, Harlow and Rukh's son, and Liz and Raahosh's girls. They all play together, with Raashel bossing the other two around, and I bet Pak could use some buddies.

Juth's reluctance to join