“I didn’t want to slow us down.” She yawns.
“Liz,” I say, frustrated. “We are in no hurry. We will be exiled for a long time. There is no rush to go anywhere. I do not want you to walk until you are so tired that your eyes cannot stay open.” I stroke her soft cheek. All my thoughts of tonight and mating with her as I describe it in great detail are gone. She is tired and needs her feet rubbed and to be tucked into warm furs by the fire. “Come,” I say, and lean in to press a kiss to the tip of her cold red nose. “I will make a fire and warm you up.”
She just gives me a tired smile, her eyes soft. “Idiots think it’s some sort of punishment to send us away together. Big dummies. Little do they know I love being with you like this.”
My heart squeezes painfully. My perfect mate. I want to clutch her to my chest and fight the world to keep her safe. I caress her cheek again and then go first into the cave to make sure that it is unoccupied. When all is well, Liz enters and then gasps.
“This cave is so big! And warm!” She frowns, confused. “Why is it warm?”
I kneel beside the firepit. “There is a hot pool in the back of the cave. If you want to bathe, we can.”
“Oh my god, a hot bath? Can we make this our new home?” Her eyes light up with enthusiasm.
I snort. “The roof of the cave is low and the floor uneven to walk upon. You would get tired of it after a few days, but it will serve well enough for tonight.”
“Party pooper,” she teases, saying human words that make no sense but still carry affection. “Fine, we’ll enjoy the bath tonight and then move on in the morning, then?”
I nod and finish making the fire, then put on a pouch of clean snow and sprinkle herbs in for hot tea. Liz unrolls the bedding and makes a nest of furs for us while I am busy, but her movements are slow and lethargic, and when the bed is unrolled, she flops down onto her back and closes her eyes.
I move over to her and begin to take her boots off. “You should sleep.”
“Fuck that,” she says sleepily. “I want a bath first.”
“Then come and bathe.” I pull her boots off and then help her to her feet, stripping her tunic and leggings off of her slender human body. She is small and lean everywhere except her teats, which are quite large and jiggly for one her size. The sight of them always makes my breathing quicken and my cock harden. She has nipples like a sa-khui female, but hers are soft even when taut and such a pale pink that they astound me.
I want to lick these.
The words spring to my mind but I push them back. Liz wants a bath and then she needs to sleep. I will not push my mate—my pregnant mate—into mating, even if it is all I thought about all day long. My needs can wait.
The ceiling of the cave lowers as we approach the back and the air thickens with moisture. The pool itself is not much larger than a few handspans across, but steamy and clear, and Liz lets out a moan of sheer pleasure at the sight of it. Her hand squeezes mine. “I got soap in my bag, babe. We can wash our hair and everything.”
I grunt and take her hand. “You bathe. I will get your soap.”
“You’ll join me when you come back?” she asks hopefully.
As if I could stay away. I help her into the water, and then go to retrieve her soap. When I return, I slide carefully into the pool next to her, and then pull her into my lap. The water is not deep, and I have to fold my legs to sink down to my shoulders, but there is just enough room for me to hold my mate against me.
She relaxes against my body, closing her eyes and sighing with bliss. “This is now my new favorite cave.”
I smile at that. There is a large heated pool for bathing at the main tribal cave, but it is also crowded…and we are exiled anyhow. “Then I am glad we are here.”
“I’m happy to be wherever you are,” Liz says softly, tucking her head against my neck. “So far? Not hating exile.”
Me either. Having her with me makes this all bearable. When I first heard my fate, I thought I would end up as my father, miserable and alone…but Liz has surprised me. She has fought for me every step of the way and now she wishes to be at my side constantly. Truly, I am the luckiest of males to have such a fierce, beautiful mate.