Ice Planet Honeymoon (Four Novellas of HEA)

Nothing feels better than this. Nothing.

Moments pass. Har-loh hums in her throat, smoothing my mane back from my face. The strands of my mane are sticking to her skin as well as mine, and she makes noises in her throat, talking. I cannot follow her words, but I like her happy sounds. I hold her against me, stroking her soft skin.

I have never been so happy. Having Har-loh is…I do not know the words. I only know my heart is so full that sometimes it hurts in my chest.

She murmurs something and then pulls a fur over both of us. I arrange it, making sure to cover my mate, because she is the one that is always chilled. Har-loh smiles at me and then tucks herself against my chest, talking softly. Her cunt still clasps my cock deep inside her, and I can feel every quiver of her body. I like this.

The fur is a reminder of what I must do tomorrow, though. I must go out and hunt. I have done traps and fished since we arrived here on the beach, because I did not wish to leave my mate's side. Har-loh is fragile and there are many, many things she does not understand about taking care of herself. She does not know how to set traps or to make a spear. It is lucky she has me, because I can do these things for her. But hunting is dangerous. I cannot take Har-loh with me. I do not know what I would do if a herd of dvisti turned the wrong way and trampled her. I do not know what I would do if a snow-cat attacked her.

Har-loh must stay safe in the cave, with the fire. I will hunt.

16

HARLOW

When I wake up in the morning, Rukh is gone.

Huh.

Normally we wake up tangled together in the furs for some pre-dawn snuggling and a before-breakfast quickie, but this morning, he's nowhere to be seen. I rub my eyes and peer out of the cave, but no Rukh. Probably fishing, then. Maybe he woke up with a burning need to get some fish in or something. We're still not great at communicating yet, and a lot of what goes between us is guesswork. With a yawn, I wrap the few furs we have tightly around my body and stoke the fire. The coals have gone down while I slept, and I poke them until they get hot once more, then work on setting up the makeshift tripod we have for heating water.

I wish we had more things. I've taken for granted just how many supplies there are back at the main cave, and how hard everyone has worked to make those supplies. When I think of how much time I have to put in just to make a cooking pouch, I have a whole new appreciation for those giving, thoughtful sa-khui people who took a bunch of humans into their homes, no questions asked, and fed and clothed us.

Rukh thinks of them as the enemy, but they were always kind to me. I've made my choices, though. I'm with Rukh now, and that means starting over in all ways.

I pad to the entrance of the cave, my toes curling on the icy rocks, and peer out, looking for my mate's broad shoulders and long, wild hair. I don't see him on the beach, either, but it doesn't mean that he's not around. He's probably gathering food. I wet a soft scrap of leather, take a quickie bath with the melted water, and then add a bit more from the trickle in the cave. Once my pouch is full, I add the last few leaves for hot tea and get dressed. Maybe while Rukh is fishing, I can find some of the plants that the sa-khui always used for tea. I can start our supplies there, I decide. Leaves are easy. It's everything else that's daunting.

One thing at a time, Harlow, I remind myself.

I head out to the cliffs, noticing that Rukh's spear is gone from inside the cave. Definitely hunting. The sight of it missing actually makes me feel a little better, and I concentrate on picking leaves for tea. I'm proud of myself for actually recognizing several of the plants that cling to the cliffs here. It's weird, because for an ice-covered planet, there's a surprising amount of greenery to be found if you know where to look. There's the not-potato trees that grow incredibly tall stalks, but there aren't any near the beach that I can see. There are all kinds of vines crisscrossing the rocks and growing into the crevices. And I know that if I go up into the mountains, I can dig under the snow and find all kinds of strange, wiry plants that somehow grow despite the cold and the gray, weak sunshine.