| |
Ari looked at Crag. “She fainted.”
“Well, it’s probably better. I can get this done quickly.” Crag kept her leg steady while he sewed. “So is she your mate?”
“Yes.” Ari adjusted her in his arms. “She is.”
“So what are we going to do about the really big bird thing?” Crag laughed.
Ari shook his head and looked down. “I don’t know.”
His mate had curly hair, the color a mix between blonde and red, reminding him of autumn leaves as they turned. Her limbs were toned and she was strong, for a human female. He knew that from her struggles.
“Why did you drop her?”
“She stabbed me.”
Crag snorted.
“It wasn’t funny. It hurt. I’m glad we were over the lake, otherwise I’d have had to catch her.”
“That’s priceless! I can’t wait to tell Rog and Hark. You’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Just finish her leg before she wakes up.” He said crankily.
“Fine.” Crag continued to work with a snigger. “There. It wasn’t too bad. Let me tie this up and get the poultice on her.”
“I’ll put the poultice on her when you’re done.”
“Whatever.” Crag tied the knot. “There, I’m done.” He sat back and with a quick change of a finger, cut the thread with a talon. “I’ll go mix the poultice if you want to lay her out. You probably should put on pants before she wakes up.”
Ari grunted and lifted her up and laid her on the grass. He turned and headed to his pack, found and slipped his pants on. “Is it done yet?” He peered over Crag’s shoulder.
“Yes. Here, you take care of your mate.” He handed Ari the mix. “I’m hungry. I’m gonna go roast the cat.” He headed over to start a fire. Piling wood up, he breathed out a short stream of flame. “That way if she wakes up she can have some, too. Did you want any?”
“Um hm. All I caught was her.” Ari kneeled over his mate and applied the poultice to her leg. “This is a nasty bite. No wonder I sensed her pain.”
“That still seems strange to me.” Crag finished skinning the feline and got it ready for roasting, putting it over the fire. “Are you sure she’s your mate?”
“I think so. I don’t know why else I would feel it when she’s in pain or scared.”
“You’d better make sure. What if she wasn’t?”
“How do you suggest I make sure?” Ari sniffed. “How long do you think that will take to cook?”
Crag shot a flame at the meat. “Hopefully not too long. I’ll get some cooked for her and we can split the rest. It’s not like we have to have it cooked.”
Ari looked at the meat roasting. “No, but it does taste good that way. Let it roast and we’ll eat when she wakes up.”
Crag sniffed. “True. But I need something in the meantime.”
“Catch some fish.” Ari looked down at the woman. “Let’s both get some. She’s fine here.” Ari and Crag headed over to the lake. Ari looked back, checking on her. “She should be okay.”
Crag harrumphed. “If you’re going to worry, just stay with her. I’ll get some fish and when I’m done I’ll watch her while you get some.”
Ari stopped and looked between Crag and his woman.
“Oh for goodness sake, just stay with her.”
Ari hesitated and then turned around. “Okay. I’m just not sure I want to leave her by herself.”
Crag rolled his eyes. “No problem. We’ll take turns.” He headed to the water. Stripping off his pants, he dove in, changing to his natural form.
Ari walked back to the woman and sat next to her. He ran a hand over her hair, enjoying the silkiness of the strands. The curls tangled around his fingers much like he was sure she would entangle his heart. She was quiet for the most part, breathing softly. Ari wondered what her name was. He wondered where she lived and if she had a large family. If she would accept, both sides of him, dragon and man.
Ari stroked her face, watching and wondering about her. Her pain had subsided. He couldn’t feel it any more. He ran his hand down her face, and down her arm. Ari caressed her hand, and then picked it up. She had calluses, showing she was no stranger to working hard. That was good. He ran a hand over her hip. Her skin was silky and smooth, marred only by the nasty wounds on her leg. She stirred at his touch. Ari removed his hand. He didn’t want to wake her.
He lay back, tucking himself around her, moving her so she rested in his arms. Her clothing was damp from the lake. Ari jumped up and grabbed a blanket from his rucksack and tossed it over her. He lay back down, pulling her close. He heard Crag in the water. He was splashing around in the lake, probably eating all the fish in there, Ari thought. He didn’t really care. His woman was soft and warm in his arms. He rested his head on hers and drifted off into a light doze.
Ari startled awake. The sun was at its zenith. He looked down into the woman’s face. She looked up at him, eyes hazy with sleep. The noise must have woken her also. Ari glanced up. Crag was cracking something between rocks. Rolling his eyes, he looked back down. It figured.
“What is your name?” He asked softly. He didn’t want to startle her.
“Hope.” She yawned.
“How is your leg feeling?” Hope glanced down toward her leg.
“It’s throbbing, but not as bad as I thought it would be.”
“That’s the poultice. It has an herb with numbing properties, makes the pain tolerable.”
“It does help.” She stretched and groaned when she tried to move her leg. “I need to get home. Can you take me?” Her stomach growled and Ari laughed.
“How about we eat first and then discuss it?”
Hope looked at him warily and nodded.
Ari smiled at her, she seemed to be beginning to trust him. He needed to build on that to be able to keep her. “Stay here, I’ll bring it to you.” He stood, getting ready to fetch Hope food.
“I’d rather move closer to the fire. I’m a little chilly.” Hope started to get up, wincing at the pain that shot down her leg.
“Hold on.” Ari leaned down and scooped Hope into his arms. “You shouldn’t walk on it yet. It needs to heal.” He carried her closer to the fire and set her down so she was leaning against a rock. “The rocks keep the heat here and help protect us from any predators dumb enough to bother us.”
“Here you go.” Crag put a wooden plate in front of her. On it was meat, fish and what looked like nuts.
Ari sniffed. It smelled delicious.
“Thank you.” Hope smiled at Crag and started to eat.
“Where’s mine?” Ari looked over at the fire.
“Get your own, lazy.” Crag smiled and waved toward the fire. “I cooked, you can serve yourself.”
Ari shook his head, grinning at his brother and headed to fix his own dinner. Crag had the meat on a spit and the fish was cooking on a rock in the embers. Ari grabbed his sack and rummaged around before pulling out his own plate.
“Did you already eat, Crag?”
“Yes. But I’ll finish whatever you don’t.” Crag settled down, leaning against a rock across from Hope.
Ari filled his plate, cutting the meat off of the roast. The fire spat as the sizzle of fat dripped into it with each slice.
Hope’s eyes got bigger as he filled his plate.
Ari glanced at her and then picked up the fish and tossed it on the heap on his plate. He moved and settled down next to Hope.
“You must really be hungry?” Hope looked from her plate to his.
“I am. I haven’t had anything to eat since we had a midmorning snack.” Ari looked at Hope’s plate. “Eat up. I know you’re hungry.” He looked at both plates and then started transferring some of his to hers.
“Stop!”
He looked at Hope, surprised.
“What are you doing?”
“You didn’t have a lot on your plate. I wanted to make sure you get enough to eat.” Ari replied.
“I’m fine. You can take your food back.”
“Tell you what. You eat until you’re full and if you don’t finish it I will.” Ari smiled at her. “Besides, there is more on the fire.”
Hope looked at her plate and spoke softly. “I never eat that much meat.” She grabbed a piece and bit. “It just isn’t available.”
Crag and Ari looked at each other. This wasn’t anything that they had seen so far.
“There are lots of animals around.”
Hope nodded and continued to eat.
Ari smiled, watching her. She was going through the meat like a hungry dragoness.
“Yes, but you have to catch them.” She looked at her plate. “Otherwise you have to send labor to the farm and you still don’t get much for all that.” She bit another piece of meat, the expression on her face blissful.
“Don’t you raise them?” Crag asked.
“We raise rabbits and chickens, but there is only so much space in town.”
“Why don’t you do it outside of town? Or hunt? Game is plentiful.” Ari wondered what changes had happened from what they had known of the world the last time they had risen. “What about the cattle? We’ve seen plenty of cows around.”
“The farms raise cattle but mainly for milk and butter and cheese. I don’t know of anyone that raises just cattle.”
“Mmm. Well, eat up. There’s plenty more if you want some.”
Hope nodded and ate.
Ari ate and watched her.
She started slowing down even though there was plenty of food left. She grabbed a nutmeat and ate a few of those. She sighed and set her plate on her lap, resting her head back against the rock.
Dusk moved into evening. Ari saw Crag stretch out; laying back and watching the stars come out overhead.
Ari finished his plate before he spoke. “Are you done?”
Hope nodded.
Ari took her plate from her lap and settled back to finish what was left on it.
Crag rolled to his side.
Ari saw Crag looking at him, but decided to ignore him for now. After finishing the plate of food, he stood.
Going back to the spit, he took the rest of the meat and split it. He dropped a plate full in front of Crag. “Here you go,” and then went to sit next to Hope again.
She looked at his plate and back to his face.
“You sure are hungry.”
“Here, want some more?” Ari grinned and offered her a bite.
Hope shook her head and smiled at him. She had lost a bit of her wariness.
Ari dug in. He watched Crag finish his plate in a couple of swallows. Done, Crag wandered off towards the lake, plate in tow.
“No, thank you.” She looked down and back up. “Will you take me home?”
He finished the last of the plate. Ari nodded.
Hope looked at him in amazement. “That was fast.”
“It wasn’t a lot.” Ari stood up. “Want to get cleaned up a bit? I’ll take you to the lake.”
Hope nodded. She struggled to stand and Ari quickly pulled her upright.
“Hang on. Lean against the rock a minute.” Ari scooped up the plate where he’d dropped it to help Hope. “Here hold this.” Handing Hope the plate Ari scooped her into his arms and headed over to the lake.
“Before we get there.” Hope’s face flushed, “I need to relieve myself.”
Ari chuckled.
“No need to be embarrassed. I’ll take you over to the tree line and step back. Let me know when you’re done.”
“Thank you.”
Ari switched paths and headed to the trees. It was dense enough that she would hopefully feel she had enough privacy and he would be able to see any approaching threat. If, that is, anything was dumb enough to come near when dragons were in the area. Ari found a mossy spot with branches to give Hope something to grasp on to.
“Will this be okay?”
“Yes.”
Ari set her down, grabbing the plate.
“Okay, I’ll be right over there. Holler when you’re done.” He stepped away to give her the privacy she wanted. He looked back. She was still standing, watching him. When he stopped she waved him away. He nodded and headed further away.
“I’m not going any further. So take care of what you need to.”
“Fine.”
Ari looked out at the lake. He spotted Crag swimming in the water. He heard Hope rustling in the background and then cursing.
“Do you need any help?”
“No.” Hope sounded aggravated and Ari could hear her mumbling to herself. Then she spoke up. “I’m done.”
Ari turned back.
Hope hopped toward him, a scowl on her face. Her shirt fell to mid-thigh and she was struggling to hold her pants up.
“Damn it. Just wait for me.” He scooped her up in his arms. “You need to stay off of your leg.”
“How am I going to get home if I can’t walk? You can’t carry me.” Ari rolled his eyes. Leaning over her, he looked right into her face.
“Yes I can. However, it will be easier to pull you in a litter.” He thought about it. “Maybe, we’ll see.” Ari was just about at the lake by that time. He sat Hope down on the grass. “Do you want to bathe? Crag brought some soap down.”
“Sure, help yourself. Don’t even ask.” Ari looked over to see Crag standing in the water grinning at them.
“It’s not like you made it yourself.” Ari grinned back.
Hope looked back and forth between them. “Are you two always like this?” She shook her head. Both Crag and Ari laughed.
“Pretty much.” Ari answered.
“Unless Rog and Hark are up to mischief. Then we team up.” Crag said at the same time.
“There are more of you?”
“Plus our sisters.” Ari smiled at her.
“Belisa and Juevatorj.” Crag added. “They’re the ones you have to watch out for. Don’t get them mad. They will make you sorry.” He laughed and dove back into the lake.
“Six. Where are they?”
“All over. Hark is at home right now. He hurt himself and our dam has him confined to quarters. Rog is with him. Our dam and sire are really mad, so they are laying low. The girls are out exploring, much like Crag and I.”
“Why do you call them your dam and sire? Where do you live?”
Ari looked at Hope, surprised. He hadn’t thought about it when he described them, but hadn’t really expected her to catch it.
“We just always have.” He thought about what he could tell her, but she hadn’t realized that he was the dragon that had snatched her up. “It just stuck.” Ari looked down at her. “Do you want to bathe?”
“Yes.” Hope nodded.
“Me, too.” Ari started stripped out of his pants and stopped at Hope’s gasp. “I’m not getting my clothes wet.” He looked at her. “How are you expecting to bathe? Not in your clothes. They’ll never dry tonight. I doubt they are dry from earlier.”
“I was only going to wash my face and hands in the lake.”
Ari made a face at her.
“What? Are you saying I stink?” Hope sounded so outraged he laughed.
“No. We are just used to bathing our whole bodies. Plus, you have blood and dirt on you and the cold of the water against your leg should feel good. I just thought you wanted to go in.”
Hope shrugged. “My clothes need washing, too. Like you said, I have blood on them.”
“Suit yourself.” He finished stripping out of his pants, laughing at Hope’s wide eyes. A flush of desire raged through his body, tightening his groin. His body responded to her gaze, thickening and straining toward her.
Her eyes got even bigger.
“If you’re not going to strip, I’ll take you in.”
He scooped Hope into his arms. He tossed her in the water despite her protest. Maybe not his best decision, but her squeal had Ari laughing.