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Ari laughed at Crag, grabbed his pants and pulled them on. He rummaged around and pulled out needle and thread.
“What’s that for?” Crag asked him. “I sewed Hope up yesterday. You shouldn’t need to do it again.”
Ari rolled his eyes. “It’s not for her skin. It’s for her pants. Maybe they can be fixed.” He went over to where they lay. Crag had put them over a rock to dry in the sun. Ari looked at them doubtfully. The pants were cut and torn. “Well, maybe.” The blood on them was mostly washed out and they were clean. Ari grabbed them, throwing them over his shoulder. He had the needle and thread in one hand and went to pick up the poultice for Hope’s leg.
“Let me get that. You need to use both hands.” Crag elbowed him out of the way and picked it up. “Come on.”
The two of them headed back over to where Hope lay. Ari tossed her pants down and placed the needle & thread on top. He kneeled next to Hope and Crag handed him the poultice.
“Thanks.” Ari said. “Can you bring the food over? We can eat after this is applied and discuss how to go from here.”
“Sure, I live to serve you, brother.” Crag flashed him a grin and left.
Ari heard him getting the food ready.
Hope giggled.
“I’m going to start with the back of your leg. Then I’ll do the front.”
Hope murmured her assent.
Ari spread the thick goo on the back of her leg, making sure all of the wounds were covered. He moved around Hope so he could reach the other side of her leg and again covered her wounds with the poultice. When he was done, he sat back.
“Can I sit up now?”
“Yes. I’m going to wash my hands, I’ll be right back.” Ari stood up and walked away.
Crag came over and handed Hope a plate of food.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Eat up.” Crag flashed a smile at Hope and sat down to eat. “Ari, your plate is over there,” he indicated with a nod of his head.
Ari dried his hands in the grass and went over to grab his food. He sat next to Hope and quickly ate. They ate much more in their dragon form. In human form, they didn’t so the meals Crag had been preparing were sufficient. Ari eyed Hope’s plate. Even for a human, she didn’t seem to eat much. When the mating ceremony was completed, he’d have to make sure there was plenty of food available for her change.
“So, Hope, tell us about your family.”
Hope looked up from her plate at Crag’s request. From the way she was playing with her food, Ari was pretty sure she was done.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes.”
“Here.” Ari held his hand out for her plate and finished it when she handed it over.
She laughed softly.
He cocked his head in inquiry.
“Nothing. Well, you always finish my food.”
“I don’t see any reason to waste it when I can always eat.” Ari shrugged. “Go ahead and tell us about your family.”
Hope smiled at him. “About my family. Okay, there are six of us kids. I have three older brothers and one sister and brother younger than me, my mom and my dad. My grandma lives next door with my Uncle and some of my cousins. The rest of our block is all family, too.”
Ari frowned. “Your block?”
Hope nodded. “Yes. Not all blocks are all family, but we’re lucky. We all have a huge yard, enough for gardens and a rabbit and chicken pen. With each of us sending someone to the farm, we manage to have enough food. We trade the rabbit skins, too. One of my aunts makes footwear from them. Grandpa was saying we should get a cow so we can make our own butter and cheese but everyone is arguing over it. It would be nice, but we’d probably have to give up garden room.”
“I’m not sure I understand about blocks.”
“You don’t have them?” Ari shook his head. “Oh. Well, from what grandma said it started when the diseases started killing people off and fuel got scarce, after all the blasts and eruptions. People died and houses became vacant. Families came to be together. I guess families used to live spread all over the country a long time ago. Now they stay together. People just gravitated to be near family, and if a house was vacant, they moved into it. Pretty soon, families would fill a block and fences went up. Grandma said our family has always been large and close. Since we’re all family, we cultivate in the combined yard. Everyone helps, so everyone eats.”
“No one fights?”
“Oh, someone is always fighting. But we protect each other from outsiders.” Hope laughed. “Half of the block across the street is our family, too. But they have their own yards. I suppose that at some point that whole block will be family, too.”
“What is the name of your town?” Ari asked.
“Ignacio.”
“Hmm. I’ve never heard of that town.”
“Well, it’s been there forever. Has it always been Ignacio?” Hope shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what it’s always been for me.”
“Well, we’ll see if we can find it.” Ari smiled at Hope. “I have needle and thread. Did you want to see if you can repair your pants?”
Hope nodded. “Yes, please.”
Ari reached over her and grabbed them, handing the pants and the needle to Hope.
“Work on that, let the poultice dry while Crag and I check out the area. We’ll be back in a bit.”
Ari and Crag walked into the trees in the distance, far enough away for Hope not to hear them talk.
“So how are you going to break it to her we’re dragons?”
“I have no idea.”
“There’s no way to get her home without flying, unless we want to spend weeks on foot.” Crag glanced at Ari. “I’m not walking for that long. I have perfectly good wings.”
“I know, I know.” Ari tossed his hands in the air. “How am I supposed to break it to her?”
“I don’t know. We can think about it.”
“Can we do it when we start walking?” Ari glanced at him hopefully.
Crag grimaced. “I suppose.” Crag looked at him and sighed. “I hope I don’t have the same problem. Hopefully my mate is a dragon already.”
“It can’t be too bad. Our dam accepted our sire.” Crag laughed out loud.
“Uh d’uh. Remember that story? He’s lucky she didn’t gut him when he stole her away. She was ready to, because she thought he was there to eat her.” Ari shrugged.
“Well, it’s not like Hope was tied to a stake as a sacrifice.”
Crag was shaking his head. “Did you forget already that she stabbed you? How long are you going to think with your little head?”
Ari snorted and gave him a shove. “Dick.”
Crag laughed. “You know you are in so much trouble. You stole her away and when she finds out...”
“I was saving her from the cat attack.”
“Right! I already had the cat.”
“It wasn’t alone.”
“Keep telling yourself that!” Crag snorted. “Then try to convince her.”
“I will.” Ari glared at his laughing brother. “I have to. She’s my mate.” He sighed. “Crag, what am I going to do?”
“Too bad you can’t impregnate her.” Crag rolled his eyes. “Not that you haven’t been practicing.”
Ari scowled at him. “Come up with something useful.”
“Why don’t you just change her? It’s not like she’s going to realize it until it’s done.”
Ari’s jaw dropped and he stared at Crag in amazement before he found his voice. “Um, Crag, don’t you remember Henri? The one who was maimed by an angry dragoness? When she found out he had changed her?”
“Oh yeah. I forgot about him.” Crag looked at Ari. “You’re screwed.”
“I know!” Ari stomped around, pacing across the ground. “What am I going to do?”
Crag laughed. “Well, I guess we are going to walk.”
“Grrrr.” Ari growled and stormed into the trees. “Give me a hand. I need to find some wood to make a litter. Hope can’t walk on that leg yet, the muscle damage is too deep.”
Smiling, Crag went to help.
****
Hope sat by the rock, warm from the remnants of the embers of the fire. She looked at where Ari and Crag had disappeared and then down at her pants. Oh she hated sewing. Not that she couldn’t sew, but she didn’t like it. She couldn’t wander around in her shirt, panties and a vest, though. Beside the ease that Ari made her lose her clothes, the wilderness was very unforgiving and her skin was tender.
She picked up the needle and threaded it. Putting it in her mouth, Hope checked the damage to her pants. They had a few slices where the men had cut her pants, but combined with the tears from the dog’s teeth, she wasn’t sure if they were fixable, but she had to try.
Deciding the cuts from the knife were the easiest, Hope put two of the pieces together and started a delicate stitch. With not a lot of extra material, she thought a satin stitch would be the easiest. She didn’t really have to overlap the material at all then. Ari had brought her a spool of thread, so she should have plenty to do the major repairs.
Sighing, Hope started the delicate stitching, it was so monotonous. She was able to let her mind wander, and of course it wandered to Ari. He was so different from the men she knew. He stirred her passions, something she had never really worried or thought about before. Sure, Hope and her cousins had giggled about it, but sex was not something you just went out and did. That had been pounded into all their heads by their family. Having sex was tantamount to declaring marriage. No matter, that was where it always led if you were found out. Most of the time, even if you weren’t discovered, that was where it ended. An awful lot of seven month babies were born, especially after a long hot summer. Almost as many after a long cold winter!
Hope giggled to herself. She understood why, now. When Ari touched her, she practically burst into flames, she got so hot. She sure hoped he wanted to stay with her. None of the men at home made her feel like this. It was almost like she had been made just for Ari.
He was darker than most of the men at home and he had a dangerous feel to him, feral and wild, but in complete control of himself. Just imagining it made Hope shiver.
Checking her progress, Hope continued stitching. Ari made her nervous, but he also made her happy. It seemed like she had known him forever when it really wasn’t so. Maybe the journey home would convince him to stay. Hope twisted the pants, working on another cut. She didn’t want to give him up.
His touch made her burn. A pyre of heat inside her, ready to ignite, called out to him to do the same, a conflagration of passion ready to burn from the inside out. Hope swore she would burst into flame when Ari touched her. For some reason that seemed so natural, but she was afraid it would burn so hot she would be destroyed.
Hope frowned. Ari seemed so carefree, unworried about surviving in such a changed world. Hope thought about that. She wasn’t really sure what that meant. It was something her grandma would always say. Hope’s world never seemed to change. Her world hadn’t changed until she met Ari. Hope’s whole life had been the same monotonous life day after day.
Her grandmother talked about how it had changed. Hope wondered if it really had. She’d seen the rusted-out cars and the spots where places her grandma talked about used to be.
But her grandmother hadn’t even been born when it happened. She repeated everything her grandparents had told to her. Hope wondered if they had even been alive. Even the photographs had faded with time. To Hope, this didn’t seem like such a bad world. She didn’t miss what the older people talked about because she never had it. She was pretty sure it was a better world. The history class had shown how crowded everywhere was, how much in a hurry people were. Families were separated across states. Hope knew her family was around her. Ignacio wasn’t very crowded. No one seemed to grow hungry or not have a place to live, not like in some of the history of the world so long ago.
Hope looked down and finished the stitching on the cuts. She had to figure out what she could patch the holes with. Looking at the pants, Hope decided she could use a pocket. If Ari or Crag had scissors in their pack she could cut patches. Looking up, Hope glanced toward the trees, expecting to see Ari. To her surprise, neither of the men was visible. She spotted their packs but didn’t want to rummage in them. She didn’t think they would be long. Hope leaned back. Her leg was throbbing a bit, but the numbing agent really seemed to work well.
Watching the trees, and enjoying the fact that she wasn’t out trapping or cleaning something, Hope looked around the clearing. The area was beautiful, and she hadn’t seen any predators around. She’d been too busy drowning in Ari. He swamped her senses and all Hope wanted was to be with him.
Hope finished sewing up her pants and waited for Ari.