“Gosh, you know what? I think I’m going to go see what’s up ahead on that rise,” Liz says, sliding out of my grasp.
“You should stay close,” Vaza adds with a frown. “Humans are fragile—”
“And this one’s about to puke.” She smiles tightly at both of us. “Baby stuff, you know.”
She walks away and makes a face behind his back and a throat cutting motion. I know what that means—end the conversation.
Vaza just gives me a knowing look. “Fragile.”
“Yes, well, we cannot stay to talk for long,” I begin lamely.
“Because you wish to spend an early evening with your mate?” He grins, utterly pleased. “I understand this. It is a wonderful feeling, a fresh resonance and an eager mate.” He leans in close. “Do you need…advice?”
“Advice?”
“On how to please a mate? I have much experience in the furs. I can share what I know.” He taps his chest. “This elder has seen much in his day.”
Oh. I hesitate, because I am not sure if Vaza is the one I wish to ask for such things. Yet, he is here, and he is offering, and more than anything, I want to make my Liz wild with need. “I want to surprise her,” I admit, thinking of the bow lessons she has promised to give me. “To do something special, just for her.”
“Ahhh.” He rubs his hands again and looks thrilled. “I know how to do that.”
“You do?”
“Yes. You surprise them in the furs. Do things they do not expect.” He leans in close, grinning. “A finger in the hole, a bit of tail play, that sort of thing.”
“Finger in the hole?” I echo. “Which hole?”
“The last one.”
I stare at him in surprise. “They like that?”
Vaza shrugs. “I do.”
Is this an entirely different area I have not even considered, then? I think of my Liz and how she put her mouth all over my cock in ways that stunned me. Before she did that, it did not occur to me that females would do such things to their males. It stands to reason that perhaps she would like a finger in her back hole. “I will think on this.”
He claps my shoulder. “Trust me. Your mate will be beside herself with excitement.”
Perhaps so. I grunt acknowledgement, but even as I mull Vaza’s advice, I feel…terrible. Are there entire areas of my mate I have not pleasured simply because it did not occur to me?
Am I…lacking as a partner?
The thought is hard to stomach.
7
LIZ
The cave we stop at that evening is in a lovely little valley with a sea of sashrem trees nearby and a burbling hot stream not too far away. It’s perfect. The cave is large and full of supplies, and while it doesn’t have the hot tub that the other one did, it’s comfortable.
“We could stay here for a few days,” I tell Raahosh excitedly. “Maybe start your bow lessons?”
He grunts and picks up a few fallen tree branches to use as firewood, not commenting. He’s been like this all afternoon, and at first I just thought it was him and his usual taciturn self, but whenever I ask him questions, I get monosyllabic responses or no response at all, and that’s wearing thin.
I put my hands on my hips and study him as he picks up another branch and shakes the snow off. “Did something crawl up your ass?”
Raahosh looks surprised and turns as if looking at the back of his pants. His tail flicks over his backside. “No…?”
“I meant that you’re in a bad mood. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing.”
His answer makes me grit my teeth in frustration. Aren’t we too early in our relationship for this passive-aggressive bullshit? It’s not like Raahosh. If he’s unhappy with something, he’s quick to let me know it. He wouldn’t just stew on it to force me to pry it out of him. Therefore…it must be something that’s truly bothering him that he doesn’t want to share. “I can tell it’s something.” I move forward and lightly stroke his arm. “We’re mates, aren’t we? You need to talk to me. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Raahosh doesn’t look me in the eye. He doesn’t pull away, either, and after a long moment, he admits, “I am…thinking of pleasuring you.” The base of his horns flushes a deep blue.
He’s thinking about sex? Aww. Why does that make my insides all gooey and warm? “Nothing wrong with that,” I tease, leaning forward and lightly nipping at his bare bicep with my teeth. “I think about it a lot, too. So when do we stop for the evening so we can turn our thoughts into deeds?”
The look he gives me is full of a mixture of emotions—relief that I’m not teasing him, need, and amusement. “Whenever you like.”
“I vote the next cave we run across is our evening stop. I don’t care how early it is. We need our strength for our honeymoon.” And I give him the least subtle wink ever.