There was a significant amount of cooked meat left at the end of their meal, which Heydar collected and buried in a wrap of thick leaves from a short but wide plant growing nearby, sealing it all up in a tidy bundle.
He licked his lips and fingers, sucking the remnants of tasty fat from them with his forked tongue. Darla watched, enthralled, as his split tongue did its work, cleaning his flexible digits.
“I will dispose of the rest far from our campsite,” he said, standing up and gathering the bones.
She couldn’t help but notice the bulge swinging against his thigh, barely hidden by his trousers, the outline of his girth clear through the fabric. Fed and rested, that flare of heat in her belly was returning, and with a vengeance.
Don’t go there, Dar, she chided herself. He may not be as bad as you thought, but he’s still a prick. Okay, a prick with a rather impressive one. No! Bad, me! Bad! What is wrong with me? I swear, ever since he put that pigment stuff in me, I’ve been hornier than ever. Not cool.
Heydar trotted off with his bundle as Darla’s dirty thoughts fought hard against being forced from her head. She was still thinking back to seeing him nude in the bathing pool, especially his impressive cock, when he abruptly returned. She fought back a blush, glad it was getting dark out.
He gave the campsite a quick once over, nodding his satisfaction. He had also taken the remaining bundle of uncooked meat and stashed it somewhere safe, far away from their location and out of reach of animals, but two of the pelts the meat had been wrapped in remained.
There was only so much they could realistically eat before it went and spoiled on them, and he had been planning on hunting along the way anyway. Carrying all that meat would slow their pace, and it would possibly go bad, so the remainder had been left behind, a free meal for other creatures lucky enough to stumble upon it.
Eat what you kill was a rule Heydar lived by. No waste and respect for the hunt. But that had been a case of self-defense, and the rules were different in those circumstances.
“Come. It will be fully dark soon,” he said, carefully extinguishing the fire. “The rocks will radiate heat for a while, but it will become colder. Here, this will help keep you warm.”
She felt a tingle of anticipation as he moved close. One that was quickly quashed when he wrapped one of the dead animals’ skins around her. At least it was furry side in. And he had done a good job of cleaning off any remaining nastiness from the other side. Regardless, the Four Seasons this was not.
“Oh, this is so gross,” she said, already looking forward to washing in the stream they had seen from their vantage point high above.
“It will retain your warmth through the night,” he said, lying down beside her. “Unfortunately, we are more exposed here. I had hoped to find a cavern to shelter in, but no such luck.”
He was close to her but not touching. Regardless, she could feel his intense alien heat radiating from his body. She curled up under the skins, little spoon to his big one, absorbing his warmth through her back as she drifted off to sleep, wondering what the new day would bring.
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CHAPTER NINETEEN
Darla woke with the sun. She’d never really been a morning person of the up-at-sunrise variety, but here, out in the open instead of a house, things were different. On top of that, having fallen into nature’s sleep rhythm of down when it’s dark and up when it’s light, she’d found the early wakeup perfectly natural. In fact, she even felt rested, despite the lingering aches in her body from the prior day’s exertion.
She shifted, realizing Heydar had moved closer to her in the night. He felt warm, but not the usual blast furnace hot that seemed to be his normal state. She realized why when she turned to look at him.
A thin layer of frost had coated the pelt covering her along with the ground and plants. Heydar’s fur, however, was unfrozen. It seemed his natural body heat had been the one thing keeping it that way, and Darla was glad he’d given her some of his warmth as she slept.
Even so, it was definitely cold out. Colder than she’d expected given the prior day’s trek in the sun.
Heydar’s violet eyes opened, sensing her movement, and waking quickly but without alarm. He stared at her a long moment, then stretched and rolled out from under the furs. Standing tall, he again stretched, his muscles clearly visible through his clothing as he put them through a series of poses, finally finishing with a satisfied roll of the shoulders.
He turned to his companion, a look of relaxed calm on his face. “Come, little one. We should begin our day.”
“It’s freaking cold out,” she protested.
“Yes, as I had said it would be. Once you start moving your body will warm quickly, and this is our opportunity to cover some ground before the day’s heat replaces the chill.”
She knew he was right, but getting out from under the fur was as hard as any lazy Sunday in winter. Reluctantly, she forced herself out into the cold air. Darla hesitated a moment, then did nearly the same series of stretches and mobility poses as Heydar had done. Interestingly, she really did feel warmer, but also something else.
“Your runes are taking hold amazingly fast,” he said, watching with curiosity. “The movements you just performed are specifically linked to the pigment in your system, activating it all to start the day and put your body in a comfortable state of equilibrium.”
“You mean these stretches make the aches go away? Like, more than regular yoga stuff? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“It is nothing quite like that,” he said with a chuckle. “But they do drive power to your limbs and force your blood and core energy to flow unobstructed.”
She gauged her body, feeling more in tune with it than normal. Or maybe this was going to be the new normal. Time would tell.
“I am feeling pretty good, yeah.”
“Good. Then you will be better braced for a wash in the stream ahead on our trek. Gather your things. We leave immediately.”
So much for a relaxed start to the day, she grumbled to herself, shoving the few items she had taken out back into her pack and slinging it over her shoulder.
The trek downhill moved quickly. This was a different bit of terrain from what they’d dealt with the prior day and the craggy rocks and steep drop-offs required a bit more care than before. Darla’s legs felt good, but her quads still burned from the effort. This time, however, it was in a good way.
Her footing felt more secure as well, and her ankles did not seem to be at any risk of twisting despite their speed. Whatever the runes were doing, the difference was becoming more noticeable.
The stream running at the base of the hill was relatively small, but the water flowed clear and smelled fresh to her enhanced senses. The vegetation was dense and lush, the burgundy leaves and deep green stems growing strong closest to the life-giving liquid. She crouched down and took a sip. Delicious.
“Hey, do you think—” she began to ask, turning toward her companion.
Heydar was already stripping off his clothes, his rippling muscles gleaming with a fine layer of sweat from the descent, every inch of him pumped from the effort. Darla felt her breath catch in her throat when he whipped off his trousers, tossing them on the dry shore, and strode into the water.
He was even more beautiful than her mind’s eye had remembered. And watching him vigorously rub all of his body in the crisp water, she couldn’t help but feel a fire blossom between her legs.
None of that. This is just a practical bath, here. Just scrub off the sweat, and grime, and whatever nastiness was on those pelts, she reminded herself, then quickly shed her clothing as well, stepping into the flowing current.