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With him asleep, I kept busy with the activities I usually did while I was camping. I did yoga and meditation, cleaned up our meal and prepared for the next. I had a little camping routine all worked out. Only this time, I had someone to share it with, which sounded like a vacation, and this was very much not that.
It was a little after noon when Silas woke up the next time. He officially looked more refreshed than I’d ever seen him. Maybe it was the fish. My beast loved the sound of that. Prideful thing that he was, it didn’t surprise me.
He ate his small lunch within the cave before venturing out in the sun. I wished I had better food for him. Fish was great and all, but paired with rice or pasta? That would really make a difference.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” he said.
“That’s great. Your color looks better.” Not perfect, but significantly better than the first time I met him. “I’m glad.”
He snorted. “How can you tell my coloring under all this dirt and grime?”
He wasn’t wrong. Even with me cleaning off his wounds he was visibly dirty. Sleeping on the floor of a cave didn’t help that any.
“It is a warm day. Do you want a bath? The water didn’t feel too terrible while I was fishing,” I offered. Bath was a bit of a stretch. If we had a hot spring I’d take him there, but the river would have to do.
“That would be amazing. You’d have to help me. A lot. I am not very steady on my feet.”
“Of course.” Watching my mate drown wasn’t on my list of things to do today… or ever.
I grabbed a towel, washcloth, and soap and took it out to the rock where I had fished just that morning. When I returned to the cave, Silas stood on his own two feet. He had a long stick, sturdy enough to work as a crutch in one hand.
“Resourceful,” I said.
He laughed. “I think it was in a pile meant to be firewood, but it works.”
Even with the crutch, he wasn’t able to walk on his own. I helped him toward the water and tried to keep a professional face as I removed what was left of his clothes. I tossed them straight into the fire. No way were they worth saving. And since I had new ones waiting for him... good riddance to the old.
Despite my mate telling me about how he was just an accountant who worked behind a desk, he had the muscles to prove otherwise. It might not have been the six-pack abs or bulging biceps like Steelwick’s alphas, but my mate was still a looker. And was he ripped. Yummy.
He hissed when his feet touched the cold water. He’d get used to it quickly. Either that or this would be the world’s fastest bath.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I want to be clean more than I want to be warm.” He shook a little. “Maybe it will be good for me. Like icing my wounds.”
“Maybe. The fire will warm us up quickly, though. And I can always shift to my cougar form and lie with you.” My beast perked up. He was a bazillion percent for that plan.
Silas’s eyes turned hungry at that idea, too. I had to force myself not to look at his cock. My own was twitching to life just being near my mate in his naked state.
Silas leaned forward and brushed a light kiss over my lips. “I have a lot of incentive to want to be clean, mate.”
My breath hitched. “Then let’s make this quick.”
I helped Silas the rest of the way into the water so that he was waist deep. I used the washcloth and soap to clean the grime from his body. It was a delicious torture. I was able to touch him everywhere, but not in the way I totally wanted to.
It wasn’t as quick of a job as I was sure my mate wanted. The dirt was caked on and required a couple rounds of scrubbing. But when all was said and done, he looked squeaky clean, with the exception of his hair. I’d saved it for last, knowing that dunking his head was going to bring his coldness level all the way down.
It took three washes to get his hair free from dirt and leaves. When I was done, he pulled me toward the riverbank. “I think I’m plenty clean, mate. What I need now is to be warmed up.”
I wanted that too, if I was understanding his meaning. “You are still healing,” I said.
He faced me and cupped my cheek in his hand, his face mere inches from mine. “I want to be as close to you as I can, Pol. You are my mate. I am drawn to you like no other. Your scent is what brought me here to safety. We can wait to solidify our mating if that is what you desire. Say the word and I will back off.” He took a fraction of a step back, signaling that he truly would back off with just one word.
I wasn’t worried about that. I trusted him. This man who showed up broken, bruised, and on the run from the enforcer pack I trusted. I believed him and his story without hesitation. And not even for a split second did I believe he wasn’t team enthusiastic consent.
And I wanted him, wanted him so much it was hard to breathe. But just like he didn’t want to push me, I didn’t want to push him. We were both so busy attempting not to be dicks that our own dicks were being ignored. It was time to put a stop to that.
“I don’t want to wait,” I said.
