AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once he’s done washing himself, he turns to me. I sit on the heap of furs that make up the “nest” of the bed, and he reverently pulls my boots off, rubbing my feet as he does. I close my eyes and groan, because all of this tender affection is absolutely what I needed right now. I love his touch, and the soothing sound of his voice as he tells me about M’tok and his mate C’lie, and how they’re both hot-headed and stubborn, but M’tok is also meticulous and neat. Once my feet are taken care of, he runs his hands up my legs, brushing off stray specks of sand, and then helps me remove the layers of crudely tacked together furs that make up my “skirt.”
“You did very well with this,” he murmurs. “It stayed up and it kept you warm. You are so clever, my R’slind.”
“It was just…it made sense.” His praise feels silly, especially after I’ve seen some of the ornate tunics the other women are wearing. One gal even had a hood attached to her tunic with what looked like pink fur around the edges of the hood. It was downright adorable.
“Your sense saved us from the cold and enabled the ancestors to travel,” he says, his voice warm with pride. “Think of how long it would have taken us if we did not have clothes for them.”
“You would have figured something out.”
He sits me up, tugging me into his arms, and then pulls the furs off of my upper body. “But I did not need to, because I had my clever, beautiful mate with me.”
So much flattery, and most of it undeserved. He’s had to carry my ass halfway across the mountains, but he thinks me putting a few stitches into furs is some sort of revelation? “You’re too kind.”
“I am not. I have never had a partner before,” he admits. “Those in my clan do not work for the common good. M’tok is sly and does as he pleases. T’chai is strong and reliable, but he is not a leader. S’bren is…well, he is S’bren. To have a partner I can think with, to share ideas with…it fills me with joy.”
He smiles at me as if this is all he’s ever wanted, and he’s so handsome and affectionate that I wonder what’s wrong with the women here that they weren’t climbing him the moment he opened his mouth.
Insanity. Sheer insanity. The perfect man has been right under their noses all this time and no one realized it.
“Can we kiss now?” I ask him, my voice soft. “Because I really want to kiss you right now.”
“First I must wash you. You will feel better once you are clean, I promise.” He smiles at me. “It has been a long hike and I know what it is like to climb into the furs while sweaty. Clean will make you feel good.”
He’s still trying to bring my mood up. Sweet man. The aching rush of affection I feel for him is tinged with guilt. “I’m sorry I’m not handling this well.”
R’jaal shakes his head. “Do not apologize. You have learned things today that frighten you. You are allowed to be upset.”
“But I feel so weird. Like when I see the others, why aren’t they upset like I am? Why are they so calm? I keep thinking I’m the weirdo because I’m the only one panicking.”
His expression grows intense and he gets the damp cloth and drags it over my arms, washing me now that I’m naked. “Put that thought out of your head, R’slind. You are allowed to feel how you feel. I would never tell you any different. So many times, others would say to me that I should not be sad when I did not resonate, because my time would come. And while they were right, it did not change the fact that I was sad in that moment. That I felt lonely. All it did was make me resentful of them for not understanding. And so your mate is here to tell you that I understand you, and that I will support you in your sadness. You tell me what you need and it will be yours.”
And he boops me on the nose with the wet washcloth, as if to punctuate his statement with a period.
It’s the most absurd and adorable thing, and it makes me feel better. I chuckle despite myself. “I’m really not trying to be high-maintenance, you know.”
He pauses, digesting my words, then gives a helpless shrug. “I do not know what that means.”
“I’m not trying to be demanding and emotional,” I explain. “I really wanted to be strong and capable when we got here, just like Tia.”
R’jaal is silent, washing my other arm. His shoulders shake, and I stare at him in surprise. Is he…laughing?
