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I nod, liking this idea. I trace one of the patterns. “This part means that you are mine.”
“Does it now?”
“Yes.” I graze my finger over one of the other parts, keeping my touch light, teasing, loving the way her breath hitches, her body arching closer to mine. “And this part says that you have the best thighs of any female in the village.”
She laughs, and my heartspace thrills to hear it. She has chuckled before, made amused huffing sounds, but a full-throated laugh like this one? This is her first.
The first of many, I vow.
“You are such a flatterer.”
“I told you, linasha, I am no liar.”
“I know. Otherwise you would have said we definitely don’t need to get up.”
She pushes herself up, resting her arms against my chest as she looks down at me.
“Much as I would love to stay here and… indulge, we need to tell the rest of your tribe what we know.”
“We do,” I say, my heartspace full of heaviness once more at the thought.
“I’m glad I remembered,” my Brooks says. “Even though part of me would really rather not have. I’m glad I can shed some light on what Mercenia was doing here. I know it won’t be easy for your tribe to hear, but better that they know, I think.”
“I think this also.”
“Doesn’t make the thought of telling them sit any easier, does it?”
“No. I am thinking of little Jassal, and how much it will frighten her mother.”
“Yeah.” My Brooks grimaces, but then the determination I so admire in her comes back into her expression. “One, tell them everything I know. Two, wake that scientist and make her tell us everything she knows. Three, make a plan to defend the tribe so cunning and clever that Mercenia wouldn’t even dream of showing their faces here ever again.”
“I like this,” I say, grinning. “I like this very much.”
* * *
We sneak wrapped in furs down to the cleansing room, even though my linasha had only just cleaned moments before our joining in the dreamspace. To wash the scent of her off my skin feels strangely wrong, but we are sticky and sweaty, and perhaps do not need the distraction of this when we have so much that we need to share with my tribe.
Our tribe. It is our tribe now.
My Brooks laughs as I turn my nose up at the stinky substance the humans use to clean, preferring just to rinse myself with the hot water. She scrubs herself quickly, drying herself off before pulling her clothes back on. I prefer her without them, but through even her thick, baggy bottoms, I can detect the curve of her backside, the smooth skin of her legs. It is almost enough to make me take them off her once more, but I refrain, sating my desires with a quick kiss and a squeeze. I feel my Brooks smiling against my mouth, and though she did not want such obvious physical attentions from those human males who only communicated their interest that way, it is clear that she enjoys it from me. I will be sure to touch her often, so that she never doubts the nature of my affection.
But I will be sure to make certain she knows that my appreciation of her runs so much deeper than the physical pleasures we can share in.
Starting with supporting her as she tells her tale to Liv and Gregar.
They arrive as night falls, the males weary after long days of running to get here as soon as possible. Shemza is ready with djenti berry tonic to quench their thirsts and relieve their aches. Jaskry carries both Sally and little Marsal, setting down his linasha gently as she cradles her youngling in a swaddle against her chest. Liv’s belly grows rounder and fuller every time I see her, the youngling she grows halfway to its birthing now. Gregar fusses around her for a long moment before accepting the waterskin Shemza holds out to him, caressing the swell of her stomach and checking multiple times that she is okay, while Liv shakes her head at him, but smiles, delighted by his over the top affections all the same. Also come are Olfran and Larzon. Warriors, both, brought to help protect the females and younglings, no doubt. And last of all, my own brother, Rardek, who carries little Lorna in his arms. He sets her down, ensuring she is steady on her feet, before releasing her to her mate, who has been separate from her for less than half a day, but hugs her tight to him as though it has been many sunsets.
Rardek comes to greet me, gripping my shoulder and pressing his forehead to mine.
“I hear there is someone you must introduce me to,” he says, grinning broadly. “I am most eager to meet your linasha, brother.” A mischievous twinkle comes into his eyes. “And I trust she is most eager to meet me.”
“I fear I cannot recall if I have even mentioned you,” I admit.
Rardek laughs, as I knew he would, then grips my shoulder again. “Well, I need know nothing of her to know that she has been good for you. These shoulders have finally shed the weight they have been carrying all these sunsets.”
I usher my Brooks forward, putting an arm about her as all the pride I feel to call her mine fills my chest and face. I see Rardek’s eyes widen, and though I know my brother well enough to know it is in admiration, I fear that my Brooks will see other meanings in his expression.
“She has been told many times by her tribe back home that she is not beautiful or desirable,” I say to him, my words coming out soft and pained on her behalf. “So be careful, brother.”
