Page 134 of Moonless

His hand goes back under my thigh where it belongs, and he starts climbing again.

He stops once more where the ground gets steep, with his forehead down on my shoulder, and that one isn’t even my fault. I’m only holding him. I tell him so, and he tells me to stop breathing on his ear.

The hanging growth comes into sight above us, and he stops on his own.

“It’s narrow in there.”

“I know. I’ve been through it.”

“Kestria. Your hand.”

Hmph. I give him one last slow pull, root to tip, so he doesn’t forget where we were. Then I tuck him back behind his belt and let go of his neck long enough to knot the cord, since he’s got me. He holds still for it with his ears flat and his eyes on the rock above my head. The strip of shirt’s still in his waistband, and I pat it flat.

“There. Decent.”

“One of us is.”

I lift a hanging branch clear of his face, and he turns sideways through the gap behind it. I tuck my knees in tight as we pass the edge of the slab.

He ducks through the bends with my face against his neck, and then we’re in by the hearth.

He goes straight to the furs on my pallet and lowers himself onto the edge with me still in his lap.

“You can stop holding on now.”

I loosen my ankles and slide my feet to the floor. One wet wrap leaves a dark mark on the stone.

“So can you.”

He looks at his hands, still spread beneath my thighs, then back at me.

I kiss him once and reach down for the knot at my ankle. My back pulls, so I sit up again with a hiss. I can’t even reach my own feet.

“Here.” He lifts my foot onto his knee.

I hold the loose leather while he works the knot with his blunt fingertips. The wrap comes away gritty and cold. Ugh. We get the other one off without me having to bend, and he puts them on the floor beside the pallet.

I pull the knife out of my belt, case and all, and put it down by them. Then I take the scrap of shirt out of his waistband and drop it on top.

“You can mend that later.”

“You’ve torn it across the weave.”

“Use the sleeves. I keep having to roll them up anyway.”

His laugh is quiet this time, and I touch the fur beside his ear. He turns his head under my hand until I can see his face.

I shift on his lap, and his arm comes up behind my back.

“Tell me where it hurts.”

“I will. You too.”

He nods, watching me. I put my hand behind his neck and pull him down to kiss me.

He kisses me slowly at first, the same as he did in the needles, and I put up with it for as long as I can stand. Then I get my hand in his neck fur and pull, and he stops being careful with his mouth. His tongue slides against mine between the fangs. I know where they are by now, and I lick along one on purpose to feel him shudder.

He gets my belt open with the blunt fingers, and his shirt falls loose around me. I try to drag it over my head one-armed and get stuck with my bad shoulder halfway out, which isn’t how I pictured this going.