Me.

Well, she did help somewhat, but it was still my fingers on her.

As her eyes open partway, and she looks up at me, I become very aware of my own desire for her between my legs. My fingers stroke over her once more before I bring them back. As I do, I inhale, and the scent of her covers me.

A groan escapes my lips as the scent enters my nostrils and fills my brain. I stare down at my hand and see the wetness from her sex, glistening in the light from the flames of our fire. I bring my fingers closer to my nose, inhale deeply, and then reach out with my tongue to taste her fluids.

Another low groan comes from deep inside my chest. It is almost a growl. I am throbbing with the need for her, and as my groin muscles tighten and shake, every instinct within my head tells me it is time.

I must give her a baby.

Now.

I toss one leg over her thighs and firmly grip her hips. I hear my name-sound and look to her flushed face and wide eyes. I can see her hesitation in the deep blue of her irises, but everything inside of me tells me she is ready—that this must be done without hesitation.

I lift her hips and roll her over in one quick movement, keeping her hips up higher than the rest of her. Beh’s shoulders and chest lay against the soft furs, and her elbows bend to position her hands just beside her head. I wrap my hand around the base of my shaft as I close the distance between my hips and hers. With my knees, I push her thighs farther apart and hear her gasp.

The head of my penis slides between her folds, instantly coating me in the same wetness that covers my fingers. My breath rushes from my lungs at the completely indescribable feeling. When I had touched her here like this before, there had been warmth, but no moisture. I move my hips slightly—just enough to run the head over that little spot at the top of her sex, and I hear Beh whimper beneath me.

Her hands grip the edge of the fur beneath her.

The sight of her below me—the curve of her backside as it flows and dips to her waist, the arch of her spine as my fingers run up the edge of it, and her soft, flowing hair as it hangs around her neck and shoulders—is far more than I can resist.

I glide my hand up and pull back on the foreskin, exposing the thick head at the end of my shaft. It sparkles in the firelight with the moisture from her body combined with my own pre-ejaculate. I slide through her folds once more as Beh’s shoulders move with her rapid breaths. Her hips move slightly, enough to push back against me.

It is then I position myself at her opening and slowly begin to push.

CHAPTER TWELVE

So, so warm.

And wet.

Even right at the very entrance to my mate’s body.

When my hips first tilt forward, nothing happens. The end of my member doesn’t fit inside of her narrow opening, and a lump rises into my throat as a terrible thought enters into my head.

What if I don’t fit inside her?

After all this time of waiting for her to want me, what will I do if I am unable to mate with Beh?

I take a calming breath and assure myself I will fit inside of her. Women are supposed to stretch there so babies can be put inside and come back out when they’re ready. If something the size of a baby can come out, surely my penis can go in.

It’s big, but it’s not that big!

Deciding I just need to try again, I grip myself a little harder with my fingers up closer to the tip and push again. I feel slight pressure around the head of my penis as it stretches her opening before her body suddenly gives way, and I slide partway inside of her. I hear Beh’s muffled cry against the furs, and I pause.

I run my hand up the center of her back until I reach her neck. I can feel the sweat collecting there, and the motion of her hurried breaths is more evident under my palm. She makes whispered sounds through her sharp breaths, and I cringe as I wait to hear her no sound.

She doesn’t make that horrid noise, and as I feel the tight muscles of her back and shoulders begin to relax around me, I also feel her push back with her hips again. With my eyes locked on the place where we are joined together, I sink further into her with a groan.

I feel tears come to my eyes as I realize I’m finally there, finally inside of her, if only partway. We are joined together as if we are one person now instead of two, and nothing I have ever felt compares to being connected to her.

Rising higher up on my knees, I run my hands over the warm skin of her back, sides, and waist. I grip her firmly and use her hips as leverage as I pull back and thrust forward. A long moan tears from my chest as I feel myself push totally into her, and my length is entirely encompassed by my mate’s tight channel.

For a moment, I can’t move. I’m too overwhelmed by the physical feeling of being inside of her. I have never felt such a feeling before, and it is nothing like it had felt with either my own hand or hers.

Warm.

Wet.

Snug.

Though tight, the sensation is strangely comfortable, and the urge to move is not quite as powerful as it was before. I could stay right where I am without moving for days upon days, possibly seasons. The feeling is brief, and a moment later, the urge to thrust returns with more fervor, and I can’t help but move. The instinct to drive into her is too dominant to be ignored. I pull away from her heat and then push us back together slowly. I do it again—pulling out no more than halfway before sliding back home, my penis nestled deeply within her body.

Beh cries out each time I thrust forward, and the sound distracts me somewhat from the feeling of her muscles tightening around my penis as I push inside of her, retract, and push again. One of her hands grips into a tight fist, capturing part of the fur beneath her, and the other flails out beside her as she reaches back toward where we are connected.

Remembering what she did before, I run my hand around from her hip and cover her fingers as she touches the spot right above where my body enters hers. I don’t try to guide her motions as she had mine, but just lay my first two fingers over the top of hers. When her fingers flex, mine move in tandem, adding to the pressure against her sensitive spot and trying to memorize exactly what she does.

I want to do it to her again later.

As she sets her own rhythm, I match it with gentle thrusts inside of her—slowly pulling back and pushing forward until my body is flush with hers. She rocks back on her knees, meeting my movements as we grind slowly together.

The sight of my long, hard shaft being engulfed by her body is magnificent. Just watching it move in and out of her makes my whole body tense with anticipation of coming inside of her. Having her hand bring about my climax was amazing but nothing like the feeling of moving in and out of her.

Starting with a low moan, Beh’s breaths speed up along with her fingers. Trying to match her desire, I thrust deeper, harder, and faster into her. The increased friction of the faster movement, coupled with Beh’s cry of my name-sound, bring me to the brink of what little control I have over my body’s response to her. My eyes close as the tension begins to build in my abdomen and thighs, and my hand abandons hers to again grip her hip. With both hands, I pull her against me as I shove forward, grunting with the effort of every stroke.

My mate’s cries diminish as she nearly collapses into the furs, and I hold her tighter to keep her from falling away from me as my pace increases again. I can feel her slick internal walls clenching my shaft as it further opens her body to receive the seed I will give her.

The seed to start a child growing inside of her.

As memories of violent storms rush through my head, I can almost hear the crash of thunder and feel the charge from the lightning as the sensations from the pit of my stomach and groin converge, join, and explode outward. The sound from my throat is nothing less than a shout of triumph as my head tilts back to the ceiling of the cave, and my semen rushes out of my body and into my mate’s womb—the potential for a new life actualized.

The short, panting breaths from my mouth and the crackle of the fire join with the echoes of my scream and reverberate throughout the cave. With my fluids coating her insides, I slide easily back and forth a few more times before I push deep inside again. As I lean forward to bring my chest against her back, I feel the few remaining throbs from my shaft inject her fully; making sure everything I have given her finds its place inside her body.

Holding myself inside of her as deeply as I can, my arms wrap around her and clutch her tightly against my chest. I breathe heavily through my nose as I press my forehead against her shoulder. I can hear Beh breathing hard, too, and I feel her legs shaking against mine.

I pull back a little and roll us both to our sides, still holding her body against mine. I try to keep the correct angle to stay inside of her, but my softened penis slips out anyway. My warm breath covers her bare shoulder as I lay the side of my face on the back of her neck. I try to breathe deeply, but it takes some time before I can calm myself.

Her scent is slightly different now than it was before I mated with her. It is muskier, darker, and stronger than before. It makes me feel slightly dizzy to inhale the smell, and I wish I wasn’t so worn out. The scent makes me want her again, but I can barely move.

A sense of extreme satisfaction comes over me, both physically and mentally. I have completed mating with Beh, and now I will give her a baby.

Beh’s hands grip my forearm around her middle, and she pushes her back closer to my chest. One arm rises and wraps around my neck as she turns her head toward me. Her cheek is reddened, and I think it may be from the furs rubbing against her face as I thrust into her. I touch the red spot gently with my thumb, and Beh closes her eyes. I lay my forehead against her shoulder and close my eyes as well. With a deep breath, I feel my body relax with hers.

“Ehd?”

My eyes open only a moment later to find Beh staring at me over her shoulder. There is a strange smile on her face as her hand strokes over my jaw. Her sounds are hushed as she utters them, her eyes intent on mine as she does. She repeats the same sounds, and though there is wetness in the corners of her eyes again, she does not appear upset.

“Khzz, Beh?”

Her smile widens and she leans in to press her lips to mine. It is only a soft touch and brief, but her eyes stay on mine as we part, and the same sounds come from her mouth again, and I tilt my head to the side, listening to the three short sounds she utters in a row. She reaches up to the space between my eyes and rubs against the spot between my brows. My eyes close a little as she runs her fingertip over my temple and across my jaw.

My mate starts to move, and at first I dig my fingers into her hip to hold her in place, but Beh wriggles and rolls around in my arms until she is facing me. I loosen my grip just long enough to let her reposition herself before I hold her against my chest again.

Beh’s hand moves down from my cheek to my chest, and I can feel my pulse against her slim fingers. She presses the flat of her hand directly over my heart and looks back to my eyes. In the darkness of the cave, there is a light inside her eyes that makes my heart beat faster. I know the emotions I see there are also reflected in my own gaze though I have never felt this way before. Beh softly repeats the same three sounds, followed by my name-sound.

“Beh…” I pull her close and run the end of my nose over hers. Beh takes a long, deep breath before she settles her head right next to where her hand is splayed across my chest and closes her eyes.

I know the heart beating below Beh’s palm belongs to her.

I can’t stop smiling.

Beh’s eyes are closed, but her fingers are making gentle circles through the sparse hair on my chest. Our breathing is finally back to a normal level, and though I can still feel my heart beating underneath her touch, it is not as frantic as it was. My muscles are relaxed, and I feel euphoric.

I run my hand through Beh’s hair, which is sweaty and tangled now, but makes her seem all the more beautiful because I’m the one who made her hair sweaty and tangled. I wonder if I should bring her the wood carving so she can pull the tangles out again.

Beh likes to have her hair smooth before she goes to sleep even though it’s all messed up again by morning. I touch my nose to her temple and decide to get it for her. Turning us both to the side, I lay Beh gently against the fur and touch the backs of my knuckles over her cheek.

I want her to know I will care for her.

Always.

Just to make the point, I climb out of the furs, shivering a little in the cold air, and tend to some of the things I should have done before taking my mate. I rebuild and bank the fire, make sure all the drying meat is turned over, and check the outside of the cave to verify there is nothing about that might be dangerous to her.

Cold wind comes from the north, and I run my hands up and down my arms as I quickly relieve myself into the ravine. There is a bright half-moon and many twinkling stars to show my way in the cold night, and I can see the shimmer of the light off my skin. When I’m finished, I see a dark smear of dried blood on my penis.

There is no pain, and I know I’m not injured. I feel fantastic except for the sudden sinking feeling in my stomach as I realize the blood is definitely not mine, and there is only one other place it could have originated.

There isn’t much blood, but I know immediately that I must have hurt Beh when I put my penis inside of her. I remember when she cried out at first, but she didn’t tell me to stop. I thought she had felt like I had and had cried out from the intensity of our joining. It never occurred to me that she might have felt pain.

I was careful and gentle. It should not have hurt her.

Clearly, it did.

Panicked, I rush back into the cave, crying out for her. Beh sits up straight in the furs and looks at me with her eyes wide. She makes a lot of sounds, which get louder as I reach for her legs and pull them apart. She tries to shove my hands away at first, but I need to know how badly she is injured. In the dim firelight, I can’t see any blood on her.

With a yell, Beh pushes my hands from her knees. When I look at her face, she stares at me with her brows knitted together and makes more noise. She doesn’t appear to be hurt at all. Her mouth-noises are soft and don’t include the no sound, and her face isn’t angry-looking.