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Cherry made no answer.
I’d lived in silence for cycles. Never before had I thought that silence might be the death of me.
But I thought so now.
I allowed myself a small, slit-eyed glance her way, not wanting to blind her with my eyes in the dark.
But it seemed there was no chance of that. Cherry’s eyes were closed, the odd, short little hairs of her eyelids resting prettily against the hollows above her cheeks. Her body was slack and still, her breaths shallow puffs.
She was asleep.
I watched her face, illuminated with the silver-white glow of my eyes. I did not dare to blink. That new, tender pain got suddenly sharper. Like a beautiful blade, sliding from my throat to chest. Cutting me open and claiming everything.
I should go.
I had not yet washed or scrubbed my fangs or even taken off my pants. Though removing my pants now was probably a bad idea if I planned to return to the bed to keep Cherry warm. Having a barrier between us, however flimsy, seemed like a good idea. Plus, if I lost control and climaxed (which I felt shamefully close to doing already) then at least I’d only foul up my own trousers and not the bedding I shared with her. I carefully moved the arm not currently claimed by Cherry and fisted my cock with a muffled groan.
Cherry sighed in her sleep, snuggling harder against me. She slung a slender leg across my thigh, her knee coming perilously close to my fisted cock. Heat seeped from the place at the apex of her thighs, and I squeezed my cock even harder, panicking at the fact that I really might ejaculate now. I focused on my laboured breathing, trying desperately not to think of the secret, human place between Cherry’s legs that was now nestled so perfectly against my hip.
Why in the great stretches of the Empire did she need me to warm her, I wondered, when that part of her was so dizzyingly hot?
Tomorrow, I told myself in feverish alarm, I would prepare more lumber for the oven’s stores. There was no way I would be able to suffer through Cherry using me as some sort of heated pillow night after night. My cock would fall off.
But I might be able to get some sleep and survive this marriage if we were just lying beside each other with a little space in between.
At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself as I settled in for a very, very long night.
15
CHERRY
There was some sleepy confusion before I opened my eyes. Because outside of my closed eyelids was a bright, warm light. Nothing like the wimpy sunlight of Terratribe I and certainly not like the artificial lighting of Elora Station. I kept my eyes closed for a long while, just enjoying the bask of it across my face. The gentle heat that poured over me, syrupy sweet.
Heat.
That triggered a memory of last night. Of Silar dutifully slogging back in here with me to warm me up after dark. I could barely remember being here in the bed with him, I’d fallen asleep so fast.
It was almost embarrassing, how quickly I’d passed out on him. But it had been a long, tiring day. I’d finished my trek across the cosmos, gotten married, then taken a multi-hour-long horse ride back here. Now that I thought about it, my ass and legs were pretty tender from the journey.
It was obvious, even without moving or opening my eyes, that Silar was no longer in the bed with me. The heat I was currently experiencing wasn’t the delicious solidity of his body, but something more dispersed and atmospheric. A sudden crackle-pop sound had my eyes flying open and I sat up.
The bedroom door was open, and I could see into the kitchen. A wood fire in the great oven was burning merrily, and there were loads of new lumber piled up on the floor, ready to be used. My heart turned to goo at the thought of Silar getting up early and adding “collect wood for my chilly-willy wife” to his list of morning chores.
Then that goo turned to lead when I realized it was probably because he didn’t want to be responsible for warming me up in bed.
I sighed and wiggled my butt forward out of the bed, stepping into my boots as I stood. My motion knocked something to the floor. Seeing that it was Silar’s wife instruction manual, I blushed and snatched it up. It felt weird to leave it in the bed now that I was sleeping here, so I chucked it into the mostly-empty top drawer in the dresser.
Silar’s hat was gone from the top of the dresser. Mine remained. I’d need it today, if the sun spilling in through the bedroom was anything to go by. I hope his ears are better… I’d have to coax him back into the chair to have a look later.
A quick survey of the kitchen, storage areas, and cellar told me Silar wasn’t in the house, nor was he visible from the porch. Figuring that he was probably out dealing with the animals or mending fences, I set about deciding just what it was that I was going to do today. After catching a whiff of myself, I grimaced and decided that number one on the agenda was figuring out the bath situation.
I tracked down the laundry tub Silar had mentioned, a squat wooden half-barrel that would just barely allow me to sit in there with my knees drawn up to my chest. I placed it in the kitchen as near to the oven as I could, hustled outside for the hose, brought the hose inside and placed it in the tub, then went back out to turn on the tap. I ran to the door to keep my eye on the water, and when the tub seemed like it would be just full enough that I wouldn’t send all the water sloshing out with my body, I turned off the tap and went back in. A quick check of the window above the kitchen sink told me that Silar wasn’t on his way back here to catch me naked in the kitchen, so I stripped out of my pyjamas, panties, and boots, resolving to give the garments a wash in the tub when I was finished bathing.
Even though we were married and had spent the night beside each other in bed, the thought of Silar happening upon me while naked made nerves snatch uncomfortably in my belly. Hastily, I stepped into the water without letting the fire warm it properly. I cawed at the frigid shock of it, then reminded myself that Lake New Nipissing would be much colder as I resolutely sat down and started scrubbing.
I’d only just managed to get the full length of my hair soaked in water, scraping it awkwardly back from my face, when the rapid-fire thunder of heavy boots hitting the porch forced my heart up into my throat. There was no time to get out, no time to hide myself as the back door slammed open and Silar barrelled in.
His eyes were bright white. When they fastened on me, they only got brighter.
