Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I chew on the inside of my cheek as I consider her words. She’s not wrong. There’s a ferocity to Hassen, an almost brutal eagerness. He held me down on the furs and plowed into me like the world was ending around his ears and he had to get his rocks off right then and there. And as he held my hips, there was a wild possessiveness in his eyes, and so much damn satisfaction. Like half of him getting off was entirely due to the fact that he was possessing me. And not just any chick. Me.
A little shiver moves through me. Okay, for all that it’s not smart to toy with a guy that wants to be mates after one romp in the furs, he was hot as hell to play with. “Hassen doesn’t know me very well,” I tell Asha. “If he wants more, he’s going to have to let me call the shots, not him.”
She just shrugs her shoulders as if to say ‘whatever’ and lies back down in bed, amused.
Hassen avoids me for the rest of the day. Which, okay, isn’t exactly hard given that I’m hanging around the cave and he’s out in the wild, being an exile and doing exile stuff. He doesn’t come around, and I’m pretty sure he’s avoiding me.
His absence does mean that I spend most of the day hanging around Stacy, Josie, and a few of the other women. They’re all nursing and baby-crazy, (except for Josie, who’s just pregnant and baby-crazy) so I feel like an outsider, even though I know they’re doing their best to include me. I don’t belong with the Baby Bunch, and after a few hours of talk about milk production and the best way to keep a baby’s tail clean, I’m starting to wonder if I should go hide in the cave with Asha.
I’m bummed that I didn’t get to go on hunting lessons with Hassen. Did I fuck everything up by having sex with him?
The next day, I decide to get one of the spears from the storage cave and go out and find him. If he won’t bring the lessons to me, I’ll go to him.
I sneak out—like the terrible person that I am—shortly after breakfast, when the fire pit is empty and the girls are putting their babies down for mid-morning naps. Hemalo and one of the elders are working in the main cave on a large leather hide, but they aren’t looking in my direction, their backs to me. I grab the spear I hid near the door and race out, hauling my cloak and snowshoes along with me as I go. I’ll dress properly for the elements once I’m out of sight of the cave itself.
Of course, once I’m out of sight of the cave, I’m greeted with nothing but endless snow. The area that the main tribal cave is in is relatively flat, and behind me there’s nothing but steep cliff walls. Ahead of me, it’s rolling hills of white dotted with some pink trees that flutter here and there. In the distance, I can see cliffs, and even farther away than that, the hint of mountains. The day is clear and cold, and the two weak suns are doing their best to give off some decent sunlight, but it’s still not enough to warm the place up. I trudge over a nearby rise, slogging through the snow, and when I’m far enough away that I don’t think anyone’s going to race after me and drag me back to the cave, I stop to put on my snowshoes and wrap an over-cloak around my body.
And then I walk. The last time I went out to try and hunt, Hassen bitched at me about following footprints, so I’m going to do as I’m told. I find fresh tracks leading away from the home caves and figure they have to belong to one of the hunters. Using my spear as a ski-pole, I trudge along, looking for Hassen.
Or another hunter.
Or animals, I guess, since I’m out hunting.
Of course, the farther I get away from the cave, the more open and vulnerable I feel. Last time I ventured out, it wasn’t like this. Last time when I set out, I hadn’t been attacked by a metlak and one of those ugly, skinny cat-things, though. I remember them and the fear and anger on Hassen’s face when he realized I was out. That’s when I figured I was in danger. Now, I watch the snow, worrying that there are hidden dangers I’m not seeing behind every fluffy white hill.
I’ve been gone for maybe an hour when a large figure appears in the distance and starts stalking toward me, distinctive black hair fluttering over blue shoulders. Twin spears are crossed over his back. Yeah, I know that guy. It’s Hassen, and he looks pissed.