Relentless Read Free Page B

we should take advantage of our present situation first.”
    Rave smiled. “What exactly do you have in mind, wife?”
    Leesa wrapped her arms around Rave’s back and drew his naked body against hers.
    “I’m sure you’ll think of something, big boy,” she said, then pressed her mouth to his.

 
     
    4. GOOD NEWS
     
    LEESA AND RAVE WASHED AWAY the sweat from their morning interlude in the chill water of the nearby stream. Rave kept a hand on Leesa’s shoulder the whole time, sending heat into her body so she never felt the cold. When they were done, he stepped up onto the bank and pulled Leesa up after him. By the time she had planted her two feet on dry ground, Rave’s inner fire had already dried him completely.
    Leesa had grown proficient enough with her heat spell to be able to dry herself, but where was the fun in that? She much preferred to have Rave do it for her by running his hands all over her dripping skin, which was exactly what he did. By the time he was finished, Leesa’s body was so excited again that it was all she could do to refrain from starting up another round of lovemaking. That cycle—make love, bathe, have Rave dry her, make love again—could happily go on all day, she knew, and in any other circumstance that’s exactly what she would have done. But she was eager to find out what Balin might have to say about a volkaane/human pregnancy. She reluctantly forced down her ardor and began donning her clothes. Rave smiled at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and then did the same.
    “Would you like a ride down the hill?” Rave asked when they were dressed. “Or would you prefer to hike down?” He grinned. “I hear that pregnant humans are supposed to get lots of exercise.”
    Leesa smiled back. “We are, that’s true. But I’ve already had quite a bit of exercise this morning, if you’ll recall. So I think I’ll take a ride. You wouldn’t want me to slip and fall in my delicate condition, would you?”
    Rave laughed. After the things he had seen Leesa do, it was difficult to think of her as delicate in any way. And she definitely had already gotten some vigorous exercise this morning. He smiled at the memory.
    “Heavens no,” he replied. “We certainly can’t have you slipping or falling.”
    He held out his arms and Leesa hopped up into them. Rave kissed her forehead and then sped down the steep hillside as if it were level ground, never missing a single step. In less than five minutes, they had reached the wide dirt pathway that wound through the volkaane settlement.
    “I guess I can walk from here,” Leesa said. “It’ll do me good to stretch out my legs.”
    Rave lowered her to the ground. They strolled hand in hand toward Balin’s cabin, which was still nearly half a mile away.
    It was a beautiful morning for a walk. The sky was a cloudless blue and the temperature hovered in the high 60’s. The trees in the huge apple orchard that flanked one side of the pathway were heavy with ripe red apples. Rave stopped and pulled two down from a low hanging branch.
    “Breakfast,” he said as he handed one of the plump fruits to Leesa.
    The apple crunched as Leesa bit into it. She loved fruit fresh off the tree. The flesh of the apple was firm and the juice was pleasantly tart.
    “It’s delicious,” she said between bites. “Thank you.”
    Rave smiled. “Nothing but the best for you, my love.”
    They had just about finished their apples when they reached Balin’s cabin. They found the old volkaane outside, tending to his vegetable garden. As usual, he was dressed in buckskin clothes he had made himself. The shirt was short-sleeved.
    He looked up and smiled as they approached.
    “Well, well, if it isn’t the newlyweds. I trust you enjoyed a pleasant night?”
    Rave grinned. “I can only speak for myself, but ‘pleasant’ is a bit of an understatement, I think.”
    Leesa linked her arm around Rave’s. “I second that, for sure.”
    Balin straightened up