Page 22 of Hoof It

Twenty Two

Chapter 21

Darcy

Z u attempting to rinse his fur reminds me of a happy puppy playing in puddles. It’s adorable and sweet to witness. I do my best to keep my laughter inside, but when Zu eventually turns back towards me, he sees me shaking with laughter. A confused look takes over his face. Rather than say anything, I approach him and wrap my arms around his waist, then kiss the highest part of his chest that I’m able. His arms drape over my shoulders and his body sags somewhat as he relaxes into my embrace.

“I wasn’t laughing because it was funny, my beast. I laughed because it was adorable to witness. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

He tightens his hold on me for a moment and drops a kiss to my forehead, before picking me up and sitting me on the ledge. He picks up the body wash and squeezes a decent amount into his hand before getting to work cleaning my neck. His touch is light as he nears my breasts.

Zu gently rolls my nipples between his soapy fingers and flashes me a faux-innocent look. I let out a low moan at the feeling. My chest arches up into his hands, but he pulls his hands away and starts washing my arms instead. I glare at him and he ignores it.

His hands move down my abdomen slowly in small circles. As he nears my hips, he adds a bit more pressure and glances up at my face with a smirk before returning his eyes to what he’s doing. My thighs fall away from one another as his hands drop lower. My arms move behind me, and I drop backwards onto my elbows.

Tears threaten to fall as I enjoy the feeling of truly being taken care of for the very first time in my thirty-two years. I discreetly wipe them away using my shoulders, but they continue to fall. I don’t bother with fighting them, and instead I allow them to fall freely along with thoughts of my past and the horrors I’ve endured.

Once Zu finishes soaping up all of me, I slip down into the water and easily rinse every inch of my body, hair included, before rising up out of the warm water. I swipe the water out of my eyes and face my mate. He’s standing a foot away from me silently. I reach for him. He wraps his hand around mine and I walk backwards, pulling him with me. When I bump into the makeshift rock bench, he picks me up and places me back on the ledge. Slowly, I crabwalk backwards a few feet and motion for him to come to me.

Wordlessly, he steps up and out of the water. He drops to his hands and knees and crawls up my body as I lay down with him between my legs. Once he reaches eye level with me, he captures my lips in a searing kiss. I can feel his unending love, as well as his desire, for me both in his kiss and in the bond.

His cock is hard once again and he slowly grinds it against me. I groan against his mouth and pull away. “Take me slowly, my beast. Make love to me.” My voice is breathy when I speak.

I’m rewarded with a deeper grind and his cock drags along my sensitive clit. It causes my eyes to flutter and Zu repeats the movement again and again. He nips at my earlobe and jaw. The moment his teeth scrape against his mark it sets off my orgasm. He chooses that moment to slide inside of me.

His lips meet mine again and I whimper into his mouth. My arms reach around his shoulders and my fingers dig into his bare skin. My legs hook around his hips and I pull him deeper inside of me. He stills for a moment, his eyes closed tightly and his jaw clenched.

“The way your walls are clenching me is exquisite torture, little mate. I need a moment or I’m afraid I’ll finish before I’m ready.”

“Take your time, Zu. I want to go slow this time.”

He peels his eyes open and meets mine as his jaw relaxes. Slowly, he withdraws from my body before sliding back inside. His eyes remain on mine, unblinking, the entire time.

His thrusts don’t speed up or stutter. He somehow manages to maintain the perfect rhythm as he drives his cock into me over and over. His hands lovingly stroke my face and his face leans towards the side of my head. I feel his whispered words before I hear them.

“You’re my everything. My little heart. My mate. My love.”

Before he finishes whispering the sweet words, he pushes all of his love for me through the bond. He brings his mouth to mine and our tongues tangle together.

His hips continue his slow, steady pace. One of his hands traces a finger down my body lightly, leaving a trail of slight goosebumps in its wake. When it reaches my hip, it squeezes me once and his thumb strokes along the bone before the whole hand moves to my clit.

Zu rubs the sensitive bud in slow, tight circles which bring me higher and higher. I drop my own hands from his shoulders. His free hand reaches for mine, and he manages to take both of mine in his one. His hand pins mine to the ground. He somehow drives his cock into me more deeply. His mouth grazes his mark on my shoulder and he leaves wet kisses all over it.

“You feel so good like this, little mate.”

Faster than a flash of lightning, I begin to feel more . More than just my own physical being, but it was as if, existentially, I could also feel everything Zu is currently, physically, feeling. The way his fingers touch the goose-pebbled flesh of my arm, his heart racing as he stares into my eyes. Even the way he feels as he slides in and out of me.

If this is a new aspect of our mate bond, I want to use it the same way. But right now? Right now, I’m too far gone in this moment with him to be able to focus on anything except every sensation within and outside of the bond. When Zu’s lips meet mine one final time, the sensation shoves me over my tipping point. My entire body seizes up in one tight clench before releasing, and it feels as though I’m shattering into a million pieces of myself. I barely hear Zu bleat out his release in an absolutely primal scream.

Rather than black, my vision goes white momentarily before filling with the most vivid fireworks I’ve ever witnessed, and these aren’t even real. The scarlet red, cobalt blue, bumblebee yellow, and emerald green are so bright that I could swear they’re real.

My body eventually floats back down to earth and my vision clears until Zu is all that I can see. The soft smile on his face warms my heart in a way that no human man was ever able to. I shift and before I’m able to sit up on the hard ground, he gathers me into his arms and gently carries me back down into the water.

All of the soap from earlier is gone and the warm water is once again clear. He sits on the bench and cradles me close to his body. The steamy heat coming off of the water mixed with his body heat and the slow, repetitive movement of his chest as he breathes is enough to make me drowsy. He’s quiet for so long that I can’t help but to drift in and out of sleep for a while. Every so often his fingers run through my semi-dry hair and pulls me back awake.

Eventually, my racing heart has slowed and I feel more awake. I turn and tilt my head and glance up at Zu. His own head is tipped backwards and his eyes are closed. I shift slightly in his lap, which seems to startle him. His arms tighten around my back and upper legs. His head pops up and he looks at me.

“How was your nap, my beast?” I grin up at him and trace a finger along his jaw, my eyes following my finger. Despite having spent every moment with him for days on end, I haven’t seen him shave or trim even once. Yet his face is always covered in a light stubble, like a permanent five-o-clock shadow. I lightly scratch my nails through it for a few seconds. I glance back at his eyes and he’s fighting to keep them open.

“It would seem that I’ve exhausted you today. Want to get out of here, eat something, then go to bed?”

His eyes pop open at the same time that his stomach growls. I throw my head back and laugh.

“Come on, Zu. We’ve spent most of the afternoon in here. Even with getting out for a while, I’m still turning all pruny.”

I attempt to stand, but he’s having none of it. Instead, he slowly stands to his hooves and in only a few strides he crosses to the opposite side of the pool of water where it’s more shallow and slightly slanted. I wiggle around to be let down so that I can grab my clothes, but Zu refuses to put me down. A huffy breath leaves me and I scowl up at him. It’s his turn to laugh.

“Worry not, little mate. You don’t need your clothes right now. And your various soaps can stay in here. It’s only you and I here in these caves. You don’t need to worry about anyone seeing you like this, or losing anything.”

Despite how much sense he makes, I’m still mildly annoyed. Not because he wants to carry me; I love that he’s so obsessed with taking care of me. Truthfully, I’m not sure why I’m annoyed at him. Only seconds ago I was happy and laughing.

Then my stomach grumbles and I realize that I’m not annoyed; I’m growing hangry. All I’ve eaten so far today was the apples Zu handed me after we worked in the garden. I offer up a chagrined smile and slight shrug. Zu steps out of the steamy room and into the much cooler hallway. The drastic change in temperature causes another round of goosebumps to erupt up and down my arms as he walks further down the rock lined hall. The torches provide enough light for me to see that the walls are painted just as the ones in the main room are.

I examine them as well as I can, but Zu doesn’t exactly walk slowly. Even when he’s carrying me. It must be nice to be tall and have long legs.

He notices the shift in my mood and pauses mid-step before getting my attention.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re walking too fast. I want to see all of your paintings. I hadn’t noticed them on our way down here earlier, or even the other day when you first brought me to the hot spring.”

His eyebrows shoot up as he takes in my words and annoyed tone. My stomach growls again, and this time his joins in. We both break into laughter at the sound of our hungry bellies seemingly speaking to one another.

“We can come back this way later. You need food. And so do I. But I promise you, little mate, we will return after food and sleep, and you can spend as long as you wish in these halls.”

“You wouldn’t mind me spending hours and hours as I take in every single inch of your work?” I ask incredulously.

His head shakes from side to side. “Nope. Not one bit. I’d happily spend an entire day standing as you looked each of them over from top to bottom.”

“Okay then. For the record, I doubt it would take me all day. Probably only an hour, maybe two.”

He bobs his head up and down once, then resumes walking. A few moments later my bare skin is greeted by the warm air of the main area. The fire is still lit, though it seems to have died down somewhat. Zu carries me over to the bed and gently places me down before he pulls the furs up and over my legs. He drapes another one over my shoulders and I wrap it around my upper body. I shimmy down into the bed a bit and get comfortable where I’m sitting.

Meanwhile, Zu has moved to the pile of wood he keeps stacked against a long wall. He picks four or five of them up and carries them towards the fire. He places all but two down on the ground near the side of the bed. The other two he carefully puts in the dwindling flames and blows on them gently. The flames catch on the wood immediately.

He stands back up and dusts his hands off before dropping a kiss to the top of my head. I tip my head backwards to look at his face. Before I can say anything though, he speaks.

“I’m going to grab a few items from the food storage. Would you like anything specific?”

“Nope. I’ll take whatever you’re thinking.”

He dips his head in a quick nod, kisses the top of my head again, then walks away.

He isn’t gone for very long. When he returns, his arms are loaded up with squash, potatoes, an onion, and a roughly made bowl. I have no idea what he plans to make, but I’m intrigued. I watch him silently as he preps the vegetables. Wordlessly he peels the potatoes with a rock that’s been filed down into a knife. He proceeds to cut them into small cubes before grabbing the squash. He chops the top couple of inches off and then cubes the rest of the squash as well as he’s able. Finally, he picks up the onion. He peels it quickly, then slices it as thinly as he’s able with his rock knife.

He reaches off to his side and picks up several large leaves that are the size of my head as well as what I think is a ball of twine, and dips them into the bowl. While the leaves soak in the water, he cuts several lengths of twine off the ball. He lays one down vertically on top of a smooth rock, then places the other horizontally across the first piece so that they create a plus sign.

When Zu pulls the leaves back out of the bowl, they’re dripping with water. He holds them still for a few seconds and lets the excess water run down the leaves. When he’s satisfied, he lays them down on top of his makeshift tabletop. He puts a second leaf down and overlaps them slightly. A third leaf is draped over top of the first two, except this one he places lengthwise. He repeats the action with a fourth leaf. He picks up the cubed vegetables and strategically drops them on top of the leaves.

After dipping his fingertips into the water, my mate sprinkles droplets over the cubes. He reaches to the side again and produces a yellowish block of what I’m hoping is butter. He uses his knife and cuts a few small chunks off it and drops them all around the leaves. Reaching off to the side again, he returns the butter to wherever he’d been keeping it and grabs a small glass container. He pulls the stopper out and dumps a bit of salt into the palm of his hand, and then pushes the stopper back in. He puts the bottle back with his freehand before picking up a pinch of the salt between his thumb and forefinger and sprinkling it all over the food. He repeats the action until he’s used all of the granules in his palm.

Very carefully, he folds the excess parts of leaves over the food and tucks them tightly before pulling up the horizontal piece of twine and tying its ends to itself in a tight knot. He repeats that with the bottom piece of twine. Zu gently picks the food package up by the two knots together and places it in the hot coals of the fire. He looks at it for several long moments before standing and facing me.

“The last time I attempted to cook for you and climbed into this bed next to you, it ended disastrously. How about I brush out your hair before it finishes drying? Or I can rub your feet and legs?”

I think for a moment. A leg and foot massage do sound fantastic. But, if I don’t do something with my hair before it’s fully dry, it’ll be a matted mess once again. I’m sure he’d be willing to rub me down some other time.

“My hair, please. But we left my brush with the rest of my toiletries in the hot spring.”

Zu waves off my words with a flick of his wrist. “Little mate, do you think my hair and fur never become matted by magic?” He tilts his head to the side as he speaks.

“Well, no. I suppose I haven’t really given much thought to how this stays so perfect.” I rise to my knees and ruffle the hair atop his head which pulls a chuckle out of him. He walks away to the far wall and digs through a basket.

“Many years ago, my father made me something similar to your brush. I’ve managed to keep it intact ever since. I use it every day.” He turns back to face me and in his hand I see a sheath of some sort as he walks back to the side of the bed. As he nears me, he holds his hand up for me to see what’s in it.

It’s a comb sheath made out of leaves. I look up at him curiously. He motions for me to shift. Once I do, Zu seats himself on the bed behind me and pulls me backwards a bit. I turn over the sheathe in my hand. It’s old. Far older than me. It’s made of multiple leaves placed against one another. There’s an opening on one end, and the other three sides seem to have each been roughly sewn together to the backside. I give the sides a light squeeze and the open end opens up. I hold it over my other hand and an intricately carved comb falls out.

It’s made out of wood and whittled down to a smooth edge. The teeth are thin and there are too many of them to count. I turn it over and see that the intricate carvings along the spine are on the second side as well. I grab a few strands of my hair and pull through them easily. When I reach the end of the strand, I let the hair drop down against my chest.

I lower the fur on my shoulders just a bit and hand Zu his comb back. Wordlessly, he begins to work the homemade comb through my long hair.