Page 45 of Tharn's Hunt
Dust.
Dust and bones.
I turn away, putting the fire between us, my body trembling with the force of a need I have only just tasted and must now deny. The ache has not faded. It is a hot, coiling serpent in my gut.
I force my claws to sheathe.
Focus.Provide.
The meat.The fire. A memory surfaces like a lifeline.Rok.He held Jus-teen's meat to the fire. Held it until the red was gone, until it was tough and dry.
Females are delicate.
The thought is simple. A fact. A solid rock to stand on in the middle of this madness. Jah-kee has suffered much. The meat I have given her has been raw, the way of a hunter. That is wrong. For her.
I will prepare the meat the way she needs it.
The task gives me something to focus on besides the dangerous heat in my veins. I arrange the meat carefully over the fire stones, using the sandfin’s quill to pierce the flesh. The smell fills the cave, rich and savory.
"That smells amazing," Jah-kee says, moving to sit across from me, the fire between us like a barrier. Perhaps she senses my sudden distance. Perhaps she welcomes it.
Frustration burns hot in my gut. It is a fire I cannot put out with sand. I keep my attention fixed on the task at hand.
When the meat is held to the fire until it is tough and dry—almost charred in places—I transfer it to a flat stone and offer it to her. She accepts with a smile, and my member strains against its pouch once more.
"Thank you," she says, taking a cautious bite. Her eyes widen in surprise, then what looks like pleasure. "Oh wow. This is good. Like,reallygood. So much better than when I first ate it. Mm!"
A sound escapes her—something between a moan and a hum—as her pink tongue darts out to run over her lips.
I stare, transfixed.
At this rate, I won’t need to ever light a signal fire for my clan. The glow under my skin could guide them here from three territories away.
Pride swells in my chest at her approval. I select a piece for myself, though I prefer the taste of raw meat, its juices rich with lifeblood. But sharing this meal with her, prepared as she prefers it, feels right somehow.
We eat in companionable silence for a time, the fire crackling between us. When we've finished, Jah-kee wipes her hands on her hide-coverings then looks at me with renewed curiosity.
"I just realized," she vocalizes slowly, "I don't know your actual name. You came out of nowhere. Saved me. And…I've just been calling you 'Goldilocks' this whole time."
She points to herself. "Jacqui," she says clearly, then points to me, raising her brows in question.
Ah. She’s tried this before. She wants my name. Something so simple, yet it has never occurred to me to offer it. In themindspace, a name is the echo of a soul's shape, not...this. Not sounds forced through throat and lips.
I press a claw to my throat, feeling the vibration of my dra-kir beneath. How does one carve a feeling into noise?
My first attempt is pure silence. Just lips parting on air. The second produces a growl so crude I wince.
Jah-kee doesn't laugh. She leans forward, her water-filled eyes wide. Waiting.
I try again, shaping my tongue as I've seen hers move.
"Thhh—" A hiss of air.
"—aaarn." The ending rattles like rocks tumbling.
Tharn.
Graveled. Broken. But there.
