Page 19 of Ragoru

He peered down at himself quizzically. “They are not extruded.” A thought occurred to him, and he looked at her curiously. “Are human males always extruded?”

The pink color of her cheeks darkened, and she cleared her throat. “Well, yes.”

Thral grimaced in sympathy. “That sounds inconvenient. And potentially very painful if you aren’t careful.”

“It could also be fun,” Vrishna observed. “Not having to wait to extrude means that there could be more possibilities for pleasure.”

Thral grunted in acknowledgment though he didn’t look convinced, nor did he look interested in continuing the conversation as he returned to examining the river. Sabol, on the other hand, was fascinated. He focused on Evie, suddenly wanting to know everything.

“Do you know of what pleasures a male may enjoy when not engorged?”

Thral growled unhappily and moved away. “This I don’t want to hear.”

“Nor I,” Vrishna agreed, his ears flattening. “Details of what Evie did with human males can remain unknown to me, and gratefully,” he grumbled as he followed after Thral toward the edge of the water.

Sabol frowned after them. It wasn’t that he wished to know what she did with them either. He was just curious regarding the differences between them and males of her own species. But now that they had mentioned it… His hackles rose at the thought of any strange male touching his female at all. He didn’t realize he was growling softly to himself until Evie cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look.

“Are you sure you want to know about human male anatomy? Or is that a growl of educational excitement?”

His ears flattened and she chuckled softly as she came up and wrapped her arms around him, her small body fitting close against his larger frame.

“If it helps, I haven’t been with a human male for a very long time,” she pointed out. “I barely recall what they look like naked, much less what they enjoy.”

He highly doubted that but appreciated the effort to soothe his feelings. He flicked an ear at her playfully so that she would know he wasn’t upset with her and smiled reluctantly. “It helps a little.”

“I desire this reassurance as well,” Vrishna grumbled, appearing suddenly at Sabol’s side at his timely return from the river’s edge.

Their female laughed, and she stepped over and hugged Vrishna as well. Sabol smiled at the way she seemed to disappear completely as the large male wrapped himself around her. Somehow she managed to peek out around Vrishna’s arm to grin at Thral making his way back over to them.

“What about you, handsome?” she called out. “Do you need a hug as well?”

A look crossed the male’s face, his eyes glinting, and Sabol knew that he had something far more than that sort of embrace in mind. He chuffed in amusement as Thral seemed to choke back the response he wanted to give and instead opened his arms for their female. She went to him with a pleased smile, and Sabol noticed that even Thral’s expression softened in response.

In some ways, though his previous triad had never found a mate, it brought back bittersweet memories of their closeness and the ready comfort and affection that was shared. Thral was clearly unaccustomed to it, though the more he experienced it, the more he obviously wanted to hold tight to it, and Vrishna hungered for it as if he’d been watching everyone from afar with longing. She was healing them all. Sabol felt so close to having a family that the sensations it drew up were conflicting. He wanted what all of this promised to be, and yet he was terrified of losing it. He never thought he would feel that closeness with other males again, or ever know the joy of having a mate. Although Thral and Vrishna had arrived together and had clearly been in the process of bonding, Sabol believed it was Evie who was anchoring their triad with her easy acceptance and quick affection. Having found her, they had a chance of having the family that they needed. If only she would accept them as her mates and stay.

And that scared him most of all because what if she rejected them? What if she was taken by her people from them? What if she was harmed by whatever Thral and Vrishna seemed so anxious about? Losing it would break him—perhaps all of them—in the worst way. He did not think that their triad would survive it. He didn’t think he would survive it. Although she reserved parts of herself due to her uncertainty, he was already bonded with her too much for him to cope with her absence.

Thral sighed, the sound low with longing, as Evie finally released him and Sabol silently understood that feeling too well as it echoed within him as well. Their eyes followed her as she stepped toward the river, her hands planted on her hips as she observed its fast current and her eyes skimming the rocks that dotted its width. She tugged her bottom lip as she eyed it and then the posts. She made a noise in her throat as her eyes fastened on something in the water.

Hurrying past them, she made for the nearest post and dropped down close to the grasses and reeds that clogged the stones that surrounded its base. Sabol’s ears pricked with curiosity as Thral rushed after her, his own ears turned toward her even as he kept an anxious eye on her proximity to the water. Gently nudging her out of the way, he dug through the muck she abandoned as she hovered eagerly over his shoulder. When he finally pulled something long and slick with dark mud from the weeds, Evie shouted with excitement as she turned and beckoned them closer.

Exchanging a curious look with Vrishna, they edged in closer as Thral remained crouched, staring quizzically at her as she held up the muddy length.

“What’s that?” Vrishna rumbled. He sniffed at it, and his nose promptly wrinkled. “It smells like something that died. Put it back, Evie.”

Thral grunted in agreement as he gave it a disgusted look. Sabol took a curious sniff and slapped a hand over his snout, his eyes watering. What was that?

She laughed and shook her head as she began to tug on it, and very slowly he saw more of the dark length rise from the river. “Don’t be silly. It just smells that way because it’s been submerged in all manner of decaying muck. Just watch.”

Evie continued to tug on it, and Sabol watched as the length rose from the water, showing that it was fastened somehow to the post at the other side. Shiny rings along its length caught the light as they quivered in place.

“An amborgonal cord. It’s made of tough synthetic fabrics. We don’t possess the ability to make these anymore, but they used to make a lot of the safety ropes from this, among other things. See those rings? It was probably attached to the sides of the bridge at one point, and those rings served as hand holds for people crossing. We retie this tighter on our end so that it stays above water and use this to cross safely!”

Sabol gave it a dubious look, but he was grateful that he wasn’t the one she handed the mired end to. He fought back a grin at Thral’s grimace as the male rinsed the filth from the fur on his hands in the water beside him. Disgusted or not, Thral dutifully took it and hauled the length closer to the post, his ear turned toward Evie the entire time as he carefully heeded her instructions. Once Thral had it securely knotted in place and released the excess length, Sabol noticed that the rope hung suspended a comfortable grabbing distance above the water. He still wasn’t look forward to getting into the water, especially when his undercoat of fur took forever to dry. Sabol followed after Thral with Evie just behind him. Vrishna took up the rear at Thral’s instruction, and the male didn’t look any happier than Sabol felt at going into the water as they each grabbed hold of the rings and skidded off the muddy bank into the river.

The initial bite of the water was brutal as it rapidly saturated his fur. It tugged at him mercilessly, but he focused on putting one foot in front of the other as he slowly followed Thral. Just behind him, he could hear Evie’s sharp breathing and the slide of stones beneath the water as she slipped along them. She had neither the size nor the weight they did to help her, but a quick glance over his shoulder assured him that she was clinging to the rope with a look of pure determination. He didn’t like the way the water pulled at her. She could barely keep her body straight as it bowed to the side with the force of the river. Adjusting his grip on the rope, he made to turn toward her, but she bared her teeth.

“Move, Sabol!” she shouted over the river’s roar. “This water is freezing. I’m going to start going numb if I don’t get out of it soon.”

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