When they had soaked long enough, Euclid helped him into a dressing robe, an oddly sweet gesture when he required no help for something so simple.He had a couple of dressing robes, though they were stored away behind the waterfall as he had little use for them anymore.This one was much finer than his, soft velvet lined with even softer wool, impervious to even the coldest draft as they returned to the front room.Euclid put the kettle on the stove and sat down—then dragged Dipak to the floor and traced those delicate fingers over his mouth, eyes burning like banked coals.
Dipak didn't wait for him to ask, simply bent happily to his task, and this time his eyes watered as Euclid gently fucked his face, fingers tight in his hair, hitching, gasping breaths filling the room.Dipak groaned in time with him as he spilled, and his throat was sore when he pulled away and wiped his mouth with the kerchief that Euclid handed him.
"You are wickedly good at that."
Cheeks still hot, Dipak said, "I like using my mouth, and everyone else seems to like when I do it, so I've had lots of practice."
"Come here."Euclid pulled him up, tossing away his robe and dragging him into his lap to kiss him thoroughly.Dipak was not up to coming a third time, but that didn't stop Euclid from slipping those long, deft fingers into his ass and coaxing another climax from him anyway, leaving Dipak wrung out and exhausted to his bones in the best possible way.
He was pretty certain they were supposed to be drinking tea or something, but all he really remembered was the beat of Euclid's heart against his ear as he was arranged on the sofa and encouraged to go to sleep.
Chapter Ten
The first freeze brought a quiet to the forest as the smallest, most vulnerable creatures retreated to their nests and burrows to bed down before the real cold came.Larger creatures continued to hunt and feast, either unbothered by the cold or determined to get all the food they possibly could before they went deep into their caves or burrowed into the ground to wait out winter.
Hunting would be sparser, but that shouldn't be a problem, given how hard everyone in the forest had worked to prepare.Dipak lifted his bow, aimed, and let fly an arrow that took out a rabbit in one clean shot.A second one tried to run for cover and he got it as well.
Dressing them quickly, he stowed them in his satchel and headed for the large pond that Euclid had shown him recently, much better for fishing this time of year than the streams and his own little pond.It was large enough most would probably call it a lake, but if there was an actual lake somewhere in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, it would dwarf this pond significantly.
He was still making his way there, though, when a familiar figure stepped out from behind a tree."Hello, dragon."
"Hello, hunter," Euclid replied, stepping in close to kiss him quick and sharp."How's the hunting?"
"Two fat rabbits, exactly as requested.Who needs them?"
"Pitambar, furs and all.Mostly the furs, to finish off a hooded cowl, but also the meat."
How very convenient for Dipak."Where does he live?I want to deliver the rabbits myself."
Euclid tilted his head."You do?"
"Yes, I do.Gives me a chance to have a little chat with him."
"As you wish.I can take you there."
"Take me close.I want him to think I made the journey on my own, that I was out pretty far hunting."
Euclid took his hand and off they went, into the 'invisible' that was as disconcerting as ever.At least it no longer made him dizzy and vaguely ill.They reappeared in a glade he'd never seen before that showed signs of being heavily favored by rabbits and other small critters, and a couple of serpents that occasionally trimmed down the rabbit population.By now, though, the serpents would be deep asleep, burrowed amongst sunrocks they'd charged throughout the warm months.
"If I can ever do this on my own, it will improve my hunting by leaps and bounds," Dipak said.
"As to that, I have a gift for you later, when you're done for the day.It took me a few days to make it, but I finally finished it this morning."
"Gift?"Dipak scoffed and grinned, slow and hot."I insist on trade, dragon."
Euclid smiled and stepped in close, and this time the kiss was deep and thorough, leaving Dipak more than a little breathless when they finally parted."Trade we shall then.My home or yours?"
"Mine.There's some work I need to do tonight after we've traded."Dipak winked, kissed him again, and headed off in the direction of the chimney smoke he could smell, coming almost immediately to a crude path formed by repetitive use.There was a well that did not have a cover, which was sloppy and stupid, and then the cabin itself.Stone with a thatched roof that looked like it had been recently redone just in time for winter.The door to the cabin was painted a bright red, with a cheerful wreath made of evergreens and widow berries hanging on the front.A Kashara tradition, which tracked with what Pitambar had told him.
"Ho there!"he called out, lingering in the yard instead of approaching the house.
A moment later the door opened and Pitambar stepped outside, looking as though he'd been in the middle of some project and hadn't expected to leave the house at all."Hello… didn't expect to see you all the way up here.Don't you live further south?"
"Mmm, by the pond with the waterfall, but I've gone further afield than usual with my hunting today.Euclid said you needed two rabbits."
"Yes, now that the fur is turning white, I'm hoping to finally finish a hooded cowl someone requested."
"Do you need me to skin and butcher them?"