Winter's Tree

10 - Burning

She entwined her fingers with his, atop his naked torso and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I have missed you," she murmured.

"Hmm," he responded.

"Did you miss me?"

He shrugged in a off-hand way. "Not so much, no."

She unravelled her hand and jabbed him hard in the ribs.

"Aii," he said, laughing. "Okay, okay, maybe a bit."

He caught her finger and kissed it before trailing his mouth over her hand, up her arm and towards her lips where he kissed her softly.

"But only a bit," he said.

She knotted her hand into a fist and punched him in the side.

He grunted and grabbed her fist, but she brought her other hand up to pinch him. Rolling on top of her, he grabbed her other hand, and pinned both above her head.

"I can feel how much you didn't miss me," she said, positioning her hips beneath him so he rested at her opening.

He bent his head to kiss her breasts. First one, then the other, and as he slid inside her, she sighed.

She had missed him, the feel of him against her, inside her. The time of her healing had been considerable, and while she had seen him often, she could not touch him with so many eyes about. Not the way she ached too.

She did not last long, already spent from an afternoon of lovemaking.

She buried her face in his shoulder as she cried out, and soon after, he collapsed atop her.

"I did miss you," he mumbled into her neck.

She stroked the back of his head, letting her fingers sink into his thick, tight curls. "I know."

He sighed, and slid out of her, rolling back onto his side. She shivered in his absence. Summer had come to an end far earlier than usual and the smell of first frost was in the air.

"We should go back before we rouse suspicion," he said, sitting up and reaching for his clothing.

She sat up and did the same, careful to cover the still raw scar first. She had been shy about removing her clothes in front of him, afraid the marred pink skin of her leg would repulse him, but he had made no mention of it.

Pulling his tunic over his head, he paused, titling his head to listen.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear wha-" she cut off as the sound a scream pierced the late afternoon.

"That came from the camp," he said, jumping to his feet and sprinting towards the sound.

Ayessa struggled into her clothing and followed after. She was a fast runner, but not as fast as Makaro, and it wasn't long before she lost sight of him.

The shouts grew louder as she approached the camp, and when she broke through the tree line it was into chaos.

The tents closest to the woods were ablaze and heavy, black smoke coiled up through the air. A small group of women made a protective circle around the smaller children and outside of that, men slaughtered men.

"Ayessa!" a voice called out, and she turned just in time to avoid the spear of a stranger.

She ducked to the side and pulled her knife, coming back up around the man's fur-clad, defenseless side and slamming it into the space between his shoulder and his neck. He fell, and she grabbed his spear where it tumbled from limp hands.