Page 143 of The Heart of Winter

He’d waited so long… I suddenly felt guilty. I’d wandered around the island for several hours, lost in a miserable mood. And to top it all off, I had nothing to show for it: no clams, no drones, nothing. The only thing I had with me was a bundle of gathered branches, which I tossed into the corner of the cave.

"I’ll just wash up," I muttered, but he shook his head.

"No, just fuck me, Winter. Pound me hard."

My body immediately responded, as if a red mist had descended upon me. Sariel slowly rolled onto his side, presenting his ass to me, his swollen hole waiting between his ass cheeks. I unbuttoned my pants and, without much thought, thrust into his wet warmth, it was a divine feeling. I closed my eyes, my fingers gripping his hips as I began to fuck him. I knew he needed it fast and intense.

Each of my movements drew grunts from his throat, and after just a few seconds, Sariel climaxed. But that wasn’t the end; he did it again and again, panting and trembling. I saw his fingers clenched white-knuckled on the edge of the mattress, and his cheek was red as a poppy. His hunger was infectious, and after I orgasmed once too, I realized that my hardness didn’t fade. So I kept going… I didn’t know how long it lasted, but I remember taking off my shirt and jacket because I was so hot, sweating as I worked diligently, fucking him without a break. The sounds of our sex echoed throughout the cave, our energy almost sparkling in the air. But he needed it, wild and intense.

Finally, the wave subsided. Sariel’s breathing slowed, and so did I, collapsing onto the mattress beside him.

To be honest, I couldn’t believe it. How was it possible that I’d somehow been able to keep up with him? I didn’t have any typical post-orgasmic oversensitivity, and it was a wholly new situation for me, to keep going after climaxing once, with no discomfort. That was truly extraordinary.

I even started to wonder if I was in some kind of strange rut… or if I’d somehow adapted to his heat?

It didn’t seem likely, but for some reason, my libido hadn’t felt fully satiated yet. Could it really be that Sariel’s heat affected us both this much?

I turned my head and looked at him. He was lying with his eyes closed, long black lashes with a minty sheen, resting on his freckled cheeks. He was probably trying to steady his breath. A strand of hair stuck to his damp forehead, and I wanted to push it aside, to tuck it behind his ear.

Why not take the initiative again? I craved to learn these tender gestures, since that kind of thing didn’t come naturally to me, I needed to practice. I’d never felt the urge to form such a bond with another person before, but now I was fully set on going out of my comfort zone. So, unhurriedly, I reached out and gently brushed his hair off his face, my fingers lightly caressing his cheek.

He slowly opened his eyes, and our gazes met.

"I’m sorry I was gone so long," I whispered.

"Don’t apologize. I know you were scouting the area. I know you were hoping for a miracle."

"But there was no miracle, Sariel. It snowed last night, and the 'H' got covered, so I had to fix it. I didn’t spot any drones. No ships on the sea."

"They don’t know where we are," Sariel whispered. He unhurriedly lifted his hand and took mine, which had been resting near his ear. Then he gently brought it to his lips and kissed it. "But thank you for trying."

I remained silent, feeling foolish. I would’ve preferred to return with results, but that wasn’t our reality right now.

Sariel shifted toward our supplies and grabbed the second-to-last can. He emptied it of peanuts, divided them into two piles, and slid one over to my side of the mattress. He added a small handful of pretzels to it.

"Please, eat. That’s the only way we’ll have the strength. You’ve been out so long, you need food."

My eyes landed on the peanuts, and I could feel my mouth begin to water.

"We’re running low on mineral water, too. We’ll need to start boiling the next batch in the cans," he added.

I nodded, and then tossed a few peanuts into my mouth.

My God, I never thought anything could taste this good. It felt like my saliva had dissolved the peanuts right in my mouth. I swallowed greedily, and my gaze instinctively dropped to the can, it was already empty.

I noticed Sariel watching me. He knew I was hungry, so he reached for the bag of pretzels and poured the remaining contents onto the bed.

He pushed the pretzels toward me, but I grabbed his hand. "No, I need to control myself."

"Winter, you need more food than I do! You’ve been exposed to the cold for so long…"

"What I need is for both of us to survive until tomorrow. Rationing will make that possible."

Our left hands were still intertwined.

Sariel fondly moved his fingers, brushing the inside of my palm with soft, tender strokes.

I closed my eyes for a moment, forgetting everything else. I found surprising comfort in this simple connection between us, just the gentle grip of our hands.

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