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Torak gradually awoke the next morning, feeling perfectly warm and content. He breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the pleasingly sweet smell of Renn. Fine strands tickled his nose as he realised his face was buried in her hair. He tightened his arms around his mate's waist, who murmured in her sleep, before drifting back to silence.

Torak didn't have to open his eyes to know it was dawn outside, he could hear the distant sounds of activity in the camp, and the early morning bird songs from outside the shelter. A light breeze wafted through the air, bringing sweet, welcoming smells of the forest with it.

He nuzzled his head closer to neck, placing a kiss on her bare shoulder. Soft fur hides covered their bodies, which were still in a state of undress from the night before. Torak flushed as he remembered their activities. He knew that he could mate with her every night for as long as he lived and never bore of it. Even if they had one hundred children it would be worth it.

She stirred in her sleep, flinging her arm out and smacking Torak in the face. He restrained from making a noise as it might wake her, but he rubbed his cheek indignantly. He knew from experience Renn wriggled, kicked and talked in her sleep when in her sleeping sack, but before he had been safely at a distance. Now that they shared sleeping arrangements he might be the victim of her nightly exercises. He placed her flailing limb back down and wrapped his arms around her to keep her still, snuggling back into the warm fur and the sweet smell of her hair.

Renn slowly drifted into consciousness, immediately feeling the warming presence of Torak's body behind hers. With her drowsy eyes still closed, she rolled over so she was facing her mate. He instinctively embraced her and she hummed happily. Taking the opportunity, Renn snuggled closer, tucking her head beneath his chin to rest on his warm bare chest. The rhythmic beat of his heart was as steady as a beating drum, and so comforting that she almost drifted back to sleep, but she wanted to cherish the moment after their first night together, so decided against it, tempting as it was.

'Are you awake?' she whispered.

'Yeah,' he said from above her, his voice gravelly with sleep.

She entwined her legs with his beneath the sheets, absently running her toes up and down his calf, the coarse hair tickling her. 'Your legs feel really hairy.'

He was about to retort about her annoying sleeping habits when she sat up, leaning on her elbow as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a yawn. Her skin looked smooth in the soft morning light, and he longed to feel it beneath his hands again. He realised again with a surge of happiness that now they were bonded, he could. Her long red hair was messy and her face was a little puffy, but Torak thought she looked beautiful, if a little sensitive to the morning light as she peered around the shelter.

'You look like a mole that has just seen sunlight for the first time.'

She slapped his arm and took at look at him for the first time that morning. His mussed dark hair was dishevelled and sticking up in odd angles, just as she'd seen it many times in the morning when they were travelling. But in light of what happened the night previous, she knew she took some of the credit for its messy state. Flushing a little at meeting his eyes as she thought this, her eyes travelled down his angular face, to his toned chest and then following the delicate line of hair that formed below his navel, disappearing under the blanket that lay across his hips.

She suddenly became aware of her own state of undress, and brought the fur up to cover her chest. She took a look around the shelter and saw their discarded clothing from the night before. The sounds of the camp sounded close, what if someone came in to check on them? What if it was her uncle?

She glanced at him and saw that he was now leaning on his elbow, with his head supported on his hand, smirking at her. He looked very handsome, and she again thanked the World Spirit that he was here, as her mate, utterly and completely hers.

'I saw it all, there's nothing to hide Renn.'

'What if someone comes in?'

'They won't.'

As if from nowhere, the sound of giggling caught their attention. They looked up to see a small gaggle of children by the entrance, peering around the edge of the hide. No doubt they'd sneaked away from their parents; none of them looked older than five summers.

Renn blushed red, burying herself entirely beneath the covers as Torak waved his arms at them to leave. 'Hey, get out!'

'Wha are you doin?' asked a little girl of possibly four summers as her friends tittered around her, completely unaware of how much embarrassment they were causing.

'I'll tell your mothers that you were here if you don't leave now!'

'Quick!' the sound of giggles turned to excited yelps as they ran away as fast as their little legs could carry them. Torak smiled, looking down at the lump beneath the covers next to him. He wasn't ready yet for children, but if they did have a child, he was certain he would be very happy. Especially as Renn would be their mother.

'Renn?'

'Mm?'

'They're gone, it's safe.'

A suspicious face emerged from the furs, glancing about before she sat up fully. She then sneaked out of the bed and hunted for her clothes on the floor. Torak watched from the bed, in no hurry to get up. She felt her gaze on him as she found her under dress and hurriedly put it on, before searching for her other garments.

'When we're back in the forest, can we do that every night?' Torak spoke from behind her in a whimsical tone.

Renn turned to face him, feeling that hot feeling in her stomach again. She had enjoyed last night every much, though she did feel a slight aching soreness where their bodies had joined.

'Maybe not every single night.'

He looked a little disconcerted, 'did you not enjoy it? We don't have to do it at all if you- '

'No, no it's not that.' She stood up and walked to the edge of the bed, sitting down beside him. She was touched by his reaction. She laughed a little as she explained, 'I'm just, feeling a little um... bruised. But I'll be fine, just maybe not every night.'

Torak's mind flashed back to how he hadn't been exactly tender with her towards the end, and he felt guilty. He had been told to be gentle with women, but he'd let his control slip. 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' she leaned in closer towards him and whispered softly in his ear, 'I enjoyed it at the time.'

Flushing red, he couldn't resist pulling her down for a quick kiss. It took until midday for them to emerge hand in hand from the shelter, walking to the camp with a spring in their step and knowing smiles on their faces.

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