The chill in the air felt more pronounced today—I wasn’t about to argue with him on it. He wanted to keep me warm today, more power to him. After earlier, I was just fine with a little snuggle time and some nice mate stuff.
Baumb continued with his one piece at a time in offering, feed the little mate routine. Once he was finished, he glanced at the water and I knew he wanted to take me there, but I was honestly feeling a little worn and sick of getting wet in the warm water to freeze my ass off afterward getting out. Shaking my head, I laid my cheek on his chest. My hand lifted to sift through his chest fur and I pressed the side of my cheek against the pec it was resting on harder.
Baumb pulled back a little to glance down at me, still wearing that odd, worried look. I put a whole lot of please into the puppy dog eyes I sent his way.
A tiny whoop left me that made his churring start up as he settled us farther up the bed and curled me into him. A niggle of guilt filled me as it washed over him. I doubted ours were for the same reasons.
“Yours. Only yours,” I promised the big guy as I drew the pelt up over my face and snuggled the shit out of him, eager to get feeling back in my nose as the end of it started to prick with the chilly willies. “You don’t have to worry about me and any Krampus shenanigans. I’m good for my word,” I assured him, my voice muffled, when he started to squirm uncomfortably.
When this didn’t seem to help the unease slithering through him, I popped my head free of my blanket cocoon to stare at him. Wriggling my way up the bed, until we were nose to nose, I bumped our noses and rubbed them. His eyes closed, happy rumble issuing, and I closed mine as well. “Would it help if we both apologized and promised to be better mates to each other?” I ventured, cracking an eyelid open to find him staring at me with a soft expression lightening his sharp features.
He grunted in answer and the guilty filling churning his stomach eased.
“Good,” I agreed, and returned to my chest snuggling position cocoon. “I think I’m liking this no words needed connection thingy between us,” I mumbled as I closed my eyes. Baumb’s churring purr serenaded me to sleep.
Chapter 16
There was only so much Krampus juju induced breast milk liquid diet I could expect a Baumbel with a healthy appetite for meat to accept graciously, without complaint, and I knew he was only doing it to help, so it was no small relief when the girls’ milk production let up. But, as these things went, with the lack of Krampus and all those glorious things I tolerated taking one on, came the cold.
The back caverns Baumb called home, despite his efforts to warm me up and my acceptance of Shnikel’s cute gifted outfit, which swam on me but was quite warm all on its own, I was still freezing like a Popsicle. This place was just not made for a plain old human.
My sinuses were crying from all the dry cold bombarding it, my stuffed up nose running even though I couldn’t breathe through it. A week or so, I honestly wasn’t counting but something close, had passed since Ded had been released back into the wilds of the main caverns, and I’d just slowly gone on to succumb to this puny body’s not made for this shit’s cold weather intolerance.
Baumb hadn’t left the main cavern area of his sleeping area in days and I’d stopped getting out of the bed furs but to eat and handle needs. My Baumbel was getting antsy but refused to go about his business.
“Tell him I’m fine,” I grumbled to Yule, whose large form was taking up the entire end of the bed, curled up at my feet, her beak resting over my legs. The beastie pet companion had warmed up to me of late. She was an affectionate thing when she wished to be and I’d take what I could get.
Yule smacked her lips, her beak clacking, but otherwise stayed out of it. Snuggly traitor.
Baumb began jumbling a bunch of gibberish. Our connection, stronger as the days since our bonding passed, supplied a basic feelings translation for me. He was uneasy about leaving me and would feel better if I’d go in the warm tunnel pool already.
If that’s what it took, I thought, sitting up when he grumbled, cocked his head, and quickly stalked off toward our cavern home’s main cave entrance. Shuffling my way to the tunnel pool, I plopped down near the edge. I felt like shit and the last thing I wanted to do was hop in a body of water and have to support myself swimming around. My body ached, head pounding. I’d caught a cold or something, or a sinus infection that’d segued into chest infection-geddon.
Frowning down into the water dazedly, I spotted the faint, glowing dots deep down below. There were faint spots of red, but the blue along the tunnel way, towards the bottom, lighting it up like when Baumb was in there, was absent. Dipping my hand into the water, my finger swirled lazily in the dark liquid, sparks of red, like a bunch of glowing, twinkling rubies down below. The water was nearly purple and murky without my glow spotted mate to engage the blue shiny crystal-like bits embedded in the sides of the tunnel pool.
Blinking, I grabbed onto the lip of the tunnel pool’s edge to lean over the side. Was that… were the rubies bigger? Closer?
Glancing up as I heard Baumb approaching, I sat back and smiled as his gaze stilled on me. Surprised, was he?
Alarm shot through Baumb, more than surprise, followed by a sharp spike of fear.
Scrambling to my feet to hurry towards him as he dropped to all fours and began to charge, he’d just let loose a tri-segmented lower jawed roar and I’d stumbled my way several feet away from the watering hole when I heard the loud splash and then a gut tumbling hiss and cringe worthy clap of a snap.
One automatic glance over my shoulder and a gut curdling scream tore from my throat.
The largest dark grey, eel looking worm fish, water monster, I’d ever seen had shot up from the tunnelway pool. Long jaws with piranha looking teeth snapped, clacking noisily as it bit at the open air. It lunged to its left like it meant to have a go at me but Baumb was faster. Catching me as I ducked and would have tried to slide forward, which I doubted would have helped me out much, Baumb caught me up in one arm, tucking me into him, his free arm shooting out, claws swiping to rake down the enormous demon fish’s side. Landing with a duck and tumble roll, he shot to his feet. Facing the demon fish, his claws digging into the frosted cave floor to slow his backwards glide with the smooth motions, we both froze and blinked at the flash of horns and fur blurring past to spring at the fish.
“Ded,” I whispered, still dizzy from all that spinning and twirling about business. My jaw dropped as I watched the enraged beast man slash and tear into the worm fish demon thing. A guttural hiss left the jaw snapping water monster as blue blood spurted everywhere. It thrashed, head slamming this way and that with the Krampus hooked on. Ded was looking every inch the feral beast as he tore into the creature. Chunks of monster fish meat landed with sickening splats. Yule rushed over to help herself to them.
Baumb closed both of his arms around me and slowly began to walk backwards. Unlike the fear riding me for the Elkfen gone Krampus, grudging admiration filled my alien mate. One glance down at me, the blue spattering my Elkfen duds, my pelt lost to the melee near the tunnel pool, and Baumb was grimacing mightily. Carrying me into our sleeping area, setting me down near the fire, leaving Ded to his devil fish destruction, Baumb began unpeeling my coat from me, to my chagrin and loud protests, but I was in no position to take on the feat. I was already droopy-eyed where I stood and wilting by the second. A tickle in my throat sent me into a coughing fit that had a thread of worry weaving its way through the looming Baumbel.