The cave would provide much more shelter than they’d had over the previous nights. Lephas might be able to actually get her at least partially undressed without fear of her freezing, provided they stayed near the fire.
He might finally get toseethose frilly undergarments. In his mind's eye, they were pink but he burned with curiosity to know for certain. More importantly,he would also get to see what was underneath them. He felt his nethers twitch at the thought.
Lephas shifted uncomfortably. He didn't resent not having got any action himself so far, but he couldn't deny how badly he wanted the release now.
It had been a long while – too long – since he had last been with a woman and the commander had been tormenting himself with images of Lori's pleasure from the night before all day. His body was more than primed.
He couldn't wait to get those thighs parted, to stroke and kiss her pretty little–
“Hey, are these alright? Not too small?” Lori interrupted.
Lephas startled guiltily and his knife clattered to the floor. The demon felt his face growing hotter.
“I, uh, yeah,” he spluttered, snatching the blade back quickly. Lori cast him a confused look.
“They are too small, or they're fine?” she asked, holding a rock out for his inspection.
“Sorry, yes, they're great.” He nodded, busying himself with the rabbit in his hands. He couldn't bring himself to look at her.
Lori dropped the armful of rocks near the partially assembled fire. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I'm fine. I was lost in thought and you just startled me, that's all.”
“What about?” the princess asked curiously, dusting off her gloves.
Eating you, like a fucking buffet...
“Nothing,” he replied quickly, keeping his eyes downcast.
“You were lost in thought, thinking about nothing?” Lori pressed, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes,” he said, wishing for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.
“Hm.” Lori was clearly unconvinced.
He pleaded silently that she would let the topic slide. He didn't think he could handle any more embarrassment for one day.
“Is there anything else I can do to help?” she eventually asked.
“Uh, you could put those rocks in a circle around the fire? Nice and tight, with no breaks. It'll stop it accidentally catching alight anywhere we don't want it to go.” He nodded in the direction of the small patch he had cleared on the floor of the cave.
“That would be all we need, to start a forest fire.” Lori laughed, turning her attention to the rocks. She started laying them out neatly.
“It wouldn't be ideal.” Lephas grinned, slicing into the rabbit. It was more difficult this time. The flesh was cold and solid, making it a challenge to pull the fur away but he would manage. It wouldn’t be pretty, but it would be edible.
“Why are there so many skeletons in here? It's creepy.” Lori shivered, kicking what appeared to be the ribcage of some sort of large rodent away from the fire.
“This is an old bear den,” Lephas replied, barely containing his mirth at the shocked look the faerie gave him. “Don't panic – the emphasis is on 'old'. It's been unoccupied for a long time.”
“I should hope so. I've never even seen a real-life bear before.”
“There are lots of them out here. They don't travel in packs like wolves, so you don't tend to run into them all that often, thankfully.” He flipped the rabbit over in his hands.
“Likewolves?” Lori gaped. “You mean there are wolves out here too?”
“Well, yeah. Don't tell me you've never seen a real-life wolf either?”
“Not before Karn I hadn't!” the faerie cried.
