WARNING : contains mature content.

3 months later

The steam was rapidly flowing off the hot water from the winter night. I move to the stone seat on the edge of our private bath, filled with the hot springs warmed by the mountainous volcano above.

It was quiet and peaceful, a relaxing spot I felt I could always come to whenever I needed some space to think. However winter was beginning, and it was never nice to have most of your body warm, and the rest as well as your face freezing cold from the chilly air of the night. But this particular night I was waiting for someone to join me, and I was hoping he was going to be here soon.

As if the thought drew him here, the crunch of dry leaves draws my attention to the forest line. Facing the other way I look over my shoulder to see Zachan emerging from the trees. He gives me a coy smile and I return one, yet mine is actually shy as I turn back around to face the rocky cliff side.

Seanne's advice given to me months ago was to just fall, and since then I have. I have fallen for Zachan, harder then what I thought I ever could for a man. For once in my life I decided not to consider judgment from others or myself and see where it led me. From that I found myself... happy, happier then I have been in a long time.

I listen as Zachan steps into the hot water with a soft plonk. The water rises slightly and as he moves closer to me small rippled waves lap at my bare shoulder blades. I feel him move closer, and my stomach coils tight in excitement and nervousness.

An arm snakes itself around my waist and slowly drags me backwards. I'm pulled against Zachans chest, and I suck in a small breath from his cold skin. I feel lips brushing against the spot where my neck meets my shoulder, and my eye lids can't help but try and flutter close.

" You seem shy tonight, Lena..." Zachan observes, kissing that same spot that had my eyes fluttering before.

I bite my lip. He was right but I wasn't going to admit it. I hadn't seen my husband for a couple days as he had left with the warriors on a hunting trip. As the weather gets colder, less animals are around the forest closest to us, so hunting parties have to travel further out to be able to find something. Zachan had accompanied them, and maybe I was all shy because I had not seen him in a while.

"Lena..." he playfully taunts, his kisses moving to right behind my earlobe. It has my back arching and I try moving away to annoy him, but his grip is iron around my waist.

Instead I lean my head back into the crook of his neck, my arm sliding over his around me. I feel the bristles of his unshaved chin brushing against my forehead. I had missed him, especially just the feel of him close by.

"May I see your face?" he asks softly.

My cheeks go rosier then they already were from the steam. If I turned around he would not only see my face, and I guess that was the reason I was so bashful and shy. I was completely bare in the water, like the day I was born. Being naked like this made me feel so vulnerable, especially in front of Zachan. But I was becoming more comfortable with it, as Zachan was gentle. And he has the decency to look me in the eye when I am bare to him, unlike the gentleman back on my homeland that probably wouldn't.

Biting the inside of my mouth I stand up straight again, and slowly start to turn my body to face his. But Zachan doesn't seem to want to wait, as his arm hooked around my waist spins to face him, the water making it easier for him to do so.

My hands grab onto his upper arms, his own hands around my waist, caressing my sides. Face to face I see his smile, shaped by a shadow of the torchlight mounted near us, and the dark stubble growing around his jaw.

"Hello, Lena." He whispers, moving down to kiss me. I meet him half way, reaching up on my tip toes. Just before our lips collide I suck in a breath as my breasts feel the nip of the cold air. But Zahcan pushes me closer until we are chest to chest, and the cold is forgotten.

My hands move to cup his face, and he crouches down until we are both submerged in the water again. As we are kissing however his stubble brushes against my lips and skin. I can't help but smile and let out a giggle. We pull apart as I run my thumbs down his prickly jaw.

"It tickles," I explain, now running my thumb over his lips. He kisses the tip, which brings a smile to my face. Pulling me closer he moves us to the edge of the bath. I look over his shoulder and as he reaches behind him, grabbing the shard of obsidian embedded in a hard clay, as well as a small rag of fabric. Looking back to me he offers them to me.

"No," I shake my head," I cut you last time."

" There is no mirror out here," He says with a small smirk," and I can not kiss you if you laugh every time I do so."

As if to emphasise his point he leans over and brushes his cheek with mine. I laugh from the feeling, and also his playfulness, a side I only really get to see of Zachan.

"Fine," I huff, carefully taking the obsidian and rag from him, making sure to be very aware of the sharp object," but if I cut you again I can not be blamed."

He smiles dragging us this time to the opposite edge of the pool. He sits on a ledge beneath the water, his chest half way out. He grabs the back of my thighs until I am forced to straddle his own legs, my own chest forced out of the water. Kneeling I try not to think too much about our position, the clear intimacy of it. The way it has spread pink across my face.

Instead I scoop some water from the bath and let it fall over Zachan's jaw. Once that is done I turn his head to face his left, tilting it slightly. I move to make the first stroke against is skin, always hating the ruff scraping sound it made. Once the sweep of his jaw is clean-shaven, I use the rag to wipe off the small hairs it collected.

"Your doing well," he murmurs with a scrunched mouth, my fingers holding his chin as I make the next stroke.

I can't help but roll my eyes," I think last time I cut you was because you talked."

"That is not-"

"Ah, no talking!" I say, a satisfied smile appearing on my lips. A small pout appears on Zachan's.

I go back to souley consecrating on my task at hand. I felt so focused I failed to notice when Zachan's hands were moving down from my waist to my legs. They are wondering around my thighs, stroking ever so softly at the skin. When they start gliding inwards do I break concentration.

Flinching in surprise, I quickly remove the obsidian from his skin, half way through the final stroke on the left side of his face. I glare at him, only to see that teasing smirk on his face once again.

" Zachan..."

"I did not speak," he states, faking confusion.

I try not to smile at this, scrunching my lips to force it away," No talking or moving," I tell him before continuing," I need to concentrate..."

He listens and keeps quite, and moves his hands back to my waist and they stay there. However his thumbs draw small circles on my back. I don't complain though, liking the small gesture.

As I get back into a rhythm, my mind starts wandering off into the past months. I never thought I could be like this with any man, much less Zachan, as when I first met him I could never see this future. Yet behind the stone serious façade there was the Zachan I knew now, the one that I have fallen in love with.

Being more intimate with him began slow, and he could see how unused to it I was. But a month ago I found myself asking Jaida for one of those berries she had given me the first night I arrived here on this land. They called them hooda berries, and women took them to help with the pain of there first time. However I should have remembered that night of our wedding before I went to sleep the effect it had on me.

That night instead of losing my virginity I was dizzy beyond belief and threw up twice. I guess the hooda berry was too strong for my body to handle. Zachan had been there though and in the morning, in my embarrassment, I had to tell him why I was so ill the night before. I thought he would have laughed or teased me but he didn't. Instead he told me that when the time was right it would happen, and he promised he would be gentle.

That time was a week later and his promise kept. Still at first it was unpleasant... painful. But after the initial discomfort it built into something pleasant... pleasurable. I had only heard rumors and whispers back on my homeland from gossiping wives about their enjoyment of sex in the drawing rooms after a dinner party. To be honest I thought those rumors were just old wives tales. So when Zachan and I were finished and I said I was surprised I had enjoyed it as much, he had laughed then. He kissed the side of my mouth and said ' Lena, if you did not enjoy it I did not do my duty correctly as your husband.'

I had blushed scarlet.

Now, as I was close to finishing shaving Zachan's face I could not help but crave that feeling again. My husband was also wanting it to, as I have been feeling his excitement grow since we arranged ourselves in this position.

Tilting his head back I use the obsidian to shave under his jaw reaching to the tip of his chin. I lean back in his lap and look to make sure all of the stubble was gone. Satisfied I wrap the cloth around the obsidian and reach over Zachans shoulder to place the object out of the way. The friction the movement creates between us has my husband inhaling a sharp breath.

Moving back to face him I run my hand up is shoulders to his face, enjoying the new smoothness of his cheeks. Shyly I lean forward to kiss him, and when I do it seems all of Zachan's patience had run to breaking point. His arm loops around my waist to bring me closer and his other hand wraps around my neck.

After that everything else is forgotten. Zachan guides me through our pleasure with his hands on my hips. His mouth explores my body anywhere he can reach, adding to the desire that is building deep with in me. When I reach that peek of pleasure, Zachan falls into it with me.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was freezing when emerging from the warm water of the hot springs. But as quickly as possible I gathered my clothes and put them on, drying myself before hand.

Sitting down on the edge of the rocky bath I find my fur-lined boots and shove them onto my feet, instantly feeling better. Zachan is already dressed and waiting, holding the torch that will guide our way back to the haven. He watches me and I give him a small smile as I stand, draping my bear fur across my shoulders. He returns one, holding out his free hand for me to take, and he leads the way back through the forest.

"How was your trip?" I ask, always finding the need to break the quietness of the forest," was it successful?"

" Yes, we should be able to ration the meat for the coming winter," he answers, but I cannot help but detect something else was on his mind. He was distant now, not entirely here with me.

"Zachan-" I start to say, but I'm assuming from my tone my husband already knew what I was thinking, that I knew something was off.

" I will have to leave again soon," he tells me and my steps fall short, by arm being pulled forward by him. Noticing he stops with me, letting go of my hand and switching the torch for it to illuminate our faces.

I furrow my eyebrows," Why?... I thought you said you were successful."

" We were," he confirms but his eyes drift away from mine," It is the tribes from the south west, I must meet with the other leaders there. Our hunting group was intercepted this morning by warriors of the Zeahev tribe. I was told disagreements between those tribes need to be discussed, and I am to be apart of the meeting."

"Which tribe are you travelling to?"

"Svorn Tribe."

I clench my jaw, it was the furthest away from here. It would take nearly two weeks to travel there I was told, and just as long to travel back. Never mind the amount of time the meeting could take.

"Why can I not go with you?" I ask, the question occurring to me.

Zachan turns tense," The amount of travel, you are not use to, especially during the winter... it is too dangerous."

" I have seen the maps Zachan, the journey there is nothing but forest, no mountains or valleys. And in the winter it rarely snows further south of the continent, you told me that... why am I really not allowed to go?"

He swaps the torch in his other hand again, is if weighing up whether or not to tell me. I fear I am getting the silent treatment from Zachan and my temper runs thin.

"Zachan!"

"Do you remember when the Zeahev Tribe came?" he asks me right away, eyes blazing into mine. He looked annoyed but I did not feel it was entirely directed at me.

" Yes," I whisper, not having very fond memories of the visiting tribe. The bear fur around my shoulders being one of them.

" There will be 5 tribes at this meeting, three new chiefs you will have to be introduced to like Chief Sharnoo... we are the strongest allies with the Zeahev Tribe, and they respect my choice in marrying you... I can not say that for the other three."

My anger dissipates; replaced with a sinking realization again that I was on a land that was not all welcoming. I knew now that Zachan was not describing the road there dangerous, but the actual destination.

I feel the heat of Zachan's body move closer to mine as he wraps his free arm around my body to bring me to his. The one holding the torch is stretched out to keep it at a distance.

"I cannot risk your life, I'm sorry, Lena," he says, kissing the top of my head. He then leads me back to our tent of the haven, tucked into his side is if he was already trying to protect me. Yet he could not from my own thoughts.

Another update, in the same month! Gasp!

I hoped you liked this chapter, hopefully not too steamy for everyone. I've been really enjoying writing again, and I can't wait to write more of Aleenia's and Zachan's story.

I also wanted your opinion on what cover you like best, you might have seen some of them already and the others are new. I made sure they all made reference to some part of the story.

So tell me which one you like in the comments and that will be the new cover, or I might rotate them if you guys really like a couple.

So please Vote and Comment, it means so much when you do!

Next update will hopefully be soon.

Love U all.