Chapter 103

　　We lay, and I enjoyed being warm for the first time since leaving the bed that morning. His body was hot over me, and warmed the fur and blankets we lay amongst, making our odd nest of a bed a haven of warmth, golden hair, and glorious skin.

　　But my mind would not let me rest. I worried over the happenings of the day, like I had worried the round stone.

　　“I am frightened, Aurien,” I said.

　　“Of what are you frightened?” he did not move, content to lie under my stroking hands, catlike.

　　He did not fidget or stroke back when we lay like this, but simply absorbed my touch with complete focus and abandonment. I often wondered how long he had gone without touch before me. I suspected it had been a long time by the way he demanded and desired it whenever the opportunity presented itself, and the way that when it was given, he focussed so absolutely on receiving it.