As his mind began to awaken, Mo Yuan kept his eyes closed. His head felt heavy and there was a light throb of pain in his back. His chest also felt tight, but unable to make any sense of why he felt so weak and in pain, he slowly opened his eyes.
Instantly, confusion hit him. He had no idea where he was and nor could he see anyone when he turned his head to the side to look around. The cave was well equipped and very cozy but it was not a place he knew, but there was a definite scent that he could vaguely recall, but too weak to dwell on it, he closed his eyes again to think back to his last memory.
He had gone to the river to fish for eel, the rain had just begun to fall when they came into view, and with only his own hunger on his mind, he completely lost himself to the hunt. And it was then, that the memory of being hit from behind came back to him. The scent of a bear and the row of teeth, was his last memory.
Opening his eyes, he took a deep breath only to shudder at the sudden rush of pain in his back. So someone saved me, he thought to himself as he once again looked about the cave. The fire was almost out, and from what he could see, their winter stock of wood was almost gone. Had they used it all just for him? he wondered to himself.
Allowing himself to wake as much as possible, while ignoring he pain in his head, he slowly raised himself until he was sitting. The exertion hurt, but the moment he looked down at himself, he realized why his chest felt constricted. The bandaging was too tight but sitting up made it was easier to breath.
In that position, he also had a very good view of the cave but it was when his eyes fell on the weaponry leaning against a small table in the corner of the room, he realized who had saved him. A million thoughts raced through his mind as he stared at her bow and arrows. He had successfully avoided her for so long, how was it she had found him? he wandered. She was as predictable as the weather. She had never delved out of her part of the forest except to enter his to hunt. Had she finally given up the comfort of what she knew to go in search of him? And how did she get that bear off him. From the size of its teeth, it was a fully grown adult.
But as his eyes continued to look around, they soon fell on the herbal medicines, the strips of cloth, the water, and the lily leaves which were all laid out beside him. Picking up the herbs he sniffed at it. Smiling, he could tell what they were, but that she too knew of their healing properties impressed him.
Wild ginger, lavender, thyme and sage. Four very powerful medicinal plants and when made into a poultice and used with the lily leaf, it was miraculous. She saved my life, he thought to himself.
Unsure what to make of her intentions or reasons for helping him, he turned his head towards the little area where her bed was. He could see her form under the covers resting, but seeing as there was not enough firewood, he knew he had to repay her kindness and seeing as no scent of food was in the air, it was possible she had not eaten.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to his feet. It would not take too much effort to cut down a little wood and gather something to eat. He was hungry but not knowing how long he had been in her cave, he gathered it must have been some time considering she had almost used her supply of wood. And seeing how efficient she was in hunting and medicinals, he safely assumed she also kept a good supply of wood for the cold months.
Making his way to the caves entrance, the sun was just coming up but it was cold out and not trusting his health, he quickly removed one of her fur coats. It was too small for him, but it was sufficient, then putting on his own boots, which he noticed she had cleaned and dried for him, he left the cave to first search for food, twigs and wood.
But the moment he reached the river, the sight of the bear laying dead beside the water, had him quickly moving towards it. The stench was foul but one look at the bloated body, told him the animal had been dead for almost seven days. He had been in her cave that long? But that he was able to walk unaided though in pain, was remarkable all the same. Her knowledge of medicinal plants was very good, that it gave him a little more energy to repay the kindness.
Pulling her dagger from its throat a gush of foul air escaped the body, but it was hers, and he wanted to give it back. His spear was also there, though not looking overly useful, it had been left out in the elements for too long that the wood had begun to warp. So gritting his teeth, he cut away a chunk of meat from the carcass, and threw it into the water.
Instantly the water swarmed with life. Cutting away several more pieces, he threw them in too, until the eels could be seen gathering around them. Then with his spear, he quickly caught two. He would have caught more, but it broke on the third attempt. But happy with the catch, it was more than enough, so with her knife he quickly cut off the heads before gutting them.
Looking back at the bear he sighed. It was too big to bury and he was not strong enough to drag it anywhere. so spending a little extra time on it, he cut as much as he could from the carcass, before using the remnants of his spear to push it into the water. It would feed the fish and be gone within a week he thought to himself before picking up his two eels and heading back towards her side of the forest.
Returning to her cave, he was surprised to find her gone and the cave cleaned. But throwing the eels onto the kitchen bench, he quickly took her axe off the wall and returned to gather wood and twigs. It wasn't much, but it was enough to see her through the next two weeks at least.
Once he had the fire blazing, he then set about her kitchen to prepare a meal. He found her larder was fully stocked with all manner of wild vegetables, roots, herbs and fruit. He could see she ate well, and this made him happy. It also meant he had more than enough to create a nice meal for her.
Firstly he set about creating a salad with the vegetables and fruit before lighting the stove and heating the oil he found, though it seemed she also knew how to make flavoured oil. Choosing one that had a strong scent of garlic, he decided that would be the perfect oil and because eel is generally an oily fish, he also lay out a handful of fern leaves to drain it once cooked.
And it was while he was bent over the stove removing the first eel that she walked into the cave.
He saw her before she saw him, but the sight of her instantly caught his breath. She was just as lovely as the last time he saw her. But the moment she turned towards him, he noticed one thing immediately. Joy.
Rushing at him, he could not stop her from throwing herself at him. With her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her face instantly buried into the side of his neck, he stood stunned and in shock.
"You came back." she whispered tearfully against him.
"What is this." he asked gently and forcing her back.
"You came back." she whispered again as the tears rained down her cheeks.
"Of course I came back. You saved me, I wanted to repay your kindness." he replied still confused by her demeanor.
Not sure what else to say to him, she merely stood in front of him staring and crying .
"Alright, why don't you go and sit down by the fire. You are cold. I am almost done here." he said firmly before shoving her gently towards the blazing hearth. It looked so inviting, she did as suggested and sat down on the fur rug to watch him from the other side of the room in awe.
That he had come back, even if it was to share a meal was enough for her. She had searched for so long, that finding him again had felt as if everything was finally back to where it should be, but when he disappeared again, she truly thought it was for good and by the time she had returned she was coming to terms with it.
Now to be sitting in front of a warm fire he had made with wood he had collected while cooking a meal in her own kitchen was too good to be true. Blushing through the hungry noises coming from her stomach, she heard him chuckle softly at it.
It was the first time she had heard him laugh. Smiling at the sound, her eyes remained on him as he quickly dished the food onto separate bowls. And to his eye, they looked to be made of wood chips but they were skillfully made that he inspected them for some time to see what she had used to fuse the chips together. Then rising to help him carry them towards the fire, he ordered her to sit back down. Instead he carried them all himself, however a frown rose when she noticed the way he was walking.
Almost hitting herself, she realized he was in pain, but seeing as he had gone to so much trouble for her, she allowed him to serve her dinner. Then waiting for him to sit down, her eyes lowered to the dishes in front of her. Smiling tearfully at the beautiful way he had arranged the eel over the salad, she quickly picked up a small piece and popped it into her mouth.
Watching as he eyes closed to savor the taste, a small smile rose on his lips. She was even beautiful when she ate, he thought to himself before he too joined her in eating.
"Try some of this." he said, picking up a small piece of ginger wrapped in a barley leaf, then placing a small piece of eel on top her held it up to her mouth.
Staring at him, she froze.
"Open your mouth." he said chuckling at her.
He laughed again! she thought as her eyes widened at him and then at the food in his fingers.
Opening her mouth, Mo Yuan slowly slipped the food into her mouth, but the moment her lips closed over the food as well as his fingers, a sudden rush of heat flared up through his body. The feel of her soft wet lips on his fingers was unintentional, but it was enough for him to feel that rush of heat spreading to his face.
With her eyes closed, she savoured the combination of flavours. The taste was exquisite on her tongue, that she could not help but flick her tongue out to lick the rest off her lips, and that only increased the heat in his cheeks.
Smiling, her eyes opened only to suddenly widen in alarm. His face was red and he looked ill.
"What's the matter, are you in pain?" she asked rising and moving to the side of him.
Immediately her hands reached up to check the wound on his head before moving her hands to remove the shirt fur he was wearing, only to have him quickly jerking back out of reach.
"What are you doing?" he eyed her suspiciously.
Feeling a mixture of anger and confusion, she also noticed a scent, one she had smelled a long time ago, but it was confusing her because she did not understand it.
"I just wanted to check your wounds. I have not checked them in a while." She said frowning at him.
Feeling foolish, but unsure how he could put the smile back on her face, he gave her a small smile. "I see. You didn't know that's what you were intending to do." he said before removing the fur himself.
Suddenly the reason why he had not followed her back to the cave came back to her. But dealing with his wounds first, she said nothing as she stripped away the bandages.
The swelling had completely gone down and the wounds were looking much better, but they were obviously paining him to have caused him to heat up so quickly. So rising, she gathered what she needed, and very gently applied her poultice, before bandaging him up again without the lily, it was no longer needed.
Then slipping his shirt back up over his shoulders, she returned to her side of the fire and resumed eating. It was as if her soft touch had not even happened, he thought to himself as he watched her eat mesmerized. Focused only on the food in front of her, she took a small lettuce leaf and placed a piece of eel on it, then tipping a little of her scented oil over the top she held it up for him to taste.
Surprised by the move, but pleased with it all the same, he lifted his hand and took hold of her wrist, then pulling the food towards his mouth, his lips closed over the small morsel while ensuring she felt his lips slide over his fingertips, then closing his eyes, he allowed the garlic in the oil to sit on his tongue for a few seconds to savour the taste.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was her flushed cheeks. Staring wide eyed back him, he knew what she was feeling, her face had turned red from the feel of his lip on her, and within seconds, a rush of desire hit him. He could smell the arousal coming off her in waves.
Having eaten enough, she slowly moved towards him until she was as close as she could get, then lifting both arms she enveloped his shoulders, before laying head against his own.
"I wanted you to follow me." she said softly against him.
Not understanding what she meant, he turned his head slowly. "I don't understand." he said as his nudged against her.
"That day, I walked away, I wanted you to follow me." she explained. "But when I looked back you were gone." she said sadly against him.
Shaking his head, he chuckled again. "You didn't tell me that. I didn't know." he answered her with small smile.
"But I searched for you, but you didn't come back." she cried tearfully against him.
"I didn't understand what you wanted. You didn't explain it to me." he said turning his body around to face her.
"But you came back this time. Are you going to leave again?" she asked looking up at him.
Her large doe like eyes that tearfully held his own moved him deeply. "Not if you don't want me to." he said.
"I don't want you to. I want you to stay." she said.
And as he moved forward to envelope her into his arms, she fell into them as his lips descended onto her own. Kissing her softly, her body was pulled onto his lap and her furs slowly slipped off her shoulders.
And as her breath began to quicken and her scent of arousal grew stronger, a blinding white light hit them both.
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For those who would like to read an extension of this scene which is a full nsfw chapter, then I have written a one shot which you can find in the comments section below.