Chapter 31: Hunting up the Past

Nimrod is at the table grinding herbs when I come in. I smile at his strong hands using the mortar and pestle.

"You were gone a long time, did things go well with Diva?" he asks.

I slide into a chair next to him and steeple my hands in front of me.

"She scared the crap out of me." I answer in all honesty. "So I went looking for a fight."

"Did you find it?" He smiles down into his work.

"No."

He takes a deep breath and puts the dowel down.

"Come here," he opens his arm and I flow into them.

My body tingles wonderfully at his touch. I raise my mouth to his for a kiss, which he obliges. Sweet and warm honey. And the warmth flows down to my groin. I moan into his mouth.

"I miss Saul," he says after our mouths break apart.

Nimrod squeeze me tighter with that said.

"He has not been away from me..." his voice breaks. "Even when..." his head drops onto my shoulder. "He has to be safe."

I squeeze him back.

"The universe willing, he will come back to us."

"It has been so long."

As our hug prolongs I can feel his body humming. My body is humming. We hum together. I wonder briefly if we should do something about it.

"You, have another note," Nimrod forestalls any thought taking him to bed with that announcement. "You are a very popular girl, for some one who has only been here for ... what... 10 days."

"Ten crazy days and 5 glorious night," I give his neck a playful nip.

"Note," he tease me back as he swats my ass. "And you can't count."

"Pooper," I retort but I go to the mantle where the is a note waiting for me. I quickly scan it. "Oh how sweet, Gwen wants to have dinner. She and Stasia want to thank me."

"Good for you," he congratulates me. "I wasn't sure you could readÓ, he adds.

"What do you mean?" I am curious at his shock at my reading abilities.

"I sometimes think you don't know English, but then you say things that are right out of a novel or one of our stories. I doubt anyone has really given it any thought but the fact that you can read is different. Do they all speak English in space?"

"What, no," I cringe at the thought. "Everyone speaks Imperial. I know some other languages too but mostly Imperial and clackit. One the insects races that refuse to learn imperial." I inform him, but Nimrod is right. There is something strange going on here. I pace the small room tapping the note in my hand.

"So you remember how to read and speak English?"

"No. English is one of the languages in my lexicon. I have not thought in English in years."

"What do you think in?" He asks

"Why, Imperial of course." I answer. "Oh I see. I must be putting word groups together in strange ways. I do not think Imperial was meant to mix with English."

"That and the very exact way you speak, like you are reading from a dictionary." He smiles at the thought.

"Oh really?"

"Yes really. But I think you have a lovely accent and that makes up for it." With that said Nimrod puts away the herbs he was grinding and pulls out a couple of poles and some string.

"We still have enough day light to get some hunting done," he says, this time there is subtext that I just don't understand. But if he wants to take me on a hunt who am I to say no.

"Anything you want, love," I smile, happy to oblige him...

Turns out -to go hunting- is a euphemism for going out into the woods and screwing your brains out. Come back with some fish from one of the streams. So we go into the woods. And screw our brains out. We don't catch any fish. It is too late in the season Nimrod informs me.

Nimrod is reclining against one of the billion trees around us, while I work on the lacing of his trousers, slowly pulling them and loosing them. This time he seems content to let me do the work while he watches. Once I have the lacing open I gently peel the waist of his trousers off his hips.

"Mmm." He purrs "It is still a shock when you do that." he smiles and flicks my hair back, taking the sting out of his words. "Nosis, Why is this happening now, to us?" Nimrod looks up at me as I gently take his penis, lifting it and stoke it. I spend a moment just feeling him before I answer.