Chapter 13

"Did you dream?" I asked Bev. We were sitting on the sleeping bags.

"I don't know. I don't remember anything after we were talking about the sand being warm under me and me telling you to move away."

"That was tough. I know it was necessary but it was torture sleeping so close to you without being able to touch you. I just wanted to wrap my arm around you or take your hand in mine but every time I made an effort to, I was stopped. Couldn't get my arm to move, was stuck on my back and couldn't roll onto my side, whatever would keep me away. You don't know how good it was to hear your voice."

"I imagine it was something like the way I felt when Mom told me to get my ass in gear because you'd just called from the truck stop and we were leaving to pick you up."

"Yeah, I guess. It's really weird. Everyone went through this already with me. The not knowing, the miraculous changes in the body, the new abilities. But I didn't go through it the same way. I bet you I could tell you exactly how you've felt since you woke up."

"Go ahead. Tell me."

"Well, you woke and your first thought was 'I feel really good.' Then you got up and stretched and noticed your body was improved. Probably did some more stretching, touching different muscles to feel the difference. And when you discovered that you could communicate with that snake, it didn't seem like that big a deal. It was great to be able to do it, but you weren't particularly blown away by it."

"That's pretty good. But it wasn't just that snake. I could tell what animals were around us as soon as I woke up. You'd be surprised at all the life that's missed by just about everybody."

"So you're going to be like Dr. Doolittle?"

"I guess you could say that. I feel like part of the animal kingdom and feel like they're a part of me."

"How about plants?"

"Not so much. What I get about plants is what I get from the animals. Plants are pretty important to them, either as food, shelter, someplace to hide. Trees can be a place to store food or a convenient place to lay out in the sun."

"So do the animals respect plant life any more than we do?"

"Not at all. The plants are there for them to use any way they can. If a bush gets thrashed because a predator comes after them and they get away, they could give a shit about the plant other than being glad it was there to slow the predator down. Of course, they aren't as capable of destruction as humans are."

Dad seemed a bit more alive, at least as alive someone with no heartbeat or breathing can be. It's hard to tell when you look at him every few hours. The old watched pot theory. It would be much easier to see a difference after a couple of days.

We went to bed. Bev's side was no warmer than mine now that her healing was done. The sand under both of us was comfortable. We lay facing each other, in each others arms, exploring with our hands as if everything was new. Her body felt so good, the smooth skin covering a soft layer of fat over muscles of steel. Her curves were more defined and touching a hip where it expanded out from her trim waist excited me.

A drawing of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, came to mind. She was holding a bow and arrow, her toned body posed perfectly still as she waited out her prey. That's what Bev reminded me of. Were we the new gods and goddesses?

I thought about the old gods. Gods of lightning, wine and the hunt. The underworld, the earth and the ocean, a trickster. I could see Bev as the new goddess of all animal life. There were times I'd behaved like the trickster but I felt I was more a god of hope or achievement. Or maybe I was here to learn more about what my real purpose was.

I recalled stories of when the gods would come down to earth and they would seduce the inhabitants. Half gods and goddesses came about from these pairings of god and mortal. The gods all had human desires and lusts only on a much higher scale.

"I finally get what you were talking about," I told her. "You could have just about anyone that you want and I'd be a fool to hold you back."

"And I finally understand what you said. I don't want anybody else. You're all I want."

We made love. We touched, we kissed, we licked, we chewed, we joined. Like a superhuman, I drew orgasm after orgasm from my goddess before finally joining her in an orgasm to end all orgasms. And then we fucked, like the animals she loved, rutting for hours with my father's inert body nearby. Finally, when neither of us could move, we slept the sleep of the satiated. My arms were around her the whole time.

We woke before the sun was up. Not that we had anything to do but our bodies were re-energized and there was no need for further sleep.

We went outside and I showed Bev where I'd set up a latrine. We took care of that chore, and started back to the cave.

"Hurry," she said as she started to sprint up the hill.

"What's happening?" I asked, urging my body to keep up with her.

"There's a family in trouble. Get your gun."

She waited at the entrance to the cave as I got my rifle out of the scabbard that was still tied to the dolly. As soon as I turned around, she took off down the hill, almost at her top speed. I followed.

Her nude body was a pleasure to watch on two levels as she ran full out. First, of course, was the sexual aspect of a perfectly formed naked woman running through the forest. But there was also a beauty that had nothing to do with sex. The beauty of a sleek animal, the same one would experience watching a leopard or any big cat or Cinnamon when I let him have his way.

I realized that I hadn't really worked my body since I got back. Yeah, I made record time in the hike from the cave to the truck stop, but I hadn't done anything to take it to its limits. Even my runs to the river every morning while Bev was being transformed were more on the level of jogs than flat out runs. This girl was hauling ass and I discovered a fifth gear in myself, one I hadn't even been aware of. I don't know how fast we ran but I know I couldn't have ridden my motorcycle through these trees as fast. It was no work to swerve around a tree or dodge a rock or jump over a log while running as fast as we could. Maneuvering a bike through that would have taken a lot more skill. Not to say my skill level in riding a bike hadn't improved to the point where it was much higher than that of most riders.

I heard a fight up ahead. Ferocious growls and snarls, some yelps and what sounded like a dog screaming. Bev stopped short and pointed.

"There. The lion. Shoot it!"

I slid to a stop and got down on one knee. There was a mountain lion fifteen feet ahead of us at the other edge of a clearing we'd come to. It was ripping a chunk from a wolf that it had just killed. I raised the gun and pulled the trigger in one smooth motion. The bullet went through its eye and into the brain. It dropped the chunk of flesh in its mouth and collapsed.

Bev took off the instant the shot was fired. She went past the two dead animals and knelt down, leaning over, talking as if she'd found a baby. Actually, she found three of them, three wolf cubs trying to hide from her under a bush in what had obviously been their den. Even I could tell the animals were afraid and confused. Bev just talked to them and started petting them and they were soon in her lap, licking her hands.

I'd heard that mountain lion was good eating. This one looked healthy enough and a lion pelt to go with my sheepskin sounded good. We talked to each other and Bev talked to the pups and soon we were on our way back to the cave with three wolf pups trailing along, jumping and playing and falling all over each other.

I'd recommended burying their mother but Bev told me there was no need. Nature would take care of the body and probably prevent several animals from starving.