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He heard her and turned around, grateful that she had finally come, and a bit annoyed that she hadn’t returned sooner But when he saw her, he didn’t feel his sunburn anyasped in open- toward hiht

Her skin was golden tawny, and flowed as she s were perfectly h Frole he could see rounded firm buttocks, and above the dark blond fuzz of pubic hair, the curve of a stonancy Pregnancy? Her breasts were airl’s, with dark pink areolas and jutting nipples Her arth unselfconsciously

Ayla had grown up a To fulfill the tasks required of wo wood—her body had to develop the necessary iven her wiry resiliency, and living alone had deth to survive

She was probably, Jondalar thought, the strongest woman he had ever seen; no wonder she was able to pull hiht He kneithout doubt, that he had never seen a woman with a more beautifully sculptured body, but there was ht she was rather pretty, but he’d never seen her in the full light of day

She had a long neck, with a sraceful jawline, full h cheekbones, and wide-set blue-gray eyes Her finely chiseled features were co eyebroere light brown, a shade darker than her loosely falling waves of golden hair glea in the sun

“Great Bountiful Mother!” he breathed

He strove to think of words to describe her; the total effect was dazzling She was lovely, stunning, ly beautiful woman Why did she hide that spectacular body under a shapeless wrap? Keep such glorious hair tied up in braids? And he had thought she was merely pretty Why hadn’t he seen her?

It wasn’t until she crossed the distance of the stone ledge and drew near that he felt hi aroused, but then it ca deency he’d never known before His hands itched to caress that perfect body, to discover her secret places; he longed to explore, to taste, to give her Pleasures When she leaned closer and he smelled her war, if he had been able But he sensed that she wasn’t someone who could be taken easily

“Don-da-lah! Back is … fire …” Ayla said, searching for the right words for his glowing sunburn Then she hesitated—stopped by the aniaze She looked into his intense blue eyes and felt drawn in deeper Her heart pounded, her knees eak, her face grear a sudden das

She didn’t knoas wrong with her, and, wrenching her head aside, she tore her eyes away fro manhood outlined by his breechclout, and she felt an overpowering urge to touch, to reach for it She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and tried to still her quaking When she opened them, she avoided his look

“Ayla help Don-da-lah go cave,” she said

The sunburn was painful, and the ti the short difficult walk, her naked body was so close that it kept his fierce desire inflamed She settled him down on the bed, hurriedly looked over her store of medicine, then suddenly ran out

He wondered where she had gone and understood when she returned with hands full of large gray-green downy burdock leaves She stripped the leaves from the heavy middle vein, tore them in shreds into a bowl, added cool water, and pounded them to a mash with a rock

He had been feeling the discomfort and heat of the sunburncool rateful she was a wo

“Ahhh, that’s much better,” he said

Then, with her hands gently s on the cool leaves, he became conscious that she had not stopped to put on a wrap As she kneeled beside him, he felt her nearness like some palpable emanation The sed hih from her knee to her buttocks

Ayla froze at his touch and stopped theher She held herself rigid, unsure of what he was doing, or what she was supposed to do Only sure that she did not want hiasped at the unexpected jolt that coursed through her

Jondalar was surprised at her shocked look Wasn’t it perfectly natural for a man to want to touch a beautiful woman? Especially when she was so near they al what to think She acts like she’s never been touched before, he thought But she was a woiven birth, though he saw no evidence of children Well, she wouldn’t be the first woman to lose a child, but she must have had First Rites to

Ayla could still feel the tingling aftermath of his touch She didn’t knohy he had stopped, and, confused, she got up and walked away

Maybe she doesn’t like ht But then why had she come so close, especially when his desire was so obvious? She couldn’t help his desire, she had been treating his sunburn And there had been nothing suggestive in her manner In fact, she seemed oblivious to her effect on him Was she so accustomed to that response to her beauty? She didn’t behave with the callous disregard of an experienced woman, yet how could any woman who looked like that not know her effect on men?

Jondalar picked up a mashed piece of wet leaf that had fallen off his back The Sharamudoi healer had used burdock for burns, too She is skilled Of course! Jondalar, you can be so stupid, he said to himself The Shamud told you about the tests of Those Who Serve the Mother ShePleasures, too No wonder she wears that shapeless wrap to hide her beauty She would not have corab like some adolescent boy

His leg was throbbing, and although the medication had helped, the sunburn was still unco on his side, and shut his eyes He was thirsty, but he didn’t want to roll over to get the waterbag just when he had found an al miserable, not only because of his aches and pains, but because he thought he had coross indiscretion, and he was embarrassed

He hadn’t felt the hu time, not since he was a boy He had practiced sain and been rejected This beautiful woman, this woman he had wanted o She would act as though nothing had happened, but she would avoid him whenever she could When she couldn’t stay away, she would still put a distance between theht smile but her eyes would tell the truth There would be no warmth in them, or worse, there would be pity

Ayla had put on a clean wrap and ining her hair, feeling ashaet sunburned It was her fault; he couldn’t get in out of the sun hi her hair, when she should h

ave paid closer attention And I’m supposed to be a medicine woman, a medicine woman of Iza’s line Hers is the most honored line of the Clan—ould Iza think of such carelessness, such lack of feeling for her patient? Ayla was reat pain, and she had added more pain

But there was more to her discomfiture He had touched her She could still feel his warh She knew exactly where it had reached and where it had entle caress Why had he touched her nipple? It tingled still He had been full in his manhood, and she knehat that nal to a woman when they wanted to relieve their needs Broud had done it to her—she shuddered—she had hated seeing him hard in his manhood then

She didn’t feel that way now She’d even like it if Jondalar would give her the signal …

Don’t be ridiculous He couldn’t, not with his leg It was barely healed enough to put weight on

But he had been hard in his , and his eyes … She shivered thinking about his eyes They are so blue, and so full of his need, and so …

She couldn’t express it to herself, but she stopped twining her hair, closed her eyes, and let herself feel his pull He had touched her

But then he stopped She sat up straight Had he given her a signal? Had he stopped because she had not acquiesced? A woman was always supposed to be available to a ht that, from the first tiht the subtle gestures and postures that e a man to want to satisfy his need with her She had never understood why a woman would want to use them before Now, she suddenly realized, she did

She wanted this nal! If I don’t know his signal, he won’t knoays either And if I refused hiain But did he really want ly