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He kissed her ue, and reached for a breast Then he pushed her back onto the furs and bent over to take the nipple into his mouth She felt herself respond instantly, and the intensity of the sensations increased as he sucked and lightly bit on one nipple and caressed the other with his fingers

She pushed hi up the white tunic she hadto do when the baby comes, Jondalar? They’ll be so full of milk”

“I pro to taste it,” he said, s, then he pulled his tunic off over his head “You’ve had one child Does it feel the same when a baby sucks?”

She thought about it “No, not exactly,” she said “It’s pleasurable to nurse a baby, after the first few days The baby sucks so hard, it et used to it But I didn’t get the sas deep inside me when I nursed a baby that I do when you suck Sometimes when you just touch, I can feel it all the way down That never happens with a baby”

“I can feel it down insideat you sometimes,” he said He took off the belt cinched around her waist, then opened her tunic and rubbed her slightly rounded sto her He helped her slip out of her open tunic She untied the thongs from around her waist and rehtly wrapped foot coverings

“I was so happy to see you wearing the tunic I made for you, Jondalar,” Ayla said

He picked up the tunic that he had dropped on his bedroll, turned it inside out, and, folding it together, laid it carefully on top of his back fras Ayla took off her as—her ears were still a little sore fro—and put the jewelry away in her pack She did not want to lose it When she turned around, she noticed that Jondalar, who couldn’t stand in the tent, was stooping on one foot, pulling off his leggings, but his swollenfor it, which unbalanced hi

“How aer?” he said, pushing off the re them out of the way Then he stretched out beside her on the sleeping furs “When did youup on one elbow so he could look at her His deep, rich blue eyes were dark, with only hints of blue in the single flaing

“When ere staying with the Lion Camp,” she said

“But you were Pro a tunic for me?”

“I’ot a strange idea I remembered that you said you wanted to captureofthat I could so for you That ti about black animals and white animals, you said that white was special to you So when Crozie agreed to teachfor you Whenever I worked on it, I thought of you I think I was happiest that winter when I orking on it I even i it kept my hope alive That’s why I carried it with me on the Journey back”

He alrow moist

“I’ on beads and things I started to do it a few tiet soot back to do it that winter Maybe next winter I can go out and find some more,” she said

“It was perfect, Ayla Just the white color was decoration enough Everyone thought you left it undecorated on purpose, and they were so impressed Marthona told ood work to be seeing some white tunics around,” he said

“When Marthona said I wouldn’t be able to see you or talk to you until after the ceremony, I was ready to break every Zelandonii custoive it to you That’s when Marthona said she would do it, although I think she thought even that was too much contact But I didn’t know if you liked it, and I didn’t know if you would understand why I wanted you to wear it”