I Will Work Hard Ch. 02

She walked back to where Ehlov was resting under the tree. She sat down right on the grass, her back against Ehlov's barrel and belly. His legs were folded. There was a slight bit of feathering on those legs. It was almost unnoticeable. It was also a bit dingy, but Hulda had always been able to help him keep reasonably clean.

She turned her head and noticed that Ehlov seemed to be waving an index finger about in the air, making ... lines? Circles? She didn't know what he was doing. Maybe he was counting something. She didn't ask, because he seemed deep in his thoughts, and she was afraid of ruining whatever it was he was trying to do.

Hulda was feeling rather comfortable. It was strange. She was leaning against a big horse man like it was normal.

Well, for all these women in Korelanda, especially the natives, this was normal.

The incident with the Prowlers wasn't seen as exactly normal, but it didn't seem entirely unheard of either.

Hulda rested her head and nape against the warm, horse-like body. The coat was soft against her skin. "Husband, do you think the families of those Prowlers will retaliate? They might have figured out those men are probably dead." She was proud of herself for using the word retaliate.

"If anyone shows up and asks about the Prowlers, they'd be letting us know what village the Prowlers came from, which would tell us which village to attack, if we wanted to attack."

"You think they won't come to attack us?" She turned her body and head to one side. Her cheek pressed into the fur covered muscles. There was a gentle rising and falling under her. Ehlov seemed to breathe with both his horse-like and humanoid parts.

"They just lost a good deal of men. They can't risk sending anymore. If they send too many off, who will stay behind to do all the heavy work and look after the females?"

All Hulda could think to say was, "Oh."

They stayed under the shady tree for a few more minutes, and then Ehlov asked her to get up, because there was somewhere he wanted to go. Hulda rode on her husband's second back as he left the tree, walked down the hill, and went off towards a forest in the distance. At first, Hulda wondered if Ehlov was expecting a "chat," but she remembered that there weren't any collapsible stairs belted to him. He probably didn't expect a chat at all.

Ehlov didn't take her deep into the woods. In fact, he stopped just behind a single tree. He didn't seem to want to hide. He couldn't hide. His body was too long.

When he asked her to dismount with an oddly gentle, solemn tone, cakes of snow seemed to pile up in her stomach. She landed onto the grass with a quick heave of a breath. The balls of her feet felt part of an exposed tree root.

As she unwound the leash, Ehlov's voice hovered beside and above her. "Are you scared of the Prowlers?"

The leather leash was pressed and folded between her fingertips. Her eyes scanned the golden brown coat's texture, seeking out random patterns in its natural luster.

"When someone grabbed me in the night, I was scared, but the work and the counting went on, and I don't have any more room in my head for thinking about stuff like that." She kicked a stray acorn out of her sight. "Besides, you're a real brainy sort. You told everyone to put their coins ... their ... currency together, and get good doors for the village."

She saw one of his hooves dig a bit at the grass. "Most people don't use that word the way you did."

Hulda shrugged. "Anyway, things are better now. I'm not scared."

"That's good. I don't want you to be scared. I want you to be happy."

Her knees went together for some reason. She leaned forward, her palm against the great beast of a creature before her.

"Hulda?"

She turned her head, then looked up at her husband's face, and she saw that those brown eyes weren't cold. They were so warm that Hulda almost melted. His humanoid torso was turned so he could have a better view of her. His hands were curled together, and there was a small tremble in them.

"Listen to me, Hulda." The corners of his lips were drooping. His large nostrils looked sharper. "We can't send you back to your home, but if you decide that ... that you don't like me," here he paused to swallow what was probably a negative emotion, "you don't have to be my wife. You can be my sister instead, and then you'll have another man come and woo you, and if you want you can marry him."

Her brain creaked and ground into itself as she tried to drink down all this information. Her green eyes narrowed and she licked at her lips. "So, I don't have to be your wife?"

Ehlov's mouth opened, as if he had a special answer in mind, but he didn't give it. He was silent. His mouth closed with a painful, chomping sound, and his eyes pointed down.

But he did speak. It took him a few seconds, but he managed it. "I like you. You work hard. You don't bitch. And you're damn pretty."

"Pretty?" Her nose wiggled. "My face is spotty. Why'd you call me pretty?"

Those eyes, those sweet brown eyes slid back up from the ground to her face, and his nostrils seemed to soften, relaxing. He snorted down at her. Hulda's eyelids closed for a moment. The air had dried her eyes.

"I wouldn't have bought a wife if I thought she was ugly. I'd have settled for a plain one, though. Anyway, that doesn't matter, because I think you're pretty."

One of her hands left the leash so she could rub at her eyelids. Then she opened her eyes and saw a silly grin.

"When I first saw those dots on your face, I thought I'd call you Starlight one day."

Something ... something about his words had her dropping the leash. Her fingers laced together at her modestly covered bosom. She stared up into his eyes. They seemed so much more beautiful than before, which as weird. They were ordinary eyes, completely average.

Then ... he reached out to her.

Her whole body was hot, stuffy, and maybe even whiny. She certainly made childish little whines as Ehlov roughly pulled her close, leaned over her, and claimed her mouth with his.

He smelled like home.

He tasted like a promise.

Pressing up, and then back down, that was his hand against her back, making abrasive noises against her clothing. Her thighs rubbed together, and she wasn't even able to hate herself for it.

He was holding her so closely, lifting her a bit. Her heels weren't touching the grass. Inside her mouth, there was messy slurping and breathing. His tongue was there, and even though it was really big, Hulda didn't mind having it there. It was a sweet thing, a tender thing. It was a polite house guest, energetic but eager to please.

Calm, turning limp in Ehlov's thick arms, Hulda smelled the trees, the grass, and the man holding her.

The man ...

The man ...

She wasn't thinking to herself, oh, this is a horse man.

She wasn't even thinking to herself, oh, a centaur.

Her brain was repeating the word man.

Man, man, man, man, man, man, man!!

And she wanted time to stop.

It didn't. It couldn't. Ehlov let her stand on the forest floor. His lips left her.

Hulda pouted. She couldn't help it. She wanted more kissing and hugging. It was so much more delightful, more secure, than what that annoying Examiner had tried to do with her when she reached this land. That crazy man thought he could touch her as if she was his wife, and without any bit of wooing or cuddling to make it easier!

The rough, but enjoyable flesh of his callused palm and fingers went under her chin and over her cheeks. He tilted her face up.

He looked so sad.

"I really do like you, and I hope you'll like me real soon."

Hulda wanted to tell him that she liked him back, but she honestly didn't know if that was true.

Did she like him?

Really?

Maybe this wasn't disgusting, as she had once thought it was?

Ehlov really was a nice sort of person. He never did anything to hurt her, and if he liked her, maybe he'd be willing to explain something to her.

She reached up and spread her fingers over Ehlov's joined hands. Her eyes scanned his face. His cheeks were a bit more hollow than she had realized. Had he always been like that, or had he lost a bit of weight?

"Hey, don't be low about yourself. I think most girls would love being your wife, and ... well," her fingers tightened over his hands as she took in a dense breath, "I think that you've been a good husband. You're always keeping me safe, and you do all the heavy work I can't do, and you rub me down every night, even though I haven't really been nice to you about it."

Ehlov's mouth perked up, and joyful little crinkles formed around his eyes. "If you think you like being my wife, you have to tell me, so we can have our names in the temple."

"Hm?" Hulda leaned in a bit, staring up at his sun darkened face. "Would a priest write our names down somewhere?" She assumed a priest would do it because she didn't know how to write.

He nodded. "We'd tell the priests our names, and they'd write them down on some paper. Then, The Soothing will be over."

The Soothing?

Hulda had heard a few people talk about that. She had never really asked about it, though.

"The Soothing is something about marriage, right?" Hulda was starting to bounce on the balls of her feet.

"When The Soothing's over, the law will see you as my wife, and we'll have a party."

"That's nice and all, but I was wondering about when we have to have a baby."

His eyes popped a bit. His lips became an uncertain, slack thing on his face.

Hulda actually giggled. Then she rubbed her cheek and mouth, and she said, "I didn't like the idea of making babies with a centaur. I thought it'd make me sick, but you've been doing everything a good man would do. So, I guess you'd also try to make that part as nice as you can."

First, he blinked. Then, his jaw ticked. Finally, he grabbed her again and hissed out, "Damn, you're a good girl."

Another kiss, another warm hug, Hulda hugged him back, reaching up and putting her arms around him. She was pretty much hanging like meat from a hook, and she was perfectly fine with that.

But he soon put her back down, and he said with a voice that was almost dazed, "Tomorrow. Would you have a chat with me tomorrow?"

She agreed.

***

Ehlov told her that centaurs had two penises, a first and a second. The first one was smaller and easier to deal with. Hulda thought that was fairly amusing, if a bit weird, but it wasn't too weird for her. She did wonder, though, if both penises could impregnate a woman.

As she went with Ehlov to sell the milk, eggs, and butter, she said that it was getting a bit cold for her. A few other women had already put on wool stockings and plain wooden clogs, or sometimes leather boots. She wanted some shoes. Always willing to see to her comfort, Ehlov took her to a carpenter to have her feet measured. They'd have a single pair of wooden shoes for her within a day.

Excited, heated smiles were shared as they worked. Hulda didn't think she was as eager as her husband, but she knew that there would likely be more kisses and hugs, and those were wonderful.

When they finally had some time for themselves, Ehlov gathered up the collapsible stairs and platform and belted them to his body. Then he put a few extra mats onto his second back. Hulda went to him, made certain that her harness was secure, and mounted. Ehlov made a little grunt as she landed on him, but he laughed right after that. Hulda rolled her eyes as she belted their waists together.

The spot in the woods Ehlov chose was fairly nice. Orange and brown leaves were blanketing the earth, making crunchy sounds whenever Ehlov's hooves moved. The air smelled like mushrooms and rainy air.

Hulda watched her husband find a big enough space between the trees to set up the platform in. He was careful to make sure it was steady. When that was done, Hulda unbuckled the belt around her waist and secured it in a loop under one of the many belts Ehlov wore to carry pouches and bags with. Still a bit nervous about possibly being snatched away, even in this situation, she didn't remove her harness.

Ehlov helped her to climb onto the wooden platform. Then he handed her the extra mats. Hulda put her body over part of them so she could cover the platform. They were nice mats, simple things made of straw and wool.

And she simply sat before him, her feet dangling on the edge. The stairs were to the right of her, in case she needed to walk off.

Her instincts told her, "Well, men like to be touched, don't they?"

She put her arms about him, her fingers tugging on Ehlov's neckline. His body warmth was cozy and comforting. Despite the heat, her nipples tightened under her worn chemise.

A kiss went to her throat, and she quivered, making keen little moans. Her nerve endings flared where his mouth went. When his teeth grazed her, Hulda winced, but she liked it.

One of his hands went to her head wrap, and he tugged the fabric away, letting it fall behind her with a gentle flutter against the wood. Hulda gladly let him loosen her black hair to make it fall and slide all around her. Then he combed his fingers through it. The thick whispers that came from his hands in her hair put a thrill in her body.

"Your hair's the softest thing I've ever touched."

Hulda smiled at his statement. Then she reached up to pull one of Ehlov's hands out of her hair. She brought his dark fingers to her lips, kissing them, nuzzling them. Then she said with part of a laugh, "So, should I get on my belly?"

Ehlov's fingers flexed and twitched. A life of work had put dark outlines around his fingernails, which seemed perfectly normal to Hulda. He said to her with a mildly strangled voice, "I can't just force it in yet! You have to be prepared."

"Well, you have to be prepared too, right?" Hulda had spied on a few couples before she had been sold away. She had a good idea of what some men liked to have done. An idea blossomed in her brain just then, and she pulled away from her husband, crawling over the platform and to the stairs. She had to adjust the leash to make sure she didn't trip over it.

Once her backside was perched on one of the steps, she made a backwards waving gesture at Ehlov. "Come here. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't think you would." His hooves sounded like fuzzy music as they stepped around the platform. When he halted, he still wasn't where Hulda wanted him.

"Stand in front of the stairs. Maybe step up a bit too."

He snorted, and the length of his great nose wrinkled. A rather savvy light was in his eyes. He put his fist to his mouth for a few seconds, muffling a laugh that shook his first chest. He moved into the position she wanted, elevating himself a teeny bit before her.

Hulda reached out to stroke one of his front legs with her curled fingers. It was a lovely, strong thing. She could only look at it as she would a horse's leg, but she wanted to seem appreciative to her husband. It was best for her husband to feel handsome and confident. If he didn't, he might not perform well, or he might even give up. She did like his soft, pleasant coat, though.

"You're such a hearty, strong man, Ehlov. I think all the other women are jealous of me."

His palms went to her shoulders, reminding her of all the times he had so carefully and lovingly massaged her. A quick shudder had her chirping out a happy noise. Then she leaned her body forward, her fingers sliding through the coat of the second chest, under the hem of Ehlov's tunic, and right to where she thought his first penis was.

It was hidden in a patch of soft hair, only a bit swollen, just a bit. Hulda knew that needed to change. She was at the right angle to put her mouth right there.

And she did.

He made a sound like, "Ohhppm!!"

Loudly, wetly, she slurped him right in, breathing through her nose, because she knew she couldn't breath through her mouth at that point.

"Don't ... don't let the teeth touch me!"

Hulda almost nodded, but then she remembered that she wasn't in a position to do so. Her fingernails very gently made little lines of separation in the hair around the cock. Her tongue danced and tapped against the thick meat. It tasted strange ... pungent ... like everything that was Ehlov had been brewing down there. It wasn't exactly bad. Maybe she needed to get used to it.

"Mmm ... damn it, Woman. Yes!" The stairs were rocking and knocking against the platform. It was because he was moving into her. His tunic was left over her hair. It was almost like a curtain partially covering the back of her head.

She hummed a bit.

Ehlov seemed to hum right back.

Hulda felt a pulsing in the shaft and the head. It very lightly tapped the insides of her mouth. She moved her head back and forth, up and down, taking in the musky, fleshy flavors. It hardened and stretched in her mouth, and that told her she was doing well.

"That's enough, Hulda."

She let her mouth slide up and off of him, and she beamed up at his tranquil face. At that time, she felt more like a wife than ever before. Hulda wasn't certain why she felt that way, but she wasn't about to deny herself the pride that bloomed in her heart.

Then she was grabbed by her waist and pulled back to the platform, back to the position she had in the beginning. Hulda licked at the gap in her teeth as she watched Ehlov walk around again, crushing the leaves, making sure the leash wasn't in anyone's way.

Ehlov approached, but he didn't quite face her. He was at an angle, partially beside her. His new erection was making a messy little tent in the bottom of his tunic. Hulda reached to grab at it, but he stopped her and said, "I want to focus on the stars."

Her head tilted. Her hair slid around her body. "Hm?"

One of Ehlov's strong arms went around her shoulders, and he gripped her tightly. His free hand pulled her long hair out from under that thick arm of his. He was such a considerate man!

They looked at each other, at their faces. Hulda felt his free hand explore several places, her covered waist, one of her arms, and even her throat. She mewled as he went on, but she happily gazed into his adoring eyes, her lips parted, waiting for a kiss.

Ehlov put a small, rather chaste kiss on her brow, but he didn't give her the deep kiss Hulda had been hoping for.

Her dress's skirt, and the chemise's skirt, were both dragged and gathered up.

She sighed and put her hands on his first chest, the one that was very manly in her eyes. The thick tunic was a barrier, but she welcomed it. It was getting chilly. He might have needed that barrier.

Between her thighs ... his hand went right there, and her eyelids flickered at the rough heat that gathered under his fingers. She gasped as he seemed to be parting her labia, testing her softness, and studying her reaction.

It was so ... nice!

Her thighs closed, but only because she wanted to trap the hand, keep it right there so it could continue warming her up.

He kissed her then, his tongue plunging into her. The hand that was on her shoulder slid down, then his arm shifted, and he was cupping her breast through her clothing.

Her eyes closed.

She groaned against Ehlov's tongue.

Her hips rocked on the mats on the platform.

And her clitoris seemed to pulse and harden, because Ehlov's fingertips were circling against it.

"Hhhmmmmm!" Her toes curled in the cool air.

He drew on her tongue, even as he tasted it, somehow tricking her brain into thinking her clitoris was being suckled. It was a pounding, electric feeling. Hulda crooned a muffled song against her husband, scratching her nails into his clothing.

She wanted to say, "Yes, please, give me more. Don't stop." She wasn't able to. All she could do was let him swallow her voice down.