Finding Home (9 page)

Marissa reached for the rounded post
across the headboard and held on tight as Nat’s finger’s parted her
soaked lips and her tongue slipped inside her body. Nat’s hands
returned to Marissa’s nipples and resumed teasing them as her
tongue swirled inside Marissa’s wetness.

“
Oh my God,” Marissa cried
as Nat’s tongue dove deep inside her body, licking her walls as she
twisted and stretched her throbbing nipples. She instinctively
spread her thighs open wider giving Nat’s tongue complete access to
her body.

Nat ground her face into Marissa’s
wetness, her teeth roughly rubbing across her swollen bud as she
drove her tongue in and out of Marissa’s shuddering
body.

“
Yes, yes, yes,” Marissa
chanted as she coated Nat’s face with her juices.

Nat removed her tongue and took
Marissa’s clit in her mouth as she entered her with two fingers,
sinking deep past her knuckles as she reached the spot that melted
Marissa’s final reserve and she screamed out her pleasure over and
over as Nat sucked her clit wildly.

Marissa raised her hips and moved down
beside Nat on the bed. She hungrily licked her juices from Nat’s
face as her fingers unfastened Nat’s belt and the buttons of her
dungarees. Nat raised her hips from the bed and pushed the pants
down her thighs as Marissa’s hand disappeared between her
thighs.

Nat’s fingers found Marissa’s body
still soaked and she entered her again with two fingers and moved
with the same rhythm as her lover. Nat strained, thrusting her hips
off the bed as she drove Marissa’s fingers deep inside her body and
they came together, one soul twisting in the winds of
pleasure.

Nat held Marissa in her arms for nearly
an hour as they rested quietly together, not sleeping, but
remaining silent in the wake of their passion. Nat looked out the
window and saw the snow coming down in large flakes.

“
Do you still want to hunt
today?” she asked.

“
I am so content to just lie
here in your arms,” Marissa said.

“
There will be plenty of
time for that later,” Nat said. “That won’t feed us during the long
cold winter ahead,” she added.

Marissa smiled. “As long as you are
here to share it with me, I could care less about food,” she
said.

“
That is very sweet of you
to say, but that won’t help us survive the cold,” Nat
said.

“
I know you are right, but
you sure are warm and comfortable,” Marissa teased as she rolled
off the bed.

Nat stood and buttoned up her
dungarees. “Your new clothes are on the chair,” she said to
Marissa.

Marissa walked to the chair and opened
the small package revealing the wool shirt and dungarees Nat had
bought for her. She located her bra and bloomers, slipping them on
before she pulled the shirt over her head and stepped into the
dungarees.

“
You did very well with the
fit,” Marissa said, as she turned to show Nat.

“
Yes, it appears I did,” Nat
said with a smile. “You look very nice,” she said.

“
Thank you,” Marissa said.
“Are you ready to go hunt now?” she asked.

“
I will be in just a
moment,” Nat said, then took Marissa in her arms for a long, slow
kiss.

“
Now we can hunt,” she said
as they left the bedroom.

Nat took her range coat down from the
hook by the door and slipped it over her shoulders, then handed
Marissa her new coat. Once more, Nat had chosen well and the coat
would provide great warmth for her lover. Next she walked over to
the mantle and pulled down the two rifles resting there, handing
one to Marissa.

“
Have you ever shot one of
these?” she asked.

“
A few times, yes,” Marissa
answered.

“
Great, let’s go then,” Nat
said and they stepped outside.

The snow was beginning to accumulate on
the ground and made a soft crunching sound as they walked behind
the cabin and into the woods.

“
Our buck will probably be
moving around to stay warm and if we are lucky we will cross his
path and be able to track him,” Nat said.

She watched as Gyp moved ahead, her
muzzle to the ground as she searched for scent. Several times she
would trot off the path they had taken only to return moments later
ahead of them.

Nearly an hour had passed without any
sign of movement in the woods. The snow had grown heavier, limbs
burdened with its weight began to snap or hang low to the ground.
It had grown colder as well and their breath blew like smoke out of
their mouths and noses as they traversed the wooded
hillside.

Nat was about to suggest they turn back
for the day when she saw Gyp’s ears perk to a sound just
ahead.

“
Easy girl,” Nat whispered
to the excited dog as they crept forward as quietly as they
could.

They reached a small clearing that
looked down over a small creek and standing there taking a drink
was the buck Nat had thought they would find. He was large. His
rack spread easily thirty inches and he would easily weigh two
hundred pounds.

“
Do you want to take him?”
she asked.

Marissa looked at her with fear in her
eyes. She was doubtful about being able to kill such a majestic
creature and her trepidation was evident to Nat.

Nat had to remind herself that not
everyone was a natural born hunter and it may take several hunts
for Marissa to become comfortable with killing for food. Until
then, Nat would provide for them and teach Marissa all she knew
about hunting.

“
I will take this one,” Nat
said.

Marissa watched as Nat raised the rifle
to her shoulder and took aim at the buck. Nat waited until he
raised his head as he smelled the air, but too late to catch their
scent as her finger pulled back against the trigger and a single
shot rang out. The buck fell to the ground as the shot echoed down
the valley and Gyp raced forward.

Nat had hit him squarely in the heart,
dropping him immediately, killing him instantly, preventing any
suffering he would have felt, had her shot not struck a fatal blow.
They walked down to the creek and Nat turned to Marissa.

“
This part gets a little
messy,” she said as she took a long knife from her boot. “You might
want to look away,” she warned.

“
I will be fine,” Marissa
said and she watched Nat as she knelt down beside the
buck.

“
Thank you for giving your
life to us my brother to keep us fed during the winter to come,”
Nat said as she drew the knife across the buck’s throat to drain
the blood from him.

Next, Nat plunged the knife deep into
the buck’s chest and made a cut the length of his entire underside
to eviscerate the animal and prepare him to be carried back to the
cabin. She took two lengths of rope from her small pack and tied
the buck’s hooves together in front and back while she sent Marissa
in search of a long branch they could use.

They struggled at first with the weight
of the buck, but after several minutes they were traveling
comfortably back through the forest to the cabin. They lowered the
buck next to a tree and Nat disappeared into the barn for a length
of rope which she used to hoist the buck above the
ground.

“
Would you mind going down
to your smokehouse and starting the fire I have laid there?” Nat
asked.

“
Not at all, Nat,” Marissa
said as she took the rifles inside and then disappeared down the
path to her house with Gyp closely in tow.

Nat quickly removed the buck’s pelt and
draped it across one of the porch railings. She then began
sectioning out the buck in quarters, carving out the ribs and loin
meat. She carefully laid the meat on the stump she had used to chop
firewood as she finished off cutting up the carcass. She laid the
bucks head to the side. He would make a beautiful display that she
would treat and mount for sale in town. Nat hated to waste any part
of an animal and would put as much of it to good use as
possible.

Marissa was returning to the cabin when
Nat turned around next and she asked her to bring her the large box
of salt from the cupboard. When she returned, Nat asked, “Do you
want to watch how I do this?”

“
Yes, I would,” she
answered.

“
Take the rib sections and I
will carry the quarters,” Nat said.

They carried the meat down to the
smokehouse and laid it across a small table. “Would you get us a
bucket of water?” she asked.

Marissa disappeared and came back
moments later with a bucket of water. She watched as Nat rinsed off
a large hind quarter and then sprinkled the meat with a generous
portion of the salt. She then tied the quarter to the rafter above
the fire and reached for the second. Marissa had already rinsed it
and Nat watched as she coated with meat with the preserving salt.
The ribs had to be strung on meat hooks to suspend them over the
fire and soon they had hung all the meat for smoking except the
loin. Nat took her knife and cut five large steaks before treating
the rest of the meat and hanging it.

“
Supper,” she said as she
picked up the steaks and rinsed them in the water.

Marissa returned the bucket to the
porch and followed Nat and Gyp back to her cabin. Nat laid the meat
on a small table and went outside to wash up from the
hunt.

“
Why don’t you make us some
biscuits,” Nat said as she began to season the steaks. “I think I
still have a few potatoes left that I can slice and fry with the
steaks,” she said.

“
Sounds good,” Marissa said
as she located the flour and started making dough.

Marissa placed the tray of biscuits on
the embers as Nat sliced the potatoes and dropped them into the two
skillets where the steaks were already cooking. She placed a lid on
each of the skillets and walked over to Marissa.

“
Nothing to do but wait,”
she said as they walked to the table to sit.

“
You did well today,” Nat
said. “That deer meat will last for several months and will help us
survive if the winter gets too harsh to travel into town,” she
said.

“
You made everything look so
easy,” Marissa said. “I am not sure I will make much of a hunter,”
she admitted.

“
That is no problem,” Nat
said. “Hunting is all I know and I can keep us in meat all winter
long if needed,” she said. “There is no need for you to kill,” she
said.

Marissa blushed, but she knew Nat was
correct in her assessment. She would go hungry before she would
pull the trigger on an animal and Marissa knew this and accepted it
politely.

“
As long as you keep making
biscuits, we will make a great team,” Nat said with a smile and
reached over to cover Marissa’s hand with hers.

“
You have a deal, my
friend,” Marissa said and returned her smile, relieved that Nat was
not disappointed in her.

Nat pulled off her work shirt and
rinsed it in the bucket she used for washing clothes and hung it by
the fire to dry. Marissa admired Nat’s taut upper body as she moved
about the cabin in her undershirt.

Nat turned away from a task and caught
Marissa watching her. “What are you thinking?” she
asked.

“
I was admiring how handsome
you are, Nat,” Marissa said blushing.

“
Thank you,” Nat said
blushing as well as she moved to the fireplace to check on
dinner.

“
Is there anything you can’t
do?” Marissa asked.

“
Cook biscuits and make
decent gravy,” Nat said and Gyp let out a small bark to confirm her
statement. “See even Gyp knows my weaknesses.”

Marissa laughed and when she did her
blue eyes sparkled even brighter. Nat felt her knees go weak
whenever she saw that look in Marissa’s eyes. A rush of heat passed
through Nat’s body and she picked up the water bucket and headed
outside for water and some cooler air. When she opened the door she
stopped dead in her tracks.

“
You have got to come see
this,” she said to Marissa.

Marissa and Gyp leapt to their feet and
walked to the door. Nat stepped aside so they could see the ground
covered with several inches of pure white snow.

“
Beautiful,” Marissa said as
she stood beside Nat.