Aerik yelped in surprise and almost dropped his spear. The woman stood waist deep in the water and looked shocked to see him there. For a moment, they just stared at each other.

She saw a tall young man with dark eyes and long black hair pulled back and tied into a tail at the nape of his neck. His broad muscled chest was covered with a light coat of black hair that trailed down to the ripples in his stomach.

He wore nothing but a loincloth fashioned from mammoth hide, and the muscles in his arms bulged from the grip he had on a long hunting spear. His legs were lean and muscled and he wore mammoth hide boots cross-laced with leather. A thin coat of sweat covered his bronze skin and made the light glisten off the planes and angles of his hard muscles. She was frightened but had to admit he was quite impressive looking.

Aerik couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was only visible from just below her navel. The rest of her was under the water, but what he could see of her took his breath away. Her hair was jet black and so long that the ends of it floated in the water. Her eyes were a brilliant blue, and her face was the most delicate beautiful face he had ever seen.

His gaze went from her perfect face to her taut but supple stomach. He tried to stare at her navel, but could not keep his eyes from traveling up to her breasts. They were large and heavy, yet the dark nipples angled upward. He was fascinated by their gentle curves and amazed at how full and round they were.

He also noticed the marriage necklace that hung across the slopes of her breasts. There were two black stones instead of the normal white attached to the lowest part, meaning that her husband had been dead for two annums. By Gawa’s commandments she could not marry again until her mate had been dead for three annums

Aerik’s first look at a naked woman caught him by complete surprise and his brain was in shock. He had heard the older men describing what a woman’s body looked like, and concluded that their crude descriptions fell far short of the perfection that stood before him. His heart thumped in his chest like it was trying to burst free, and to his horror, his manhood began to lengthen and thicken.

She noticed his loincloth begin to rise as his shaft hardened, fear shot through her, and then she saw the look of embarrassment on his face and relaxed. He didn’t wear a marriage necklace, so probably had never seen a woman like this before. She glanced back at his loincloth and gasped. His cock was so long and thick that it had completely pushed the loincloth up revealing the engorged head and the heavy balls that hung below.

She felt something stir deep inside her at the sight of his rigid shaft. Excitement surged through her body and a tingling sensation emanated from between her legs. It had been so long since she had felt a man’s touch, not since her husband had died. This stranger wasn’t from her village, and if she dared to lie with him, no one would know. He looked so beautiful and innocent. He was probably three of four annum’s younger than she was, but he was most definitely a man.

A sense of daring overcame her, and she made her decision as he stood so magnificently before her. She would not deny the lust that was coursing through her.

Aerik saw the fear in her eyes when she saw his cock jutting before him, and he almost ran away. Before he could move, he saw her expression change as she gazed at his rigid manhood. Her delicate hands gently swirled the water around her as she stared at his cock with what he thought was a look of hunger.

The beauty of her blue eyes stunned him again when she tore her gaze from his manhood and looked at his face. His body trembled when she moved toward him, and his heart thumped even harder as she slowly emerged from the water.

His lungs refused to breathe as her body in all its splendor was revealed to him. His eyes were drawn to the dark patch of wet hair above the cleft of her legs. His senses seemed to intensify and he could see every droplet of water cascade off her as she moved toward him, her hips swaying gently. He was entranced by the way her breasts swayed as she walked.

He finally remembered to breathe when she stood before him. Her eyes traveled over his torso and he flinched when she brought her hands up and laid them on his chest. His nostrils flared sucking in air as she gently trailed her fingers though his chest hair.

Her gaze followed her hand as she ran it down his strong arm to the spear he clutched in his hand. His knuckles were white with strain where he gripped the spear shaft. She gently laid her hand on his and looked at him questioningly. He relaxed his grip and she took the spear and tossed it away.

She brought her hands back to his chest and caressed down to his hard stomach and then to the leather ties that held his loincloth on. She untied the loincloth and dropped it to the ground, revealing the bulging veins that ran down the top side of his thick shaft.

She looked down at his hard cock and her eyes widened at the size of it. It twitched with each thunderous beat of his heart and almost reverently she wrapped her fingers around the thick shaft as far as they could go.

He gasped at her touch and she looked at his face. His eyes were open wide like an animal on the verge of flight. She smiled and slowly slid her hand up the length of his shaft and then back to the base.

Her touch on his manhood sent a shock of pleasure through his body that he was unprepared for. His legs trembled as she stroked him, and the pleasure was so intense that his balls tightened and an orgasm crashed over him.

Her eyes widened and she gasped when his huge cock expanded in her hand and a thick rope of cum erupted out and shot by her, almost hitting her on her side. She aimed his cock away from her and stroked him faster as his pleasure tore through him.

His body jerked against his will, and he grunted as spurt after spurt shot out of his manhood while she pumped her hand back and forth along his length.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped when his pleasure had subsided enough for him to speak.

“It’s all right,” she said. Her voice was soft and husky.

“You are just so beautiful, and I’ve never-”

“Shhhhh,” she interrupted him, and slipped her body against his.

Her breasts smashed into his chest as she molded her body to him. Her hands slid around behind his head and pulled his lips to hers. When her soft wet tongue slipped into his mouth, he instinctively enclosed her in his strong arms, and pulled her tight against him. He could feel her hard nipples pressing against his chest as he explored her mouth.

She broke the kiss with a sigh and guided his mouth to her neck. He was unsure what to do but gained confidence when she shuddered at the touch of his lips on the soft skin of her neck. She shuddered again when he licked and then sucked on her warm flesh.

He felt her pushing on his head and let her touch guide him to her breasts. He had to stoop to reach them but his arms around the small of her back helped him keep his balance. He pressed his face into them and marveled at the firm yet supple feel of her ample bosom.

She moaned when he brushed his lips over first one of her nipples and then the other. He opened his mouth and gently ran his tongue around the hard bud and she gasped in pleasure.

While he licked and sucked on her nipples, she pulled out the leather cord that bound his hair and let his lustrous black mane cascade down his back. She put her hand on top of his head and gently pushed him lower.

He didn’t know what she wanted but let her push him to his knees. Her stomach was before him and he lavished it with his tongue and lips while cupping the firm flesh of her ass in his large hands. She squirmed at the feel of his lips and tongue around her naval, but had a deeper desire that must be fulfilled. She pushed his head lower still.

He stared in wonder at the cleft between her legs. He let his eyes roam from the soft swirls of black hair above her sex to the barely visible lips that peeked out from between her thighs. He inhaled and experienced the scent of an aroused woman for the first time in his life. The musky scent was intoxicating and he breathed her scent in again savoring her womanly aroma.

She shifted her feet opening her legs while twining her fingers in his hair. She growled with need and pulled his face into her moist sex. She quivered when his mouth made contact with her moist lips.

“Oh Gawa,” she gasped as his tongue gently licked along her slit.

Aerik ran his tongue along her pussy and delighted in the taste of the juices he found there. He loved the sounds of pleasure she made as he explored her most secret place. Her pussy seemed to welcome his mouth’s caress and he loved the way the hot lips of her womanly flower flowed around his tongue as he licked her.

He noticed that her moans were more intense when his tongue touched a small nub at the top of her pussy where her lips met. He focused his attention there and swirled his tongue around it.

“Oh, Yes,” she gasped. “Yes, Yes, Yes!”

She couldn’t believe how intense the sensations of ecstasy were that coursed through her. This stranger, who had never been with a woman before, was giving her more pleasure than she had ever known.

She could feel her orgasm coming and welcomed it with all her being. It crashed into her like a winter storm. It ravaged her with pleasure and left her teetering on the edge of blissful agony.

Aerik felt her convulse and her pussy released a flood into his eager mouth. He lapped up her juices and sucked on her enflamed pussy as her hands gripped his hair painfully. He fought to keep his mouth on her as her hips bucked and her body quivered.

As her orgasm crested, the sensations became too intense and she had to push his head away. She swayed uneasily for a moment and then pulled him back to his feet. His impressive manhood was as hard as stone and the massive head rubbed up her leg and rested against her belly as he stood before her.

He truly was impressive in every way she thought as her eyes ran over him. She wanted to give him as much pleasure as he had given her. She trailed her fingers down his chest and stomach as she knelt before him.

His massive manhood stood proudly before her and she wrapped her small fingers around it. He quivered at her touch, and gasped when she leaned forward and brushed the head with her lips. She kissed it again and then softly swirled her tongue around the engorged head.

“Ahhhhh,” Aerik sighed as she opened her lips and took his cock into her warm mouth.

She met his eyes of black with her brilliant blue as she slid her lips up and down his length. The sight of her beautiful lips sliding down his cock while she gazed up at him with her stunning eyes was almost more than he could stand, and if he hadn’t already had a powerful orgasm he would have exploded right then.

His cock stretched her mouth to its limit as she bathed it with her saliva. The skin of his hard shaft was hot and tasted salty. He had obviously been traveling in the heat of the day and a light sheen of sweat covered his body. She didn’t mind the salty taste, to her he tasted so incredibly male, and her femininity responded, filling her with desire.

She smiled around his cock as he moaned his appreciation at the feel of her warm mouth. She loved doing this to him but her own need demanded to be satisfied. She pulled her mouth off his cock and took his hand in hers. She lay back on the grass, gently pulling him down with her.

Her long black hair fanned out behind her as she lay with her legs open, inviting him to take her. He hesitated as he knelt between her welcoming legs. She almost laughed; couldn’t he see how much she wanted him? She trailed her hand down across her breasts, down her stomach, and over her eager sex. She grasped his straining member and guided it to her entrance.

He leaned over her and put his hands on the ground above her shoulders. When she had the head of his member nestled between her wet lips, she brought her hands up and wrapped them around the back of his neck. Their eyes locked and they were both shocked at the passion they saw in each other’s eyes.

She licked her lips in anticipation, and his instinct took over. He felt resistance as he gently pushed into her, and then the resistance vanished and he slid deep inside her.

“Oh, oh, oh, “she moaned and her eyes widened as his huge cock filled her like never before. She held his gaze until he was fully sheathed in her tight pussy, and then the feel of him deep inside her overwhelmed her and she squeezed her eyes tight, arched her back and cried out.

Aerik was stunned. The sensation of being encased in her body was beyond anything he could describe. He was surprised at her reaction to his intrusion into her body, and held still while she adjusted to his girth.

When she was ready, she pulled up her knees and wrapped her legs around him. With a gentle squeeze, she encouraged him to move inside her. She gasped when he withdrew and then thrust back into her.

She felt so good that Aerik was overcome with passion. He began thrusting into her hard and fast. She grunted, gasped, and cried out in turns as he slammed into her. She yanked him into her with her legs matching his passion with her own.

She didn’t expect the quick orgasm that crashed into her. The ripples of pleasure that washed through her being stole her breath away. He continued to plow into her relentlessly as she rode her orgasm to its completion. She finally remembered to breathe and sucked in a deep breath.

In the wake of her orgasm, his hard thrusts were too much for her, so with a heave she rolled him onto his back with his massive cock still buried in her. On top of him, she could slow their lovemaking down and let her wonderfully battered pussy recover.

She straddled him and let her hands rest on his hairy chest. His chest muscles heaved under her hands as he breathed hard from fucking her so strenuously. She slowly began rotating her hips around his granite cock.

His hands found their way to her breasts and she sighed as he cupped them, and traced her nipples lightly with his thumbs. His hands were rough and callused from a lifetime of hardship, but his touch by contrast was soft and gentle. He squeezed and caressed them causing a feeling of bliss to flow through her.

She rode him slowly until a need to be savaged by him again began to build deep inside her. She crawled off him, and on hands and knees presented her pussy to be taken.

Aerik had seen enough animals mating to know what she wanted. He growled with desire and surged to his knees behind her. He grasped her hips, all his tentativeness forgotten and impaled her with one massive thrust.

She screamed and threw her head back. Her long black hair whipped through the air and landed on her back. She met his eyes over her shoulder as he thrust into her as fast as he could. Her moans became long wails that quivered in time with his thrusts.

She was in ecstasy. This stranger was taking her to heights of pleasure she never imagined. Her entire world narrowed to this moment of bliss, nothing mattered but him and the rapture she felt as he filled her again and again.

Aerik was a man gone wild; he had been awoken to a world of pleasure beyond his greatest imaginings.

This beautiful woman had ruined him. He could never imagine another being her equal. He lost himself in her and at that moment would have been happy to stay that way forever.

She felt a tremendous pressure building from a place deep inside her. Somehow, she knew that her coming orgasm would shatter her soul and she raced toward that destruction willingly. The pressure became unbearable and then everything stopped like the quiet before a storm.

Her mind exploded and the orgasm that erupted within her robbed her of her reason and sanity. Her body heaved and her hands grasped at the ground as though looking for something to help her escape the waves of pleasure that sundered her being.

Aerik thrust into her madly. He alternated between watching the lips of her tight sex grasp at his cock as he thrust it into her, and watching her face as she looked at him over her shoulder.

When her orgasm hit, her tight inner walls grasped his manhood even tighter. He realized that he had done this to her, he had driven her to the heights of pleasure. This knowledge coupled with the feel of her pussy quivering on his cock sent him over the edge. He bellowed as his orgasm detonated.

She regained her senses just as he bellowed his release. She felt his cock expand within her and then flood her depths with his cum. She leaned back against him as he erupted inside her, and his arms engulfed her and squeezed her back tight against his chest. He continued to thrust with their bodies tight together, as he filled her with his seed. She reached her hand over her shoulder and gently held his head, cooing to him softly as he rode out his massive orgasm.

When he was finished, they collapsed to the ground. They both panted for breath as they lay side by side, the suns warmth evaporating the sweat that covered them.

“What’s your name?” she asked the stranger. She needed to know the name of the man that had ravaged her so completely.

“My name is Aerik,” he said as he panted.

“Aerik,” she said, feeling his name on her lips for the first and last time. “I have to go.” She crawled over to her clothes and pulled the rough spun dress over her head. She stood and wiggled her hips as she forced the dress over her curves.

He sat up. “Why must you go?” he asked.

“I will be missed in my village if I don’t get back soon,” she said, and then her beautiful face softened. “Thank you Aerik. Thank you for the most amazing experience of my life.” She turned and headed for the trees.

“Wait,” Aerik called, and she stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. “Will you at least tell me your name?”

Her smile was filled with longing and sadness. “My name is Aubria,” she said. She slipped into the trees and was gone.

Aerik lay there beside the pond for a while reflecting on everything that had happened to him on his journey home. His time with Aubria had been the most wonderful of his life, but she was just like Ella and Unkes. All the good things in his life were lost or taken from him. Tears threatened him but he fought them down and climbed to his feet.

He rinsed off in the cool water before dressing, gathering up his spear, and heading back to where he had dropped his pack. He took one last look east, the direction Aubria had gone, then turned south toward what he hoped was home.

Five days later, he came to the village of Gralt. He had been there many times before and knew home was ten leagues to the southwest. He had definitely passed far to the north of his village. The elders of Gralt offered him hospitality for the night, and he slept in a bed for the first time in what seemed like forever.

He had a hot breakfast and set out for home. Normally it would take all day to walk the ten leagues to his village, but he wanted to get there by midafternoon, so alternated between walking and running at a steady ground eating pace. He was surprised at how far he could run before needing to catch his breath.

He was met with cries of shock when he finally trotted into his village. He and the others had been gone so long that the village had assumed they were all dead. He was ushered in to see the elders where he recounted the tale of his journey. He told them everything, except for the friendship that had grown between him and Unkes, and his encounter with Aubria. Those things were too personal and he kept those memories for himself alone.

A great feast was held in honor of Aerik’s return, and the village storyteller, who had been at his meeting with the elders, recounted Aerik’s tale to the assembled village. There were gasps as he told of the battle with the long tooth, and tears at the deaths of Gunter and Kaden.

The storyteller weaved his magic on the rapt listeners as he told of Aerik and Unkes’s flight from the deadly flood. There were more tears, mostly from the children, as he described the death of the loyal garg who had come so far with the hero of the tale.

Aerik listened dispassionately. The storyteller was making him out to be some grand hero instead of a man who had been tossed by events out of his control and barely managed to survive.

When the storyteller concluded his tale with Aerik’s triumphant return the feast began. Aerik ate more than he had in a long time and endured many slaps on the back from the men and hugs from the women.

Throughout the night of revelry, Aerik didn’t feel right. Among all the people, he still felt alone. For so long all he thought about was getting home and now that he was here, he realized that home is being with people you love, not where you live.

Suddenly he didn’t want to be among people, he just wanted to go to his house and climb into his bed. He moved through the gathering heading home when he spotted Elder Haran sitting by a fire watching the younger people as they reveled.

Aerik changed direction and approached the old man. “Elder Haran,” Aerik said and then had to repeat himself much louder for the old man to hear him.

“Yes, my boy,” Elder Haran said squinting up at the younger man.

“I just wanted to tell you that the summer songs you taught me as a child saved my life,” he said.

The old man looked at Aerik more closely. “Aerik is it?” he asked.

“Yes, Elder.”

“I remember you,” Elder Haran said, “Skinny little thing, all hair and bones. I remember you were more interested in playing at spears than learning my little songs.”

Aerik laughed. “I guess I wasn’t much of a student, but I remembered the songs when I needed them. Thank you.” After talking with Elder Haran, Aerik quietly slipped away.

When he awoke the next morning, he wandered around the village trying to find the feeling of belonging that he was missing. His feet seemed to lead him, without conscious thought, to the garg pens. He spoke with their keepers about Unkes. They remembered him when Aerik described Unkes’s rare light brown eyes.

“I remember him well,” the head handler said. “He was one of our best hunters. We bred him to a fine bitch a while before you left and the litter is ready to be weaned from their mother.”

“Show them to me,” Aerik said. He felt a sense of joy that Unkes would live on through his children.

The garg pups were fat and healthy. Aerik laughed as they fought for their mother’s teats. At the sound of his laugh, a little female pup waddled over to his feet. He knelt and scratched her behind the ear. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and she gazed up at him.

He gasped. She stared at him trustingly with Unkes’s light brown eyes. He laughed again when the pup started growling and prancing around trying to get him to play with her. Despite the protests of the handlers, when Aerik left the garg pens the little pup was tucked under his arm.

“I knew your father, little one,” he said to the pup as he carried her home.

He named the pup Picah, which meant “little one” in the old tongue, and she went with him everywhere he went. At first Aerik’s status as a returning hero made people overlook his strange attachment to the garg pup, but over time that faded and people began to whisper that he had changed.

By the time an annum had passed, they now thought of Aerik as the strange Loner. Picah was now fully grown, and proved to be a fierce hunter, but she would only hunt with Aerik. Together they provided more food for the village than any other three hunters combined. For this reason, the elders allowed Picah to remain with Aerik. They feared if they tried to take her away from him, Aerik would just leave, taking the garg with him.

Another problem was that Aerik remained unmarried. The elders approached every father with an eligible daughter in the village, but all refused to have their daughters wed to a garg lover.

The other elders wanted to give up on finding him a wife, but Elder Haran said he was a good lad and deserved a wife. He announced that if the others wouldn’t help solve the problem he would do it himself. It took him two months but at last, he found a solution.

Aerik was surprised at being summoned by the elders, but dutifully reported to their council hall at the appropriate time.

“Stay,” he said to Picah and the garg sat down outside the door. Aerik took a deep breath and entered the hall. He recognized the seven elders of his village but there were seven other elders present that he didn’t know. They must be from another village.

“Aerik, you have been too long without a wife,” Elder Haran announced.

Aerik said nothing. After being with Aubria, the other girls held no interest for him. They were but pale shadows compared to her. He thought of Aubria often and the one incredible moment that they had shared.

“The sad truth is that not one father in the village will allow you to wed his daughter. They don’t understand why you hold yourself aloof from them. They find your companionship with the garg you call Picah to be unnatural.”

At this Aerik was compelled to speak. “Elders, The gargs are capable of so much more than just being tools for hunting. Picah’s father Unkes taught me that. They have intelligence and feel friendship and loyalty. If the people would realize this, the gargs would add something wonderful to their lives.”

“Mayhap you are right Aerik, and in time perhaps the people will learn this for themselves. But that is not why we are here today,” Elder Haran said solemnly.

“Then why are we here?” Aerik asked.

“A wife has been found for you. We have found a girl that, like you, is unwanted by any other in her village. These are her elders and they are here to witness your exchange of marriage necklaces.”

“I haven’t fashioned one.” Aerik said.

“I have one here that will serve,” Elder Haran said and handed Aerik a chain of silver with a milky white pearl held to the chain by strands of silver that looped around the pearl in an intricate pattern. “It is the necklace I gave to my wife Rini fifty annum’s ago”

Aerik held the precious necklace as if he were afraid he would break it. He had never seen a marriage necklace so fine. “No, I will go make one of leather and stone. This was your wife’s marriage necklace. I can’t accept such a precious gift.”

“Boy,” Elder Haran said, “My wife has been dead for twenty annums. We had no son of our own to give it to so he could give it to his wife. I think my Rini would have been proud to have had a son like you and so would I. Please grant an old man a favor and give this necklace to your wife.”

“I am honored,” Aerik said overcome with emotion at Elder Haran’s gesture.

“My wife never got to see a summer,” the old man said staring off into the distance. He looked back at Aerik. “You will be married this evening. Your intended awaits you through that door,” he said pointing to the door to an adjoining room. “Go meet her, you will see why no one in her village wanted her, but I think that you are the kind of man that will learn to love her anyway.”

Aerik nodded his head in acceptance.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Elder Haran asked. “Go, boy.”

Aerik moved in a trance to the door. He paused outside of it for a moment, and then took a deep breath and entered.

His heart stopped in his chest when he saw the woman who stood there waiting anxiously for him, her hands clasped apprehensively in front of her.

“Aubria?” he said in disbelief.

“Oh, thank Gawa,” she cried and rushed into his arms.

The scent of her hair filled his nose as she sobbed with relief in his arms. “It’s alright, Aubria,” he said in wonder. She was actually here and in his arms.

“I prayed and prayed that it would be you that walked through that door,” she said.

“I don’t understand,” Aerik said. “How could no man in your village want you? You are even more beautiful than I remember.”

She smiled radiantly, and took him by the hand. “Because of this,” she said leading him to a small crib that he had failed to notice when he came in.

He peered in at the sleeping baby. The child was perhaps five or six months old. It slept peacefully and had a shock of black hair on its small head.

“You have a baby?” Aerik asked stupidly.

“A son,” Aubria said.

“What is his name?” Aerik asked. He was so stunned; it was all he could think of to say.

“I named him Aerik, after his father,” she said, and gently brushed a lock of black hair from her son’s face.

“You mean he, I,” Aerik trailed off unable to form words.

“Yes, Aerik,” she said, “He is your son.”

“I have a son,” he said, and then more forcefully “I have a son!”

He swept Aubria into his arms and twirled her in the air.

The village gathered to witness the marriage ceremony. Most came for the spectacle of seeing what kind of woman would marry the strange garg man. The women gasped with envy and the men stared stunned at the beautiful woman who stood by Aerik’s side. There were more gasps of envy from the women when Aerik presented the exquisite marriage necklace to Aubria, which far surpassed any other marriage necklace in the village.

Aerik and Aubria spent the next half annum learning about each other. They talked for hours at a time, and made love on the warm summer nights, sometimes with the same abandon as their first time, and sometimes slowly and tenderly. Their love for each other grew and blossomed just like a flower in the sun’s summer warmth.

Little Aerik learned to walk and tottered around following Picah, who he called Pia, wherever she went. Aubria was apprehensive about the garg at first but soon realized that the animal watched out for little Aerik’s safety as much as she did.

Elder Haran became a regular fixture in their lives. He came round for visits often, and little Aerik called him Papa Ha. The old man seemed to have adopted them as the children and grandchild he never had.

On one of Elder Haran’s dinner visits, Aerik sat at the table while Aubria moved gracefully around the table serving dinner. Elder Haran was attempting to teach little Aerik a winter song, but the boy was much more interested in shoveling mash into his mouth. Picah, the daughter of his old friend Unkes, lay at his feet waiting for the morsel he would occasionally slip to her under the table when Aubria wasn’t looking.

He smiled as he gazed at his family and his love for them filled his heart. His journey home was over at last.