I was exhausted and all shivery by the time we touched down, but I hadn’t passed out, so that was a win. Near thing, though. I was just about coherent enough to notice that we’d stopped in a glade beside a river. The glistening, crystal-clear water looked scrumptious. Was that even a word? Skruhmp… shuhsssss. It sounded silly, and perfect for collapsing into.

Face first.

I wondered if I’d float.

“Are you alright, pet?” Cair asked, voice tinged with concern. It hadn’t even registered that he’d unburritoed me or unkoala’d my limbs from around his waist and neck. I was unsteady on my feet as he lowered me to the grass—ah, no, scratch that. I just plonked my ass down because my legs were literal Jell-O and stuck in a bowed position, but I still smiled up at him dopily.

“Mm-hmm.”

He laughed softly. “You are adorable, but your sense of self-preservation needs work.”

“I was’n no danger,” I muttered as I ran my fingers through the tall green blades of grass beside my legs. What would it taste like? It looked tasty.

“You are utterly delirious,” he said, and yeah, fair assessment. I felt drunk, but not unpleasantly so. More like I was sitting on cloud nine.

And if this was what high altitude and an orgasm did for me, we’d be mile-high-clubbing way more often.

Only when the trance had lifted somewhat—and I was no longer in danger of drowning, probably—did Cair guide me to the riverbank, encouraging me to drink. As soon as the water touched my lips, I was suddenly parched, gulping down handful after handful until my thirst was quenched. I splashed my face and neck, sighing as the coolness washed away the worst of the sweat on my skin.

I lounged on the bank, and Cair slid the pack from my shoulders before rifling through our supplies and withdrawing a clean pair of pants. He passed them over to me, and I wasted no time shimmying out of the soiled ones, cringing as the stickiness grazed my legs. Cair gave me a meticulous wipe down, despite my protests that it was fiiiiine, before helping me feed my feet through the holes and drag them into place. That was when I saw that he’d taken out a pair for himself as he stood and began untying the ones he wore.

I frowned, my eyes dropping to his crotch, surprised to see the wet patch seeping through. “You…”

Cair followed my gaze and scoffed, crooking his brow. “Did you honestly expect me to keep my composure when I had my feral mate rutting against me in midair?”

I blushed at his accusation, feeling slightly petulant. “I wasn’t feral.”

“Unhinged, then.”

I glowered at him, much to his obvious amusement. “I prefer feral.”