“Then why not out in the open fields?”
“It used to be thus,” she nodded. “Especially at the Rite of Spring. My mother…” her voice hitched. “Before I was taken, my mother told me tales of the old times, how men and women would rut in the fields, celebrating the spring planting with their own prayers of fertility.
“But that was long ago. We do not hide. But we do not seek to shock our neighbors, either.
“But enough! Will you use that wagging tongue of yours for something else than talking?”
His lips curled in a smile, and he moved towards her. She held up a hand. “No. Take your clothes off. I want to see you naked.”
“You already have,” he said, then acquiesced as she frowned up at him, her face set. “Oh, very well.”
Feeling unbelievably awkward, he stood on one foot, then another, as h
