Azaria by J.H. Hayes Page B

forehead and occasionally into her eyes, thinking over how she’d make the main river crossing just before the Great Temple. She’d spent many nights lying in her furs contemplating the best strategy, always coming to the same conclusion. She’d run straight at it, not bothering to adjust her route at all. It was a wide section with a swift flow, but not much of an obstacle for an experienced swimmer like herself. She'd always loved the water. She remembered the long fishing excursions with her father when she’d spend half the sun swimming up and down the brisk river instead of helping her father catch char as she was supposed to be doing. She smiled. Her father never minded. He always encouraged her to do whatever she loved as long as it was in some way productive. And he believed strong swimmers added value to his community.
    Dogahn on the other hand was breathing hard and sweating more than usual at this point in a run. He quickly realized he should’ve been more diligent in turning in early the night before. He tried to think of something beside his weariness. Needing a distraction, he looked up the trail to Yumineh about ten paces in front of him, focusing on the long, thin muscles in her lengthy legs. He watched as her muscles worked with each step. Extend and contract, extend and contract. Her darkly tanned skin was glistening with building sweat. He could see the glimmering reflections of sunlight moving up and down as each leg fell back and then pushed off and strode forward. This is great, he thought. Focus on her legs. It's easier to run that way. The struggle didn't seem so bad when he wasn't dwelling on it. He concentrated again on the back of her thighs.
    His eyes eventually drifted upward to the two full mounds bouncing up and down at the top of her legs, first one and then the other. Although considered rude, he couldn’t keep himself from staring at them and didn’t realize he was running with an open mouth. He caught himself and reverted back to the practiced breathing pattern all runners were taught. Breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Again and again. Over and over the same pattern, never faltering. That was the way to provide ample breathe to the lungs and prevent premature dehydration.
    His breathing under control, his thoughts turned again to the woman in front of him and his eyes inevitably returned to her perfectly shaped humps, beating rhythmically to their own dance. She looked amazing. He couldn't remember ever getting so excited during a run. But he couldn't help it. She was right there in front of him. And what was the harm really? It was keeping his mind off the exhaustion. No one knew where his eyes were.
    He couldn’t help comparing her with Azaria, the only other girl he'd ever found as captivating. Azaria is so beautiful I get excited just thinking about her. Yumineh’s cute too, though. But her eyes... Her eyes are weird, slightly off. But I kind of like them. They make her special. She's beautiful too.
    Dogahn’s focus again turned to Yumineh’s midsection. Her back was glistening. I'd like to make her glisten like that. He had visions of himself on top of her in his furs. Her long, slender, bare body underneath his, the two of them gyrating in rhythm. He was staring at her backside again, and then at her back and her silky, long, dark hair. I like how the Fox Camp girls wear their hair like that, with braided strands wrapped around their heads. Again his eyes made their way down her back and paused at her bobbing backside. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and press himself up against those exquisitely plump mounds.
    Suddenly, Dogahn realized how excited he’d become and struggled to think of something else. In his distraction, he’d fall behind. Yumineh was farther ahead now, still behind Azaria. He heard a thrashing behind him and to the right. As he looked back one of the male runners glided past, breathing hard, perspiration flying off