So much had changed. Everything was different now. Almost everything.

Logan and Beauty stood in silent contemplation. Holding hands as they looked around their old, cavern shelter. The scorch marks from the battle still marked the walls of the entrance, but the cluster of crystals still glowed with the colors of a new sunrise. Both sulfur hot springs were just as they had left them. As was the bed of moss on which they had slept and found pleasure and comfort in each other, night after night.

He smiled. “Not much to look at now, is it?”

The fur blanket and pillow that had taken so many days of hunting and endless hours of crafting, lay folded near the bed of moss, where they had left it. Not long ago, its completion had been his highest priority. Now that they slept in a real bed, on linen sheets and cotton blankets, it seemed so crude and dirty.

Sticks, rocks, and bones lay near the fire pit. Everything that they could hunt and scrounge to survive just one more day. Almost everything.

“No, it sure ain’t much to look at, but it was ours. Just you and me at first, and later, Karen. Our little sanctuary from a world gone mad.”

“Home,” Beauty said.

Logan turned to her and took her hands in his. “No,” he replied. “This is just a cave. Over there is just a pool of hot water, and that is just moss. It was home because I had you and you had me.”

The demon looked into his eyes and smiled. “Now and forever.”

He took a deep breath. “You still want to do this?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

He led her over to sit on the moss. After a few minutes, he got a fire started in their old fire pit. Until flames danced with a golden light that chased shadows and memories over the rough surface of the cavern walls.

Beauty removed her pack and set items out onto the moss between them. When both had completed their separate tasks, they looked into each other’s eyes and undressed.

When they were both naked, Beauty picked up the waterskin and handed it to him.

“I give you beer and meat.”

Logan smiled. “I give thanks for this gift. It kept me fed and gave me joy when it seemed I had no hope of either.”

Logan picked up a knife and cut a small incision on his forearm. “I give you my Essence.”

Beauty leaned in and licked the wound clean. “I give thanks for this gift. Logan gave purpose and joy where I thought to find only survival.”

They leaned into one another, lips brushing together in a long, heartfelt kiss. Hands rose to touch and caress. Slowly, Logan pushed her back down onto the moss as their bodies molded together and aligned in perfect sync. Beauty spread her legs to welcome him inside of her.

A shudder of pleasure passed through them both as all of him gently filled all of her. He held her in his strong arms, even as she held him cradled inside the hot, silken depths of her body. A blissful union of flesh in the flickering, ruddy firelight.

He brushed his fingertips against her cheek, took a deep breath, and whispered to her, “I am Logan Baishan Flynn Proud Bear.”

She smiled. “I am Kiathetomanekos.”

They spoke together. Two voices floating among the silence and memories of this simple cavern where they had discovered so much more than just shelter.

“I am yours and you are mine. We are two made one. One soul. One destiny. Today until my last day.”