In the Time of the Caveman

by Samantha Leal

  “I can’t believe I was that foolish,” he said and ran his hands through his hair. He looked even more handsome in the morning, she thought, but immediately tried to snap herself out of admiring him.

  “You weren’t the only foolish one. Evidently,” she said and he looked up at her. His eyes softened, but only for a few seconds.

  “You think this was a mistake, because you’re some kind of a celebrity? That it has no effect on my life? Because I’m a lay, man?” she huffed as she spoke and crossed her arms in front of her.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said softly, but Erin could see that he was still worrying about himself, so she rolled her eyes.

  He saw her do it and his expression darkened again.

  “In fact, Erin, it is exactly like that. My face gets splashed across cheap tabloids because of things like this. I misjudged you,” his voice was still gruff and low pitched, although it was clear to her that he was very close to entirely losing his temper.

  “Misjudged me how?” she dared to ask him.

  “I thought you’d be able to keep it between us,” he answered, almost immediately.

  “Treat it like my own dirty secret?” She was clenching her own arm, her nails were digging into her flesh as she spoke to him. She couldn’t stand to look at him anymore.

  “I did not expect you to go gossiping about it with your girlfriend immediately after, that’s all.” He had become even quieter and his prolonged silence made her feel worse.

  “I wasn’t gossiping. In fact, I misjudged you too. I didn’t think it was just about the sex,” she spat out the words and whipped away from him. She had spoken her mind, she didn’t care anymore. She didn’t care that he knew she had feelings for him in such a short while. How did it matter anyway? In his attempt to keep it a secret, he wouldn’t exactly go around discussing her with his buddies.

  Xavier remained silent and it made Erin more furious.

  “You can come off your high horse now, Mr. Xavier Cowen. You might be a celebrity, but you’re just like every other man out there.” She turned to look at him again and she could feel the tears prickling the back of her eyelids. This was such a huge mistake. She didn’t need another man to make her feel like a complete idiot.

  “Stop comparing me to your lying cheating ex-boyfriend,” he suddenly thundered and took a few steps toward her. Erin inched away from him, he hadn’t raised his voice before and for a second, it frightened her. His towering frame loomed over her, even though he was still standing a good distance away from her.

  “Not just him. You’re like every other man. You saw something you liked, but you only liked it for the night. Now you can’t take responsibility for your actions.” She tried to keep her voice low, tried to frighten him away from her with the ferocity in her eyes.

  “Take what responsibility? Do you want a foot massage? A scented love letter? A marriage proposal?” Xavier said with a sarcastic laugh, even though he didn’t look like he had faith in his own joke.

  “That’s really rich. Yeah, it makes me laugh.” Erin tried to laugh too. “You think that is what responsibility looks like? You’re so far out. No wonder stupid rom-coms are the only movies you get cast for.” She turned away from him again and made for the door.

  But he had stopped her. His hand was gripping her arm now, his fingers embedded themselves in her flesh. She tried to ignore the force with which he was pulling her away and tried to push the door open.

  “Come back here,” he said gruffly and pulled her to him. She landed with a thud on his chest, her back to him.

  “You can’t just throw something like that at me and try to make a smooth exit,” he spoke through gritted teeth, but softly and into her ear.

  “Why, you always get the last word, is that it?” she tried to laugh, but this time she couldn’t. His hands had now traveled up from her arms toward her neck.

  “Something like that,” he whispered into her ear again and with one hand, pushed the door shut in front of her.

  “Let me go now. Aren’t you afraid I’m going to gossip about this too?” She tried to wriggle herself free, but his grip on her only strengthened.

  “You know what? I actually don’t care anymore,” he said and without giving her a second to react, he bent her over. In order to avoid tripping, she placed her hands firmly on the closed door in front of her.

  She heard the sound of him flicking open the buckle of his belt and then unzipping. Just the sound of that made her go wet between her legs. She had no idea how he could have this effect on her. She felt his hands grab her butt and give it a squeeze before he reached over to unzip her pants.

  He peeled down her pants and then wrapped his arms around her torso, pulling her closer to him. Erin closed her eyes and arched her back. She felt him slide into her as he held her tightly. She could hear him breathing raggedly behind her. His beard scratched against her cheek and ear.

  It was the same feeling of being taken, of being owned by him, only this time it was without any restraint. He was pumping into her from behind as she tried to keep herself steady with the door. He was big and hard inside her, and she could feel the ferocity of his thrusts increasing with every passing second. His hands eventually found her breasts underneath the sweater and he squeezed them and played with her nipples. The combination of sensations was too much for her to deal with, she didn’t want to pass out again.

  They were both moaning and he eventually let her go, placing his hands on her butt. She was completely bent over, her legs wide apart and he pushed inside her in a quick rhythmic motion. This time, he reached the edge even sooner and so did she. They both came together and she didn’t care how loud they were or that the door squeaked with his every thrust.

  He groaned as he emptied himself inside her again and pulled out. Her thighs were still quivering from the intensity of the orgasm, and when he was out of her, she slumped to the carpeted floor.

  “Erin,” Xavier said and she turned sleepy exhausted eyes to him. He was standing, naked from the waist down, in front of her and he had his hand stretched out toward her. She took his hand and he helped her up.

  “Are you planning on tucking me into bed again?” she asked him with a shy smile. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  “Into my bed, you mean?” he spoke softly into her ear and she couldn’t help but giggle. He led the way and directed her to lie down on his bed. It smelled of him, she pressed her eyes closed and took in a deep breath of his scent. She opened them when she felt the mattress slump, he was getting into bed with her.

  “I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve got some kind of hold on me.” His breathing was ragged as he spoke into her ear. His hands had found their way underneath her sweater and she felt a sharp tug on her nipple.

  “I thought we were having a nap?” she teased him, just as he started licking her earlobe.

  They exchanged looks and broke into laughter.

  Chapter 6

  It had been three weeks. Three weeks of bliss. Alicia had left the cabin and gone back to the city nearly ten days ago. Erin and Xavier had walked to the lake and were throwing pebbles in, watching them skid over the portions that were still frozen in the lake.

  Erin watched Xavier as he laughed, collecting more pebbles from the bank. She had news to give him.

  “What are you looking at?” he asked her when he caught her staring. He jiggled his butt in front of her to tease her into breaking into giggles. He came over to give her a hug, but when he started pulling away, he caught sight of a serious look on her face.

  “Wanna tell me what’s going on?” he chucked one of the pebbles toward the lake but didn’t look to see where it had landed.

  “I have to get back to work, Xavier. I can’t stay cooped up here with you forever.” Erin bit down on her lip as she spoke, already detecting annoyance in him. He had been trying to avoid this conversation for the past few days.

  “You promised we won’t speak ab
out it till the end of the week, Erin. Can we just enjoy the day?” Like a child, he was digging the ground with his shoes. She almost wanted to forget about the important decisions, hug him and stroke his head.

  “I have to be back at work by the end of the week. I need to make arrangements now. I can’t keep postponing it.” She tried to remain as calm and collected as possible. He looked up at her sharply.

  “You don’t need my permission, Erin. Leave if you want to leave. I can’t stop you.”

  “It’s not a question of wanting to leave. I have to. For my work. Just like you should go back to Los Angeles and stop trying to run away. It’s time you took charge of what you want to do.” She reached for him and held onto his arm, but his muscles were tensed. Even though his voice remained steady, it was easy for her to tell that he was now upset.

  “So what you’re saying is that we’ll never see each other again?” he spoke after several minutes of silence. He had turned away from her so that she could see him in profile now. His shaggy blue-black beard illuminated in outline by the orange light of the setting sun.

  “What do you want, Xavier? You’re the celebrity here. I’m just a simple math teacher.” She let go of his arm and he turned to look at her. They held each other’s gaze for a few seconds till he looked away.

  “I don’t want to go back to LA. I don’t want you to go back to Seattle and I most definitely don’t want us to be apart.” When he said it, she smiled. She would never have admitted it, but this is what she wanted to hear from him. Despite having spent three intimate weeks with him, Xavier Cowen was still an enigma to her. She knew he was fond of her, found her irresistible in bed, but she could never be sure what she meant to him, seriously. Now she was convinced. She could see it in his eyes, and the way he refused to look at him.

  “I’m glad you say that because I have some news that I believe you should know about,” she said and he looked at her with a worried expression. Erin didn’t want too much time to elapse, to give him a chance to prepare himself. “I think I’m pregnant. In fact, I’m sure of it,” she said, keeping her gaze steady on him. She watched as his expression changed from surprise to disbelief to panic and then a struggle to calm himself.

  “When did you realize?” Those were his first words. Erin wasn’t so sure if it was the right decision anymore.

  “A few days ago?” She hung her head down as if embarrassed. He took a few seconds, and then came forward, hooking his forefinger under her chin. He lifted up her head gently and craned her neck backward so that she could look up at him.

  “All the more reason to not go,” he said.

  “What am I going to do then?” She was seriously asking him. She didn’t want a hypothetical answer.

  “Quit your job. Move in with me in LA.” He was smiling now, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.

  “So you do want to go back? You don’t want to live in the wilderness alone forever?” she was only joking when she said it, but he answered in all seriousness.

  “I’m going to be a father now. It’s time I called my agent and have him sign me up for a few casting calls.” He was serious but smiling now, almost speaking to himself.

  “Are you serious? What kind of films are these?” She was excited too. She hadn’t seen him seriously consider or talk about his work.

  “Some films that won’t pay much but are the kind that I’ve always wanted to do. If I’m going to be a dad, I might as well start building my legacy.”

  THE END

  My Holiday Protector

  Samantha Leal

  Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1.

  Damon was still in the house and even though she wished that she could ignore it, Chloe could hear him pacing downstairs on the marble floors in the hallway. She didn’t want to face him, but knew that she couldn’t hide away forever… She knew that it was over, and she had never wanted anything more in her entire life… but now the time had come, she was afraid of what he may do… Damon had never been the calmest of guys… and there had been more than one occasion when his anger had got the better of him.

  Chloe pulled her silk robe tightly around her shoulders and fastened it at the waist. It was the middle of the night, and although she had asked him to go over an hour ago, Damon was still downstairs, on the main floor of her family home, shouting into his cell phone and cursing the day that Chloe was born.

  “Damon?” she whispered as she approached the top of the stairs.

  “What?” he looked up at her and seemed to spit venom. His dress shirt was still firmly buttoned and his bowtie done up perfectly, despite the fact he had been rolling around drunk only a few hours before.

  They’d been at a holiday fundraiser for one of Chloe’s dad’s firms and the night had gone from bad to worse. Damon had turned up in a terrible mood, which had only intensified with each shot of whiskey he knocked back and each martini he spilled whilst trying to look sophisticated. Chloe had been born into this world of privilege and corporate affairs, but after her time spent with Damon… she knew she was done.

  She didn’t care about upsetting her father, he would get over it in time, but she would never forgive herself if she resigned herself to a life with a man like him. She needed someone much more rugged around the edges and who loved an adventure. Not a stuffy business man who only seemed interested in discussing his latest mergers and acquisitions before getting blind drunk and abusive.

  “You’re going to regret this Chlo,” Damon hissed at her as he paced the hallway before he looked out of the window to check for his cab. “You stuck up little bitch,” he snorted. “You’ll get what’s coming to you.”

  Chloe had to use all of her strength not to roll her eyes. Seeing him like this now, she found it hard to believe that there had ever been love between them. He was so angry, so ugly… so cruel. His insides must have been rotten and black.

  “Fuck this,” he snarled as he reached for the door handle and pulled it open, letting in the icy cold air and a blast of frost.

  Chloe watched him from the gallery landing at the top of the stairs as he hurled himself out into the night and onto the sprawling driveway, where he opened the door to his sports car, jumped behind the wheel and let the engine roar. He was so drunk, there was no way he should have been driving, but there was also no way she was going to stop him. The last time she had tried, she had wound up with bruises all down her arms from where he had gripped her as he screamed in her face.

  Chloe was smart and knew when to pick her battles… and this wasn’t one of them

  “Let him go,” she whispered to herself as the door blew closed with a bang and she saw the flash of lights swing around the fountain and start down the drive to the road.

  She breathed a sigh of relief and wiped her eyes.

  It wasn’t until she went back in her bedroom and sat down on her bed that she realized she was shaking. She looked at her hands and at the way they trembled and she felt the tears welling up behind her eyes. She hated to admit it to herself, but she had always been scared of Damon. He was always so unpredictable, it was as if at any moment he could have swung around and punched her square in the jaw. She shivered and climbed underneath the covers. It wouldn’t be long before it was the New Year and she had big plans for herself. She was going to grab life with both hands and really live, instead of just existing.

  And now that Damon was gone, she was finally free to start again.

  2.

  The following morning Chloe awoke to the sound of banging and crashing throughout the house. She rolled over and blinked her bleary eyes awake and strained her ears to pick up the sounds of whatever was happening. Somewhere downstairs she could hear her mother’s voice drifting through the hallway
s, calling to one of the handymen to hang the garland higher.

  Decoration day, she thought with fondness.

  It had been a family tradition of theirs for as long as she could remember to spend a full Saturday adorning their family home with a whole host of Christmas décor, but usually they would wait for Chloe to surface. Maybe they had got wind of her and Damon’s argument and decided to leave her to it for the morning, or maybe they just realized that now she was twenty-two, she was probably too old to be still fussing on with activities that were created for her when she was a child.

  She felt a pang of nostalgia as she remembered their family Christmas’s when she was younger and of how her and her parents and brother had all dressed up in festive jumpers, turned on the carols and danced all day together whilst adorning the tree and sipping mulled wine. Chloe always found herself with the job of untangling the fairy lights, and although she hated it, it was another tradition that seemed to have stuck. It had always been one of her favorite days of the year, but even though she was back there for the weekend and away from her apartment in the city, she was still feeling decidedly un-Christmassy.

  She yawned and leaned up on her elbows. Even though she was feeling more like The Grinch than Mrs. Christmas she dragged herself out of bed and after pulling on her robe, made her way downstairs.

  “Chloe!” her mother beamed as she shuffled into the kitchen and grabbed the pot of coffee that was resting on the center island.

  The whole room looked as if a Santa’s grotto had exploded all over it and she tiptoed amongst lush green wreaths, garlands and baubles to find a seat at the table.

  “Morning,” she croaked as she took a sip of coffee and rested her chin on her hand.

  “Feeling the after effects of last night?” her mother smirked.

  Chloe shrugged and raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure how much she had heard, or indeed even if her and her father had been home when the argument took place. Their family home was so big, it was easy for people to disappear into their rooms and sleep peacefully at night without being disturbed by the goings on of the others. She and Damon had left them at the gala dinner and had no idea of when they had returned.