The Savior forgot all about Lucy, as the Clan’s women surrounded him. The god’s eyes went to their uncovered breasts and stayed there. “Offerings?” He repeated, looking intrigued by Rhawn’s words. “Like a party? For me?”
“For you.” Rhawn agreed. “All we have is yours. You are the Savior of our people.”
“I am?”
“Yes. Only you can lead us.”
“Really? Leading? Me?” The Savior didn’t seem so certain about that. He was very interested in the half-naked women fawning at him, though. “But right now, we’re just having a party, right?”
“Correct.”
“Awesome.” The Savior smiled and wrapped an arm around Anniah without even seeing her face. “Well, let’s start with the honoring, then!”
Clan lifted him up onto their shoulders, carrying him towards the caves, chanting “Warr-en! Warr-en!”
The god waved at them with haughty condescension.
Rhawn really was a fool.
He would be doomed if he worked against the Savior. He knew that. The man was a lack-wit, but he was the only hope for the world. It was pointless to help the Destroyer spread her evil. He should be doing everything possible to help the Savior win this battle. At the moment, though, he found he didn’t care about the fate of the world. Lucy would live for another day. That was all that mattered.
Rhawn looked over at the woman and saw that she was still in a daze. “Lou-cee.” He called, trying to gain her attention. He held a hand out to her through the bars, wanting her to come closer. “Lou-cee, you must listen to me… stop!” He bellowed the last word in the Clan’s language, not that it did any good.
Skoll grabbed her by the arm, dragging her towards Rhawn’s cage. He towered over Lucy, his huge body dwarfing hers, as he hustled her forward. Her feet automatically tried to find traction, digging into the dirt. Skoll was so large, he simply lifted her up and carried her the rest of the way.
“You son of a tandar.” Rhawn gave the bars a furious shake. “Get your hands off of her!”
“If it was up to me, both of you would be tossed into the tar pits to die!” Skoll opened the cage door long enough to throw Lucy inside.
Rhawn caught her before she could hit the dirt. She was drenched to the skin, like she had been in the sea. His arms wrapped around Lucy, sheltering her from Skoll and from the wind. Still in a daze, her body instinctively curved into his.
A perfect fit.
Rhawn closed his eyes for a beat, overwhelmed that he was holding her, at last.
“Do what you want with her for now.” Skoll sneered, seeing Rhawn’s awed expression. “Gods know, no other woman will have you in the light of day, so you might as well take advantage of the situation. Come morning, she’ll be facing the Ardin, anyway.”
Rhawn glared at Skoll. “The end of the world is already upon us. Why do you wish to hasten your own demise?”
“I’m not afraid of you, Accursed One.” Skoll stepped inside the cage, trying to intimidate him. “You will be dead long before I am, now that the Savior is here. There is no way your bitch will be able to…”
Rhawn slammed Skoll’s head into the cave wall.
The other man gave a choked cry and then toppled over, splayed out on the dirt. Rhawn frowned. He hadn’t meant to do that. Not exactly. He’d simply taken one of his hands off Lucy, reached over, and grabbed Skoll by the neck. The next thing he knew, the man’s skull was ricocheting off the rock.
Why did these things always happen to Rhawn?
He made an irritated face. Attacking Skoll was probably going to cause him no end of trouble. Not that he’d had much of a choice. It took a lot to rouse Rhawn to violence, but, once it started, he was damn good at it. Every instinct in his body told him to kill anyone who threatened this woman. Really, Skoll was lucky to get off so lightly. He’d wake up. Eventually. That was more than he deserved. No one else in the Clan would see it that way, but it hardly mattered.
Nothing mattered but his mate.
Dismissing the man from his thoughts, Rhawn focused on Lucy.
The rest of the Clan seemed to have forgotten her existence in their revelry. Even the guard stationed outside of his cell had headed off with the Savior. Meat had been scarce for so long that a feast was an unheard of indulgence. Since Notan refused to consider Rhawn’s “unholy” source of food, everyone else in the Clan was half-starved. The festivities his lies just created would use the last of their stores. But, between the food and the Savior, they would be distracted for hours.
Rhawn weighed his options and then shrugged. He was done being a prisoner. “Lou-cee?” Her odd name tasted exotic on his tongue. “Look at me.” He tilted his head down to meet her huge eyes. “I am going to take you to my cave? Do you think you can walk?”
“Yeah.” But the word was so faint that he didn’t believe it.
“Are you ill, goddess?”
“Maybe I’m ill.” She agreed vaguely. “Maybe I’m really, really…” Her legs gave way and she didn’t seem to notice.
Rhawn supported her weight, growing concerned at her stupor. “Lucy?”
“Where am I?” She whispered and Rhawn knew she wasn’t talking to him. “Where the hell am I?”
“You are here.” It was the only thing he could think to say. “You are with me.” Rhawn lifted her up against his chest and he could feel her body shaking. For a woman destined to change the world, she weighed nothing, at all. “You know me, Lucy. Since I was little more than a boy, you’ve been in my dreams. You say you’ve dreamed of me, too.”
She didn’t respond to that. Instead, Lucy’s face turned into the curve of his shoulder and she hung on like Rhawn was the only real thing in the universe. He rested his cheek in her hair, briefly closing his eyes. Emotions flooded through him, deep and real, carving out huge spaces inside of him. Spaces that only Lucy could fill. Spaces that would collapse him into nothing if she ever tore free and left him empty again.
The Clan didn’t have a word for such feelings, but Lucy’s people did.
Love.
Rhawn loved her. He always had. All his life he’d been waiting for this small girl to arrive and now he’d finally been handed his future. He didn’t know why or how she was there, but he knew he could never let her go.
Lucy was his mate.
“You are safe.” He whispered, breathing in the magical scent of her skin. “I will keep you safe. Always. Vando.”
She silently shivered in his arms, not responding to the assurance. She seemed so vulnerable in this state. Why didn’t a goddess protect herself better? What could scare a being of her power?
Not sure how to help her, Rhawn headed out of the cell. He stepped over Skoll’s unconscious form as he left, slamming the bamboo gate closed behind him. He would not waste another moment on that asshole when he had finally his woman in his arms. Rhawn might be an idiot, but he wasn’t that big an idiot.
“Lou-cee?” He carried her back to his cave and set her down on the thick pelts of his bed. “Are you in need of something?” He crouched before her, trying not to remember how amazing she’d looked there in his dreams.
Naked… Warm… Smiling…
Kissing.
Damn it, he was remembering.
He wasn’t sure how to care for a woman. Nobody had ever entrusted him with one before. They seemed delicate. He decided to go with the most obvious need and quickly got to his feet again. “Have some water.” He grabbed a shell cup and pressed it into her hand. She frowned like she had no idea what to do with it. “Drink.” He prompted and nudged it towards her mouth.
Still in a fog, she obediently sipped the water.
“Good.” It was wrong of him to enjoy her presence so much. The woman was troubled and evil and a goddess… But, she was also so beautiful that he had to force himself not to stare. She was in his cave, sitting on his bed, and he wanted to keep her there. Luckily, she didn’t seem eager to leave. She didn’t seem aware of her surrounding, at all.
Shivers continued to course through her body, as she huddled against the wall. Maybe she was cold. The cave seemed downright balmy to him, but she was very small and wet. He wasn’t sure if gods contracted illnesses, but he wasn’t taking any chances. Rhawn set about making a fire to warm her. When even that didn’t stop her dazed shaking, he frowned and started removing her damp clothes.
“Have you been in the sea?” He asked her, trying to figure out why she’d do such a foolhardy thing. “That is a very unwise pastime. Jigons lurk below the surface of the water. You must be more careful.”
The woman didn’t seem to hear him. She sat still as he peeled off her strange garments, lost in her own thoughts. Tears were running down her cheeks and breaking his heart.
“It will be alright.” He soothed. “It will all be alright, goddess. I promise you.”
If it wasn’t for the dreams, Rhawn wasn’t sure he could’ve figured out how to unbuckle and clasp all the different fastenings of her clothing. Even knowing how they worked, it was a challenge. Rhawn had always been good with his hands, though. He released a shuddering breath as he uncovered her smooth body. It was impossible not to stare, so he didn’t even try. The woman was his mate, after all. He could look at her all he wished. And oh how he wished to look. He’d waited forever to find her. Now that she was here --gods!-- it was hard to even think in the face of such perfection. He wanted to lay her back and…
No.
Shit.
He shook his head to clear it and wrapped her in his heaviest furs. Having a woman meant caring for her. Lucy seemed completely lost. This was not the time to think of anything beyond her need for security. He carefully bundled her up and touched her hair. “You are safe here with me.” He murmured. “Fear not.”
Time passed.
He waited for the woman to say something. And waited. And waited.
Finally, just to keep his mind off her flawless (and naked) body, Rhawn began preparing dinner. He assumed even a god needed food. When he set the wooden bowl of meat stew in front of her, though, she ignored it. Luminous green eyes looked sightlessly at the wall. At all the paintings of her world. She seemed mesmerized.
“Lou-cee, you must eat.” He prompted after a while.
They’d been sitting in silence for so long that he didn’t expect her to answer… And she didn’t. She didn’t even look his way. Rhawn sighed and took a bite of his own meal. This was pointless. How was someone forsaken supposed to comfort a goddess? Why would she even want to talk to him, when she…?
“It’s pronounced Lucy.” She whispered, interrupting his thoughts. “One word.”
Heartened, Rhawn tried to say it the way she did. “Loose-y. Louchee.” Gods, their language was difficult sometimes. “Loooocy.”
“Close enough.” She finally glanced his way and said the last thing he expected. “Are you going to get in trouble for hitting the blond guy and escaping that cell?”
Yes.
“No.” He lied. “It will be fine.”
She didn’t believe him. “I’m sorry. I kind of lost it for a minute there. I didn’t mean to drag you into this mess.”
“Skoll brought it upon himself. I will not let anyone harm you.”
“Thank you.” She whispered.
Rhawn shrugged the matter aside. She did not need to thank him for taking care of her. It was his right and duty. “Eat. You will feel better.”
Lucy let out a shaky breath and reached over to pick up the bowl of meat. “What is this?” She gave it a tentative sniff, then quickly reared back. “Jesus.”
“It’s the last bits of the last mammoth we hunted.”
She gave a semi-hysterical laugh. “Well, that explains the smell.” She set the stew aside and covered her face with her hands. “Okay, forget the acting calm shit. The meltdown’s happening. I can’t stop it, because I can’t deal with this. I can’t! How am I supposed to deal with this?”
She was upset over the Ardin. She knew she would lose.
Rhawn hesitated, weighing his options. All of them seemed bad. “The Savior seems fond of you.” He finally told her, because it was best way to keep her alive. Maybe she could still change her ways. Maybe there was still time. “If you give up your cruel plans and join him, I do not think he will harm you.”
Rhawn might try to harm the Savior if the man tried to take the “joining” too far, though. Gods, he really detested that man.
“The who?”
“Warr-en. The Savior.”
“Warren? A savior? Are you kidding me? That putz couldn’t save a CPR dummy.”
Rhawn wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded like blasphemy.
The woman didn’t seem to fear divine retribution. Whatever emotion existed between unfocused agitation and a wild sense purpose, she was clearly feeling it. “Look, I don’t understand what’s happening and I’m thinking you do. So tell me. Now. How did I get here?”
“I do not know.” The mysteries of the gods were far beyond his understanding.
She curved her arms around her body, like she was trying to hold herself still. He could hear her teeth chattering. Rhawn automatically reached out to touch her shoulder in comfort, but she shied away.
Of course she did.
He sighed and dropped his hand.
“Who are you?” She asked again.
“I am Rhawn.” For no reason he could imagine, he began to worry that he was intimidating her. The woman was a goddess who could probably kill him in ten thousand magical ways. Aside from that, any other male in the Clan would want their women intimidated and compliant to his every demand.
That was not what Rhawn wanted, though. He wanted Lucy to want him back.
To welcome his touch.
He crouched down again so he was at eyelevel with her and made his voice tender. Obviously, she hadn’t understood him before, so he repeated the words more slowly. “You know me, Lou-cee.” He repeated quietly. “I dreamed of you. Many times. You dreamed of me, yes?”
She bit her lip. “Yes.” She whispered.
“What did you dream?”
Her eyes flashed away, her cheeks coloring. “I don’t remember all of them.” She muttered and he knew she’d dreamed the same things he had.
“I remember all of them.” He said quietly. “I remember everything. I remember the very first night I saw you. You were very young and in a strange red costume…”
“God, why does everything always go back to the fucking prom dress?”
Those words meant nothing to him, so he kept going. “I remember how amazed I was to see you and how much I wanted you.” And it was not a fraction of how much he wanted her now. “I remember knowing you were meant to be mine.”
“I remember your hands going places that I didn’t let my prom date touch.” She said sourly.
Rhawn’s mouth curved. “I remember that also.” He agreed.
“This is crazy, you know that?” She swiped a hand under her nose.
“Yes.”
She glowered at him, not satisfied with that calm reply. “You’re really real? You’re sure? You’re really a real caveman?”
She often called him that. He could piece together it meant a man who lived in a cave. Therefore, it was true of him. “Yes.” He agreed simply.
“That’s all you have to say? Just ‘yes!’ Really? Really?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t think of anything to tell her except the simple truth.
Her eyes narrowed at him. “Fine. Well, how the hell is it possible that I dreamed of you, then? Explain it to me.”
“You didn’t dream of me. I dreamed of you. I dream of your world every night.” He gestured to the art on the wall.
She didn’t even glance at it. Her eyes stayed on him, as if she was afraid to look away. “My world?” She swallowed. “Which is different from this world?”
He nodded.
“That’s what I was afraid of. Unless maybe you’re just confused or…” She shook her head, still looking stunned. “Alright.
Let’s start simple: Do you know the name of this island?”
“No’wanta-hoan.” How would that translate into her words? “Mother of the Clan.” That was close, although not exact. There was subtler meaning of this land being a first stop on a greater journey that was being lost in her language.
“Do you know where the island is?”
He had no clue how to respond to that question, so he just pointed down. The island was beneath their feet. For now, anyway. Very soon, it would sink into the Infinite Sea.
“No. I mean where is it in relation to other islands.”
Rhawn squinted in confusion. “There are no other islands.”
“There must be.” She wiped her eyes and gestured towards the ocean. “What else is out there?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“There is nothing but water. That is why we’ve awaited the Savior.” Rhawn wasn’t sure why she didn’t know all this already. “He will lead us to a new home.”
The Destroyer watched him for a long moment, as if waiting for him to change reality. “Hang on… You think Warren is going to take you to the Promised Land? Wow! And I thought I was screwed.” She ran a hand through her hair, not noticing the way his eyes followed the move. Thick black strands fell around her shoulders and it was the closest he would ever get to true magic. “Trust me on this, okay? Warren is not going to ‘lead you’ anywhere you want to go.”
Deep down Rhawn suspected she was right. Still, loyalty to his people had him straightening to his full height. He always tried to be a good member of the Clan, even when all his instincts told him it was pointless.
“You say that because you know he will triumph.” He decided, crossing his arms over his chest. “You say it to make me doubt the truth.”
“I say that because I know Warren’s an idiot.” Lucy corrected. “His GPA started with a zero. But, whatever.” She flicked the Savior aside like he was nothing but a movaha fly. “If you want to listen the Messiah of Used Cars instead of me, fine. I’ll just leave here on my own.” She looked out the opening of the cave, towards the jungle. “There’s gotta be something on this island.”
Once Upon a Caveman Page 6
