Once Upon a Caveman

by Cassandra Gannon

  “And I desire no one but you.” He could smell her arousal and it nearly brought him to his knees. “I promise, I will do nothing you wouldn’t enjoy, Lucy. You know that.” If she would just give herself over, he could have them both naked and happy in a matter of seconds.

  Sadly, she wasn’t going to surrender so easily. No goddess would.

  “I’m not having sex with you.” She reiterated firmly, pushing away from him. “Probably not later and definitely not now.” She ran a hand through her thick, dark, magical hair. “I need to think.”

  Rhawn had no idea what she needed to think about, when everything was so clear. Still, he saw the determined glint in her eye and he stepped back. “Alright.” He agreed calmly.

  Pushing Lucy would just make her more intractable. She was difficult. Stubborn. Rhawn wanted her to welcome him. But she wasn’t ready for that and nothing else would be worth a damn thing, so he would have to wait.

  She watched him, gauging his sincerity. “You’re just going to stop?” She asked suspiciously.

  “Of course.” He frowned at the question. “Vando, Lucy. I would do anything you asked.”

  She stared up at him, looking astonished at the use of the word. He had no idea why. He’d been telling her for many cycles. “You really are my caveman.” She finally murmured. “Only he would say that. You’re really him.”

  Rhawn slowly smiled. She was starting to come around! “Of course.” He repeated.

  Lucy’s eyes widened at his grin. “Damn it, that’s not fair, Rhawn. Stop smiling like that when I’m being moral and strong. It’s cheating to be so handsome.”

  He didn’t know he was handsome. This was good news. “Women here rarely care about a man’s looks.” He assured her, reaching out to touch her hair so the stands slipped through his fingers. Even the dreams had not captured the exquisite richness of the dark tresses. “They care about survival. They want a mate who can best protect them.” He met her gaze, wanting her to understand. “I will protect you.”

  “I know.” She whispered. “And I know you think I’m screwing up your customs or whatever, but I’m still not just going along with this “Choosing” thing. Only I decide who I sleep with, Rhawn. Even if it really is you, I get a choice. I’m freaked out and I need to think and we’re not having sex today.”

  Rhawn’s mind went to Anniah’s distressed face when Skoll announced he would claim her against her will. “The law of Choosing a reluctant woman is… primitive.” He allowed, wincing at bit.

  “No shit.”

  He tried to think of a way to deal with this new problem. Before Lucy arrived, everything had been so clear. “I will not pretend that I don’t know what I know. You are my mate. I feel it with everything in me.”

  “That’s very reassuring. I guess I’ll just give in and start planning our wedding then.”

  Rhawn wasn’t sure what a “wedding” was, but he could tell from her tone that she wasn’t happy to be planning it. Shit. He did not like it when she was unhappy. Lucy meant everything to him. He just wanted her to smile.

  He hesitated and saw only one way to go. “You will be in control, if that is what you need.” That was close to heresy in the Clan. Going along with her odd ideas was a small price to pay if it won him her heart, though. “I want you to Choose me. I want you to want me back.”

  “And if I never want you back?” The woman enjoyed focusing on the negative.

  He shrugged. “You will. It is fate.”

  She didn’t appreciate his confident words. Green eyes narrowed in challenge. It turned him on. Everything she did turned him on. He could see her plotting her next move and he could hardly wait. She was so damn bright, he found himself eager to see what she’d do next. The woman was endlessly unpredictable.

  “You know,” she said after a moment, her voice going soft and sultry, “where I come from, there’s another kind of kissing.” Her eyes slipped down to his erection. “Lower.”

  Rhawn’s jaw dropped as he realized what she was suggesting. This was some kind of test she was conducing. In his head, he knew that, but his body didn’t care. “That would work?” He choked out in amazement.

  “Oh yeah. With a big, strong guy like you, who’s open to new and dirty things, it could be amazing. I could get on my knees and use my mouth to…” Lucy trailed off letting the words hanging there like succulent fruit.

  “To do what?” He prompted, desperate to hear the rest.

  “Well,” she absently nibbled on her lower lip and Rhawn’s eyes nearly crossed in lust, “you have to experience it firsthand to fully understand the mechanics of it all.”

  The idea had his body stiffening painfully and his mind boggling with possibilities. Gods, even in the dreams, he’d never imagined anything so amazing.

  “Right now, there is an infinitesimally small chance that I’ll show you how it works.” Lucy continued in a seductive voice, moving against him in a way that had to be evil. It felt too good to be anything else. “Probably, it’ll never happen, but there’s always a tiny ray of hope for an enterprising guy like yourself.”

  Rhawn was hanging on her every word.

  “But, if you piss me off, your odds of exploring the mysteries of oral sex are gone forever.” She summed up archly. “If you --for instance-- refused to help me decide which way to go in our boats, I won’t be happy. And when I’m not happy, all my clothes stay on. You’ll be left wondering what my tongue would feel like, slowly licking at your…”

  “West.” Rhawn blurted out, reaching his breaking point. He pointed towards sun. “From what I know of the currents, the flowers come from that direction.”

  “Then, we go west.” She smirked at him, her tone going back to its normal clip. “See how easy it is to get along with a goddess?” She headed down the beach, pleased with her trickery.

  Rhawn gaped after her.

  Gods, but that woman had powers.

  Chapter Seven

  Lucy sits on the caveman’s lap, admiring the perfect angles of his perfect face. He is so handsome and thoughtful and gentle. It’s no wonder she has no interest in dating any of the idiots she meets in the real world. How could anyone ever measure up to her dream man?

  “This must be a mental condition or something.” She says, running her hands through his thick hair. “Reoccurring dreams of somebody who doesn’t even exist? I mean, that’s gotta be bad, right? There’s probably some scary name for this condition and all kind of therapy involved to cure it.”

  “I do not wish to cure it.”

  She doesn’t want to cure it, either, but it seems very strange. “Don’t you think it’s --well-- kinda crazy to imagine the same person again and again?”

  “Yes.” He answers calmly, as if he’s already thought all of this over himself. “But I would rather be crazy with you, than sane alone.”

  Rhawn and Lucy’s Dream- Nine Years Ago

  Stay away from the caveman.

  Stay away from the caveman.

  Stay away from the caveman.

  For the next two days, Lucy silently repeated the mantra, but it didn’t do much good. She wasn’t listening to herself. Which was a shame, because she knew she was right. It was just Rhawn was so damn awesome, it was easy to ignore all her own good advice about him. The more she was around him, the easier it was to get attached to the guy. He was generous and kind and protective and handsome.

  And smart.

  Rhawn was way, way too smart to keep lying to. That was the whole problem.

  He was going to figure out she was a complete fraud in the goddess department. It was only a matter of time, if she kept hanging around with him. He put puzzles together too fast. Saw connections too clearly. Several times now she’d caught him watching her with a thoughtful expression on his face, like he was trying to see through her lies. He’d keep digging until he had every answer he needed to expose her. It was his nature to question. Within a very short amount of time, he’d figured everything out. It was inevitable.

/>   Rhawn was a genius.

  An actual genius, in the literal “Holy shit, is he smart!” sense of the word. The dawn of time probably didn’t have any standardized tests to prove it, but Lucy didn’t need them to know that this guy was something special. She could look into his eyes and practically see all the gleaming IQ points. It was a little intimidating to be face-to-face with that kind of raw brainpower. Back in reality, Rhawn would’ve been inventing lasers at Cal-Tech, or designing trillion dollar spaceships, or solving world hunger in a fancy think tank.

  He really would be changing the world.

  Hell, even stuck on this damn rock he was changing the world. Rhawn’s boats were their only hope of escaping the volcano. Lucy understood that, even if nobody else did. If this plan worked, he was going to save so many lives… And he wasn’t even trying. That was the crazy part. He was casually, off-handedly, apologetically brilliant. God, if he was actually focused, he could do anything.

  And given Lucy’s current situation, that kind of intelligence was dangerous. How long could she really expect to get away with this whole “Destroyer” lie? He was already questioning her lack of powers. She had to stay away from him.

  Which was why it was such a bad idea to be staying in his cave.

  See? Where Rhawn was concerned, she was blind to logic. Shaking her head, she continued up the path to his home, taking a quick detour to check on Warren.

  For reasons Lucy couldn’t begin to understand, she was worried about the guy. It wasn’t that she felt bad about hitting him with the rock, exactly. She just wished the big, dumb idiot would wake up. Lucy sighed in annoyed concern when she saw he was still out cold.

  Why did Warren always have to make things more complicated?

  Since he’d lost the glorious Ardin, most of the Clan seemed to have washed their hands of the “Savior.” It must be quite a disappointment to discover your god is a doofus. Only the waif-y blonde, Anniah, was tending his splayed body. Lucy watched as she carefully dripped water into his mouth and petted his dark hair with more tenderness than Warren deserved.

  Well that was interesting.

  Lucy cleared her throat and the girl’s head shot up in surprise. She quickly scampered to her feet, no doubt worried that Lucy was about to smite her. Her slim body moved between Warren and Lucy, like maybe she suspected Lucy was there to finish him off.

  Lucy held up her palms in the universal sign of “I’m not a serial killer.” “Hi.”

  Anniah’s eyebrows slammed together, unappeased. She said something that was probably a warning to stay away from the Savior’s comatose ass.

  “Relax, okay? I’m not going to hurt you. Or him. Well, I guess I did hurt him, but…” Lucy trailed off with a sigh and sat down on a rock. “Shit. I’m really anti-social, so it’s tough for me to make conversation. Just bear with me here, alright?”

  Anniah blinked at her, losing some of her rigid posture.

  Rhawn had said this girl was one of the few Clan’s people who didn’t hate Lucy, so it only made sense to try and be friendly. It didn’t come naturally, but Lucy was all about trying new things, these days. If she was stuck leading this bunch of idiot cavemen, she might as well try to reach out to one of the few members of the Clan who didn’t suck.

  “I’m Lucy.” She laid a palm on her chest. “Lucy.”

  Anniah’s eyebrows compressed, but she was getting it. “Anniah.” She said warily and pointed to herself.

  “Right. Good.” Lucy gestured to Warren, then her own head, and repeated the movement. “Does he need anything?” She gave an exaggerated frown to show her concern. “Is he okay?” Anniah was the island’s leading medical professional. Hopefully, she would know how to treat him with roots and berries. If Warren needed a CAT scan, it might be a problem.

  Anniah said something in her language, then smiled and bobbed her head. Okay. That seemed like a promising diagnoses. Probably. She also looked down at Warren like she might actually be Florence Nightingale-ing the big dummy, though, so it was entirely possible that the girl was high on herbs.

  “Really?” Lucy arched a brow. “You seriously like this bonehead?”

  Anniah seemed to be puzzling out those words.

  “Warren.” Lucy held up one index finger. “Anniah.” Lucy held up the other and then drew them together, to make a couple. “Warren and Anniah sitting in a tree…” She arched a brow. “Am I close?”

  Anniah beamed, piecing together the sing-song charades. “Warr-en and Anniah.” She said excited and bobbed her head. Back in reality, the girl would already be booking reception venues.

  Lucy felt honor-bound to warn her that was terrible idea. “You know he’s a used car salesman, with two bitter and vengeful ex-wives, right? Even I felt sorry for him after the divorces and I usually find his suffering funny. In his whole life, I don’t think he’s ever gotten anything right and he knows it. He’s weak, whiny, annoying, can’t hold his liquor… Face it,” she swept a hand through the air, indicating Warren’s football jersey-ed body, “he’s a train wreck.”

  Anniah followed the gesture, her eyes traveling up and down Warren with obvious approval. She glanced back at Lucy with a small frown. She put her two index fingers together. “War-ren and Anniah oncho?” She drew them apart again, looking crushed.

  “No, I’m not saying you can’t be with him. I’m saying that you can do better.” Lucy gestured at Anniah and pantomimed approval. “See? You seem like a nice girl. Two thumbs up, for the little blonde.” Then she looked at Warren and made a skeptical seesaw motion with her hand, her face creased into a “he’s-kind-of-an-asshole” frown. “But, he’s kind of an asshole. Trust me.”

  Anniah hesitated and then finally seemed to understand. She said something else in that incomprehensible dialect.

  “Uh-huh…” Lucy squinted. Rhawn really needed to teach Lucy this language. The only word she kinda recognized was “vando.” Rhawn said that sometimes. She wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, but he always said it in a gentle tone, so it had to be good. “You’re saying you want to keep him anyway?” She guessed, nodding towards Warren.

  “Vando.” Anniah repeated earnestly.

  Lucy took that as a “yes.” “Alright.” She shrugged, seeing it was pointless to talk the girl out of her crush. “Well, if you want him, I’m sure you can have him. Believe me, once he sees you, he’s not going to be real hard to seduce. Hell, I’m in charge now, so I can probably just give him to you.” She paused. “And I guess he is a better choice than Skoll. Warren’s a nitwit, but he’s not a violent sociopath.”

  Anniah’s expression darkened. “Cantara un ta ber-na Skoll.” Lucy translated that as something like, “No way am I marrying that dickhead.”

  “Yeah, I don’t blame you.” Lucy agreed, kinda of liking this girl. “The good news is, I changed the rules about “Choosing” around here. Now the women get a say. I’ve totally invented feminism. It’s going to awesome.”

  Anniah had no clue what that meant.

  Lucy tried again. “Anniah.” Up went the index finger again. “All the men in the world.” She opened her other hand wide, counting off the possibilities. “Warren… Skoll… The guy with beard… Those big, ugly twins…” She paused meaningfully when she reached the thumb. “And Rhawn, of course, but Rhawn’s mine.” She tapped her own chest. “Rhawn and Lucy.”

  Anniah nodded earnestly, following this conversation with the intensity of an undergrad at their first college lecture.

  “Good. So now Anniah Chooses.” Lucy simulated deep thought and then Anniah-the-index finger moved to tap on Warren-the-pinkie. “Anniah picks the guys she wants.”

  Anniah got the meaning and looked thrilled. “Anniah touma-la-ho.” She pointed very deliberately at Warren. Lucy was gonna guess that meant, “Anniah’s Choosing this dumbass.”

  Lucy shrugged. “Well, there’s no accounting for taste, I guess. I mean, look what I’m wearing.” She gestured to the plastic mardi gras beads around her neck.

  An
niah gazed at the cheap green necklace like it was made of gold. “Byanho.” She said longingly.

  Lucy’s eyebrows rose. “Wait… you like this? Okay. Here.” She took it off and held it out to Anniah. “You can have it.”

  Anniah looked stunned. She sputtered out what sounded like a lot of caveman language-y reasons as to why she couldn’t take something so valuable.

  Lucy rolled her eyes and reached over to grab Anniah’s wrist. “Here.” She repeated firmly and pressed the necklace into her hand. “Take it. Please. It’s the least I can do to repay you for looking after Warren.”

  Anniah clutched the beads to chest, tears in her eyes. She totally would’ve sold Lucy the island of Manhattan for the damn thing. In fact, she looked so overwhelmed, that Lucy felt a little guilty. “Yhannt.” She said in a heartfelt tone.

  “You’re welcome. Really. It was nothing.”

  Anniah unlooped the strands on shiny stones from her own neck. “Hynart.” She held them out to Lucy, wanting to give them to her.

  “No. Seriously, you don’t have to…” Lucy began, but Anniah just grabbed her wrist and shoved the necklace into her hand. Apparently, she thought that was Lucy’s custom for trading jewelry, because she looked pretty damn pleased with herself. Lucy certainly didn’t want to insult the girl by refusing. “Um… Yhannt.” She was taking a guess that that meant “thank you” and Anniah seemed thrilled with her efforts.

  And really the necklace was pretty. There were three strands of super-shiny white stones that caught the light every time Lucy moved. Rather than being drilled through the middle, they were tied together with a series of intricate knots. All in all, this necklace was a way better fashion statement than the souvenir beads from the ship’s bar. The mix of rustic and glitzy looked like something from a hip boutique in the East Village.

  Anniah was pretty sure Lucy had gotten the worst deal, though. She couldn’t have been more pleased with her plastic treasure. The girl kept admiring her new beads, her expression turning downright friendly. All her reservations were quelled now that they’d found some common ground. Ah, the universal power of bling.