by Brian King
“Great job, Hope!” I exclaimed while patting her on the neck.
Sheela clapped appreciatively for the parasaur as I jumped off and got a first look at the result of our combined efforts.
“Sheela, we have a hole for our poles.” I cracked up laughing at more boyish wit but attributed my humor to my stress and exhaustion.
“Now we must lift the logs vertically and set them in the holes,” Sheela said.
“Yeah,” I replied as I gave her a coy smile.
“How will you do that?” she asked.
“I have a couple of ideas from my high school physics class involving leverage, but first, let’s cut down a few more logs.”
“Very well,” she said as she moved to grab her axes.
“But before that,” I said as I rested my hand on her toned arm. “We have to give each other high fives.”
“High fives?” she asked with confusion.
“Yep,” I said as I held my hand up with my palm facing her. Sheela repeated the movement, and I slapped my hand into hers.
“High five?” she asked with a little less confusion.
“Yep! That’s the cool way to celebrate.”
“I believe there are better ways to celebrate, Victor.” Her feline eyes met mine, and it felt like a dozen butterflies had been released in my stomach.
“What do you mean?” I whispered.
“Let us cut down more trees,” she said, and then she turned from me with her axes and walked back toward the forest.
Chapter 14
After Sheela and I dragged over our first test log, we went back for two more. We cut down the foot-wide trees, lopped off the bottom ten feet of each with our axes, and Hope helped us drag them to the new construction site. The three big logs looked pretty impressive lying next to each other, and I couldn’t wait to have fifty more.
“Looks like we’ll have to get up first thing tomorrow and start cutting again,” I mused as the sun began to set below the tree line. We’d already cut tons of logs for our old fort, and I knew we had close to two weeks of chopping in front of us, but it was going to be too dangerous for us to be out here when night came.
Besides, I’d be swinging axes in my dreams.
“Will we have time to get water, eat our breakfast, and--” Sheela began.
“Yes,” I interrupted her. “I didn’t mean it so literally. We’ll do all our regular stuff, then get back to chopping.” I chuckled at the misunderstanding, which happened a lot between us. While it was true, we had to do more cutting the next day, we always started our mornings by getting water jugs refilled, eating a quick breakfast, and killing snooping orange birds.
“Alright. I trust you to put everything in the correct order,” Sheela replied with an upbeat voice.
“I think tomorrow we should drag over all those poles from the old fort so we have easy access to them,” I said. “We aren’t ready to build the inner hut of our new fort, but it doesn’t hurt to be ready. Then we should sink these puppies into the ground,” I pointed to the three big logs lying nearby, “so we can get some experience maneuvering them into place. We’ll have to get really good at that.”
“It sounds like you have a plan, though I am impressed you do not sound at all tired,” the feline warrior said with a little laugh.
“I think taming Hope has given me a second wind,” I replied with a chuckle. “I didn’t say it at the time, but I was as disappointed as everyone else when the stampede came through. All that pain was wiped away when we were riding on Hope’s back yesterday. Maybe I’m still riding high on that mega dose of adrenaline.”
“You have many amazing qualities, Victor” she replied as her eyes settled on my bare chest again.
“Thanks,” I answered as we walked toward the cave. When Sheela said my name in her sexy accent, I recalled how odd she’d been acting all day. I thought about asking her if something was up, but decided that I didn’t want another reminder that she was married.
“Come on, Hope,” I called out to my pet dinosaur. “This way.”
When Hope heard her name, she stopped chomping on ferns along the hillside and walked toward me obediently. I’d been testing the limits of Tame and figured out I could give her voice commands without having to sit on her back. This was helpful when pulling logs, so I could more easily see where she was putting them, but now it was a handy way to get her to come to me.
“I will never tire of seeing your skill,” Sheela said with a rare touch of awe.
“Controlling dinosaurs is super fucking cool,” I said, using two of my favorite slang words that I knew she understood now.
“It is,” she agreed.
“You ready?” I said to my feline friend after I’d put on my dry undershirt.
She trotted over to Hope like one of those Olympic gymnasts, sprang into the air with outstretched arms, and grabbed onto the parasaur’s neck. With one fluid motion, she pulled herself onto those broad shoulders, swung her leg over the far side, and finished her routine by flashing me a “10.0” smile. The grin seemed almost like a challenge, and I tried not to gawk at where the bikini bottom almost didn’t cover her crotch.
“Nice,” I said aloud as I immediately accepted her dare.
I was no gymnast, but I studied where she’d placed her feet and hands and prayed I could do the same exact thing. I got my run, planned my landing on Hope’s neck, and was a second from jumping when I noticed a problem. Since Sheela was already sitting there, I couldn’t swing my leg over the hump and risk kicking her in the face. I wasn’t going to stop and look stupid, so I could either land on Hope’s neck using my stomach like a little kid or leap and swing my leg right behind her.
I went for it.
I jumped high and grunted as I pulled myself up, swung my leg over Hope’s neck, and finally slammed into the cockpit right behind Sheela.
“Oh, shit,” I said even though I’d been successful. Maybe it was part of my subconscious decision when I ran and jumped, but I’d placed myself right up against the sexy woman’s tattered bikini bottom.
Hope seemed to feed off my anxiety around Sheela, and the dino dipped her head a little. To keep from falling forward, I wrapped my arms around Sheela’s tight stomach.
I wanted to continue holding the beautiful woman, but I worried that it would make her uncomfortable. When I was somewhat confident I wasn’t going to fall off, I unhooked my hands from around her waist, but she pressed them back against her chiseled abs before I could pull away.
It was a full ten seconds before she let me go.
“Victor, I should not have gotten onto Hope first,” Sheela said with an earnest voice. “You are in charge, and you must be in the dominant position.”
“Well, I’d rather be in front if we were going around town, but this is nice while we’re sitting together,” I said as my fingers pressed into her rock-hard abs. The sensation of her tight body against mine was starting to make me breathe heavy. I was sure she was going to notice, so I yanked my hands back and scooted in reverse a few inches, though it was impossible not to rub my inner thighs against her hips.
“It is,” she said in a simple reply.
“Thanks for showing me how to mount her like this,” I said as a way to keep us in safe conversation territory. “That could come in handy.” It would have been far easier to ask Hope to drop her neck to climb aboard, but it was a lot cooler to jump on like I’d just done.
“You are welcome,” she replied. “Now, if you will sit still for a moment, I will fix our positions.”
“Er, sure,” I said.
Sheela surprised me by springing straight up like a cat. She hopped on the balls of her feet so that her ass was right in my face. Then my mind was blown when she did a jumping backflip right over my head, landed just behind me, and then dropped with a firm bump against my backside. There was plenty of room on Hope’s back for Sheela to sit, but I slid up a bit so we were both in the optimal riding position.
“Fuck me,” I blurted out. �
�I didn’t know you could do that!”
“I have many talents,” she said dryly. “Some of them are useful for survival, while some are merely for fun.”
“Which one was that?” I said with a little too much anticipation. Sheela was beyond beautiful, caring, polite, a hard worker, and probably crazy in bed. It made no sense why some lord would want her as a seventeenth wife; she should have been ranked at the top.
“We shall see,” she whispered into my ear without missing a beat.
My breath caught in my lungs and I felt my heart slam into my chest like a boxer hitting a heavy bag. I was so smitten with her that it didn’t occur to me I’d forgotten to grab the water jugs from up in the cave. I almost climbed back down and got them myself, but then I remembered her request to be told what to do.
“Sheela, please get the water jugs,” I ordered. “You seem to have forgotten them.”
“Yes, I suppose I did,” she said as she climbed off of Hope’s back. “I will do as you wish.”
Sheela seemed happy enough to follow my orders. I was left to wonder if these women always knew what they were doing, and I really was the clueless male just along for the ride. Despite being in charge of the construction and planning as well as the dinosaur taming, they were in complete control of my heart. Sheela had just sent it skipping across my fluttering stomach without giving me one clue of her intentions.
All I could do was shake my head.
I started to watch her bend over to hang the clay containers onto her spear, but I looked away so I wouldn’t be tempted to gawk at her cleavage when she climbed back up to me.
“We can go now, Victor,” she purred in my ear as soon as she was mounted behind me, and I pushed Hope around toward the stream.
While we rode to the stream for water, I reveled in the sensation of having her hold my midsection. We didn’t speak while we filled the jugs and let Hope drink, but I noticed Sheela watching me out of the corner of her eye. When we returned to the cave, I parked Hope in her enclosure below, and then we settled around the outdoor fire at the top of the ramp.
Galmine had cooked one of the many orange birds we’d been killing lately, but after tearing through the meal, I forced myself to keep talking so that I wouldn’t pass out from exhaustion.
“I see Jinx is comfy,” I said to the gray woman. The little blue bird was nestled inside Galmine’s crossed legs, and she tossed blue berries to him every so often. No matter how tired I was, it warmed my heart to see my little pal.
“He is very comfortable, Victor,” Galmine replied in a suggestive voice. “You should try it sometime.”
“That does look relaxing. I’m sore all over.” Both my arms were blasted from working with the axes on those large trees, and my legs and ass were wrecked from sitting on Hope’s back.
“I also give great massages.” Galmine let out a girlish giggle and rubbed her hands together.
I couldn’t believe my luck and was ready to rip off my shirt for her, but the gray-skinned woman turned her eyes back over my shoulder.
“Trel’s back there, isn’t she?” I asked quietly.
We all turned to watch as Trel walked toward us on her human feet. Her silk dress seemed pasted onto her hourglass shape, and her jaw-dropping cleavage glistened from drops of sweat as if she’d just stepped out of the shower.
“Ah, good. He’s back from doing chores.” The spider-woman gestured to the group with her hand. “I have an announcement, and you all need to pay attention.”
“This ought to be good,” I joked with mild annoyance because she’d just stopped me from getting a Galmine rub down.
“Oh… it is,” Trel said as her lips curved up into a strange smile. The raven-haired woman stood next to me but spoke to the other two. “Ladies, I admit I doubted your initial impressions of Victor as a male of any worth.” The spider-woman gestured to me. “However, after he and I chatted, I have been carefully reviewing his activity on this planet and have now revised my opinion. He no longer bears any resemblance to the inept males of my world. I was impressed with his fortitude in dealing with the destruction of our first fort. His taming of Hope was another moment of significance. Now, the new fort is about to become a reality. After weighing all these factors, I have come to a conclusion.”
All our eyes were on her as we waited for the punch line.
“I have decided to mate with you, Victor,” Trel said as she peered right into my eyes.
“Say what?” I asked as my mouth fell open. I got to my feet so I could see her better, but also so I could take a step away.
“This is where you all applaud,” Trel stated as if to remind us of our duty. She looked at Galmine and Sheela while her eyes narrowed a bit.
“Oh, this is good news!” Galmine said as she clapped her hands together and smiled at me.
“Yes, it is,” Trel said as she shook her inky black hair, raised her nose in the air, and cleared her throat.
“Uhhh,” I said. “Is it really--” I started to say before Trel talked over me.
“Tonight, in my private chambers, you, Victor, may meet me for a night of intense sex so that I may procreate,” Trel went on. “You will be my third suitor, so I am well-versed in male satisfaction. I will take you beyond any sexual fantasy you can imagine. After all, I must extract as much of your seed as possible.” She glanced at me with those dark eyes and licked her lips.
My stomach dropped, and all the blood left my face.
“Trel, are you--” I started to ask, but she interrupted me again.
“Tomorrow, while you bask in the glory of your greatest sexual experience, I will inject my venom into your throat,” Trel said as if it were no big deal. “Your body shall begin its transformation to support our young.”
There was another long pause that was only interrupted by a happy toot from Hope.
“Oh,” Galmine said as she paused mid-clap. “That actually doesn’t sound good.”
“Transformation?” Sheela asked.
“Yes, of course,” Trel answered as she rolled her head back in annoyance. I imagined that she also rolled her eyes, but it was hard to tell because they were pure black. “My brood will need sustenance when they are born. Victor’s corpse will give them the nutrients that they need to grow into adolescents.”
The blood retreated from my dick and my previously aroused mood was replaced by fear.
I heard every word of Trel’s statement, but my confused mind imagined she was talking about a different Victor. She was going to fuck that other guy, inject poison so her young could eat his body, then she would raise his kids without him. It was so alien that my imagination couldn’t make any sense of it.
“You are not going to kill Victor, Trel,” Sheela said with a long sigh. “Do you not see the problem with that?”
“I admit, it will present some challenges for us after he is gone, but he has shown us the general idea of the fort, and soon we can have an army of my children to help us build it,” Trel explained as she swished her hands from her chest to her legs. “Besides, he will really enjoy the experience. What better way is there for a male to die than during the process of inseminating this perfect body?”
“But--” Sheela began.
“What?” Trel demanded, “This is a high honor for Victor! In record time he has raced from the very bottom of my suitor’s list all the way to the top. It is my way of showing affection for a deserving male.”
“Couldn’t we just have sex without you killing me?” I asked without thinking. I was still in shock, so it took a few seconds for me to realize I’d just asked her to sleep with me.
“What would be the point of that? I need to procreate, and you have proven your bloodline is worthy. I will sing high praises about you to our offspring, so you don’t need to worry about that.” She still spoke as if her request was perfectly reasonable.
“Trel, I love you, but Sheela is right,” Galmine said in an appropriately concerned voice. “You cannot kill Victor, especially since I be
long to him. No, that came out wrong. What I mean is, I don’t want you to kill Victor at all. Not ever. Not for any reason.”
“There is plenty of time if you would also like to mate with him,” Trel carried on. “Why don’t you engage in sex now? I can delay for a day and use him tomorrow night once his testicles have renewed his sperm. Sheela, if you’d like--”
“Whoa!” I interrupted, “I’m honored to be on your list, or whatever, but I'm not planning on dying just to have sex with you, Trel.”
“Just to have sex?” Trel asked with a groan of annoyance. “This is lovemaking, not using each other like animals. It would be the most incredible night of your life.”
She always sounded self-assured, but this time she seemed even more confident. I felt the blood go back to where it belonged, and my heart rate picked up its pace due to the nature of the discussion. Even if it was impossible to consider taking her up on her offer, I couldn’t help but feel pretty fucking stoked that she was the second woman in our group who wanted to “make love” to me.
“No,” Sheela and Galmine both responded firmly in unison.
“You cannot sleep with him if you plan to kill him,” Sheela declared.
Trel placed her hands on her hips and stared at me for ten seconds while two of her spider legs clicked with impatience. She seemed to make up her mind as she spun to face Galmine and Sheela across the fire.
“Ugh! Stupid male! Fine. I’ll ask tomorrow.” Trel glared at me once more before she walked away.
I turned to watch her go back into the cave, but before she got too far away, I thought of an appropriate reply.
“I won’t change my mind tomorrow, Trel. Not about the death part, anyway,” I called out in a surprisingly eager voice. Despite the danger she represented, and even after appreciating the alienness of her folded spider legs, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining what it would be like to pull off her thin dress and feel her naked body against mine.
I was still staring at where Trel disappeared into the cave when Galmine nudged me.
