Cave Man Need Wife (The First Mountain Man)

And if it had ended there, it would have been perfect.

But just then another saber-toothed tiger jumps into our clearing, ready to fight.

8

Rock

By the time I shoot that fucking beast, I am down to two bullets and this isn’t looking good.

“We gotta find a new home,” I tell Rosalie, who is shaking, scared, just watching the third saber-tooth take a bullet.

It’s time to man the fuck up and protect my woman.

“Where will we go?” she asks.

“Not sure. We can move toward the ocean, might be safer there.”

She nods. “How can you walk?”

When I look down at my leg, it’s bleeding again. “It’s not so bad. I don’t want to wait, Rosalie, until another tiger shows up and something… I can’t lose you.”

“I can’t lose you, either.”

“Then that settles it. We’re going to move. I can make a crutch. We hardly have anything to take, anyways.”

“This location seems so picture perfect,” she says. “The pool of water, the cave.”

“I know, but this is clearly where the tigers are moving in.”

We decide to move as fast as we can, before afternoon, knowing we need to get away from the tiger carcasses.

I work on the crutch as Rosalie packs my old backpack with the bowl I carved, the utensils I’ve made, folding a few of the pelts up as tightly as she can and stuffing them in, tying the fishing basket to the straps. She wraps one of the furs around herself, making a little dress, and I must say, she looks pretty hot in it.

She uses my old tee shirt to better wash and wrap my leg.

“That tight enough?” she asks, kneeling before me.

“I like it when you position yourself there,” I tell her and she laughs.

“Oh yeah? What do you like about it?”

I growl, and she knows what I mean.

She licks her lips, then strokes me. “One for the road?” she offers with a smile.

“Damn woman, you know I want it, but I have to protect you. And that means we’ve got to go. Now.”

She pouts. “No fun.”

I kiss her. “Later. Tonight. I will find us a cave to spend the night in and once we’re safely inside, you can suck my cock all you want.” She teases my balls with her fingers and I groan. “Damn, that’s not playing fair.”

She stands, tossing me a leopard pelt. “Tie that around your waist so you can stop distracting me with that rod of yours.”

I stand with the crutch and Rosalie takes the backpack as we prepare to leave the camp.

“Are you sad to leave this place?” she asks as I put the fire out.

“While in some ways it’s sad to go, it’s a new start, a new beginning for you and me. Wherever we go next, it will be us making a life there, together.”

She stands on her tiptoes, giving me a kiss. “I’m sure glad you weren’t forced to leave earlier, you would have missed me.”

“I think the Universe was intent on making sure I was here until you came.”

9

Rosalie

We walk for days, and after a week Rock’s leg has nearly completely healed. I clean it several times a day and we stopped for two nights at a cave we thought might be a good spot, but then a wild hyena darted past him on his way to the stream, so we kept moving.

I’m tired, my feet ache, and I just wish it was possible to know our destination.

“The ocean is so far away,” I say, not wanting to whine.

“It’s got to be close,” Rock says encouragingly. “I can smell the saltwater.”

“Hey, what’s that?” I ask, pointing to something pink in the brush. I walk over to it, picking it up. It’s a tee shirt that reads Be Kind Apothecary.

“What the hell?” Rock says.

“There’s someone else here,” I say, gasping at the shirt. “Rock, we aren’t alone. Someone else… Hello?!” I shout. “Are you here?” I scream.

Rock’s eyes are wild. “Damn, this is crazy.”

“We have to find her,” I say. “Hello, anyone there?”

“This could be from years ago,” he says. “We have no idea.”

“Not that long. This shirt isn’t tattered to pieces.”

“Unless…” Rock swallows. “Anything could have happened to someone out here. We’re lucky to be alive ourselves.”

“Don’t say that.” Anger rises inside me as I stuff the shirt in the backpack. “She’s here. She has to be. Someone else is out here, Rock, we aren’t alone, and I have to believe she is alive. We have to find her.”

“No, we have to get somewhere safe,” Rock insists. “That’s the priority.”

Just then, we hear a cry.

“It’s her!” I shout. “We’re here!”

“That’s not a woman, that’s a baby,” Rock says. My mouth falls open, listening. He’s right.

He takes me by the shoulders. “Listen, Rosalie. We have to be careful, okay? We don’t know who’s out here, and we have to stick together, okay?”