Primals (Reverse Harem 1)

Then again, I haven’t met a lot of women, just those who conducted their ‘business’ in taverns. I imagine they’re not a well-educated lot.

Clarissa, on the other hand, has a gleam of intelligence in her eyes, a ring of conviction in her voice and a good soul about her. She’s the kind of woman you wouldn’t expect to see in a tavern, in fact, which was why I’d noticed her at once.

I’m glad I got her out of that wretched place. Now, those men there, they’re the real animals.

“Here we go.”

I jump on the boat, which rocks beneath my weight, the water around it splashing. I wait for it to become steady then offer my arm to Clarissa.

“Come on.”

Apprehension flickers in her hazel eyes but she reaches her arm out to me just the same.

As soon as her hand lands on top of mine, I pull her on the boat. She jumps but I must have pulled her too hard because she crashes into me, her face getting buried in my chest as the boat rocks precariously, her soft curves filling crevices of hard muscle.

Heat floods my cheeks but I let the freezing air cool them as I lay my hands on Clarissa’s slender shoulders, pushing her gently away.

“Are you alright?”

She nods but doesn’t meet my gaze, instead she’s looking down at the deck. “Are you sure this boat will hold?”

“Yes. I’ve had it for years and it’s been able to carry a decent load of fish.”

She frowns as she sits down. “Well, I probably weigh more than a few fish.”

I laugh and grab her hand. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Slowly, the corners of her lips turn up. “I guess you are reliable. Heck, you’ve already saved my life once. Did I thank you? I can’t remember if I did.”

Oddly enough neither can I.

“Well, thanks for saving me back there. And thanks for offering to let me use your phone.”

I shake my head. “I’m just sorry I can’t let you use it sooner.”

I do have a phone but it’s in my house in Anchorage which is a couple hundred miles away. Not that there isn’t a CB somewhere in the village. I haven’t told her that. I’m not sure why. Maybe I want her to myself for a little while.

“No worries. At least, you’re getting me to the city.”

“We should be there by morning,” I tell her.

I don’t tell her that she’s fortunate. This harbor should have been ic

ed in by now. With as heavy as the snow’s been, winter came on kind of sudden. Last week you could still see bare earth. In another week, nothing would have been moving either in or out of here. I take the boat off its moor then start the engine, its rumble piercing the silence. After a few more seconds, it leaves the wharf, heading out to open sea.

“You’re lucky the storm has passed or we wouldn’t be able to leave,” I add, glancing at her from the helm.

Clarissa doesn’t answer, she’s busy taking off her shoes and rubbing her feet in the relative warmth of the cabin.

I frown, but her feet seem ok. Not frostbitten. Not what I would expect if her story was true. “Wait. Did you walk all the way here from where your plane crashed? Through the storm?”

She lifts her head. “I...took shelter when the storm was as its worst. I was lucky enough to find an abandoned cabin.”

An abandoned cabin north of here? In all my wanderings, I’ve never come across one. Then again, it’s possible.

“Then you walked here?”

She puts her boots back on. “Unbelievable, I know. I guess when you’re desperate to survive, you can do things you never thought possible.”