Page 73 of Caveman Alien's Bride

He bends down to embrace me, hard. There’s a bit of sniffling, too.

I hug him right back, squeezing his massive body as hard as I can and feeling something give in me. “I was so scared! I wanted a Big to take me. But then you came and rescued me! Thank youhuhuhu!”

I let go of all the emotions I’ve pent up for too long. I’m completely exhausted in every way.

Korr’ax lifts me and cradles me to him. “My wife. I love you. I have to go back to the Borok village and get some things. And to say goodbye to the men. Breti’ax will be a good chief for both tribes until younger men take over. He’s drinking much less frit these days.”

Curled up against Korr’ax’s chest, I finally relax. His slow, powerful heartbeat echoes through me and calms me down. I’msafe.

“I love you too,” I manage before I give in to the tiredness.

When I wake up, we’re on a small island in the middle of a fast-flowing stream.

“I will set you down,” Korr’ax rumbles, “so that I can build a hut for us. We both need to rest, and this place should be safe for a short while.”

I get my sword out. “I’ll help.”

It takes us a while, and the hut we build is similar to Piper’s and mine on the beach. Except more sturdy, because Korr’ax can lift and build with thicker logs.

We gather what little dry grass we can find on the small island, and then we curl up on top of it.

“I should stand watch,” Korr’ax mutters. “But I’m exhausted.”

He pulls me close and is asleep in the same moment.

And I need sleep too, so if a dinosaur comes, we’ll both be in trouble.

When I wake up, it’s dark already. A small fire is crackling outside the hut, and Korr’ax is sitting in front of it. “We have no food, but we have heat.”

I unceremoniously sit on his lap and kiss his mouth. “And we have each other.”

“Not least,” he chuckles. “There’s also water.”

“So there is. Then we will be just fine, my husband.”

“We will be just fine for the rest of our lives.”

“It may not be long, but we will be together.”

He chuckles. “Oh, it will be longer than you think. I will let no harm come to you.”

“You haven’t yet,” I agree. “This is what it will be like. You and me and a fire. And maybe a creek.”

His fangs glint in the firelight as he grins. “I can imagine no better way to live.”

I lean my head on his shoulder. “You will miss the tribes.”

“I will miss themen,” he corrects me. “Some of them, anyway. I will miss the boys. But I will not miss the quarrels over food or iron. I will not miss having to decide who goes hunting and who does the other chores. I will not miss the constant bickering. I will not miss the old men always wanting to change my decisions because they did things differently before. I will not miss the pyres. I will not miss the fear of new things that all the tribesmen have. I will not miss making sure that the boys practice with their swords, that they do their tracking, that they get the experiences they need at the right time and that they do their trials. I will not miss the drunken brawls or the men who are always trying to get out of their duties. See? I won’t miss most of it.”

“We’ll see. If you start to miss bickering, I’m sure I can give you.”

“I never knew you to bicker.”

I chuckle. “You not known me for that long, warrior. You’ll see.”

We talk for a while, then just sit in silence while the fire burns down. I crawl into the hut for some more sleep, while Korr’ax is too nervous about the jungle at night to rest more.

In the morning we walk on, staying quiet. Korr’ax is nervous about Krast men staying close to the Borok village to prepare another battle, and we do pass a Krast camp.

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