Page 18 of Fall

“I don’t care. How long has it been since you’ve had any meat?”

“Ages.” Desh snatched the meat and ate it in about five bites. “Thanks.”

Lenna was still working on her skewer when Rone returned with more. Helooked at the small amount she had left suspiciously, his eyes moving betweenher and Desh.

She gave him an innocent smile. “Food good.”

His face relaxed. “Good.” He handed her a second piece of meat, this timewatching as she ate it.

She felt strange, embarrassed, almost shy—which was so weird because shejust wasn’t a shy sort of woman. She’d never had any problems letting a manknow she was interested before. Just because she’d ended up with these cavemendidn’t mean her nature would have changed.

But she couldn’t seem to make the same sort of advance on Rone that she’dseen other women making, petting him, touching him intimately. It just felt toostrange, too public.

She was feeling tense and uncomfortable when Rone finally scowled andwalked away.

“Damn, Lenna,” Desh muttered. “Put the poor guy out of his misery.”

“He’s not in misery.”

“He’s practically turning backflips to get you to make a move on him.”

“He is not. He just gave me some meat. He hasn’t done anything else.”

“I’ve been here for three years. And I’ve never seen any man give a womanfood if she wasn’t already his mate, his previous mate, or his daughter. I’mtelling you, it’s the equivalent of backflips, and you’re going to embarrasshim in front of the tribe if you don’t do something soon.”

She suddenly felt guilty, on top of everything else. “Okay. Okay. Fine.”She got up, but a stab of discomfort kept her from approaching Roneimmediately.

She was Lenna. Completely independent, self-sufficient, reliant on noone. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be some man’s mate—so he could feed her,clothe her, take care of her.

It just wasn’t who she was.

Instead of walking over to Rone, she moved out of the light of the fireso she could go to the bathroom in private.

This tribe didn’t seem to be too concerned about privacy—although theyonly had sex in the dark and they did move to the periphery of the camp torelieve themselves, perhaps for sanitary reasons.

She refused to go the bathroom in front of other people, though, so shealways found a convenient tree to hide behind.

She was coming back, still in the dark, when someone grabbed her.

She made a stifled cry of surprise as she threw out an elbow, connectingwith a man’s gut.

She could tell from the smell and sound of him that he was Ugar, gropingat her again. The creep just wouldn’t give up.

She elbowed him a second time, causing him to double over.

Hurrying back toward the fire, she heard him exclaim angrily and comeafter her.

He was stronger than her, but she’d been protecting herself from creepsall of her life, and she was confident of her ability to keep him off her. Shewas breathless, but more angry than afraid.

Disgusting asshole. The Kroo were right that his coming at her like thiswas weak and cowardly—a sign he wasn’t really a man at all.

Before she could kick out at him, someone else was approaching, and twostrong arms were picking Ugar up and throwing him several feet, so he landedwith a painful thump against a tree.

Ugar whimpered and didn’t try to move.

Lenna turned in astonishment to face Rone.

The first time Ugar had groped for her, Rone had laughed, thought it wasfunny. He’d laughed the second time too, the night after she’d arrived. Thistime, he’d attacked, tossing Ugar around in a way that must have really hurthim.

---