by Frankie Love
This place may not have dinosaurs, but there are predators in every damn direction, which is why when I hear a scream – a female-pitched scream – I drop my fish in the fire and I make a run for it.
I haven't heard the voice of another human being for six years. That's a long-ass time to be waiting. And she sounds like the woman of my dreams.
Moments before I wound up in the jungle, I'd been climbing through that dank cave, wishing for a woman – a wife, more specifically – and it's as if the Universe wanted to throw me a curve ball because instead of giving me what I wanted, it landed me here all by my lonesome.
Maybe it's karma for all the shit I did when I was younger, raising hell and giving my grandma a hard ass time. Never wanting to go to school, instead I was always the one ready to skip out if it meant an adventure.
Well, I found one all right, and I'm not waxing poetic about my Special Ops days. I'm talking about the adventure I’m having here in this jungle, in this wild ass wilderness, where I haven't seen another living person in all this time.
The sound, though, of the woman has me running.
I grab my knife, my gun, as I leave the cave. I haven't had to pull the trigger and fire my gun since I landed here, which, as far as I can tell, is saying something. Every time I've gotten close enough to think real trouble was brewing, I've managed to dodge the bite.
But this woman, whoever she is – wherever she's from – might not have the same training. I run.
The saber-toothed tiger is up on its haunches, ready to strike. Right away I know I need to pounce. He's hovering over a woman who's out cold, lying on the lush jungle floor, green leaves surrounding her.
She's in a wetsuit and little water shoes. Her hair is wet and she doesn't seem to have a clue that a beast is salivating over her. I'd fight this beast fair and square, but there isn't time. His gums are smacking and he's ready to feast.
I pull the gun from my holster and cock it at the wild cat. He turns his head, hearing me as I stalk toward him, and I don't hesitate.
Just as he's about to leap for me, I shoot.
Thankfully he's off her body and nowhere near mine. I put two bullets in his head and that does it. I look at his hundreds of pounds of flesh, thinking it'll feed me for a long ass time, which is good because I'm really fucking sick of fish.
The woman has been startled awake by the sound of the bullets ringing out. Blood pools around the tiger's body and I step over him, wanting to be sure there are no signs of life. There aren't. I shove the gun back in its holster. As I walk toward the woman, she scrambles up on her hands and knees.
"Who are you? What are you? Where am I?" she asks, startled, her blue eyes bright, alive, terrified.
"You're from the future?" I ask her.
She frowns. "The future? No, I just... I was in the cave, but I can't find it and there was this tiger and..."
"You came through the same portal as me then," I tell her plainly. "You were in the underground caves in Tulum?"
She nods, terrified, looking at the dead tiger behind me. "I was in town for my sister's wedding. I came to Mexico and..."
"Did anyone come through with you?" I ask, wanting to know if there are more humans here, more people. Wanting to locate them if there are.
Human connection is something I never expected to miss as much as this, but damn, do I ever.
"No, I was alone. I got lost and separated from the tour group and I'm so confused. Where am I? Why can't I get back to the cave? My family is probably worried sick. How long was I passed out?"
"Not long, minutes really. I heard you scream, that's why I came running."
"You live out there?" she asks, pointing to the jungle behind me. Rainforest as far as the eye can see.
"Yeah," I say, running a hand over my beard. "That's where I live. Seems like it's where you'll be living too."
She frowns. "What are you talking about? No, I'm going back home to my family at the resort. They’re at the Four Palms in Tulum," she says. "Do you know it?"
I smirk. "Honey. There's no resort to go back to. I can walk you to the ocean front if you want, but there's not a single condo, a single vacation home, a single four-star spa. I promise you."
She shakes her head. "What are you saying? I've got to get back. They're probably so worried about me. The tour group must be sending out search parties, looking for where I got lost."
"You're probably right, they probably are, but they're not going to find you."
"Well, then I'll find them," she says, indignant, standing now, hands on her hips. She has long, wavy blonde hair and in that wetsuit I can see all of her curves. She's got them for days. Big tits, big ass, tiny little waist.
I bite my bottom lip. Damn. Forget the fish and that saber-toothed tiger. I want to eat her. I'm goddamn starved.
"What are you thinking?" she asks. "You just... Who are you?"
"Who am I? I'm Rock."
"Rock?" she says, shaking her head in disbelief. "And you, like, live here?"
"Yeah. I, like, live here." I chuckle. "And so do you. When you went through that exit in the cave, you unknowingly traveled through time. This is the Paleolithic Age – I think – and whatever you had from before, it's over. Life as you know it, it's gone."
Her eyes fill with tears and she runs back to the rock wall as if searching for a cave that no longer exists.
"But I was just in there."
"Whatever it was, it's gone," I say. "It got lost when you time traveled."
"Time travel," she says, shaking her head. "That's not real."
"Oh, it's real," I say. I reach out my hand. "Touch me. I promise I'm not a mirage, though I have no problem being your fantasy."
Her eyes widen and she steps back, furious. "How dare you?"
"How dare I what?" I ask. "I was just trying to be polite. You didn't think I was real. I can prove otherwise."
"No," she says. "I won't be staying here for long. I've got to find a way out." She turns to walk away.
"You sure about that?" I ask her.
She looks over her shoulder, eyes bewildered and hair long and loose, her shoulders back, her tits perky, looking like the prettiest damn woman in the whole fucking world. "Sure about what?"
"Sure about walking into the jungle all by yourself to look for a life that no longer exists." I pull the gun out, pointing it to the tiger lying dead behind me. "This boy has brothers. You want to go out there and find out if they want to play?"
Her shoulders fall as she realizes I'm right. It's a death sentence if she walks out there alone, not knowing this land. The fact that I've made it this long without dying is a goddamn miracle.
"How long have you been here?" she asks, looking me up and down, and I wonder what she sees. Long, unruly hair, a beard that's grown. I don't have on a shirt. My skin is bronze, muscles more taut than ever.
The good old days when I used to work out for hours have nothing on the way I look now. Now I'm ripped in ways I never dreamed about because I fight for every meal I have. Every night I light a fire. I work to live here.
"I've been here for six years," I tell her.
"Six years and you've never found a way out?" she gasps.
"Nope. God knows I tried, but that portal, it was a one-way ticket."
She starts crying, hard. Crying like I've never seen before, weeping really.
"Hey," I say. "You'll call attention to yourself if you do this out here."
"You're telling me I can't cry?"
"I'm not telling you nothing. I'm just warning you. This isn't a good area, it's not safe. Those tigers like to stalk here on their way to their watering hole half a mile south."
"What am I supposed to do?" she asks. “Where am I supposed to go? There's no other people? None?"
"Just me."
"Oh my God," she cries, her shoulders shaking. "I don't even have hiking boots."
"I'll carry you if you want."
"Carry me?" she asks.
I smile. "Yeah. I can ca
rry you over the threshold because honey, I've been waiting a long ass time for a wife."
3
Rosalie
“Carry me over the threshold? Are you crazy?” I panic, wondering what this man intends to do with me.
He snorts. “I’ve been here a long time, wishing I had a wife. And here you are. The answer to my goddamn prayers.”
I shake my head, outraged at this hulk of a man’s lack of propriety. He thinks I’m going to be his wife?
I don’t think he’s showered in… well, years. Not to mention he has a feral look about him. I mean, the blood of a tiger is pooling at his bare feet and he doesn’t even seem to notice.
Or maybe he does, he just doesn’t care anymore.
Six years in this place, alone?
I feel dizzy all over again and suddenly I’m not enraged, I’m faint. My knees buckle and I see stars, thinking of my sister Samantha. My mom and my dad and… oh God. I don’t need to feel claustrophobic to start hyperventilating – being here in this wide-open space with this stranger is enough.
“Hey, don’t go fainting on me again,” Rock says, stepping closer.
I tense, not wanting him to touch me. He is a stranger who already propositioned me. Who does he think he is?
“Water,” I gasp as I sit back on my tush. Rock hands me a metal bottle, filled with cool water. I gulp it down, then look at the chipped black paint on the bottle. “Where did you get this if this is the Paleolithic Age?”
“Glad you’re just dehydrated. The sun here will do that to you pretty damn fast. I’ll answer your questions, but not here. Back at the cave where it’s safer. We gotta get this fresh meat home.”
“Home?” My chin quivers, my lips tremble. I really time traveled. I am really in a prehistoric place. And there is no one but this man to help me.
“It’s only a quarter mile away, but far from this clearing.” He takes the water bottle, shoving it in his pouch. “Come on, time to move.” He reaches for my hand and I let him take it as he pulls me to stand. He hardly twitches a muscle to lift me. Standing directly in front of him, I get a sense of his size. He is huge, a solid rock.
“I’m Rosalie,” I tell him as he stalks over to the tiger.
His eyes are fixed on the tiger, but he speaks to me. “Pretty name for a pretty woman.”
I scoff. What kind of line is that?
“Good thing he’s small. Only two hundred pounds.”
My eyes widen. Only? Rock braces his footing as he lifts the hulk of a beast up over his head. Grunting as he shifts the weight over his shoulder, blood smears his chest as the tiger’s saber teeth point to the sky menacingly.
“We gotta move, fast,” he tells me. “We don’t want a trail of blood leading more beasts to our doorstep.
“Doorstep? I thought you lived in a cave.”
Rock looks over at me. “Cute and funny? And a good listener. Lucky me.”
My cheeks heat up at his compliment even though I know it doesn’t mean much. I am the only woman this man has seen in years. I know the bar is pretty low. Still, I admit to liking the view. A massive man who is ripped, with a beast he killed over his shoulders, half naked, in the jungle.
“You staring at me?” he asks as we walk side by side, me doing my best to keep his pace.
“Um, err, uh—”
He chuckles. “Good. I want you to look me over. I’m yours now.”
I laugh, tight. “Yours? We just met.”
“I told you I wanted a wife, and now you’re here.”
I shake my head as we cut through the jungle, going down a small hill. It smells so fresh, so earthy. “Sounds like you want sex, not a wife. There is a difference, you know.”
He doesn’t say anything, just chuckles to himself and I roll my eyes, annoyed at his masculinity. Does he really think just because he is seriously sexy I’ll want to jump into bed with him?
We round a corner to a beautiful oasis and I gasp, stunned at the beauty. There’s a small waterfall feeding into a pool of clear water. Exotic birds chirp, flying over our heads. There are big orange flowers the size of sunflowers climbing around a large round stone. There’s a firepit to the right, and to the left there is a small A-frame covered in palm leaves, with coconuts on a table that was clearly handmade.
“Welcome home,” Rock says, dropping the tiger next to the firepit.
“This is where you live?” I ask, following close on his heels. I don’t want to be alone out here. It may appear to be the setting of a romance novel, but I know dangers are everywhere. I will never forget opening my eyes to that tiger ready to pounce, teeth bared. I thought I was going to die.
“Not all of it,” he tells me, walking to the large stone and pushing it aside. “This is the house.”
“Oh, wow,” I say as he uses flint and steel to light a torch, then hands it to me. I’m startled by the reality of the situation. Fire is life here, and he just gave it to me. And there really is no electricity, no power lines, nothing. Just him and me and the wilderness.
Tears fill my eyes.
“Fuck, I made you cry again?”
My shoulders shake as tears fall down my cheeks. “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” I say, looking around his cave. It is so basic, so bare. Nothing like my apartment back home with cozy couches and throw pillows, scented candles and a television where I watched The Bachelor on Monday nights.
“I know it’s not much, but I would’ve cleaned if I’d known I was going to have company.”
I know he’s trying to make a joke, but it’s not funny. His life consists of a ratty sleeping bag on the ground, a few fur pelts over it, a fire in the corner that has embers burning low. A backpack. A few items of clothing bundled up next to it.
“You want to change?” he asks, seeing where my eyes have landed.
“You have clothes my size?”
He laughs. “Uh, no. But anything has got to be better than that wetsuit. Aren’t you sweating?”
“I am,” I admit; my body is roasting and my feet are all squishy from the water shoes.
He bends down, sorting through the clothes. “It’s all pretty ratty. Just the stuff I had in my backpack when I wound up here.”
“You had a gun and a knife?”
“I was in the military. On a Special Ops mission. Ended up in Mexico while trailing a known terrorist. Thankfully I had my pack – not sure I would have survived without my knife.”
I kneel next to him, looking at his belongings. “My dad was in the military too. He would have done okay out here too. Me? I’m not at all an outdoorsy person.”
“You were in that cave. What were doing in there? Seems pretty outdoors to me.”
I choose an old tee shirt, standing. “I didn’t want to sit around the resort all day staring at people who were happy and in love, and that was the only tour that hadn’t left yet.”
“So it was fate.”
“What? No, it was stupid. I should have gone to the day spa or something.”
“Nah,” Rock insists, leaving the cave. I follow, unsure of where to change. “I think it’s destiny. You coming here, for me. Me for you. It’ll be good.”
“You’re insane,” I tell him. “I’m not here for you. I’m… I’m…”
“Don’t,” he groans. “Don’t cry on me again. Go take a swim while I gut this tiger and then we can eat. I’m damn near starving.”
I huff, irritated at his lack of compassion. My entire world has spun out of control and he is talking about eating.
I turn away and walk to the pool of water before us. Looking over my shoulder, I see his eyes on my ass. “You’re staring now?”
He grins. “Hell yes I am. Your ass is fucking fine.”
I lift my eyes, shocked at his forwardness. Turning away, I set the tee shirt on a rock, then crouch beside a fern and unpeel the wetsuit from my body, grateful that I have my bikini on underneath. At least I brought something with me.
With my swimsuit on, I step into the water. It�
��s cool and clear and I sink into it, swimming out, thankful that I can see the stones at my feet, so at least there are no massive creature swimming down there, ready to bite my legs off.
“Watch out for the crocodiles,” Rock shouts.
I screech. “What? Crocodiles?”
He laughs. “Just teasing.”
“Not funny,” I shout, livid. He may be sexy but he sure is mouthy! I am literally horrified at his manliness. Who does he think he is?
I dive down, taking in the colorful fish in the water, amazed at how vibrant the colors are, how regally they glide through the water.
When I swim back to the bank, I wring out my hair, telling myself I am strong enough to handle this. Sure, my job as a magazine editor didn’t prepare me for life in the wild, but Dad took me on camping trips when I was little. I can do this. I know crying every ten seconds is only going to upset Rock, and while I think he should be a little more sensitive, I need him to protect me. And that’s not going to happen if I drive him crazy.
I pull on his graphic tee, and it lands midthigh. It’s better than the wetsuit, and I look down at the line of trees across the front of it, the words Chestnut Grove in cursive underneath.
When I turn toward the firepit, my eyes widen. “There’s so much blood!” I cover my mouth, shocked.
“It’s okay, I’m just cleaning it up. We’ll have steaks soon.”
When he said soon, he meant hours. At first I am mesmerized by his focus and skill, sharpening his knife and getting down to work. But eventually I fall asleep curled up under the A-frame. The day’s events took the wind out of me.
I wake with a start to the smell of roasting meat.
When I open my eyes, it’s dark. As I crawl out of the A-frame out, I see the blood has been washed away and on a wooden stick rack there hangs the gorgeous pelt from the tiger that nearly took my life.
The carcass is gone. “Where did it go?”
“I took it into the jungle, didn’t want to draw animals to the camp.”
“You left me here? Alone?”
“I wasn’t far away and nothing comes close this time of day, I promise.”
I wrap my arms around myself. With the sun set, it’s chilly deep in the jungle. I want a blanket, but it seems rude to ask. This isn’t my home, my things.