by Ruby Dixon
"It's not for eating." Her mouth twitches and she holds her hand out. "May I?"
Relieved, I hand it back to her. She drops the rounded end in my bowl and uses it to shovel another mouthful, then offers it to me. "You use it to eat."
"Aaaah." I take it from her and nibble on the stuff scooped onto the “spoon.” "My thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Another custom? I nod. "If you like, I will never speak of it again."
She chuckles as if I have said something amusing, and tilts her head, indicating O'jek. "Your friend is welcome to come eat, too. It's allowed." Her expression grows slightly uncertain. "Is it not a thing, where you're from?"
I shove another mouthful into my face before someone changes their mind and snatches it from me. "Game was scarce at our home. If you did not catch it, you did not eat it."
"Well, it's a good thing we don't have that rule here," she says, patting her very pregnant belly. "My name is Harlow, by the way. My mate is Rukh. He's out hunting right now. We're part of the sa-khui tribe."
"H'rlow," I say gravely, giving her name the honorific slurring. "I am A'tam of Shadow Cat clan."
She nods again and then glances back at O'jek. "If I give you another bowl of food, will you make sure your friend is fed?"
I stuff more of my food into my face, shoveling it with my spoon. I want to eat it all before I am forced to share, just in case. "I am looking for someone. A female."
"Who? Maybe I can help?" She turns back to the fire and ladles another bowl of food out, tucking a small spoon into it as she does. I notice that no one seems to think this is odd. There are several others near the fire eating their food and talking quietly—a skinny brown female, a young one with a puffy mane, and one with a pale yellow mane and equally pale skin. Near them one of the sa-khui males paces, wolfing down his food as if he is racing off to start his day. None of them look twice at me, and so I eat a little slower, trying to make my food last.
"The beautiful one," I say between bites. "With the bright eyes."
H'rlow gives me a wry look. "You might have to be more specific than that."
I do? I consider this as I eat. "She has a brown mane," I say between bites. "And…nice teats. And she laughs a lot." When she gives me another helpless look, I grow frustrated. I cannot say she has a small nose, because they all have small noses. She is short, but they are all short. She…
Another female picks her way into the group, yawning. "Is breakfast ready?"
"She sat with that one!" I say triumphantly, using my spoon to gesture at the new female. "Last night."
"Oh?" H'rlow hands the bowl in her hands to the female. "Flor, can you help our new friend?"
The female smirks. "He's looking for Bridge."
B'reej?
"Bridget?" H'rlow echoes. "Oh, okay. She went out looking for sweetweed and gathering seeds. You'll probably find her near the cliffs." She points at the distance, where the steep rocky walls enclose the beach into its cove. "She won't be too far and she might appreciate the help."
I shove the last of my food into my mouth. "That is where I will go, then," I say around the food.
"Give some breakfast to your friend first?" H'rlow asks. "I'll make another bowl."
3
BRIDGET
I'm a vain, vain woman.
Since I don't have any particular skill I'm good at, I tend to do a variety of things around the camp to help out and earn my keep. Harlow's organizing us today, and when I asked what was needed to be done, she told me fishing, scraping some skins, or seed picking. And because there's a bunch of hot guys on the beach—one particularly smoking hot one—I went with seed picking. Fishing's just miserable in the icy water, and scraping skins is disgusting and messy. If I'm just picking seeds, I can at least look cute.
Too bad it takes me away from the center of camp. Maybe I'll run into Sexy Boy at lunchtime. With that thought on my mind, I get back to work on the sweetweed and the bramble seeds. It's a task I've done several times, and while it doesn't require a lot of skill, it can be time-consuming and my fingers get cold. My gloves—more mittens, really—don't allow for fine dexterity and today the breeze is exceptionally cold. The plants hang off the rocky cliffs a bit like moss, growing in every crack and crevice possible. You don't see them at first, because they're not a vibrant green like the plants at home. They're more of a grayish shade, and you get right up to the rocks before you realize that you're staring at a whole mess of clingy, thin vines. They also don't have leaves like the plants at home. Some of them coil, some of them have needles, and some just look like nasty, squatty pinecones.
I'm after the squatty pinecones and the stringy vines today. We need sweetweed (stringy vine) for flavoring and the seeds of the bramble seed plants are one of the staples of the food here, just because it provides a grain-like texture that breaks up some of the monotony of meat and fish. We have roots, too, but those require going out into the mountains, and I'm not allowed to go without an escort. At least with this, I can stay near the camp in flirting range and get some work done. I'm on my own with this—I invited Flor and Sam to come with me, but Flor overslept and Sam…well, Sam wasn't around this morning. It's like she's gone all skittish the moment the islanders showed up, which is weird and unlike her.
Just as well. If I happen to run into You-Know-Who, I'd rather not have anyone else around interrupting.
I'm fluttering inside with excitement. It's strange, because for the last month or so, I've just been in survival mode—adapting to the frigid weather, learning how to walk in snowshoes, making fires, a crash course on cooking, hunting, gathering, skinning…there's an endless amount of tasks to learn. None of my private school upbringing prepared me for life on a prehistoric beach, and I've been doing the best I can. But today…there's something to look forward to.
Maybe I've been more upset about the lack of guys on the beach than I thought. It's a weird thing to learn about yourself. I mean, I've had sex droughts before. Actually, I've probably been in a drought more often than I've been getting laid, now that I think about it. And it's not that the other ladies on the beach aren't awesome as friends. It's just…yeah.
Apparently I am super into dick.
I climb a rock, adjusting the two bags slung over my shoulder, grab my gathering bowl, and lean forward. I carefully move toward one of the bramble seed plants, wedging my hand inside the ring of brambles and brushing my fingers against the thick cluster of seeds in the center. With a few flicks of my fingers, the seeds loosen from their home and rain down into the bowl I'm holding underneath. Once I've gotten almost everything out of the plant, I extract my hand carefully, mindful of the brambles, and move farther down the cliff. I've been taught that you always leave a little, and to be careful not to hurt the plant itself. It's less about a meal today and more about ensuring there are plenty of meals in the future. I pour the bowl of seeds into my pouch and scan the rocks, looking for the next likely bramble seed plant.
As I do, my horny mind wanders to the newcomers.
I heard there were a few instant resonances between people, which makes me a little sad that I didn't get zapped. It'd be nice to have someone to belong to, though that's just the lonely, romantic side of me talking. The practical side tells me I'd probably get stuck with some asshole, and I should be glad I'm just as single this morning as I was last night. Single and ready to mingle—
"Ho!"
I nearly fall off the rock I'm perched atop. I drop the bowl, and it goes crashing to the ground. With a crack, it smashes into pieces and seeds scatter on the pebbled beach. "Fuck."
The newcomer jogs up, all smiles. "Did I startle you?"
"No, I just always fling things to the ground when people greet me," I grumble, my gaze glued to the rocks so I don't fall and shatter into large pieces just like the bowl did. When my feet plant on the ground, I breathe a sigh of relief and look over.
It's him.
Goliath.
If possible, he looks
even sexier today than he did yesterday. He approaches me, all teasing grin and beard and stunning eyes. His long hair flutters in the wind, and he's wearing nothing but a loincloth and some boots. And lord have mercy, he is working that loincloth. It looks like it's filled to capacity. I'm such a tramp for even noticing, because my pulse starts fluttering decidedly south of the border once I do.
Naughty Bridget, naughty.
He bends down and picks up a piece of the bowl, offering it to me. "I did not mean to make you break this. My apologies."
I take it from him, a little skitter of pleasure going up my spine when our fingers brush. "It's all right. The bone stuff is pretty fragile. The other morning, I saw Liz break three cups in a row. It happens. That's why someone's always carving more." Annnnd great, now I'm running my mouth about dishware. I'm sure he's thrilled. "Are you looking for someone?" I ask, breathless.
His smile grows wider. "You."
"Oh." It's a blatant answer, and I'm both flustered and flattered. "I'm Bridget. Hi."
"B'shit," he agrees, pleased. "I am called A'tam."
I flinch at his mangling of my name. It shouldn't be a surprise, given that I've heard the sa-khui call me Bree-shit for weeks now. They can't pronounce a G to save their lives, and I have the unluckiest name of all time. "Bridget," I correct gently. "Nice to meet you, too."
He eyes me, as if proud of himself for finding me. There's a broad grin on his face, and it's both amusing and arrogant at the same time. I'm glad I spent a little time preening this morning. My hair's freshly washed and prettily braided with a pale strip of leather worked into the weave, and I'm wearing my nicer tunic. Flor helped me put a bit of charcoal on my lashes to darken them and she smoothed my eyebrows for me, since there's no mirror. Basically I'm about as good as a feral beach-girl on an ice planet can be.
It's clear A'tam finds no wrong in my appearance, though. His smile grows broader, and his gaze slides to my boobs.
Men will be men everywhere, I suppose. That's fine—I'm down for a little flirting.
I give him my best smile and eye him. "You just going around scaring everyone on the beach, then, A'tam?"
He laughs again, the sound bright and pleasant. "No, just you."
"Lucky me." I bend down and start to pick up the seeds mixed in with the sands. There's a few to be found, but mostly I just hate losing all that food. I know how hard it is to come by.
He kneels down and helps me. "I am sorry if I made you drop everything. I was just excited to see you."
A hot, dirty little squiggle of delight starts in my belly. "Me?"
"I saw you last night across the fire and thought you were beautiful." His voice is fervent and rich with desire, and it sends a little thrill through my body. "I knew you were my mate."
Er…this guy doesn't know the meaning of moving slow, it seems. I play it cool, though. "I'm pretty sure matings only happen when there's resonance, right? That's what I've been told."
"That is a true mating. You and I can pleasure mate until we resonate later."
I arch an eyebrow at him. "So confident."
He shrugs. "Why would I not be? You are everything I want in a mate."
"You don't know me." I'm flattered beyond all belief, but it's the truth. I just learned his name a whole minute ago.
"I will get to know you, then, and you will become my mate." He says this as if it's the most logical thing in the world. A'tam picks up one of the broken pieces of the bowl and holds it out to me. "What do you wish to know?"
My lips twitch with amusement. I'm flattered, of course, but I'm also a little shocked at his bluntness. "This is all very Tarzan of you, you know." When he cocks his head at the unfamiliar word, confused, I wave it off. "Never mind. I just…" I glance around, then get to my feet, gesturing at one of the vines growing out of the cliffs. "You can help me collect seeds."
"I will enjoy that," A'tam tells me. "No one will be better at collecting seeds than me."
"You're lucky you're pretty," I murmur. "Anyone else might not get away with all this."
He just grins at me. "So you do find me attractive?"
I give him an exasperated look. "Did you seek me out just so we could talk about how hot you are?"
"Of course not." He scoffs. "I wanted to learn your name, too."
I can't help it. I laugh. When he gives me an impish look, I decide I like him after all. He's brash and arrogant, but he also doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. Wrap that all up in a pretty package and I can already tell I'm going to fall hard. "Well," I say. "You've got my name now. Is that all you want to know about me?"
"Why do you not have a tail?" he returns immediately.
I laugh again. "Why do you think a tail is the default? What if I'm the normal one and you're the weirdo?"
"Bah. A tail is normal. Look at the creatures in the wild and tell me how many do not have tails." A'tam shakes his head, scanning the cliffs. "Show me where to get these seeds."
Mmm, excellent point. I move forward, adjusting the pouches I have slung like messenger bags against my hip. I point at the cliffs. "See the prickly-looking tufts?" When he nods and moves forward, I keep talking. "What we'll do is we have to carefully reach inside and…"
My voice dies as he rips the entire plant from the cliff wall, the roots dangling. He considers it for a moment, and then holds it out to me, a triumphant smile on his face.
Oh boy. "Next time, let's do it my way, all right?"
He shrugs, holding the plant out to me. "This is easiest."
"We're not going for easiest. We're going for the correct way to do it." But I take the plant from him, open my pouch, and begin to shake the seeds out. "You're not a very patient sort, are you?"
A'tam just gives me another wicked look. "I can be patient…for you."
Dude has definitely not learned subtlety at all.
4
BRIDGET
Flirting with A'tam becomes my new favorite pastime. He's just…fun to be around. Every day, he seeks me out, and we talk. We joke and tease each other, and there's an undercurrent of tension between us that grows greater by the day. Flor's noticed. Steph's noticed. Tia's definitely noticed. Shit, even Devi's noticed, and Devi doesn't notice much of anything unless it's dead on the beach.
Me, I'm just enjoying it. Being around him is like…well, it's a bit like a countdown to Christmas. You know something amazing is going to happen, but you also enjoy the buildup. I know eventually we're going to kiss and play at being a little more. For now, however, I'm enjoying the slow tease and “friendship.”
A'tam has made it abundantly clear he wants more than just friendship. For now, though, he seems content to court me slowly. He arrives at meals and sits down next to me, offers to help me repair nets, and basically shows up constantly. I have no idea how he manages to squeeze in time to spend with me when all of the islanders are learning how to hunt in the snowy mountains here. They're being taught how to use bone for weapons and tools—as the wood here is scarce—and they're learning the plants and animals of this place. It doesn't matter if he's gone all day; that night, I'll find him waiting by the fire with a seat for me, a sly, knowing grin on his face.
That grin always makes my heart flutter. Not in a resonance way, just in a nervous-excitement-sexual-tension sort of way. It's been a while since I've had a boyfriend and I'd forgotten how nice it is to be the object of someone's attentions.
Tia's quite the little flirt, though. She hasn't forgotten what it's like to have a boyfriend. The youngest of us all, Tia acts like all the new men on the beach mean that she gets her own personal harem, and she's doing her best to flirt with all of them. Even A'tam. I ignore it, because if he wants to be with me, he'll be with me.
I underestimate just how determined Tia is, though, because one night, there’s a kissing game.
The islanders are, of course, interested. Kissing, from what I've been told, is not a thing where they come from. They've heard Lauren and some of the others talk about it, t
hough, and I know they're interested. A'tam stared at my mouth all through dinner last night, and I suspect he was thinking hard about kisses, but he never made a move. When Tia plunks down a bone and declares a game of spin the bottle, though, I join in. Party games like this are harmless fun, after all. It'll give me a chance to kiss A'tam without any pressure, and maybe it'll break the ice between us.
But when it's my turn? I end up kissing R'jaal. And I'rec. And then the “bottle” seems to avoid me like the plague. Tia kisses A'tam, and I have to admit that I feel a stab of jealousy when she presses her lips to his with such enthusiasm.
Or at least, I'm jealous until they break apart and the look on his face is confused and slightly distressed, as if he didn't like the kiss at all and doesn't know how to handle it. The game ends pretty quickly after that. A'tam spins and gets Penny, and she kisses his cheek, glancing over at me.
An argument breaks out amongst a few of the men, and then Raahosh—Liz's mate and the acting tribal leader—steps in and shuts it all down. "No fighting," he says, and glares at us like we're all naughty little children instead of adults. "If you are bored, I will find you more to do."
We scatter. With a yawn and a reluctant glance back at A'tam, I start to head back to the women's cave with the others. A'tam grabs my hand before I can leave, pulling me aside. "Meet me at the back of the camp," he hisses.
That hot curl of excitement returns to my belly. I'm no idiot. I grew up in boarding school. You snuck out after curfew for one reason and one reason alone—to make out with boys. I nod and pretend to listen to the conversation around me, even as I fall back from the others. I mean, we're not a big group. If anyone looks for me, it'll be pretty obvious where I ran off to. Even so, the part of me that grew up desperate to win my mother's approval hates breaking the rules. I can just imagine the distaste on her face if she knew I was running off to meet a man in the middle of the night.