“Maybe,” Sheela shrugged. “But I have fought beside you many times now. When I think back to yesterday, you killed two of the raptors that climbed our wall yourself.”
“Well, you had already shot them with arrows,” I countered.
“Perhaps, but then when we went to get water, we were ambushed. We were almost surrounded, and our backs were against the tree when they attacked both of us. I have trained for combat, but even for me, these beasts attacked with blinding speed. None of them laid a tooth or claw on you though.”
“Sooooo… I still don’t get what you are saying,” I replied. “Are you saying that I have some sort of dinosaur combat superpower?”
“Do you?” she asked with a cat-like grin.
I laughed and then bent back down to cut more of the tendons out of the dino I was working on. “Remember the crocodile in the lake? You saved my ass from him. He would have eaten me easy. None of those raptors got a claw or tooth on you either, and you ran right through them.”
“Hmmm,” Sheela said. “Maybe, but if I remember the crocodile correctly, the beast had lunged out of the water and missed you with his first chomp. Then he dashed up the slope of the lake and you evaded his jaws once more before I counter attacked.”
“I don’t really remember,” I said. “It was a blur. I was thirsty, and tired, and scared. All I know is that you saved my life and brought me to the cave. I’m very thankful for you.” I smiled at the beautiful woman, and her eyes met mine.
“I am grateful for you too, Victor,” she whispered, and I saw her eyes drift down to my lips. “I have trained in combat for many years, but you mentioned you have not. I feel as if you have much potential.”
“Uhh, listen,” I said as I felt my heart start to hammer in my chest. “Sheela, is there something going on between us?” As soon as I asked the question, I felt kind of dumb. It was fucking obvious that something was going on between us.
“What do you mean?” she asked as she raised a blonde eyebrow.
“My question was dumb. Sheela, I want something to be going on between us.” My own words made my stomach tumble and churn, but I reached out with my left hand to touch her bicep.
The beautiful cat-woman’s golden eyes grew wide, and she looked down at my fingers. I couldn’t read anything else but surprise on her face, and I braced myself for her to shoot me down. On the one hand, her rejection wouldn’t hurt that bad because Galmine was already my lover, and Trel soon would be, but I also didn’t want to mess up the friendship Sheela and I had nurtured over the last month. It just seemed painfully obvious the woman was into me even though she had turned the conversation to her marriage every time we meandered anywhere near a romantic topic.
“Hey!” a voice called out from our gate, and I turned to see Trel lifting up the door with a pair of her spider-legs while she walked under. She carried two plates of food in her hands, and one of the water jugs was cradled under her armpit. “It is breakfast time.”
“Thanks, Trel,” I said as I took the plate of smoking dinosaur from her.
“Yes,” Sheela said. “Thank you, Trel.”
“They made a mess last night,” Trel said with disgust as she gestured to the surrounding carnage.
“Yeah, but we’ll get plenty of sinew.” I nodded to the basket and noticed that Jinx had come out with Trel. The cat-sized blue feathered dino was rubbing against Trel’s leg.
“Good. I need a lot of it,” she said as she bent down to pick Jinx up. The little chocobo dino didn’t complain, and she began to stroke his feathers with her right hand as she cradled him in her left.
“You like Jinx now?” I asked.
“Now? My dear Victor. I have always loved this adorable little pet of yours.”
“Uhhh, right,” I said with a laugh.
“That laughter seems mocking,” Trel said as her eyes narrowed. “Jinx is a valuable member of our tribe. He isn’t as important as me or you of course, but he ranks a few notches above Kacerie at the moment.”
“She’ll come around,” I said. “I’m guessing Galmine is awake and made this?”
“Yes,” Trel replied. “I am ready for you to inseminate me now.”
“Listen, Trel,” I said as I prepared to argue with her. “I really want to... ummm do this with you.”
“Of course you do,” she replied as her eyes narrowed, “but something in the tone of your voice makes me think you are about to displease me.”
“I need to make sure that everyone is working on something. I can’t be the bottleneck. I have to go get clay so Galmine and Kacerie can work. We also have a bunch of corpses where we can get sinew. I also need to find a larger dinosaur to tame. I also--”
“Stop,” she said. “You are speaking nonsense. I will only be ovulating for another day. As my selected mate, you must perform your duties. All other tasks are unimportant.”
“Our survival is the most important,” I said. “So Sheela and I are going to run to get clay really quick, then we are going to come back with a bunch in one of the baskets we made. Galmine, you, and Kacerie are going to use as much as you can to figure out larger jugs, and maybe a tub. While the clay is getting heated by the fire, you and I will kick everyone else out and use the hut. I’m thinking after lunch. Cool?”
Trel’s mouth twisted, but I couldn’t tell if she was trying to hide a smile or not. “What of my platforms and the saddle?”
“I thought you fixed the saddle last night?”
“No, the birds interrupted me.”
“Well, we aren’t going to be able to go get clay until you fix the saddle, so Sheela and I will get more sinew while we wait for you.” I turned to Sheela and gestured to the camp. “Teach Galmine and Kacerie how to pull the tendons out. I don’t want them wasting any time.”
“Yes, Victor,” Sheela replied, and she jogged back to the camp with her plate in her hands.
“I feel as if you might be delaying our cotius,” Trel pouted as she crossed her arms. “If not for the bulge in your pants or the way you stare at my body, I might think you were not interested in filling my womb with your seed.”
“I’m really interested,” I said. “But I don’t want everyone else standing around with their thumbs up their ass while you and I spend an hour in the hut.”
“But, Victor,” Trel sighed. “We are more important than them. Also, we will require much more than an hour. I need all of you to ensure--”
“I get it,” I said as I fought against the tight feeling in my pants. “Get that saddle fixed. I’ve got a plan and I need to execute it before I have fun.”
“Very well,” Trel pouted. The woman turned to walk away from me, and I couldn’t help but fix my eyes on her fantastic ass. The tight silk shorts she wore didn’t cover up the curve of her butt cheeks, and my mouth almost started to water when I thought about making love to her. The beautiful spider-woman turned around and caught me staring at her, and she winked at me with a coy smile. I thought she’d try again to convince me to change my plans, but she just returned to the fort.
I poured some of the water on my hands to help wash and then ate the still steaming meat on my plate. My hands were still covered with grime, dried blood, and who knows what else, but there wasn’t a bar of soap within probably a thousand light years of me, so I was just going to have to deal with germs.
I scarfed my food and then went back to cutting the tendons. We had a decent amount in the basket now, but I wanted to get as much as I could before the scavengers came.
The list of competing tasks I needed to complete seemed too overwhelming.
I wished we had thirty more people in the camp. I was expecting Kacerie to fall in line, but I figured that I was going to need to talk to her many more times before I got her cooperation.
“Victor! I have completed the saddle!” Trel shouted from the wall.