platforms and levels with their new wooden additions.
Dolly points. “This is where we’ll separate the pure sulfur from the iron. It won’t be nearly as hard as I thought. It’s almost pure sulfur already. Over there – watch your step – is the saltpeter place, which takes a little bit more work in the beginning. See all the big pots? Yeah, the saltpeter itself will have to be gradually separated out. That’s what will take time. Now, that little hut is where we’ll mix the finished stuff. I don’t know how much we need of each, so we’ll have to experiment. And we do need the charcoal. Maybe the guys can finish building the kiln before they go? That way, we might be able to set fire to it tonight.”
I nod, enjoying her enthusiasm and feeling some of it, myself. “That’s the plan. The wood has been stacked, and the clay is ready.”
“Oh, already?” She smiles in surprise. “You warriors work fast.” She reaches out and grabs my arm. “Or is it that you want them gone as soon as possible so we’ll be alone here?”
I look away. How did she know? “Maybe.”
21
- Dolly -
I squeeze his massive forearm. “I totally agree.”
“I think they’ll be finished here well before sunset, and they can be on their way back. Walking in the dark will not be as bad for them as for us, and anyway they are warriors and should not be afraid of night in the jungle.”
I survey the Factory. It’s bigger than I had planned, but that will make it possible to work faster and make more of the final product. “Good. We have everything figured out.”
He stands behind me and folds his big hands right under my rib cage. “Almost everything. But as you say, we’ll have to experiment.”
His giant hands cover half my torso and make me feel tiny and even dainty. “Thankfully, we’ll have a lot of time for that.”
The expectation of the things we’ll get up to once the other cavemen are gone has kept me at a slow boil all day long.
“Yes,” I agree, mouth dry. “We will do a lot of experimenting— oh!”
He casually raises his hands a fraction to stroke my breasts, barely grazing them. “Like that?”
“Like that,” I moan. “That was a successful experiment.”
He locates each nipple underneath the rough leather of my dress and pinches them, ever so gently. “And this?”
“Also... uhh… very successful.” I eye the big hut where we will be sleeping. If we just go in there for a couple of minutes, nobody can see what we’re doing, even if the other guys return before we’re done.
“Then we have a lot to build on,” he says and takes his hands away. “I’ll go and get water for the men. The creek is quite far away.”
He quickly climbs all the way up to the edge of the alien structure. Leaving me breathing heavy and probably dripping.
Before he goes through the crack he sends me a cheerful grin, fangs glinting in the sunlight.
“Funny guy,” I mutter, straightening my dress. He’s playing me perfectly, making me sizzle with expectation and then leaving me frustrated. Thus assuring that when we’re finally alone, I’ll freaking devour him. He has some good instincts for a caveman who’s never seen women before.
And of course, I love that. He’s clearly horny, too, but at the same time he’s in perfect control of himself. That leaves me room to not be. God, that man… he keeps me safe in absolutely every way. How will I ever live without it?
No.
I banish any thought of the future from my mind. I have been given a couple of weeks alone with him here. I will enjoy that to the fullest, while still working as hard as I can to leave the planet. I’m not going to delve into the conflict between those two decisions.
I climb up the structure after him. His men have built a system of stairs that make it easier for me to get up and down, but Brank’ox has also made them create a system of traps and other defenses that are subtly marked. Mostly, they’re beams smeared with dinosaur fat to make them slippery, or they’re fake platforms that turn smoothly around a pivot and will send anyone who steps on them plummeting to their deaths, or trap doors or fake beams or other things I haven’t asked too much about. It’s remarkable how much eight huge cavemen can do in just one day.