Island Heat (A Sexy Time Travel Romance With a Twist) (3 page)

I dozed off at some point, because the next thing I knew, I’d woken up to a patch of sunlight shining directly in my eyes, and the hot, funky smell of the cockpit.

I squeezed my eyes open slowly, not daring to move a muscle in case the T-Rex had come back and was looking for me. So far, so good. The cockpit window was damp with condensation on the inside, but nothing else. A few puffy clouds tracked across the clear sky overhead.

I stretched my legs, muscles protesting, and slowly crawled out of the cockpit and back into the cabin of the plane. I cracked the door open a hair, terrified of what I might find out there, but the beach was clean of visitors, the sand churned with a myriad of footprints – both mine and those of the dinosaurs.

Crawling out of the plane on shaky legs, I wobbled out onto the sand. My suitcase had been demolished, either by the T-Rex or the little chirpy critters, and my half-eaten clothing was strewn across the beach. I found a few bottles of the water here and there, and a pretzel bag or two, but the rest were scattered to the wind or busted open, and my pitiful supply of food was even worse than before.

I hid back inside the belly of the plane once that was done, trying to ignore the smell and the heat of the day. The inside of the small plane grew stifling the higher the sun rose in the sky, and the smell overpowering, but I didn’t get out. Inside the plane was safe. In here, the dinosaurs couldn’t get me.

Dinosaurs. On an
island.

“This is some serious
Jurassic Park
bullshit,” I said aloud, rubbing my sticky arms. I was covered in gore from the night I’d spent in the cockpit, but I wasn’t about to leave the plane and head out onto the open beach again. I could stink, for all I cared.

The sun rose high in the sky and I drowsed inside the hot, steamy plane cabin. My stomach growled, waking me up from my sleep occasionally, but I didn’t eat. If a few pretzels were all I had, I needed to make them last.

I started to have fever dreams after a while. Maybe it was the heat or the lack of water, but my dreams began to blur together, as I huddled against the broken chairs, empty flare gun clutched in my hand and staring at the door of the plane, watching for the T-Rex to return. My dreams were scattered, full of bizarre things. Most of it slid in and out of my mind as quickly as it appeared, but one image lingered.

I dreamed about the most beautiful man.

It was odd, really. I dreamed that I looked up at the door of the plane, and a dark silhouette was there, staring down at me. The figure was tall and muscular like a bodybuilder, but lithe like a cat. He slunk into the wreckage like a panther, sniffing the air and descending towards me. His green eyes looked down on me with avid interest, and he leaned in.

Cool hands cupped my face, his thumb brushing against my cracked lips in a caress. “
Belleza
,” he whispered. He stared down at me for a long time, touching my face and hair. The dream faded as I felt him brush something wet and cold across my forehead. I tried to lift a hand to touch the wet streaks, but my limbs felt too heavy.

Then I dreamed about the T-Rex again as well, that it was returning to eat me, his long tongue snaking into the plane to poke me in the forehead. I screamed as the hot, hard point of his tongue bit into my skin.

My eyes flew open. I stared at the point of a spear, the crude tip thrust against my forehead and making a dribble of blood leak down my forehead. It prodded me again, like the dinosaur’s tongue in my dream.

“Goo’ntcha,”
said the person holding the spear, and I tried to focus my eyes. The man was small, only slightly larger than a ten-year-old child, and dark. He was covered in dirty matted hair all over his body, and he wore nothing over his small, muscular body except a few stripes of colorful paint. A thick, hairy beard covered his face, emphasizing the thick brow.

A caveman.

“Why the hell not,” I muttered. “After all, we’ve already got the dinosaurs.”

“
Goo’ntcha,
” the caveman repeated, poking the tip of the spear against my forehead again. “
Goo’ntcha.”

It stung. “Ow.” I pushed the spear away, irritated. “Knock it off.”

That was the wrong thing to do. The little man gave a snarl of rage, and grabbed me by the throat. “
Goo’ntcha cho
,” he growled at me, his grubby hand closing my throat.

I couldn’t breathe. I clawed at his hand. I didn’t know what he wanted, but the little creep was strong.
And aggressive
, I mentally added, clawing at his hand. I nodded in fright, trying to make him understand.

He grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth. “
N’gunt.
”

His hand released my throat, and I gasped in relief. “Whatever, buddy.” When he gestured with his spear this time, however, I followed his lead and stood. The little jerk poked me with the spear until I stumbled my way out of the plane and down on the sand.

Outside were six more of the cavemen. They started up an angry, hooting conversation as soon as I emerged from the plane, shaking their spears in my direction.

I collapsed in the sand at their feet, my head spinning.

The caveman grunted and spoke to the others for a few minutes, poking me with his spear as I huddled in the sand. The others seemed to be upset, and one grabbed my hair and sniffed it, then made a comment.

“
Goo’ntcha
,” the leader said again, gesturing with his spear at me. “
Na meh, Sav dor.
” He pointed at his forehead. “
Sav dor meh.
”

The one that had found me got angry, and gestured at me. “
Goo’ntcha!
”

I recognized that word and stood up immediately, noticing that his dirty head barely reached my shoulder.

He sneered at me, heavy brows wrinkled, and then touched my bare thigh, stroking my skin. “
Skoja geum-meh
.” His tone changed, and goosebumps rose on my arms at the appraising look he gave me. “
Geum-meh
.”

Oh, eww. This was not good at all. I averted my eyes as I shoved his hand off my skin. He was getting rather ‘happy’ in a certain uncovered hairy groin area, and I certainly had no desire to see
that.

He jabbed his spear at my stomach and put his hand on my leg again, possessively. “
Meh. Meh.
” He gestured at himself, then at me. “
Meh. Bgha meh
.”

Okay, I understood a property claim as well as the next person. He thought since he’d found me, I belonged to him. Remembering the creepy way he’d touched my leg, I shuddered. Could things get any worse around here?

He stared at me with beady little eyes. “
Bgha,
” he said, beating his fist against his stout, hairy chest. “
Bgha!
”

The way he said the word, it must have been his name. Maybe he was the leader of the small group, because the other little cavemen were backing down to the one’s claim. I heard them mutter and glare at me, but they backed off, even as Bgha grabbed my hair and sniffed it. “
Meh
,” he repeated again.

“Sure, meh, whatever,” I said, eyeing the point of his spear. He put his hand on my leg again, and I jerked away, crouching low and wrapping my arms around my legs to protect them. “Quit it.”

He grunted at me and pointed at the ground, indicating I should stay there. I did so, waiting in place as they ransacked what was left of the plane wreckage. The cavemen exclaimed over the dead body of the pilot, stabbed the uprooted chairs, and generally crawled about, exploring. They gathered up a few things, and when they were ready to go, Bgha came back and began to poke me with his spear again. “
Vaua-to.
”

I stood, shrugging at him. “I don’t understand you. I can’t speak Neanderthal.”

He jabbed his spear in my back again. “
Vaua-to, jobwei. Jobwei.
”

He touched himself and I flinched, stepping back.

Bgha repeated the words and pointed down the beach, and I understood what he was saying. I could stay here and he could get happy with himself (and me) or I could walk down the beach.

“Why, the beach looks absolutely lovely right about now,” I said, leaping up and heading down the beach. The cavemen, loaded down with stolen goods from the plane, trotted around me, though Bgha loomed close by, protecting his ‘prize’.

My mind raced – I’d gone from one bad situation to another. While I didn’t want to stay at the wreckage and wait for the big, hungry dino to come back, I didn’t exactly want to go with the cavemen. There were too many of them to overpower, and they were armed. Being Bgha’s oversized sex slave sounded absolutely revolting…but my other option was a hungry dinosaur.

I was stuck, unless I could get away. I stared at the footsteps that churned the sand, thinking hard, but I found no solution. I kicked one of the footprints in disgust. So much traffic on this one stupid beach – just my luck.

Our small party skirted the beach for a mile or so, and then the cavemen ducked into the jungle, leading me for the first time into the interior of the island. It was like entering another world. Thick, ropy ferns covered the jungle floor, tall palm trees and leafy fronds raising high to the canopy above. The trees were enormous, and overhead, birds fluttered and called out. Small rodents scurried under the bushes, and while I didn’t see any dinosaurs right away, I could tell by the muddy tracks on the trail that they were still around. I swallowed hard, falling behind the cavemen and letting them lead.

Surely they wouldn’t lead me right back to the T-Rex, would they?

We walked for a time, and came to a rocky outcropping. Bgha motioned that I should climb, and I put my hands on the rocks, when dizziness swept over me. The world tilted and I fell to my knees, sick and dizzy. Something was wrong with me. My head throbbed and I shook my head at Bgha. “I can’t. I need to rest.”

He muttered something under his breath, and gestured at me.

I fell to my hands and knees, shaking my head. “Can’t. No. Let me rest.”

The others glanced at him, and he touched my hair again, then grinned, showing nasty, crooked teeth caked with grime. “
Bgha meh
,” he said, his voice a possessive croon, and the hackles on the back of my neck stood. “
Meh.
”

He touched my backside and I stiffened, swatting his hand away. “No!”

The caveman raised his hand and slammed it across my face. “
Meh!
”

My head snapped backward, ears ringing. Damn. Bgha was a little guy, but he packed a big wallop. Dazed, I shook my head to clear it, and watched him raise his hand again.

I punched him in the balls.

He gave a high, keening groan of pain, and bent double.

I got to my feet, swaying. “That’s what you get, you little bastard. I’m not your plaything.” I kicked him while he was bent over, just to get the point across.

The others jabbed me with their spears, their grunting language becoming angry. One reached for me and I turned and ran into the forest. My body felt like it was about to give out, and I was terrified that the cavemen were going to catch me and throw me down to the ground and rape me.

Raped by cavemen. Not exactly a Lifetime movie of the week. I wanted to laugh – or cry – but instead, I just ran blindly into the jungle, shoving at palm fronds as they slapped in my face. The greenery blurred together, and I forced my stumbling feet to continue on, no matter what. My breath heaved in my chest, and I could hear the hooting, angry calls of the cavemen behind me, but I didn’t slow down.

Thump thump…thump thump.

Oh, shit. I recognized that sound.

I froze in place, my eyes darting wildly, head spinning. Somewhere, there was a big dinosaur looking for a bite to eat, and here I was, alone in the wilderness. I didn’t even have the flare gun, or one of the crude spears the cavemen toted.

Ahead of me, the bushes parted and a large, plate-headed dinosaur crossed the path just ahead, oversized rounded head swaying as he looked for me.

I froze in terror.

An arm snaked around my shoulders, a hand pressed over my mouth. A hot, hard body pressed up against mine, and I heard a voice whisper in my ear. “
Silencio
.”

I froze in place, the stranger holding me against him, pinned into stillness. As we stood there, perfectly still, I noticed a few things about the person behind me – though I didn’t dare turn. His body radiated warm heat, and judging from the thick arm that was tossed over my shoulders, he was taller than me. I caught the faint smell of coconut and male sweat and outdoors, an oddly enticing mixture.

This wasn’t Mr. Wingarde or the stewardess…who was this man and how was he here?

The person holding his body against mine remained stock still, and I followed suit, not wanting to be the one to break and cause the dinosaur to turn. My mind was a crazy jumble as we waited for the dinosaur to pass. Who was it behind me?

The dinosaur snuffed the air, then eventually wandered away a few (eternal) minutes later.

My breath expelled in a whoosh that made me dizzy; I hadn’t realized I was holding it. “Oh, my god,” I whispered. “That was close.”

The man behind me grunted in response.

I turned to face my savior and gasped in surprise. It was the beautiful, blonde man from my wild fever dreams. Perhaps I hadn’t dreamed him after all. I should have guessed as the dreams were so vivid. Tousled, bleached blonde hair swept around his cheekbones, ragged and loose. His face was darkly tanned, and his entire body was the same, dark buttery shade of gold, rippling with muscles. Impossibly green eyes stared down at me under a chiseled brow. He was a golden Tarzan, dressed only in a loincloth. He was gorgeous.

He was frowning at me.

The stranger muttered something I didn’t understand. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t make it out. I shook my head to explain that I didn’t understand him.

Tarzan reached out and touched the corner of my mouth with the back of his knuckles. The skin stung at the light touch, and I realized that he was touching the now-bruised skin where the caveman had backhanded me.