Alpha Male

Stephen gasped for breath as the woman stopped moving at last. She hung her head low, her arms trembling. Stephen felt his knees give out and collapsed onto the rocky floor. The woman made noises in her throat, then lowered down onto her stomach. He slipped out of her and dangled between his legs, dripping a mixture of his seed and her juices onto the rock.

"Wow," Stephen gasped, knowing how inadequate it sounded.

The woman rolled over onto her back and stretched her arms and legs into the air. She smiled up at him and murmured something in her foreign tongue that he didn't recognize, but could understand.

Stephen lay down on her furs like a blanket, and she crawled onto them beside him. She nestled under his arm, nuzzling his cheek with her nose, then lay down with a deep sigh. Stephen stared up at the icicles on the ceiling, dripping now from the growing heat of the fire and their sweating bodies.

"I don't know how I got here, but I think I like it." Stephen rolled his head over to look at the woman next to him. "You need to tell me your name, though."

She blinked at him.

"Stephen. My name is Stephen. What's yours?"

She murmured something, then closed her eyes.

"Okay. I'll call you Amber for now."

A voice burst out of the entrance of the cave, screaming and hooting with words Stephen couldn't understand. Another figure charged into the cave, this one bigger with more furs hanging off the body. The gnarled face peeking out from under a low eyebrow ridge had to be a male, and it twisted with rage.

The woman Stephen called Amber screamed and tried to run, but got her feet tangled in her furs. She collapsed, but kept trying to wriggle deeper into the cave.

As the prehistoric man charged into the cave, he dragged two others in with him. Both turned out to be women, one with long red hair and almond eyes, and the other woman with short black hair and darker skin. The man held them by the arms, even though they fought to break free.

The man threw both women up against the walls of the cave, then began yelling at Amber in the primitive tongue. Amber seemed to be trying to answer, but the pleading quality of her voice and the rage of the man's voice told him the conversation didn't go well.

Amber finally pointed at Stephen. For the first time, the man whipped his head around to look at him. Stephen realized for the first time that he stood before them naked, and tried to cover his lap with his hands. The two other women craned their heads to look at him.

The man's eyes narrowed as his upper lip curled. He snarled something that Stephen didn't need to translate. It carried the universal language of jealousy.

"I take it you two know each other." Stephen held up his hands. "Let me guess. You're saying something along the lines of 'get away from my woman.' Look, I don't want any trouble."

The man reached down and picked up a rock the size of his head. He hefted it, then lunged at Stephen with the rock high in the air. Stephen dodged out of the way as the rock cracked against the wall. The brute raised the rock with both hands and roared as he brought it down again.

Stephen leapt aside, but this time the brute managed to hit him in the thigh. Stephen screamed as his leg exploded in pain. He collapsed on the floor. The brute loomed over him, swinging the rock up to bring it down on Stephen's head.

Stephen reached out and grabbed a length of burning wood out of the bonfire. He swept it at the brute. The prehistoric man shrieked as he staggered away from the flames. He dropped the rock, whimpered, then grabbed Amber by the arm. He charged out of the cave with the naked woman wailing alongside him. The two women he had dragged in with him shot Stephen a look of fear, then hurried after their master.

Stephen lay against the wall of the cave, gasping for air to soothe the throbbing pain. He had felt something with the blonde woman that he hadn't felt in a very long time. But now the same helplessness had returned, just like it always did.

Stephen had a fleeting image of Kurt walking by him with a woman under each arm, laughing, and giving Stephen a look of contempt.

"Not again." Stephen braced his hand against the wall and forced himself up to his feet.

He limped over to the pile of rocks in the corner. The memory of some Neanderthal tools he had seen in his textbooks burned clearly in his mind. Stephen dug through the rocks until he found another chunk of flint. Stephen rammed the flint up against a granite rock. As he had hoped, the flint shattered cleanly on one side, leaving a sharp edge. Stephen banged the flint rock again and again until it had broken it into a sharp point.

Stephen limped over to the fallen shrub again and selected a thin length of wood, then a thicker one. He used the thinner twig as a rope to lash the flint rock onto the other.

When he finished, Stephen hefted the weapon like an ax. "That'll do."

Stephen dragged Amber's furs around his trembling body, then charged out of the cave.

With the thick layer of snow on the ground, and dragging Amber alongside him, the brutish man hadn't been able to get very far. Amber screamed as the cold winds ripped at her naked body. The two women trailed him a few steps behind. The redhead looked back at Stephen running along the surface of the snow. Her mouth opened as if to speak, then clamped shut and broke into a smile.

The crunch of Stephen's feet breaking the ice finally carried through the howling winds, making the brute stop. He whipped around. His eyes widened as Stephen rushed at him.

Stephen roared as he plowed into the brute. The two of them hit the ice, punching through to the soft layer of snow underneath. The brute slammed his elbow into Stephen's jaw. Stephen whipped his head back, then the brute landed on top of him. His fingers raked across Stephen's neck like claws, drawing lines of pain. Stephen forced his knee up between the two of them and kicked. The brute flew back to land in a mound of snow.

As the brute struggled to his feet, Stephen rushed at him. The brute raised its hands, but couldn't stop Stephen from driving the ax down onto the brute's head. The crack of the brute's skull echoed off the mountains as the body went limp.

Stephen jumped up to his feet and stood watching the body of his enemy lie before him. The blood pouring out of the skull melted snow around it in scarlet pools. Stephen winced as his thigh responded to the pain he had ignored. He collapsed onto the snow.

He watched as the three women gathered around the prehistoric man's body. Their noses twitched as they sniffed the corpse. Amber ran her fingers down the wooden handle of the ax, then touched the flint blade. She winced and drew her hand back to stare at the cut oozing blood on her finger.

All three women looked down at Stephen with widening eyes.

Stephen sighed. "I'm sorry I killed your boyfriend. But he had it coming. If any of you feel like killing me for it, there's nothing I can do to stop you."

The redhead pushed out her lips, then whispered something to the other two women. They nodded. All three of them walked towards Stephen. He shrank back as they reached out for him.

The brunette nudged her hands under his left arm. The redhead climbed under his right arm. Together, they helped him to his feet. Amber tore the furs off the prehistoric man's body and wrapped them around her naked body, then led the way as they headed back to the cave.

In the hollow of the cave, the two women laid Stephen down on the ground. The fire still burned in the hollow boulder, and the three women huddled around it. They grunted to each other, throwing an occasional glance back at Stephen. Stephen just closed his eyes and tried to forget the pain.

He awoke at the touch of something brushing across his cheek. He opened his eyes to see the brunette kneeling over him. Her hands traced the contours of Stephen's face, running over his chin, his lips, and his eyebrows. The redheaded woman came over to kneel on the other side of him and began exploring his scalp with her fingers. Both of them widened their eyes and cooed under their breath.

Their furs lay on the other side of the cave, and Stephen could feast on their naked bodies. The brunette's chest formed two small cones of flesh, tipped with large brown nipples. The redhead's large breasts swung with her every movement. Her wide hips supported a plump pair of buttocks.

Both women reached down at the same time to peel the furs off Stephen's body. The redhead gasped and jumped back at the sight of Stephen's naked form, but the brunette only leaned in closer. She sniffed at his bare stomach. Her nose tickled the hairs running down to his crotch and she made her way down lower. The closer she came, the more his flesh hardened until it throbbed in the air. That shocked him, since he thought he had been spent after his coupling with Amber before. But the heat of the redhead's breath on his shaft made it grow.

A growling noise drew his attention to his left. The brunette had dropped onto all fours with her buttocks facing him, pushed up so close to his face that he could smell her musk.

The redhead growled now as she hunched over Stephen's body. She turned herself around until her rear hovered over his pulsing flesh. She spread her legs wide over him. He watched a thread of her juices trickle down from her thighs onto the tip of his cock.

Stephen pushed his hips up, driving up into her body. The redhead moaned as he entered her. She dropped onto him, filling her emptiness with his shaft, and began to grind her body against his.

The brunette roared as she turned around and shoved the redhead off Stephen's lap. His manhood popped out and swung in the air. Stephen tried to sit up as the two women began tearing at each other with their nails.

A hand pushed Stephen back onto the floor. It belonged to the blonde woman who pinned Stephen down with her arms as she crawled on top of him. She faced away from him, impaled herself on his shaft, and began to pump it into her.

Stephen looked back to see the fight between the other two women had changed into something more. They now lay on their backs. Their legs entwined like scissors, their feet hooked against each other's backs. Their hips rolled as they ground their crotches against each other. The two let out squeals at every thrust.

The blonde woman still felt slick from Stephen's last encounter with her, and her flesh burned even hotter. She shuddered as her hips moved faster. Stephen sat up, pushing her over until she lay pinned beneath him on her stomach. He braced his hands on her buttocks as he drove into her as hard as he could. She screamed and began to jerk in rhythm. He felt the pulses of her orgasm embracing his shaft.

Stephen looked over at the two women, still bucking their hips against each other at a frenzied pace. Their legs wriggled in the air around each other's heads. The smell of their passion filled his nose and ignited a fire within him. As they began to thrash in a mutual orgasm, Stephen reached his own peak. He forced himself into Amber as deep as he could go. His balls tightened as they sprayed his seed into her body. Amber moaned harder as he filled her.

Stephen lay on top of her body, breathing heavily. As the fire of his passion began to fade, the cold of the cave and the pain of his injuries returned. He could barely move, not even when the three women embraced him. Their arms encircled his waist and chest as they whispered something to him in a language he couldn't understand.

He allowed them to raise him to his feet, drape the furs around his body again, and walk out of the cave. The frigid winds made him stumble, but the strong arms of his women kept him upright. Stephen kept his head down, content to let the women guide his steps through the snow and ice.

Shouting broke through his trance. He gathered the strength to raise his head.

The women carried him to another cave, this one filled with shadows that moved towards him. As they came into the light, Stephen saw the faces of men, women, and children, all draped in ragged furs. Their faces all bore the same heavy eyebrows and angular teeth. They squinted at Stephen's approach, but did not move until the blond woman under Stephen let out a cry. At the sound of her voice, they flooded out of the cave, hooting and wailing. The women threw their arms around Stephen, their brown cheeks wet with tears.

At that moment, Stephen knew he had come home. --- The flap of Stephen's tent opened, causing a beam of the morning sun to fall onto his face. The warmth awakened him and he sat up on the layers of mammoth fur that served as his bed. Stephen shaded his eyes to make out the outline of an old man at the entrance of his tent. From the hunched shoulders and white beard, Stephen recognized him as Khamuth, the former chief of the Nuhi tribe.

"Chief Stephen Wagner," the old man said in the Nuhi's native tongue. "We have found something that needs your eyes."

Stephen nodded as he responded in Nuhi. "Of course. I will be there."

The old man grunted and let the tent's flap drape down again.

Stephen rubbed his eyes and looked down at the three naked women lying on the fur next to him, the same women he had rescued over a year ago. With their rescue, Stephen had been accepted into the tribe, and taken the three women as his wives. The brunette and redhead now slept with their arms around each other, but the blond woman smiled up at him.

She spoke to him in the broken English that she had managed to learn. "You go, Stephen?"

He smiled back and touched her nose with his. "Yes, Dahli. I just have to go check on something. I'll be right back."

The woman he now knew as Dahli sat up and began to pull her fur coat around herself. "I go, too."

Stephen shrugged and pulled his fur clothes on as well. When they had dressed and taken a sip of tea from the pot warming on their fire, the two of them crawled out of the tent.

The plains of snow gleamed from the sun shining overhead. Stephen shivered as a blast of cold wind hit him, but the bonfire rippling in the center of the camp sent waves of heat that eased the chill. A group of women sat around the fire, cooking mammoth meat, while men huddled over a boulder, chipping flint to make knives and spears. The group called out to Stephen as he came into view, and Stephen waved back. He took Dahli's hand and walked with her across the camp.

Stephen smiled at the rows of tents that dotted the plains. He had finally gotten the hang of curing animal hide and stretching the leather. Many of the tents had just been built in the last two months, and he could see more being constructed on the camp's edges.

Much had changed in the Nuhi tribe since Stephen had arrived with his extensive knowledge of prehistoric technology. Their fire chased away animals and rival tribes, allowing them to live at peace. With their stone tools, they had killed enough animals to sustain them with meat for the rest of the winter, and enough fur and hide to clothe everyone.

Stephen walked quicker as he came to where the old man Khamath stood to one side. Other men had gathered in a circle around a pile of bones, murmuring and grunting to each other.

"What disturbs the Nuhi tribe this morning?" Stephen asked in their language.

The old man pointed at the bones. "The elder Nagra found this. We think it to be a man, but found this in its skull." He held up a sharp rock tied to a length of wood.

Stephen's heart jumped at the sight of the weapon. "It looks too crude to be one of ours. I feared the day when other tribes learned to build stone tools and weapons. We must prepare."

Dahli held out her hand. "No, no. This is your weapon, Chief Stephen Wagner. Remember?"

It hit Stephen then in a flash. He recognized the ax as the one he had made over a year ago, the very first one. The body that lay before him had to belong to Ramu. Once Stephen had learned the Nuhi language, he had found out that Ramu had kidnapped Dahli and the other two women from the Nuhi tribe and held them as his sexual slaves for months. Only Stephen's rescue had saved them from being killed.

Stephen chuckled at the bones lying at his feet. "You are right, Dahli. We have nothing to fear."

He plucked the skull out of the snow and held it to the light. Animals had picked the bones clean, leaving the skull smooth except for the hole in its forehead from Stephen's ax.

Stephen blinked and whispered in English, "Wait a minute, I know this skull."

Dahli frowned up at him. "What you say?"

"This skull. It's the exact same skull I was examining the night I got transported here. This crack in the forehead is even the same." Stephen realized the tribe couldn't understand him and switched back to Nuhi. "This is the magic skull that sent me here from the Time-To-Come."

The men murmured and bowed their heads.

Khamath reached out and gently took the skull from Stephen's hands. "The Nuhi will always be grateful for your arrival. We must preserve the skull for our ancestors."

"No." Stephen took the skull and set it back onto the ground. "Leave it here. Bury it in the ground as deep as you can, and mark this spot. Record for our ancestors that no one is to disturb this skull again, not our children or their children's children."

"Yes, great one. But may I ask why?"

Stephen took Dahli's hand in his. "Simple, Khamath. Because it has to be here for me to find it in my own time."

Khamath frowned. "I do not understand, my chief, but I will obey."

The men began to dig with their spears in the frozen ground as Stephen headed back to his tent in the camp. As he walked away, Stephen noticed a glitter in the sky, like gold dust sprinkled on the horizon. He smiled.

"I'm where I belong," he whispered. "Just took me a while to get there."