Denis Cherie - Busy [Caveman Love 1] (Siren Publishing Allure) Read online

  Caveman Love 1

  Busy

  Gem has kept her parent's home fire burning for many years. Now she is old enough to pick a mate and the man she has chosen, Og, is too busy. She has done everything she can think of to entice him to her sleeping pallet, but he continues to be too busy.

  What Gem doesn't know is Og wants to mate with her and has been hunting for the best skins to offer to her father. Gem's father, Tog, is greedy and wants only the best skins before he will give his daughter away.

  Tog drags her to a different cave hoping to sell her there, but the man who offers for Gem is a poor hunter and Tog is offended when the skins he shows are tattered and torn.

  Will the skins Og presents to Tog be perfect enough to please the old man?

  Will Og always be too busy for Gem or will Gem win out in the end?

  Genre: Historical

  Length: 25,096 words

  BUSY

  Caveman Love 1

  Cherie Denis

  EROTIC RANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.c

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  BUSY

  Copyright © 2010 by Cherie Denis

  E-book ISBN: 1-61034-023-X

  First E-book Publication: November 2010

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2010 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.c

  Letter from Cherie Denis

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  Dear Readers,

  It is a harsh reality there are people out there pirating the works of this and many other authors.

  We all put our heart and soul into every word we write and hope you understand how much effort goes into each e-book.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to the publisher or online bookstore and purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  With deep gratitude,

  Cherie Denis

  DEDICATION

  I want to give special thanks and love to my Mom who, along with my husband, encouraged me to follow my dream.

  Thank you, Mom for all your hard work on my promotional material.

  I’d have never gotten it all done without your help.

  BUSY

  Caveman Love 1

  CHERIE DENIS

  Copyright © 2010

  Gem sighed when she spotted her father, Tog, stomping through the cave opening. She turned to check the fire. He stood behind her, and she shivered. He had brought the cold air with him along with his usual frown. Why did he never smile? He was always so angry.

  She pushed her hair off her face and stared into the fire. She knew better than to look into his eyes and welcome him home. He would smack her for being rude. Women did not look into a man’s face unless it was the face of their mate. Women who made eye contact with a man, even one’s father, were considered aggressive and unmanageable. Gem’s father’s hand was very hard. She should know. He had used it many times on her before she learned to be subservient.

  “Uh,” he grunted.

  She signed her greeting.

  She knew what his next question would be and waited silently for him to sign his wants.

  His fingers flew. “Is my meal ready, girl?”

  “Yes, Father. It is ready,” she signed back but wished she could speak. Her father, like many of the old ones, did not approve of the new way of communicating. The ways of the elders were the best ways. Gem and her friends disagreed but knew better than to argue.

  “Good. I am hungry.” He rubbed his rounded belly. His hunting vest gaped, showing his hair-covered upper body, and his hunting apron had slipped below his belly, barely covering his man parts. Her father ate well. He was not tall, but he was well rounded from her mother’s and Gem’s cooking.

  Many of the cavemen were heavy bellied. They were allowed to eat first. They were the hunters. They were the ones who kept the clan alive. The women ate what was left, and if nothing was left when the men finished, the women would go to another fire and beg for food from the woman tending her fire.

  No woman went hungry, and no child went hungry, but during the white months, it was very hard to keep everyone’s bellies full.

  Gem shuddered. Her father was not nice, nor was he pleasant to look upon. It was good she did not have to look at him very often. She thought about her mother, Ret. What did her mother find attractive about Tog? She would grant one thing—Tog was a good provider. Otherwise, he was a harsh, angry man.

  “Sit, Father, and I will serve you,” she signed, gesturing to his favorite pallet of furs. She knew he would flop down, spread his legs, and hold out his hands. She did not want to look at his shriveled man parts, but he never made an effort to cover them.

  Men of the cave clan were not ashamed to show their men parts . Gem had seen the men sitting around one of the fires comparing their parts and lying about how well they satisfied their mates every night. Every man seemed to be so proud of his manhood.

  Tog flopped down and did just as she had feared. Ugh. Not nice.

  “It is cold tonight. I bring me another fur.”

  “Yes, Father, right away.” She hurried to the rock shelf where her mother stored more fur rugs. Gem grabbed a long-furred ox rug and rushed to cover her father’s legs and lap.

  Now, his man parts were out of sight.

  Tog nodded but didn’t bother to sign his thanks. Since Gem was used to her father’s manners, his attitude didn’t bother her.

  She shrugged and moved close to the fire.

  Around her, throughout the cave, women prepared the evening meal at their own fires. Twelve familie
s shared the winter quarters of her clan. Each family had its own niche carved into the sides of the massive main cave. The lucky ones resided in semi-privacy behind glistening shards hanging from the top of the cave.

  She, her mother, and her father, one of the smaller families residing in the cave, were not so lucky. Their niche was near the open hole, which allowed the clan access to the world outside. It was a bad place in the white months. The cold wind blew through the opening, whipping around corners and moaning. Often, it was hard to keep the fire alive, especially when the wind was fierce.

  Gem’s father was a good hunter, and during the white time there were many furs to cover their bodies when they slept and many more furs to pile on the stone floor to keep their feet warm. Her mother had made all of them covering for their feet with the fur inside and the tanned skins outside to keep out the wet and cold when they went out into the weather.

  Tec was sinking low in the sky and would soon disappear, leaving his sons to light the fires in the sky overhead.

  The low hum of the many young voices begging for food from their harried mothers filled the air. Fires were being stoked. Men, who had been hunting all day, were returning to signed greetings and questions about their luck. With each returning man, the noise level rose. Babies, who had slept off and on all day, were awake and squalling for attention and food. The small children begged for attention from their fathers.

  The cave echoed with the cacophony of sounds, some good, many annoying, and all of them a familiar part of Gem’s life. Often, she wondered what it would be like to hear nothing but silence.

  A cold breeze followed each man as he returned to the cave, making Gem wonder why one of the men didn’t think to hang a heavy fur over the opening. Gem pondered how hard it would be to put one in place. It only made sense to her. The covering would keep so much of the cold air out, but she didn’t dare suggest such an idea to the men.

  If a man couldn’t solve a problem, it was left unsolved.

  Tog interrupted Gem’s thoughts with a finger snap. “Where is your mother, girl?” he signed.

  She cringed. If he didn’t like her answer, he would think nothing of cuffing her. She handed him a large stone bowl filled to the brim with meat, gravy, and vegetables and crawled quickly out of arm’s reach. She had learned early in life to stay out of harm’s way. She found it easier to remain silent and submissive when her father was at the home-fire.

  “Mother is in the bleeding room.”

  “Again?” Her father held out his bowl for more of the stew. His first bowlful had disappeared in a matter of moments.

  Gem took the greasy bowl and nodded. It had been a full moon of days since her mother, Ret, had bled. A good husband would keep track of such things. Not Tog. He only thought about his own pleasure and pain.

  It became clear the reason he’d asked for her mother was only about himself. Her father was a hunter. Today’s hunt had gone well. He wanted to celebrate by dipping his man-shaft into her mother’s woman’s place.

  Her father muttered a curse and threw his bowl aside. Gem wasn’t surprised to see his hand go under the fur rug draped across his lap. She was sure he had his hand cupping his man-shaft. He would massage himself to ease the pain of want. Gem scooted further back into the shadows.

  “She will be back in two passings of Tec across the sky,” Gem assured him, trying not to show fear. If her father knew she feared him, it would only make him angrier. Anger was something the cave dwelling men expressed frequently, and when they did, it was an awesome sight.

  The cave men were also not shy about exposing themselves to others. It was not unusual to see a man running through the cave with his man parts exposed searching for his mate to ease his shaft after a good day of hunting.

  It was the way of life in the cave. Men became excited from the hunt, and their mates were there to ease the pain and hunger. If he could not find his mate, he might rub himself or ask another woman not mated to another to share her body.

  If the woman was untried, he would have to pay her family to have use of her. It would be up to the woman to decide if she would play with him or not and one of the few decisions a woman was allowed to make for herself.

  Though she had no mate yet, Gem understood men had needs and women had them, too. Her father’s face reddened, and his hand moved faster. He was going to explode soon.

  “Get your friend Cia,” he growled at her. “She needs to fix this.” He threw off the fur rug and pushed his hunting skirt out of the way, and his man-shaft stuck straight out, the swollen purple tip pointing at her. The sight of him made Gem’s tummy hurt. At this moment, she hated him.

  “No. I am busy.” She shifted her feet and stared at the floor. Signing back to her father was not a good thing to do because she was inviting him to use his open hand on her face. She didn’t care. Let him hit her. He was not going to use her sister-friend to service him. The thought gave her a queasy stomach, like bad meat. Why could he not take care of himself?

  Her father grunted and searched the cave. Gem was not surprised when he settled upon Hoe, Cia’s sister. She was sitting at the next fire over watching them. “Come here, girl, and help me,” he demanded in a voice that echoed throughout the cave.

  Hoe came running like a hungry pup. The young woman was fond of Tog and was always willing to relieve him of his baby-making juice when Gem’s mother was bleeding.

  Of course, it wasn’t just Tog she serviced. Hoe liked to please many men. On a good hunting day, she was very busy.

  Hoe squatted in front of the fully aroused man. Gem snuck a peek out of the corner of her eye. If his smile was any indication, Tog was glad to see Hoe. He leaned back, resting his elbows on the skins covering the floor. He gave Hoe a nod to indicate she should get on with her task.

  Gem hated Hoe almost as much as she hated how her father acted when her mother was gone. Gem had made up her mind long ago that when she mated it would be for life, and she would not share her mate with anyone. He would be her man and no one else’s. She would not share him with anyone. No other man or woman would be allowed to suck her mate. And, except for her mate, no other man would be allowed to taste or touch her. No other would share his baby-making juice. Every part of her mate would be hers and hers alone.

  Gem had discussed her feelings with her mother and been told she was being selfish. Sharing was the only way to keep a mate happy. Men needed more than one woman to keep them content. Gem did not agree. She would keep her man so busy he would need no other besides her. She would see to it he was satisfied at all times.

  Hoe was busy sucking Tog’s shaft. Tog groaned and growled like a hungry bear as Hoe’s head bobbed up and down, her lips tugging his knob. The whole business made Gem very angry.

  She threw a large rug over them so she didn’t have to watch them. It sickened her. Her father could at least have taken Hoe to another more private cave. There were several empty ones toward the back of the main cave.

  Gem went on with her duties, ignoring the rising and falling of the fur rug in front of her. She wanted to laugh, but she also wanted to cry for her mother and the life most cave women led.

  She turned her back to the rug and enjoyed her bowl of stew. The vegetables were just right. It had been worth the argument she’d had with the keeper of the vegetable cave. This day the keeper had been Ke, the most obnoxious of all the cave-dwellers. Gem did not like dealing with Ke. She was old and thought she knew everything.

  Today, Ke had wanted to discuss her beautiful son, Og. Gem did not want to talk about Og.

  Her hunger for him was a secret she kept close to her heart. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about him with his mother.

  Gem wanted to suckle Og’s man-shaft until he exploded all over the cave, crowing and growling like an animal. He was the only man Gem would give her body to. Of all the men in this cave and the other caves in the hills around them, Og was the most talented hunter with the strongest body.

  Not only did he have a
wonderful body, Og was as beautiful as the sky above them when their god, Tec, made its way across to the dark-side.

  When no one was paying attention, Gem often wandered to Og’s fire and tried to speak to him, but he always turned away.

  She felt in her heart he was a good man because he helped his mother and seemed to like the small children who were always in the way. He never kicked the cave dogs, and she had seen him give his catch of the day to families in need. Yes, Og was a good man, always smiling and laughing. Except when she was near and then he, like her father, frowned and turned his back to her.

  He was of age to choose a mate, yet he did not speak with any unmated women in the clan, not even Hoe or Gem’s beautiful sister-friend, Cia.

  He did not spend much time with the men of the cave, so he was not a man-lover. He was not a little boy at his mother’s knee. In fact, he seldom spent time at his mother’s fire. He’d moved to his own fire during the second white month the past winter because he had come of age.

  Gem had seen Ke bragging to her friends Og would mate soon. He must have a girl in mind, because Ke said he was working on a dowry. Ke had admitted she didn't know who the woman was, but whomever he picked would be the best woman he could find.

  Tog made a loud grunt. Gem made more noise cleaning up the cooking mess. She even managed to drop and shatter one of her mother’s oldest cooking pots.

  Gem would make her a new one. She felt bad, but anything was better than turning around and watching the bear rug move up and down.