Page 18 of Gentle Giant

Chapter 12

HAILEY

I never imaginedI would get turned on while watching a man build a fire… but damn if Brutus wasn’t the sexiest thing on two legs. He ordered me to sit on a soft, woven mat near the cavern, then proceeded to gather sticks as well as dried grass for kindling. He also arranged a circle of rocks outside the growing pile of sticks and grass.

The whole process required several trips into the nearby forest… and lots of bending over.

At one point when he bent over to place the sticks down, I caught a glimpse of his ginormous scrotum, which was covered in a thinner layer of fur than the rest of his body. My face heated, my heart fluttered, and an urgent ache pulsed in my sex.

His firm butt muscles rippled with his every movement, and his powerful thighs tensed as he squatted and struck two stones together, trying to ignite the dried grass. I felt so feverish as I watched him, I almost removed the bathrobe I was wearing. The only reason I hesitated was because my pajamas wereconstructed of thin silky material, and I had no doubt my hardened nipples would draw his attention.

Tempted. I’d known Brutus for about two days, and already I was tempted to surrender to his advances. I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to get into the mating position he kept mentioning and offer myself to him.

No. I can’t. This isn’t where I belong.

It was seductive to imagine staying on the mountainside with Brutus and his people, far from the troubles of the human world. But I couldn’t just disappear from society and live in a cave for the rest of my life.

What about my family and friends? If they never heard from me again, they would think something terrible had happened, and I would feel awful for making them worry.

Having been raised by a string of nannies, I wasn’t especially close to my parents, but I still called them once or twice a month, and they occasionally flew in for a visit, though they hadn’t been able to come to Seattle since the city went into lockdown six months ago.

Aside from my parents, I stayed in touch with a few cousins and some friends from college. Candy would probably tell everyone I’d gone on vacation in the North Cascades, but if I stopped answering my phone and responding to texts and emails, it wouldn’t take long before my friends and family went into panic mode.

Eventually, someone would come looking for me at the rental cabin. Not today, and not tomorrow, but perhaps in a couple of weeks. Hope filled me at the prospect, but when I spotted Brutus approaching with three wriggling fish in his hand, my chest tightened as I imagined returning to my own people.

I glanced at the fire and noticed he’d placed a grill that rested on a small platform atop the flames. Apparently, he’dpilfered more than clothing and furniture and a mattress from my people.

He paused in front of me and held the fish up. I wasn’t an expert on fish, so I had no idea what kind they were, but they were so large I doubted I could eat even half of one. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that, however, so I shot him an appreciative smile. Yeah, sure, he’d kidnapped me, but at least he was keeping me fed. And there was something very sweet about his actions. He was trying really hard, and he looked so proud to have caught fish for me that it was… touching.

Without saying a word, he turned to a boulder that rested near the shore and smacked the fish against the rocky surface. I gasped at the sudden movement, but when he stepped back, I realized why he’d done it—he’d killed the fish. Or stunned them. I wasn’t sure. But they were no longer wriggling in his hand.

He walked to another woven grass mat that he’d placed near the fire and proceeded to skin and remove the innards of the fish. I watched in fascination.

“I thought you said you’d never cooked a fish before?” I tried not to wrinkle my nose as the fishy smell reached me. “It sure looks like you know what you’re doing.”

He placed the innards in a basket and rinsed his hands in a tub of water I hadn’t previously noticed, then looked up at me with a sheepish grin. “It is true that I’ve never cooked a fish before, sweet Hailey, but I have observed humans in the forest doing so from time to time. I’ve spied on hunters, as well as fishermen and women, and watched as they prepared their catches.”

He ended up burning the first fish, but the other two he cooked to perfection. He even rubbed some herbs and berry juice on the fish for added flavor. As he placed a chunk of cooked fish in my hand, his people gathered in a crowd around us, pointing at the fire and talking amongst themselves.

I felt a bit awkward eating in front of other people… er, Sasquatches, but Brutus kept insisting I eat my fill. I managed to eat almost one entire fish, and it was honestly the most delicious meal I’d had in ages. I wiped my messy fingers on my bathrobe and leaned back on the woven mat as a breeze swept down through the trees.

Brutus stood next to the fire as he spoke to his people. Some of them pointed at it and appeared to be asking questions. Though I couldn’t understand their tongue, I got the sense that he was explaining the process of preparing and cooking fish for human consumption.

It occurred to me that the Montikaans who appeared most curious about the fire and the fish were male. I also noticed there were more males in his tribe than females. Unless the females were off somewhere else. But I got a hollow feeling in my stomach that maybe something had happened to the Montikaan females, and I resolved that I would ask Brutus about it soon. I also wanted to know if other males in his tribe had plans to claim human mates.

When it became apparent that I couldn’t eat another bite, Brutus divided the leftover fish up between his people, making sure each of them got to sample it. Some of them made disgusted faces, while others laughed, but a few nodded and patted their stomachs as if to indicate they approved of the fare.

Eventually, his people returned to their tasks, and we once again found ourselves alone on the riverside. Brutus sat next to me and wrapped an arm around me, beckoning me to lean against him. I resisted for a few seconds but finally gave in. What was the harm in enjoying a quick snuggle?

“Thanks for cooking the fish, Brutus,” I said. “It was really good. I think you’re a better cook than I am.”

He peered at me for a long moment, his pale eyes shining with affection, then leaned down and slowly nuzzled his noseagainst mine. A sexy growl rumbled from him as he continued rubbing his nose to mine. The gesture felt deeply intimate, and I wondered if it was the Montikaan equivalent of a kiss. My pulse quickened, the back of my neck tingled, and goosebumps lifted on my arms.

“Time for your bath,” he said once he pulled away, his eyes glowing pure white. He helped me to my feet.

“Uh, what about the fire?” I asked. “Shouldn’t we put it out?”

He nodded toward a group of approaching males, each of whom were holding at least two fish. “No need to put the fire out. They are planning to practice cooking fish so when the time comes for them to claim a human mate, they will already know how to feed their woman.”

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