Chapter 5
Lex woke quickly jerking his body up defensively, in a warrior instinct as old as time. Lillian was packing up her basket and he could see Chloe walking into the village with hides hung over her arm. Jumping up quickly he jogged up behind her.
"Where are you going?" Lex moved in front of her stopping her with his large frame. Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes.
"I am going to give these to the Chief." She replied trying to move around him.
He countered her moves keeping her where she was for the most part. "Then what?"
"I was going to get a head start on my chores tomorrow if you must know." She scowled up at him as her voice snarkily flew through the air. She tried once more to maneuver around him to no success.
"I'll go with you." Lex quickly pulled the hides out of her arms carrying them for her, before he took her hand in his and began to walk with her into the village. He had to give her arm a slight tug in order to get her moving at first but after that they walked together well. Lex shortened his strides to accommodate her as much as possible, while Chloe moved faster than usual to keep up with him.
"You know that even if you do all your chores for tomorrow, Nell will just find something else for you to do…" Lex said without looking back at her. Chloe looked puzzled, as if she hadn't thought of anything else.
"What else would I do?" Chloe asked innocently.
Those five little words told Lex just how Chloe had been living. All she did was chores. Not any more.
When they arrived at the Chief's tent Lex gave a soft whistle. The flap opened, the Chief peered out cautiously. His gaze flicked to where Chloe's hand was intertwined with Lex's, his eyebrows rising. Lex just smiled and handed him the hides, watching in amusement as the Chief stumbled at the unexpected weight. His eyes lingered over the texture of the hides, looking surprised. He counted them quickly and gave Lex a smile, closing the flap again.
All of this was done without a word from either of the two men. Chloe decided men were weird.
"You never told me what I should do instead of my chores…" She said softly looking up at him as they moved away from the inner circle of tepees.
"Well, you could take me to your tepee," Lex grinned at her lusciously and she blushed jerking her hand quickly out of his as she stormed away from him in a huff.
"And they you could go inside and change into your best jerkin for tonight's celebration. Until the party why don't you show me around?" Lex finished with a laugh at her reaction.
Chloe just kept walking, and Lex just kept following her. When she disappeared inside a small tepee at the outside of the village, Lex sighed. It was worse then he had thought. The tepee sagged in places; the hides were old, stiff, and worn ragged. Not even the lower ones in his tribe or Bruce's had tepees like this. It was sad.
Chloe emerged not long after disappearing inside, surprised to see Lex still there. When she came out he gave her a long look. His eyes were warm and they hovered over her chest and legs but she was still embarrassed over the state of her clothing.
He started to walk towards her with a determined look in his eyes and she stumbled back. Only to have him walk past her and into her tepee. She scowled in outrage, whispering her angry words so that the whole village didn't come running to see her humiliation.
"Get out of there!" She hissed, "I didn't say you could go in..!" She growled moving to the flap of the tent and opening it. Just then Lex had fixed one of the poles that held the side of the tepee, the pole that was making one side sag. Chloe stood back watching as her tent seemed to move on its own, straightening out and standing taller. The hides stretched back into place as Lex readjusted the structure. Stepping out he saw her staring in shock at the improved home.
He turned with satisfaction to look at his work. It looked much better, prouder even. It was still small, smaller than he had first thought, the size emphasized when he was inside. There was barely enough room for Chloe to lay down, and she had to curl, her body probably following the line of the tent as it circled around. The small fire in the middle looked more like a pile of twigs, and he was sure she had never lit it.
The floor was hard dirt, with small pebbles scattered around. She had a small woven mat covering where she lay but that was all. It wasn't tall enough for him to stand fully; he had needed to hunch his shoulders to get inside. Lex sighed, knowing that soon he or Bruce, hopefully he, would be taking her home and pampering her. She would be treasured and would know what a true home should be.
Lex mentally thought about how Chloe would look inside his tepee. His was large with a stone ringed fire. She would look perfect sitting on one of the woven mat he had, a soft furry pelt over her lap, as she sew clothing or shelled grain. He could see the flap wide open, sunshine spilling over her as she lay on his sleeping pallet in the morning. He saw her spreading the furry blankets, that were absent in her tepee but plentiful in his, over the same bed once she had woken. His mind flashed to thoughts of her holding a child on her lap, teaching it things. His child.
Then his mind moved on to how he would go about getting her with his child. He was so distracted that he didn't notice Chloe saying his name several times until she grabbed his arm and shook it lightly. Then his gaze focused on her face, his mind still caught in his daydreams.
He caught her hand in his and slowly reeled her in, pulling her up against his chest. His head dropped slowly to a hairs breath away from her lips. She was staring up at him with wide eyes, her lips parted in shock. Lex licked his lips as his own eye lids dropped to half cover his eyes in a smoky look of seduction. Chloe jerked against him as his tongue touched her lips in a brief caress. She licked her own lips then, the tip of her tongue brushing over his lower lip.
Lex groaned, pulling her the small distance to him, his mouth settling over her with a soft sigh of pleasure. He wrapped his arms around her, trapping her hands at her sides, as he lifted her into his mouth so he wouldn't have to bend. Rubbing his mouth from side to side he nuzzled his nose against her cheek bone. Nibbling slowly along her plump lower lip he opened his mouth over hers, hoping she would do the same.
Suddenly he felt someone tugging on her and shoving at his chest. He lifted his head and growled, opening his eyes to glare into… Bruce?
Lex was so shocked by seeing his friend that his grip on Chloe loosened enough for Bruce to snatch her from his arms. Bruce scowled at him and pulled Chloe up against his own broad body to give her a rougher kiss. One of his dark arms wrapped around the small of her back, his palm pressing into the soft indent of her spine. He used his other hand to hold her head as he pressed his lips to hers. His head tilted to the side and he opened his mouth, thrusting his tongue into hers.
Chloe jumped at the action her eyes widening even more, as muffled sounds came from her. Bruce groaned pulling his mouth away from hers, with a smug look at Lex. Lex was fuming mad. He grabbed Chloe away from Bruce, both his hands gripping the sides of his head as he licked at the seam of her now closed lips. She quivered then relaxed against him and her pressed his way inside, giving her a kiss just as good as Bruce's.
Lex pulled away with a growl, gathering the now dazed and confused girl into his arms, and spoke quickly to Bruce.
"What was that!" He yelled, on hand lifting to cover Chloe's ear, which was close to his mouth.
"You left me sleeping on the hill. Do you have any idea how I was woken up?" Bruce glared, his hands itching to pull Chloe out of Lex's embrace and into his own.
"I woke up and Lana and Nell were standing over me grinning." Bruce shuddered. "Nell offered to let me mate with Lana, and Lana just nodded her head like a child trying to please. I barely escaped with my manhood intact." Bruce scowled. "And she is not yours yet so I can damn well kiss her if I want to!" He finished with a yell of his own.
Despite the ongoing competition between them for Chloe, Lex couldn't help laughing. Chloe was watching and listening to them with confusion and awe. They were reaffirming her notion that men were bizarre.
Bruce sighed and ran a large hand through his hair. "It really isn't funny Lex… I was really scared they were going to do something to me."
Lex just laughed harder, setting Chloe on her feet as his body shook and his sides ached. Bruce slowly began to chuckle, becoming a full blown laugh after a few moments. Chloe looked back and forth between them, shaking her head with a sigh.
After both males had calmed down, they each took one of Chloe's arms(glaring slightly at each other over her head) and she showed them around the Village. After showing them all she could in the large camp of tepees, she lead them out into the land surrounding. She showed them the waving grasses and flowers that decorated the north side of the village. Leading them around the west she showed them the high blue and purple mountains.
They had seen the south, the area where much work was done, including the tanning and stretching of hides. So instead she took them east, where a small river flowed, surrounded by high shady trees which filtered the hot sun into sparkling beams of gold. The water made broken bubling sounds that made the area peaceful while the birds above sang sweetly. The lush grass under her bare feet was soft and the men decided to take off their boots.
All three of them lay back in the grass, Chloe between them and they just talked. They laughed as they spoke about Lana and Nell, Bruce and Lex both snorting or chuckling at all the right places in Chloe's stories. Chloe tried to follow along in their battle stories, but she ended up just smiling and nodding to appease them, she had no idea what they were talking about and half the time she tried not to understand because it was somewhat bloody. But they liked their stories and she liked to listen to them talk, so it all worked out.
The peace was interrupted when a bee hovered over Chloe's face. She screamed, sending the birds above them into a panic and the boys into a wince of pain at the loud and high pitched noise.
Chloe jumped up and the boys followed, Bruce grabbing her to hold her still while Lex either chased the bee away, or killed it. Chloe didn't care which. When he came back he scowled at Bruce and held out his arms, expecting him to give up Chloe into Lex's embrace.
Bruce laughed, swinging Chloe off her feet in a bridal style, and yelled out for Lex to catch her. Then with no other warning, he launched her into the air. She screamed, stopping when she thudded against Lex's chest. He had caught her in almost the exact same position as Bruce had thrown her from. She blinked at him as he chuckled. She looked back at Bruce who was also grinning.
"Don't worry… We won't drop you." Was all Lex said before he tossed her back to Bruce, who caught her with a warm smile.
"Just relax.." He said softly in her ear, his hand rubbing her back lightly in a soothing motion, just before her threw her again. Chloe was positive now, that men were insane. They just kept tossing her back and forth, talking to her and each other with smiles. And they never dropped her or missed. Slowly Chloe was able to relax, her body flowing more easily through the air and landing softer against them each time she relaxed.
Again Nell found them and interrupted their carefree joy. She was scowling at them, watching as the passed Chloe back and forth with laughter, before she interrupted.
"Ahem… Chief Bruce, Prince Lex." She smiled in a sugary sweet way that made her look like she had eaten a stick that was holding her cheeks in the smiling position.
"I hate to break up you little game, but the celebration can't start without either of you." Nell said snidely, glaring at Chloe as if it were her fault they weren't where they were supposed to be.
"Did Lana finish her hides yet Nell?" Chloe asked, her voice bold. She wasn't as tired as usual from working her body to death from sun-up to sun-down, she was fresh and saucy from the positive reinforcement she had been getting for most of the day from Lillian, Lex, and Bruce.
Nell looked like her head was bout to pop. Then she took a deep breath and the flushed red skin faded.
"YES, she did you little…"
Lex cleared his throat and Bruce shook his head in disapproval. Nell gulped and started over.
"Yes she did…. Chloe." Nell enunciated her name with a hard edge of bitterness. She had brought other hides from her tepee so Lana wouldn't have to make any more than the one she had(making sure there were no identifying marks on them), but the poor little dear still had blisters on her hands.
Chloe, Lex, Lillian, and Bruce had left them alone, knowing that they would cheat and that Nell would help lana, but they didn't care. Chloe didn't have to work, and Lana had done some work, enough punishment that the 'delicate Little Doe' would think twice (or as much as the dumb girl could) before she tried to trick her father or anyone else. Not as much as Lillian, Lex, or Bruce thought she deserved, but enough that Chloe was happy.
"She is getting ready for the celebration right now. She is wearing a new BLUE jerkin." Nell smirked, knowing that Chloe didn't have any dyed or painted jerkins. Chloe ducked her head, her eyes meeting Lex's, whose arms she was in at the moment.
"I think Chloe looks lovely in natural colors…" Lex grinned and gave her body a thorough looking at. " In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing her in her own skin.…"
Bruce laughed and nodded his agreement walking closer to Lex and Chloe. Lex set Chloe on her feet and they each took a hand, the sexual innuendo confusing her slightly. She was having trouble figuring out that they were courting her, she thought it was some odd male game between the two of them. It was, but she was the prize.
Nell scowled as she watched the males fawn over the half-breed. It was disgusting she thought. But she couldn't do anything about it yet, so she just followed them to the festival.
They think they hide their attraction for the girl well. I saw them kissing her in front of her pathetic little tepee. Just you wait Bruce and Lex… You shall be mine, and Chloe…. Chloe will suffer for trying to take what doesn't belong to her.