Billy sat patiently between Keedo and Eshana. A few of the female villagers approached Billy, only to touch his face, necklace, and hair, before giggling to themselves and walking away. The young and old men were more interested in Billy's muscles, which they poked and prodded in fascination. Coming from a time of plentiful nutrition, and access to a gym besides, Billy understood that he must seem like a giant to them.
Billy’s reaction to the villager's curiosity was to remain completely still, sweat dripping down his embarrassed face, and hands nestled in his loincloth covered lap.
“They are intrigued by you,” Keedo whispered to Billy. “They haven’t seen someone like you before. Your skin is quite pale. Eshana had to explain to them that you were not dead.”
How soon the ego deflated. “Fantastic for my self-esteem,” Billy groaned. Still, this wasn’t about him. He raised his eyes towards Auru, at the edge of the riverbank, gleefully commanding the attention of the crowd. With his large size and larger personality, it wasn’t a difficult feat capturing everyone’s attention.
Auru puffed out his chest, and wildly gesticulated while he recounted how he had rescued Billy from being eaten. “And then–RAGGHH–came the biggest lion anybody ever saw! He would have torn out Billy’s throat if it hadn’t been for my quick thinking, and my undefeatable bear hug!” At this, Auru was seized by the need to flex his muscles and grin for the crowd.
Some of the younger women giggled to themselves. Billy put on a shit-eating grin, while everyone whispered and pointed at him. The younger boys applauded their hero hunter’s performance, of course.
Eshana, who had patiently indulged the hunter, rolled her eyes. “And how long is this tale?” the crone asked, fidgeting with her bone necklace. “I asked merely for an introduction, not a life story.”
Auru’s eyes widened. “Ohhhh, sorry Eldress! I’m just getting to the good part! RAGH! So then I snapped that monster like a twig–RAGGH!” Auru hammered his chest, causing the women to gasp, the men to ‘Ooooh’ and ‘Aaah’, and the Eldress to…well…yawn.
A tossed pebble, from the direction of the opposite embankment, landed at Auru’s feet. He regarded it for a moment, before shifting his language in a less ‘bombastic’ direction. The muscular hunter’s cheeks reddened. “And then I was…uh…rewarded handsomely by the mysterious, kindly, Billy."
Eyes darted in Billy's direction. His color changed. "Oh, Auru, thanks, but they don't need to--"
"He and I mated most passionately!”
“Oh,” Billy said, coughing. His cheeks flamed red.
“I mounted him like the bull of my namesake,” Auru went on, with the enthusiasm of someone describing their favorite meal. “And just so, I filled him to the brim with my potent seed. I am sure he will produce many offspring in due time." He smiled cheerfully. "Isn’t that right, Billy?”
Even though Billy’s head was now firmly buried in his hands, he could still feel eyes fastened to his body. He looked up at Keedo’s smirking face and said, “Hey, man. Do you mind taking that spear of yours and stabbing it right through my heart?”
“What?” Keedo said. “Like, right now?”
“His humor is strange but it is only a jest,” Eshana said to her faithful bodyguard, probably saving Billy’s life in the process. Suddenly, Eshana tilted her face up towards the riverbank. “Oh no. Gods be good—here comes trouble…”
Billy attempted to follow her line of vision, but Auru made a better door than a window, and took up most of Billy’s sight line.
“That’s when Billy and I saw your village and decided to approach your clan. You see, I don’t have a clan of my own anymore. Not since the big fire. That’s why I’m hoping you will allow Billy and I to stay with you. I can offer my hunting skills, and Billy can off his fertility skills. He will make a great mate for many of your men!”
Plonk.
“Gr?” A pebble collided with Auru’s head. He groaned and stepped out of the way.
Now, Billy saw who the hell was chucking stones at his oversized friend. Billy expected some Elk Clan punk from the other side of the river. He did not expect one of the biggest, most beautiful brutes he’d ever laid eyes on. “Uh…Auru, buddy.”
The villagers began whispering and pointing. Some of the men even growled, bearing their teeth, and pounding the earth in anger. Eshana sat with her eyes shut tight in frustration.
With a stern look, Keedo used his spear to push himself off the ground. “Do you want me to—”
“No,” Eshana said, curtly. “Let us first see how Auru reacts to our…friendly neighbor.”
Plonk!
The next pebble smacked Auru right in the cheek. “Ow! Who threw that!?” Auru’s face turned the color of fresh ochre. He could not let this insult slide! “RAAAAAHHH!” Auru roared. He turned and stomped down towards the shore to face his new nemesis. “Hey, you! Big man! STOP THAT!”
“And just who is this enormous, smelly, fool!” the man on the other side of the water said boastfully. Billy saw that he rivaled Auru in size, muscle, and even looks!
“Smelly!?” Auru said. “I bathe in the river every day! I am Auru, the fiercest hunter of them all. And who are you, stone thrower?”
“That is Strong Elk,” Eshana said, for Billy and Auru’s benefit. “He is the leader of the Elk Clan, who once hunted alongside us and shared their bounty.” Billy thought she looked visibly annoyed at the intruder. This was obviously not the first time he had pestered the clan.
Billy looked over at the living, Frank Frazetta illustration towering over the other side of the water. Strong Elk captured the essence of his very name. He was beautiful and masculine, with broad shoulders, and pectorals just as big as Auru’s (and a tiger-striped loincloth twice as small as Auru’s). Unlike Auru, however, Strong Elk was fairer of skin, with hair the color of sun on a clear day.
“HAHAHA!” The muscular clan leader’s chest bounced up and down with the timbre of his laughter. Once Elk had made his opinions known–and was thoroughly satisfied at the new color of Auru’s reddening skin–he tossed back his long, wheat-colored locks over his shoulder in arrogance.
He dropped the next pebble, meant for Auru’s noggin, into the river. “You simple Bull Clan people really believe this moron? Us in the Elk Clan don’t waste time listening to silly stories. We are fierce hunters!” To the point, Elk’s eyes took on a sharp ferocity, and he roared so loudly that it nearly sent a ripple over the water. The beating of his chest sounded like the rolling thunder of an oncoming storm.
Billy bit his lip. But not out of nervousness. I...need to feel him. Internally.
Auru turned to see the women of the tribe making doe-eyes at the Elk, and the men draw back in fear of Strong Elk’s might. That incensed Auru more than the muscle-brained moron from the other side of the river interrupting his story. “Auru is the fiercest hunter around!” Auru barked back. He took in a lungful of air and let out his own, less impressive roar, in the hopes of intimidating his rival.
Strong Elk merely shrugged off the attempt. “Heh. The mewing of a lion cub, and nothing more. Auru, you may have the muscles, but that’s ALL YOU HAVE! You don’t even have a mate!”
Billy cleared his throat. “Hi,” he said in a small voice. He raised his hand. “I am right here.”
“I cannot see you very well from this side of the river,” Strong Elk called back. “Which means you too must be very tiny and insignificant.”
Auru threw Billy a glance sharper than a spear. “Huh. I seem to remember one sleep ago when you said you could not be my mate. What changed?”
Damn, I miss when Eros’s magic filtered out the stone age sarcasm. “Hey, I’m just trying to be a bro! Are you gonna’ let pretty boy talk to you like that, Auru?”
“Do not come into this village and sow seeds of disharmony,” Eshana warned Billy, darkly, chilling him to the bone. “There is more to Strong Elk’s spirit than at first glance and—oh no, Auru, don’t!”
Auru stomped down to the muddy riverbank, leaving craters of footprints behind. “I DON’T SEE A MATE WITH YOU EITHER MAMMOTH-BREATH!” He pointed accusingly at the blonde brute.
“Ha! I have many wives and many children. Sounds like you have nothing, and have come into this village seeking shelter, like a stray wolf cub sniffing for his mama’s milk.”
Auru grit his teeth. “You may claim to sow your seed like a wild beast, but I bet all the women in your tribe think you’re stupid…AND THAT YOU STINK!”
“S-STINK!?” Strong Elk’s eyes bugged out. Suddenly embarrassed, he sniffed his own armpit. “STRONG ELK SMELLS THE BEST! COME ACROSS THE RIVER AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!” The near-naked goliath from the other tribe held up a meaty fist.
Auru bore his teeth and growled, ready to lunge forward, swim the short length of the gap, and clobber Strong Elk across his pretty head. “OH YEAH? I THINK I WILL–STRONG SMELL!”
“Enough!”
This time, it was both Auru and Strong Elk who flinched. Billy, choosing wisely to let the Eldress intercede, scuttled out of Eshana's path. Despite her stature, the Eldress stood tall and proud. She fixed Auru with her gaze. Even Strong Elk was captured by her frightening stare.
Eshana’s voice was as clear as the rushing brook in front of her. “There is no need for disharmony between the Clans of the Bull and Elk. We have gotten along as far back as the time before my mother’s time.” She paused. “We also share a common sorrow. Let tragedy not drive a wedge further between our people but bring us closer together!”
Even from the distance, Billy saw Strong Elk’s expression soften, and the luster of his pride fade. Strong Elk huffed. “Pretty words mean nothing now.” He narrowed his eyes at Auru. “At least your tribe has a new hunter, fool as he is.
Auru snorted in his distaste of Elk’s presence. “Brave for you to say that from all the way over there!”
“I’LL CRUSH YOU!” Strong Elk shouted.
“I’LL CRUSH YOU!” Auru threatened back.
Strong Elk pounded his chest in anger. “RAGGGH!”
Auru did the same, turning his own pectorals red with his handprints. “RAGGGH!”
The children and women scattered at this display of masculine bravado, while the men who had come to watch Auru meekly slunk away, not wanting to catch Strong Elk’s attention. More confused than afraid, Billy watched Eshana remain steadfast, with hands fastened on her hips.
“Boys, BOYS!” she commanded, afraid the two muscle-heads might pass out from shorting out their lungs. “Auru, ignore him. He’s just trying to goad you into doing something stupid.” She gestured to Elk’s side of the watery divide. “And you. You are a leader, not a child. Stop acting like an impudent whelp and return to us when you wish to speak like the leader that you are!”
Whether Eshana's sharp words had truly sunk into his skin, or not, Strong Elk suddenly grew bored with this folly. He turned around, his loin cloth flying in the breeze and giving Billy a glance of Strong Elk’s elklike, muscle butt. “Get a good look at my backside, weaklings. I’ll be sure to return to hear more of your stupid stories–when I’m not hunting big game and RUTTING, that is.” Strong Elk charged up the bank and vanished into the thicket of trees.
Auru pouted and stomped his feet one more time. He whipped around to Billy, Keedo, and the Eldress, suddenly remembering they were all watching him. “He makes me so angry!” he shouted. He wiped sweat from his upper lip. “Just because he’s tall, and has nice hair, and big muscles, and is the leader of his people, doesn’t mean he can bully us, right?”
Eshana breathed, summoning her patience. “No," she said. "Strong Elk was once an ally, but his temperament has changed. He now commands most of the hunting grounds that our once clans shared, and drives many of our people away."
"I'll show him!" Auru spat back. "I'll go into his grounds and fell the biggest antelope you-"
"You will do no such thing," Eshana said, punctuating her statement with a strike of her cane against the wet earth. "Though meager in game, there are other nearby places for you to hunt. Do not invite Strong Elk's wrath by venturing into the grounds on the other side of the river. It is forbidden."
The big hunter blinked, unable to process the Eldress’ words. Billy stood up and gave him a nervous look.
Wise Eshana nodded towards the village grounds, where a roaring fire and smoked meat awaited them for feasting time. “Come now,” she said. “Let us eat and commune, so we may get to know each other better. I think your stories…may be preferred in shorter increments.”
Billy saw an angry vein throbbing on Auru’s forehead. He grunted. “Very well. But tomorrow, I would like to go on a hunt and prove myself worthy, to your people, Eldress.” He smiled down at Billy. “And you will come with me!
“I will?” Billy swallowed.
“Yes! It’s time you became a real hunter. Just like your big friend!”
It wasn't as if Billy could argue, especially as Auru had, in his excitement, pulled Billy into a tight headlock. I'm not sure how much more of Auru's enthusiasm I can take!
Night fell, faster than Billy expected. Being a time before readily available illumination, the villagers went to sleep not long after the sun dipped below the glaciers. Billy's circadian rhythm, however, was still matched to the 2024 lifestyle of caffeine, late night video game sessions, and laying in bed while doom-scrolling on social media. Sleep was still hard.
The floor of Keedo's hut was harder. Billy tried shuffling the straw mats on the floor into something resembling bedding, but all it did seem to do was make Auru giggle at the futile effort. Regretting having ever cursed out the god of love and commencing this disastrous expedition into the past, Billy dejectedly laid himself down on the uncomfortable material and propped his head against his backpack, using it as a pillow.
Prehistoric novelty was starting to wear thin. Billy missed the comfort of his bed, even if it was currently empty. "I don't think I'll be very good at hunting," he mumbled to Auru.
Keedo was on watch-duty for the next few hours, which meant Auru and Billy had the hut to themselves for the night. Next to Billy, the brawny hunter scratched his butt and yawned. "How will you know if you do not try? I can show you how to track game. And how have you managed to survive this long in the wild without learning how to hunt?"
Auru removed his loin cloth and let it drop. Billy had grown accustomed to the natural nudity of both his friend and the villagers now, so he hardly blinked at Auru's 'display'. "Privilege," Billy said. He shut his eyes.
Auru shifted and snuggled his big body up next to his friend. "What kind of animal is that?"
Billy sighed. "Never mind."
"Are you becoming sick?" Auru asked. He wrapped his large arm over Billy's shoulder and neck. "You seem different. Like water may start to come out of your eyes. Maybe you should take those stones off your neck. Unless they're important to you, of course."
"I can't take them off."
"Why not?"
"A god put them on me."
"Oh. Okay."
Billy knew Auru was trying to call him 'moody', but didn't have the language for it. "I am fine," Billy lied. He thought for a moment, and pulled Auru's arm closer across his body. "Just a little sad. I am very far from my tribe. From the people I know."
"What happened to your tribe, anyway?" Auru asked.
"They're still around. Just far away."
"Did they exile you?"
Auru was a warm fixture against Billy, and he welcomed the muscle cuddles. "I exiled myself," Billy admitted. "I stopped being my mate's...mate. He got mad. My friends got mad. Instead of addressing it, I started acting stupid. Now I'm starting to realize I was trying to sabotage myself as a form of self-punishment." Billy paused. "I think I was believing that I deserved to be lonely."
Auru was quiet, which Billy expected. Then, he said, "I do not understand everything you just said, but I do understand 'lonely'." The caveman held Billy closer, puling him into a spooning position. "That is why I was sad when you said you could not stay with me. Are you going to leave the village soon?"
"I will have to, eventually," Billy said. "But not until I know you are happy and safe here." Smiling in the dark, Billy pressed his fingers over Auru's large hand. "Even if I cannot make you happy, I want to do something to help you."
"You do make me happy, Billy," Auru said. "I am happy we met. So...when the sun rises, let me teach you how to hunt."
As soon as Billy felt Auru's lips against his neck, he sensed where events were proceeding. "I was trying to fall asleep," Billy said, laughing in the dark, changing the subject and trying hard to not become hard. It wasn't working.
"I do not think anybody should have to be lonely," Auru said. "Though being alone can sometimes be good. Just...not for too long."
Billy tensed. He had severely underestimated Auru. "Yeah. I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For thinking you wouldn't understand because you are a caveman."
"Do you call yourself and your people 'hut-men'? I still do not understand what a caveman is." Auru groaned. "Are you making laughter at me?"
"What! No!" Billy's mind turned to the dreadful thought of Eshana cooking and feeding Billy his sneakers as punishment for being so historically insensitive.
"Ok, good, because I will squeeze you until water does come from out of your eyes!" Auru laughed, but his sudden, tight grip around Billy's mid-section (which did, in fact, caused Billy to squeak) hinted that he wasn't entirely joking.
Billy shifted, either consciously or unconsciously grinding his butt and small of his back into Auru's pelvis. "I'm not sure I will be able to sleep."
"Why?"
"For me, it's hard sleeping on the ground like this. Without a pillow."
"I do not know what a pillow is, but even though you do not have one, you have something better."
"What?"
The big man took his arm, slipped it under Billy's neck, and brought his head right up against his warm chest. "An Auru."
Endorphins seeped into Billy's brain, as well as other sensitive places. His cock twinge at Auru's touch. Not that it ever took a lot to get Billy stiff, but having his face pressed into warm, hard-soft pecs usually did the trick. Billy was hardly tiny, but compared to Auru's mass, it was easy to nest in the curves of his muscles.
"Yeah, much better than a pillow," Billy said. The temptation to touch himself was strong, but he did not want to offend Auru. Prehistoric society had more of a healthy, direct approach to sex and consent than what Billy had always presumed, and he wanted to be mindful of etiquette.
Though, the warm, hard object pushing into the crevasse of Billy's ass was telling. As well as Auru's soft, clipped grunts, the same noises he made whenever he was in 'heat' (which was often).
Billy pushed himself back into Auru. Though the heavy-set hunter could not see it, Billy's sly smile glowed in the dark. "You...seem like you want to cuddle, big guy," he said. "An 'involved' cuddle."
The kiss and nuzzle against Billy's neck was the 'green light' he'd been looking for. As was Auru's closed hand slowly moving up and down Billy's shaft. "Billy is going to need bravery for the hunt tomorrow," Auru said. "I always do this at night to help put my mind at ease." Auru mouthed and nibbled Billy's neck, while slowly pushing his body against his. "My strong, handsome, mate."
A small gasp escaped Billy's mouth, partly because of Auru's near-perfect way of stroking Billy's cock, and also because Auru had tightened his bicep against Billy's neck, in an effort to bring him closer, but indirectly appealing to Billy's choking kink. Billy surrendered to his desire, and to Auru.
I haven't been milked this perfectly and gently since college. Billy shuddered. He felt himself leak. The wet sounds from Auru's pumping confirmed it. "Auru, that feels so fucking good."
Auru replied with another series of kisses, all to strategic 'weak points' on Billy's neck. "I am happy you find it 'fucking good'," he said.
Which was nearly enough of an unintentionally hilarious statement to kill the mood, but it was a testament to Auru's technique that Billy only moaned and expelled further wet strands of precum onto his own thigh.
Auru gently laughed, nuzzling his beard across Billy's neck in order to add further sensation. "You are squirming," he said, tightening his hold around Billy's head as well as around Billy's wide chest. "You are like when I catch a squirrel."
It took Billy a lot of restraint not to say something mindlessly stupid like, 'Hunt me; I want to be your squirrel.' Not as if he was capable of speech at this point. Billy was glad his head was turned away, for all the faces he was making as a result of Auru's strokes.
Something warm and wet pushed through the gap between Billy's thick thighs, breaching the space just under his heavy, aching balls. Billy looked down to see Auru's round, thick, jewel of a cock pulsing beneath his, overtaking it in girth and length.
"Mmmm." Auru growled with delight, pulling Billy close. He thrusted between Billy's legs, now self-lubricated by his own secretions. "Your thighs are so big and strong. You must be able to run very fast. Good for catching prey."
Apparently, Auru found this hypothesis a major turn on. Billy looked down at Auru's cock, grinding and prodding against his, and watched in wonder as its veins pulsed and head twitched. Auru spurted a long trail of white. Billy worried Auru had shot his shot too soon, but then Auru only pulled and pushed faster and faster, putting Billy's fears to rest.
The visual was enough to take Billy to the edge. Now, Auru had moved on to milking both of them at once, single-handedly, capping each stroke with a satisfying twist at the end. There wasn't a particularly large discrepancy in their lengths, so Auru was able to fit both of their combined manhood easily in his hand.
Billy arched his back, twisting his head so he could attempt to kiss Auru (he managed to get the corner of his lips). "Hold me close," Billy whined. He worried Keedo might walk in on them, but considering the watchman's blaise attitude towards sex, he would probably wouldn't bat an eyelash.
Wet sounds, moans, and low growls filled the hut. Auru was relentless in his kissing and nuzzling of Billy's neck.
"Good Billy," he whispered.
Billy had never been gooder. "Yeahhhh," he moaned, mindlessly, feeling Auru dominate his cock from the bottom. His legs were now drenched. "I'm your good Billy alright. Agh."
Most surprising, it was Auru who came first. The caveman suddenly jerked, a full body convulsion that nearly caused Auru to crush Billy's neck and abdomen. The caveman buried his face into Billy's back and growled, sending waves of reverberation though his mate.
Billy felt a firehose go off between his legs, and actually heard the sound of cum shooting. He looked down to see a flood of silver, viscous white. Auru stroking had taken him to the edge, but Auru's orgasm threw him clean off of it.
"Ohh I'm gonna cum," Billy gasped.
Auru must have been anticipating this, watchful hunter that he was. He released Billy's throat and moved his hand and fingers over Billy's mouth, muffling him. With one final, deliberate, slow stroke, Auru literally pulled the cum out of Billy's cock.
Billy was more of a dribbler than a cum cannon like Auru, but he fired long and heavy all the same. He gasped and bucked against Auru, glad that the caveman had silenced his muffled groans.
When all was done, and Billy starving for oxygen, he turned back at Auru and kissed his wet beard. Cum-covered or no, the men wrapped their arms around each other, savagely kissing and making out while their still-hard members anointed each other with their seed.
"Keedo's floor," was all Billy could say, when he finally recovered the ability to speak. He tried to messily spread the dirt around the literal puddle where he and Auru had collectively sown their loads, but it just made Billy's hands dirty, which made Auru point and laugh.
Rnnnnnnnnnn.
The unearthly low sound, and its accompanying rumble, clipped Auru's laughter short. For what felt like the longest five seconds of Billy's life, Billy just stared, wide-eyed at Auru, throughout a series of tremors.
Billy had experienced only one earthquake before, during his study abroad in Mexico City. But it felt nothing like this. "Earthquake?" Billy whispered to Auru.
Thankfully, the rumbles tapered off. Auru, whose face was quite stern, grunted. "No," he whispered. He slowly extended his hands.
Shattered nerves slowed Billy's ability to process this game of charades. He did his best. "Big? Something big?" By now, his teeth were chattering. His ears, however, picked up nothing more than insect sound outside the hut.
Auru's gesture was clumsy, but it did the trick. He moved his elbow to his nose and swung his arm forward, in an arc. An elephant trunk.
Or, more precisely, a mammoth. It was enough to make Billy lay back down and stare up at the ceiling in fright.
"It is gone," Auru said, surprisingly nonchalant. He laid next to Billy and forced Billy to place his head on his chest. Auru cradled Billy with his arm. "You would know if it was not."
Not the most reassuring words.
Nor were the words that came from Auru next. "Well, now that I have given you some bravery, we can go hunting tomorrow."
Billy sighed. Prehistoric whiplash. "Sure," Billy said. He felt himself, mercifully, drifting into sleep.
Auru grinned. "And we're gonna do it in Strong Elk's forest," he said, slapping his fist inside his palm.
"Yeah," Billy yawned.
And then, "FUCKING WHAT!?"
