When I woke up that morning, my body ached in the familiar way it had every day since meeting Trina, Gale, and Sapphy. My muscles were sore, my legs heavy, and I could feel the faint heat in my hips from the… enthusiastic activities of the night before.
I stretched slowly on the furs, the smell of smoke and herbs still hanging in the cave. Trina was the first to notice I was awake. She crouched beside me, her golden hair brushing my face as she nudged my shoulder.
"Hubby. We hunt now," she said simply.
Gale appeared at her side, flashing me a mischievous grin. "Hubby comes. We want hubby close."
Sapphy stepped forward from the entrance, her bow slung over her shoulder. "Yes. Hubby see us hunt."
I rubbed my eyes. "You… want me to come with you?"
Trina nodded. "Want you near."
I wasn't about to turn them down. Besides, it had been a week since I first woke up here, and I'd already learned one thing—when they said they wanted me somewhere, I ended up there whether I agreed or not.
"Alright," I said with a shrug. "Let's go."
We moved through the jungle in a loose formation, Gale up front, Trina at my side, and Sapphy bringing up the rear. The sounds of the forest surrounded us—chirps, rustles, and the occasional distant roar.
When Sapphy suddenly stopped and raised her bow, I froze. Her eyes locked on something ahead, her movements slow and deliberate as she drew an arrow and pulled back the string. I followed her gaze and spotted it—a large, bird-like creature pecking at the ground.
The twang of the bowstring was sharp, and the arrow flew in a perfect arc, burying itself into the creature's neck. It crumpled instantly.
"Nice shot!" I said before I could stop myself.
Sapphy blinked, lowering her bow. "Nice… shot?"
"Yeah," I said with a smile. "That was amazing. Perfect aim."
She stared at me, her brows knitting in confusion. "You… like what I did?"
"Of course," I said. "That was impressive. You're an incredible archer."
Her cheeks turned faintly pink, and she shifted her weight. "I… never hear words like that."
Trina tilted her head. "Why say this?"
"It's called praise," I explained. "When someone does something good, you tell them so. Makes them feel good about it."
Gale scoffed lightly. "We hunt to live. No need for… praise."
"Maybe not before," I said, "but you're my wives now, right? So I'm going to treat you like it."
They exchanged curious glances.
"Wives?" Trina echoed.
"Means… women who are mine, and I'm theirs," I said. "It's like… being together, but special."
Sapphy's lips curved into a faint smile. "I… like special."
From then on, I made it a point to praise them. When Trina brought down a charging beast with her spear, I told her she was the strongest woman I'd ever seen. When Gale snuck up on prey so quietly that even I didn't hear her, I told her she was as stealthy as a shadow.
And every time I praised them, I noticed something. Their breathing would hitch, their eyes would soften, and their cheeks would flush.
By the end of the second day of doing this, I realized I'd created something dangerous.
I'd given them a praise kink.
That night, after I told Sapphy her latest shot was flawless, she practically pounced on me before we'd even finished dinner. Gale wasn't far behind, throwing me onto the furs with a wicked grin. Trina sealed the deal by pinning my wrists above my head.
"Hubby likes what we do," Gale said, straddling me. "We… like that."
"Hubby says nice words," Sapphy added, already tugging at her loincloth. "Makes us feel… hot."
Trina's lips curved into a predatory smile. "Hubby will pay for making us feel this way."
I don't think I got a single moment of rest that night. One after another, they took turns riding me, their movements growing faster and more desperate every time I so much as muttered "good girl." By the time the fire burned low, I was sprawled on my back, drenched in sweat, my legs trembling from exhaustion.
It got to the point where walking the next morning was… a challenge. My thighs protested every step, and I moved like an old man in need of a cane.
And yet, when the nights came, I never turned them down.
A week passed in this rhythm. Hunt by day, pleasure by night. They brought home game, I cooked it. I'd taken up the role of meal preparation without thinking about it—roasting meat, trying different herbs they brought back, even attempting to make something resembling soup with the crude tools they had.
The girls didn't understand the concept of "flavor" before me, but now they lit up when they tasted something different. And, of course, I praised them when they helped me gather ingredients or made a particularly good kill. Which, naturally, kept the cycle going.
Life here wasn't exactly what I'd imagined when I first woke up on the sand… but I'd gotten used to it. I wasn't just surviving anymore—I was living. And if that meant being hunted down in bed every night by three impossibly beautiful cavewomen who couldn't get enough of me, well… I wasn't going to complain.