Unnatural Instinct: Amazon

12.

I don't want to get up. I don't want to move.

I still haven't recovered from last night, both emotionally and physically. I feel sick. I feel cold. I try to wrap several blankets around me but it does nothing to melt the ice in my veins. I shiver. My belly squirms with shame and humiliation and fear. Rolling onto my belly, I bury my face into the pillow.

It's not the smartest idea. I wince as my erection presses painfully against my belly. I woke up with it and it refuses to leave me alone. It's warm and sticky from being inside you last night. I need to wash but I'm too embarrassed to do it in front of the other men and I won't do it in the stream where any woman might find me. Where you could find me.

So lovely.

I shiver again.

I've never been used by a woman before. I feel dirty. I feel small. Is this how Earth women feel after they've had a bad encounter with a man?

The men around me are moving. Some have already left to start the day. Others are still asleep. Grey morning light filters through the window, heating up my blankets and making me sweat. How can I be so cold and yet so hot? I feel feverish. I feel sick.

I'm sick with myself.

The smell of cooking food doesn't help. I can hear women murmuring and children laughing.

I want to get up now, I can't stay here forever, but I don't want to move until my erection has gone down. The last thing I need is more female attention—not to mention jealous male attention.

Through my half-shuttered eyelids, I see Shereen enter the hut. He looks around, as though searching for something—or someone. He looks angry. And I can't help but fear that it's because of me. That he's searching for me.

It's clear he's arrived from a woman's hut. His hair is all tussled, his lips swollen and bruised. He's wearing the rapa but nothing else. It looks as though he's had sex fairly recently. His penis has curled up like a snail, flushed and soggy. I'm about to close my eyes and keep myself hidden beneath the blankets when I suddenly notice the wounds on the insides of his thighs.

It's hard to tell for sure, but they look like they've been made by fingernails. One of them is fresh enough that it's still bleeding. I see more—there's bruising around his throat and his eyes look red, as though he's been crying.

Out of nowhere I feel my heart lurch in sympathy. And I thought I'd had it bad. What the hell did she do to him?

'What the hell did she do to you?' I say, sitting up.

He stares at me and I stare at him. He looks down at the cuts on his thighs as he touches his throat with a wince. Then he looks at me and his eyes fill with tears. 'It is to be expected. She hadn't had a man in weeks.'

'So? She can't treat you like that. No woman should treat you like this.'

'She can do anything she wants. She's a woman and I am only a man.' He frowns, then his face turns red. 'Besides, it wouldn't have happened if I'd had her.'

'Who?'

He speaks your name. 'The woman you were with last night.' His eyes fall to my lap. I shift uncomfortably, remembering that I'm naked under the blanket. 'What was she—what was she like?'

'Never mind. Look at you! You're a mess. You're humiliated. She hurt you!'

He fists his hands at his sides. His bottom lip quivers. His face blazes red. 'What was she like?!' He screams it like a child.

I stare at him in disbelief, then turn my face aside, looking out the window as I take a moment to contain my emotions. I turn back.

He's frowning as he studies me. What is he thinking? Then his face suddenly darkens. His eyes blaze. His fists tremble at his sides. With a loud shriek, he's suddenly on top of me, his fingers clawed like a cat, his teeth gritted. He knocks me back into the blankets as he slaps my face and yanks my hair and tears at me with his nails.

I shout and holler and manage to shove him off, enough so that I can scramble to my feet. The hut is roused now. Men are sitting up, wide-eyed and dazed.

'What's goin' on?' one of them says as Shereen attempts to pounce at me again.

This time he punches me hard in the jaw. It's a man's punch, like any man back on Earth might give. Fire burns up the side of my face, the hut turns red. I stagger backwards through the doorway. I trip, then fall to the ground.

But he's far from finished.

He follows me outside, screaming, 'She's mine! She's mine!'

I roll away before he can kick me in the guts. He just misses, his leg swinging through the air. I stumble to my feet and turn to defend myself. It's all I can do. It seems like nobody is going to help. The men from the hut are filing out, standing in a group as they watch. As for the women, they're approaching too, smiling and joking and ribbing each other as they 'enjoy the show'.

It enrages me more than even Shereen's stupidity. They're not taking this seriously. To them, it's just a cat fight, not a real fight. No respect. No concern. Do they not care what happened to Shereen?

Do they not care what happened to me?

'Stop it, Shereen!' I snap as I stand with my fists at the ready. The women's laughter and snide remarks ring in my ears. The fact that I'm naked only adds to the humiliation. Can they see your cum? Do they know what happened last night? The thought sits like a brick in my belly. 'We should be fighting them, not each other!'

A woman shouts something so rude my ears burn. So, they do know what happened last night. All I want to do is crawl into a hole and die. Whistles and hollering follow. I pull in my shoulders and arch my neck as though they're hitting me. The urge to cover my groin is overwhelming.

Shereen doesn't listen, launching at me again. I dodge as he attempts to kick me between the legs. I jump back as he tries to rake his nails down my chest. I push the hair out of my eyes. It's so frustrating! It's so hard to see anything when it keeps falling in my face.

He scowls at me as the crowd roars and claps. This time I'm on the attack. I leap towards him, trying to grab him around the throat but all he does is fling my arms away and grab at my hair. I yell as I feel it rip from my scalp.

He stumbles back. I brush my hair back with a wince. My scalp feels like it's on fire. I can feel something warm and wet trickling behind my ear. I'm raking my tousled hair out of my eyes just as he attacks again. I try to spin out of his way but I'm not fast enough and his big fist slams into my temple. I stagger, then drop to my knees, clutching at my head as the jungle whirls above and the ground spins below.

My head gives a sickening throb, then my eyes roll back and I fall to the ground.

Darkness overcomes me.