Cave Man (The First Mountain Man Book 1): The First Mountain Man, #1

By Frankie Love

One minute I'm in an underground cave on a Special Ops mission, and the next thing I know, I've travelled through time.
My life became prehistoric pretty damn fast.
I may have fought the bad guys in the military, but now I had new enemies.
Woolly mammoths and saber tooth tigers – and no other humans in sight.

Five years later, I'm still stuck here. Lonely as hell with a bright yellow bird I've named Polly to keep me company. What I really want is a woman. When a flash of lightening brings rain, I'm worried about my fire going out.

Turns out that's the least of my concerns. Because there's a new storm in this Paleolithic place.
Her name is Skylar.
A gorgeous force to be reckoned with and she's plenty pissed to be stranded here with me.

Dear Reader,
It's been a long ass year and we all deserve a vacation. Forget tropical beaches – we're headed to the place where the first mountain man lives. He's feral, grumpy and hot as hell. And his hands can do more than build a fire – they'll give you the heat you crave. I know this one is a little far-fetched, but darling, you deserve something extraordinary.
Xo, frankie

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frankie Love
• Release date: Oct 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201936785

Frankie Love

Frankie Love writes filthy-sweet stories about bad boys and mountain men. As a thirty-something mom who is ridiculously in love with her own bearded hottie, she believes in love-at-first-sight and happily-ever-afters. She also believes in the power of a quickie. Get ready to fall in love … you deserve it! **Frankie also writes under the name Charlie Hart!

Book preview

1

Stone

I like being on a mission, working alongside my brothers in arms to get the damn job done, but we've been running on fumes for 48 hours. What I wouldn’t give for a good night’s sleep, with a woman in my arms.

But we’re getting close to our target. We can feel it. Taste it.

They're up ahead, Carnage shouts. He shouldn't scream, not when we’re closing in on the terrorists we’re tracking, but like I said, maybe we are all just a bit delirious. The caves we’re in are underground, water at our feet, and it’s dark. The Yucatan Peninsula may be a beautiful, lush jungle, but we’re not seeing any of that today.

When gunshots begin to sound, I know we’re in trouble. Get down, I urge Flint and Storm. Stay low.

We separate then, the five of us. And that’s probably our first mistake. Carnage goes one way, Rock another. Someone must have tossed a grenade toward the sound of the bullets because there’s a blast that decimates a chunk of earth, giving us time to get away. Instead of going deeper into the caves, we veer left, hoping we'll lose whoever’s shooting at us. Hoping like hell we'll get out alive.

But the walls of the cave shake with the aftershock of the blast. I try to catch Storm’s arm, but I can’t. He seems to have fallen through the floor of the cave – to where, I don’t know. He calls out for me, scared. I know he is. We all are. We may be bad ass burly men, but we’re still human.

Before any of us can reach one another, the cave begins to tremble.

We were sent here on a mission, but suddenly it feels like this is where we’re going to die.

If we are buried in the rubble, none of us will come out alive.

In this moment, as my world begins to fade to black, I think how much it hurts that I’m dying alone without the love of a woman, without any love at all.

I’ve spent my life working up the ranks, focused on my career, and now it's all flashing before my eyes. Sure, I’ve done a good job serving my country, but the cost has been pretty great considering I’ve never had the chance to tell someone I loved them. Never had the chance to draw a woman I loved into my arms and tell her I'd never let go.

I black out before I can worry about any more regrets.

When I come to, I'm stunned that I can move my fingers and toes. There's a gash along my chest, along my head too. When I press my fingers to it, I feel blood. My mouth tastes like metal and I spit, looking around, calling for the guys. Carnage, Flint, Rock, and Storm. No one shouts my name, calls for me.

Dammit, I know I'm in a hell of a lot of trouble now. I stand. The cave's as dark as I remembered, and I tug off my backpack, reaching for a headlamp. I flip it on, taking in my surroundings. I need to get out of this cave, stat.

Parched, I grab my metal water bottle from the pack, but it’s empty.

There's crystal-clear water at my feet, no longer murky like it was before the grenade went off. I bend over, reaching for it, suddenly desperate for something to drink. It feels like years since I’ve had water. I cup the water in my hand, taking a drink. And it’s the sweetest water I've ever tasted in my whole damn life.

I spend an hour looking for the guys – for any signs of life. But there is no one. Nothing. All I want is to get the hell out of here. If something's happened to the other men, maybe I can find them on the other side. Hell, maybe they're already out of these caves.

I'm exhausted, but the thought of daylight pushes me forward. When I finally reach an exit, I climb out of the cave, taking in the clear blue sky above.

But it’s the absolute quiet that has me stopping in my tracks. Sure, we are in the remote jungle, but this kind of quiet is unsettling. No distant cars, planes, people. A monkey swings from a tree in front of me, startling me with his howl as he catches hold of a vine.

A bird flies overhead, its wingspan wider than my outstretched arms, and I try to place it, but I can't. I've never seen a bird like that before. Bright yellow feathers, a beak that’s long and pointy, eyes alert. Looks like he could be out of The Flintstones, like a dodo bird mixed with a hawk. I don't remember learning about a creature like that when I studied this region of Mexico.

Looking around, none of this is how I remember it. None of it at all. In fact, the very ground I'm stepping on doesn't seem the same. I don't know where I exited the cave and maybe I came out the wrong way, but this can't be right.

The jungle around me is lush, thick, bright green flora and fauna like I've never seen before. I walk, mesmerized by the colors, the oversized flowers and the primitive