by Lee Savino
He passed me to pick up the pheasant. I shook myself and went to focus on my duty.
When the meat was roasted, Knut and I sat at the table together. The warrior gave me the larger portion and ate only with his left hand. His right found mine and held it under the table, the entire meal. I shifted once to strip tender meat off the bone and he let me go. As soon as I was done, though, he claimed my hand, first sucking the grease from my fingers and then resting both ours on his leg, his own fingers clamped around my wrist.
I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. As he finished his meal, his thumb played over the sensitive skin. Wet heat kindled between my legs and I started shifting to ease the tingles. Knut didn’t take his eyes off me, but I kept mine on my meal while my cheeks burned and burned.
“Finished?” he asked when my plate was a pile of bones.
I nodded. Frowned at the few scraps on his plate. “Did you eat enough?”
“The wolf had a few before he caught the fattest bird for you. Are you full?”
“Yes.”
“Warm and comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you, sir.”
His smile widened. “It does me good to hear it. Now,” he tugged me to stand between his knees. “I told you there would be a reckoning.”
“What?”
“Punishment, for your behavior in the ravine.” He cocked his head to the side. “Were you ever punished at the abbey?”
“Yes. The nuns with switches. The friar threatened us with a paddle, but mostly locked us in the scullery or had us kneel on pebbles.”
I drew up my skirt and showed him the little white scars.
Anger flickered in his face. “I will never mark you in this way. Not for punishment. You will wear my marks one day, but they will be marks of love.” His large hand settled on my shoulder, lightly collaring half my neck. His thumb stroked over my pulse.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will, little one. Now,” his tone turned stern. “You broke your word. You said you would obey and you did not. In the ravine, with the Grey Men, you ignored a direct order.”
“They were going to kill you.”
“I told you to run.”
“I could not watch you die.” I stared at the table until he caught my chin, drew my gaze to his.
“It is my right to protect and fight for you. Hazel, you could’ve been killed.”
I worried my lip.
“You promised me.”
“I know.”
He straightened, pushed his chair back from the table. “Come here,” he patted his lap.
I hesitated.
“Hazel, if you do not obey now, the punishment will be twice as long and hard.” He held out a hand, I took it and let him pull me over his knees. In that moment, I could no more resist him than I could tell my own heart not to beat.
He slid my shift up, exposing me. His leg moved, tipping my bottom up higher. He would be able to see everything—my bare, quivering bottom, the down covering my flushed sex, my pale thighs underneath.
“Have you ever been punished in this way?”
“No, sir.” It felt right to keep calling him that.
He chuckled. “Good girl.” He cupped my left bottom cheek and set the place between my legs throbbing. I shifted and the thick rod of his cock grew under my belly.
His hand squeezed, hard. “Be still, little one.” His voice was low and thick, guttural. “You do not want to tempt me anymore than you already have.”
I craned my head and met his blazing golden gaze. Knut still held me but now the man was gone, replaced by pure predator.
His fingers slid into the crevice of my bottom and I whimpered. Not because it hurt, but because my sex leaked more cream, threatening to dampen his leg.
Knut went very still.
“You like this,” he rasped. “You’re ready for me, ready for—” Instead of finishing his thought, he slid his fingers lower. A few inches and he’d reach my aching core. I wanted to fight it, even as I wanted more.
He took his hand away, placing it on my back, as a whine escaped me.
“Hazel, I’m going to punish you now.”
“Will it...will it hurt?”
“Yes,” he said gently. “It must, to teach you. In the pack, orders must be obeyed immediately. I am a leader, at the top of the pack, but even I must obey my Alpha. Your punishment will be hard enough to chastise, but it will not truly harm you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will.”
His hand smacked down.
“Did that hurt, little one?”
I let out a breath I’d been holding.
“Yes, but not much.”
He followed it up with another swat and I lost my breath again. When I struggled to get up, he held me fast and delivered a few more in rapid succession.
“Because you are new to this, I will only warm your arse. Next time you will heed me immediately or you’ll receive double the discipline. Once over my knee and again with a leather strap leaning over a table or a log. You’ll stand in the corner with your hands on your head in between.”
My sex clenched.
His hand clapped down, I kicked, and he spanked my right bottom cheek and then the left, swatting playfully but with enough force to leave a sting. He wasn’t using his full strength, not even close.
The pain pulsed in my secret places, making them even more slick. My wriggling squashed my breasts against his hard thighs and my nipples chafed against the unyielding muscle. I had to get away before the warm tendrils curling through me turned into an overwhelming blaze.
Knut struck again and I cried out as the heat turned into an inferno. My sex dripped.
“No,” I tried to wrench myself away. “You must stop.”
He caught my hands at my back and held them there. “Be still,” he warned again. “You will be still and take your punishment.”
His hand came down again, but this time massaging the sore flesh, soothing the ache. All the hurt spiraled away, leaving an intense throbbing, almost pleasurable.
“Oh, no,” I whimpered.”
“Trust me.”
My bottom throbbed, sting penetrated the very core of me. My sex ached, longing for his touch.
“This is how wolves discipline their naughty mates,” he told me. “Will you be good from now on and listen to me?”
“Yes,” my voice came in a breathless rush.
His palm caught the underside of my bottom and I squeaked. “Yes, what do you call me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good girl.”
He busied himself laying down a volley of swats, covering every inch of my bottom. I danced on my toes, whimpering. It was just on the edge of what I could take.
I stopped trying to fight it and surrendered.
I lay limp over his legs by the time he stopped.
“And now punishment for hesitating to come to me just now,” he said. “You will learn to obey immediately and run into my arms or to lie over my lap when I give the order. Open your legs, Hazel.”
Slowly I widened my stance, head hanging down and hand clutching his leg, I closed my eyes for what I knew was to come.
First though, he only cupped my sex. He paused to squeeze my bottom and his fingers slipped lower to handle my slippery folds.
“Ooooh.”
He swatted once, twice, light slaps that didn’t sting but reverberated through me in a different way. I gasped as heat rushed through me.
“Just a few more,” he murmured.
A pause and then a heavy impact on my center. The force of it rocked me forward, but I pushed back again, eager for more. The tissues between my legs were lighting up, tingling, and coming to life with each smack. He swatted me again and again, until I gasped and bucked. The coil tightened inside me snapped, pleasure flooding my body.
“There you are,” he said, stroking my back.
When I pushed up, he helped me to my feet and straightened my shi
ft.
“You all right?”
I nodded. He cupped my cheek and I couldn’t keep from leaning into his touch.
“So sweet,” he murmured. “Such a fighter, but your body knows to whom it belongs.”
I jerked back. I hadn’t fought him at all. I was supposed to be stronger than this. To set my own course, go my own way. Not trust so freely or bend to a man’s rule. Had I learned nothing from my time in the abbey?
Knut let me go. His cock pressed against the front of his breeches when he rose, but he ignored it.
“I’m getting more firewood.”
As soon as he left, I felt his loss. I almost followed him. Instead, I moved to the window overlooking the garden.
The moon had risen. It would be full soon. That would bring a whole other host of trouble.
I kept my back stiff as he entered and tended the hearth. The feelings Knut sparked during my spanking swirled through me. I barely knew this warrior and my body already responded to his touch. I’d never felt such pleasure. Already I craved more. I was warm, fed, and safer than I’d ever been. I’d all but forgotten my plans to escape. Instead of the warrior, my own desires kept me here.
“Hazel, come.”
There was nowhere to run, but my feet dragged as I went to him. Immediately he took me onto his lap, on the blanket in front of the fire.
“Sweet little one.” His thumb rubbed my cheek. “I know this is new and hard, but we will make it through. And you will learn the ways of being my mate.”
Despite myself, I sighed and melted into him.
“I know I am rough with you. All my life I’ve been at war,” he murmured in my ear. “When we are back at the mountain that is my home, you will meet the other females who’ve become Berserker brides. They will help explain what I cannot.”
“Are all the pack women treated this way?”
“Yes, when they earn it. There are only four—all sisters. And now you. I do not know what I did to earn such a treasure, but I will spend my life in gratitude for it.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. He knew his course. He was a warrior. It was so simple for him—he killed his enemies and took what he wanted. I was the one fighting battles within myself.
Knut
I turned my woman to face me, only to find her eyes brimming with tears.
“Oh, little one.” I was undone. I possessed no weapon to fight her sorrow. Her body responded to me as mine did to hers, but she was resisting her desires. I did not know why. I’d slay all her fears, if I could.
“You’re so strong,” I crooned. “I watched you face the Grey Men. Sweet and so brave, my lovely little mate.”
Wrapping my arms, I drew her down on the bed I’d made before the fire.
After a few more shuddering sighs, she slept.
I nuzzled her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair.
My beast knew she was mine, I knew she was mine. Her body knew as well.
Her mind still had to decide.
I slept lightly, and in the morning left Hazel curled in front of a cold hearth. The day was bright and fine, though storm clouds still swirled in the far away sky, right over the cave of the Corpse King. The mage was angry at the loss of his potential bride.
As I fetched water, found more firewood, and lay a few snares to catch our dinner, my head throbbed with a call coming over many leagues.
Berserkers under attack. Return home.
The many leagues between me and the mountain was enough to mute the pack bonds, but the Alpha bond was stronger. The old Knut would run through fire and death to obey the command. But now I had Hazel.
Return home.
My feet started west, the direction of the mountain. I found myself at the river before I could stop myself. When I did, my head pounded until I put up a shield in my mind.
I’d spent a lifetime obeying the Alpha’s commands. But now I would resist them.
Letting Hazel sleep, I searched the grounds thoroughly, pleased when I found a root cellar with a few apples and potatoes still fresh in the cool space. If we stayed another night, I could hunt as a wolf and make sure she was well fed. As lovely as she was, I wouldn’t mind plumping her up before the winter. The thought of curling up with her during the cold months, sating myself with her curves had my cock pressing against my breeches. My teeth gritted against the ache.
Detouring into the forest, I leaned against a tree trunk and freed my raging cock. A few minutes recalling Hazel’s plump bottom upended over my knee and I spurted so hard I almost fell to my knees. Gasping, I sagged against the trunk, and fought for control. My vision flickered as the beast howled, trying to break free.
The Alphas on one side, the Corpse King on the other. And the beast within, testing my fragile control. But I must risk it all to claim my mate.
I would defy the Alpha’s command. I would not return to the mountain until she bore my mark and accepted my bond.
There was a cold scent on the breeze as I returned to the farm, carrying a new staff I’d cut from a tree and shaved clean. The clouds were drifting closer, the Corpse King searching for what he had lost.
I stilled as Hazel appeared, pink-cheeked and lovely, rubbing sleep from her eyes. My cock came to life all over again.
“Come,” I rose and held out my hand. Pleasure curled through me as she obeyed.
After making sure there were no splinters left, I gave her the staff.
“What is this?”
“I am going to teach you to spar,” I told her.
“Here? Now?” She glanced at the coming storm.
“To pass the time. We stay here until tomorrow. Tonight, you will eat well and rest again. This morning you will learn to fight.”
She gnawed at her lip, holding the rod uncertainly.
“Shouldn’t I just use the witch’s staff?”
“That sort of power is best used sparingly. If it belongs to the witch I know, she will one day want it back.” Truth was, I didn’t even want my woman handling the scary stick. Magic always had a price.
“If you are quick enough, you may learn to best me,” I told her.
She scoffed, but brightened a little, excitement creeping into her scent. She was so lovely, her limbs smooth and sturdy, her bare neck and shoulder calling for my mark.
A flush rose in her cheeks at my scrutiny and I grinned broader.
“Come, Hazel.” I motioned to a spot in front of me. “Unless you are afraid?”
Hazel
I frowned as I weighed the staff on my palms. Insufferable warrior. He stood bare-chested in leather breeches, perfect lips curved and mocking. A breath-taking array. My body had tingled as I woke surrounded by his scent. I’d lain there awhile, dreaming of the ghost of his hand playing over my eager flesh. The memory of him spanking me was enough to make me long to touch between my legs.
A tilt of his head told me he scented my arousal. Jerking up my chin, I resolved to hit him with the staff as much as I could.
I marched to face him.
“First we work on stance.” He instructed me to stand with legs apart, planted firmly but lightly on the balls of my feet, ready for me to rock back or leap forward. He moved around me, positioning my arms and shoulders.
His touch had my body heating from more than the morning sun.
“The Grey Men are strong but do not anticipate the blows. You can rush them. Aim for their legs, do not try to overpower them. Use your speed. Your slight size. Duck and weave. Use your wits more than your brawn, and you can confuse them enough to have a chance to get away.”
“You know this just from fighting them a few times?”
“Aye. Lives are lost in the seconds it takes to learn your opponent, long before he strikes the killing blow.” He had me thrust and parry until my arms ached. As the sun rose high, he fetched the water bucket, and made me stop to eat some apples and dried meat, insisting when I refused.
“You are a good teacher,” I told him between chewing.
“I was called upo
n to teach the young warriors.”
“It is more than that,” I guessed. “You are a good fighter. One of the best in the pack.”
He inclined his head, a gracious movement followed by a sudden grin. “I will teach our sons to fight.”
My brows lifted.
With swift steps, he closed the distance between us. As he bent down, his hand settled on the back of my neck, a possessive touch I liked far too much.
“Soon, I will mark you properly, so the pack knows you are mine. We will return to the mountain and celebrate our union for a whole moon. You will spend your nights on your back beneath me and your days in my arms, too sore to walk. Within the year, you will give birth to our first child.”
My mouth dropped open.
“Tell me you don’t want this,” he challenged, raising his chin.
I could not answer. My cheeks heated and my body shook with desire. Fluid trickled between my lower lips. I was hot and ready for him.
But I shook my head. “Am I to have no choice?”
“You do not want one. Your body has chosen me,” he said smugly. His gaze dropping to my nipples, which were pointing through the dress I wore.
I put my hands on my hips.
“You said that many in pack need mates. Maybe when you bring me to the mountain, I will meet them all and then decide--”
My head snapped back as his hand fisted in my hair. “You are mine,” he growled.
His eyes flared with gold light and I froze, pulse leaping in my throat, I stared down the predator in them. His fingers tightened in my hair, all gentleness gone. “If you run, I will chase you. If you resist, I will overpower you. Push me and I will take you to bed and spank and stimulate you over and over until you are hoarse from screaming my name.”
His mouth slammed on mine. He turned me to him and held me fast, lips ravaging mine over and over. My knees buckled as heat blazed between our bodies, bringing every nerve ending to life. His fingers delved under the hem of my short dress and thrust into my wet sex. I arched up, my cries swallowed by his ruthless mouth.
My body went limp in his arms; I barely knew when he took his mouth away. He dragged me up against his hard chest, locking me against him.