Rolf shrugged. “All right. Gunnar’s never wrong.”
“Fuck. I know that. But what do we do about it?” Erik of the long brown hair asked.
Gunnar walked to the base of the tree where I hid and settled his back against it. “We get the Queen out here. Sophia’s not going to believe anything we say. Maybe she’ll listen to one of her own.”
***
Rolf
Gunnar was too calm. I’d rarely seen him this relaxed, and never when we were on so important a mission. In the transporter room, when it was discovered Sophia had been transported intentionally to the wilds, I saw a tick in his jaw, his fists clench. He didn’t lose control. Ever. But the intensity he wore like a second skin had faded, confusing me. Why was he so fucking calm?
True, Gunnar wasn’t keen on a mate, but he’d accepted the arrangement. I expected neither he nor Erik would ever fall over themselves for our matched bride—like Lev had been when he’d gotten his mate and daughter in his hands after the mistaken transport—but love her or not, they were possessive fucks. If Sophia was ours, both would see her safe, see her cared for. Protected. Cherished even. But love? Not happening.
But knowing that our Sophia was lost in the fucking wilds made Gunnar frantic in his own, quiet way. His calm was deceiving to many an enemy, causing them to relax a fraction of a second before Gunnar went for the kill. But now, in the wilds, Gunnar didn’t even seem concerned for our mate.
Gunnar sat on the ground, his back leaning against the tree and his ion blaster across his lap. He nodded at Erik and me. “You two, set up a perimeter around me while we wait for the Queen.”
I caught Erik’s eye, who shrugged and moved to Gunnar’s left, farther up the trail we’d been following, but remaining in sight. For a minute or two, I stood, confused. What the hell was going on?
“Gunnar, we should keep moving,” I advised. “I know you didn’t want a mate, but this is not the time…”
“Of course, I want her.” Gunnar practically barked at me, his calm façade cracking. But this was the first time I’d ever heard such a statement from him. His odd behavior concerned me, for the three of us were her mates together. We’d all been matched to her. Without Gunnar, the match would not be complete.
Gunnar used his blaster to indicate I should head to his left, opposite Erik, and set up a true perimeter guard around him and the damn tree.
I arched a brow and squatted down before him to argue. His dark eyes met mine. Held. Then shifted up.
I’d been blind to what my friend wasn’t saying.
My shoulders relaxed. Sophia was here. Above us. Gunnar hadn’t given up, he was protecting her. What Earth woman, who’d transported into fuck-knows-what, been attacked and forced to kill a man before running off, alone, into the woods, would come out of hiding for three Viken hulks like us? If Gunnar pulled her from the tree, she’d be afraid of us, terrified even, and wouldn’t be calm enough to sense our connection. Our bond.
If she was afraid of us, we’d never be able to make her truly ours.
And so we’d go about it another way. We were more blast-and-grab or shock-and-awe kinds of warriors. This calm approach was almost unnerving, but our quarry had never been a mated female before. Our mate.
“Erik, call the kings,” I said. “Get Queen Leah here. She’s from Earth. Our mate will trust her.”
Erik’s eyebrows winged up at my agreement with Gunnar, but he only nodded and spoke into the InterCom on his wrist, coordinating with Lev and offering our exact coordinates for them to travel to after transport. “Bring guards with you, the transport center is not secure,” he said before signing off.
We were the only ones out here, but there was a dead man outside the transport center to prove that evil lurked.
“I estimate twenty minutes until their arrival,” Erik said.
We had walked quite a distance tracking Sophia, but we’d turned several times and ended up parallel to the transport station. With the coordinates in advance, the others would take the direct route we had not.
“Our mate, I believe she will be a handful,” Gunnar commented, looking down at his fingernails.
Erik frowned and I walked a few feet in the opposite direction to watch the trail behind us. “Oh? She looked beautiful in the testing image, not difficult,” I countered. “Her hair looked soft to touch. Her skin smooth. I, for one, can’t wait to find her, difficult or not.”
“Not difficult,” Gunnar clarified. “A handful. Courageous. Fierce. Determined. Passionate. If she is matched to us, she will not be meek.” He grunted. “I do not want meek.”
No, I knew he didn’t. However, submissive was quite different. “I doubt she’ll be meek, Gunnar. She was convicted of smuggling, after all. Our lady is a pirate.”
Erik laughed. “Oh yes. According to her profile, she was very busy breaking Earth’s laws before her transport. I can’t wait to feel all that rebellious fire riding my cock.”
Gunnar raised a brow. “Her past is irrelevant. She’s ours now. If she believes she can get away with such rebellion here, she’ll earn a place over my knee.”
Erik’s humor erupted in rapid-fire speech. “You’ll take her over your knee regardless, Gunnar.” He lifted his weapon so the barrel rested against his shoulder, pointed to the sky.
Gunnar grinned at me. “No. Spanking her pretty little ass will be Erik’s pleasure.”
Fuck. My cock grew hard at the thought. I hoped she misbehaved, challenged us. Often. I knew Erik would pet her naked ass and plunge his fingers into her wet pussy as he made her bottom burn. If I were lucky, she’d have her mouth around my cock as he did it.
I watched Erik for a moment before laughing. “Well, since she’s been matched to all three of us, no doubt she’ll want it as much as he does.” And she’d want my dirty words filling her ears as he did it, as we took her, fucked her, filled her and made her ours forever.
“If she’s anything like the Queen, she’ll be perfect,” I said, and decided to maintain my watch, but from a comfortable position as well. I leaned back against a tree a few feet from Gunnar and crossed my ankles.
Erik looked at me as if I were crazy. Perhaps I was, since I was desperate to get Sophia into my arms and fuck her, just like the dream I’d had during the matching protocols. And then some.
Gunnar loved control. Erik loved public discipline and had a particular obsession with the feminine ass. Me? I wanted to mind fuck our little mate. I wanted her head as tangled up with our cocks as her heart. The bonding essence in our seed would ensure she wanted us, needed our touch. But that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more. I wanted her mind as well as her body.
Noticing the confusion on Erik’s face, I flicked my gaze up high into the tree, just as Gunnar had for me.
“You Sector One men love to show off your mates. Don’t you, Erik? You probably want to walk her naked through the courtyards, settle her on her knees, spank her and fuck her with all of Viken United watching,” I said.
Erik glanced to Gunnar, still at ease at the base of the tree. It took him a few seconds, but he caught on. Sighed. “Gods, yes. Stripped bare, she will come awake beneath our hands as a crowd gathers to admire her body. Her nipples will tighten into hard little pebbles and her pussy will weep with desire as Gunnar holds her hands behind her back. Rolf, you’ll have your head between her thighs, feasting on all that sweetness. I’ll adorn her nipples with clamps, with little gems dangling from them. You’ll tongue her until she begs, but she’ll wait for permission to come.”
Gunnar grunted approval, his free hand adjusting the large bulge in his pants. “I’ll make sure she is mindless with pleasure before I let her come.”
Erik agreed. “And when she does, I’ll fill her ass with my cock.”
Gunnar grunted at Erik’s story. My cock hardened at the thought of getting my mouth on her perfect pussy.
“She might come from Rolf’s mouth on her pussy,” Gunnar added. “But one orgasm won’t be enough for our mate. We k
now she needs more. One man won’t push her body as she’d need. No, she’ll need all of us.”
Erik shifted his cock in his pants. “Our mate will love it when we take her.”
“Everywhere,” I added. I looked at Gunnar, who looked nearly asleep he was so relaxed. I knew it was an act, meant to soothe our frightened mate.
“And everyone will see how beautiful she is, how she responds to her mates, how she comes when we command. Everyone will be envious of us,” Erik added. The man was an exhibitionist and would all but flaunt Sophia, taunting every warrior at Viken United, and anywhere else, with what they couldn’t have. He’d show, but not share.
“And what of our seed power?” I asked. “No Viken woman can bond to three men.”
Gunnar shook his head. “No. A Viken woman would not. But Sophia is human, like our Queen. She is ours. And like our Queen, she will accept seed from all three of us. Bond to all three of us.”
“Gods, she’ll be insatiable,” I added.
“I won’t complain if she can’t keep her hands off me,” Erik added.
“Nor I,” Gunnar said.
It was becoming too painful to continue this line of conversation. All I wanted to do was pull out my cock and jerk off. But I would save my seed, save my orgasm for when I was deep inside Sophia’s pussy. My pleasure belonged to her, just as hers did to me. To all three of us.
Just then, we heard voices calling our names.
They weren’t being stealthy, their footfalls heavy and the underbrush rustled as they moved.
“Over here!” Gunnar called, rising to his feet.
Soon enough, Lev and Leah stood before us, surrounded by a host of a half dozen royal guards dressed as we were, in full military uniform with red bands around their arms to signify their service to Viken United, to our three kings and their beloved mate and daughter.
We bowed, but Leah wasn’t in the mindset of a queen, but of an impatient woman.
“Where is she?” she asked. “Is she hurt?”
“I do not know her condition, my Queen. I suspect she is terrified and would not have come down without you here, a friend from Earth, to reassure her.” Gunnar pointed up and everyone’s heads lifted. I’d avoided even glancing in that direction for fear Sophia would know she’d been discovered and panic.
Leah squinted for a moment, then gasped. “Sophia? Oh, sweetie, what are you doing up there?”
We could only see the side of our mate’s face, the rest of her hidden behind the huge trunk of the tree. Panic at the thought of her falling from such a height had me stepping closer to the base. I was glad I hadn’t looked up before now, otherwise I would have climbed the tree and saved her.
Her hair was long and golden and her eyes were wide and fearful. In just her slip, her skin was creamy and smooth, just like Queen Leah’s. And she was small. So very small. How had she fought against the dead man…and won?
Gunnar was right. Our mate was far from meek. And she did not look impressed with the small army of Viken warriors below her. Leah was the only female among us, the only one our mate might trust.
Chapter Five
Rolf
Sophia didn’t move, didn’t even blink as the Queen shouted up into the tree.
“Listen, Sophia. I know you’re from New York. Antonelli? Italian, right? I’m Leah Adams, from Miami. I’m from Earth, too. I walked away from cheeseburgers and bad TV to come here. Actually, I had an abusive and controlling asshole fiancé. Perhaps Warden Egara mentioned me after your testing? I was the first mate matched to Viken and I got the three kings. They’re identical triplets.” She angled her head to Lev. “They’re all hot like him.”
She paused, let the words sink in. Sophia did not respond. Leah stepped forward and held her hands out at her sides, imploring our mate to come down.
“Your mates are here. They were frantic for you. They found you and they’ve been sitting here, guarding you. Waiting for me to introduce you. Don’t be afraid of them. They’re the good guys, I promise. You can come down now. They’ll protect you. No matter what happened after your transport, you’re safe. Gunnar, Erik and Rolf are your matched mates.”
I moved to stand beside Gunnar and Erik so Sophia could see the three of us together.
“Yes, they’re big brutes,” Leah continued, huffing out a laugh. “But they’re yours. They won’t hurt you. Right, guys?”
We nodded in unison and watched as Leah scooted around the trunk. Sophia sat there, her fingers gripping the rough bark. She looked at each of us in turn, and my cock grew hard as she looked into my eyes for the first time. I saw longing there, and fear. Her gaze lingered on Erik’s long brown hair before shifting to Gunnar.
She froze and her eyes widened, growing darker, but not with fear. I’d seen many women react to Gunnar in exactly the same way. With desire.
“Come down, sweetie. I promise you, you’re safe now,” Leah insisted, her voice soothing.
Gunnar handed me his ion blaster, stepped forward and held out his hand to our mate. “Come down now, Sophia. You’re safe. I am Gunnar, your mate. And I give you my solemn vow, no one will ever hurt you again.”
We waited. Impatiently.
“I…can’t.” Sophia’s voice was soft, timid. Tired. The small sound made my heart clench in my chest.
“They won’t hurt you,” Leah repeated. “No one here will hurt you. If I know your mates, no one will hurt you ever again.”
I heard Gunnar grunt.
“I’m not afraid of you, at least not anymore,” Sophia continued, and she stared down into Gunnar’s upturned face. “I can’t climb down. My muscles are frozen and stiff. I’ll fall.”
I didn’t wait then, but stalked over to the base of the tree and began to climb. Sophia’s eyes widened the closer I got to her, but she didn’t move. When I stood on a lower branch and we were at eye level with each other, I smiled.
“Hello, beautiful. I’m Rolf, your mate.”
She offered a small smile. Gods, she was lovely. This close I saw that her hair was actually a mix of colors, light brown and red strands mixed in with the masses of gold. Her skin was soft and creamy, the swells of her breasts visible beneath the thin slip of cloth she wore. Her lips were a pale pink and her soft brown eyes looked up at me with a stark loneliness I understood all too well. When I held out my hand, she placed her smaller one in mine and that slight touch made me burn to taste her, to wrap her in my arms and keep her safe from the world. The heat of it, the connection, had her meeting my gaze, wide eyed.
Nodding once, perhaps telling her that I felt it, too, I then glanced down at the others, a good twenty feet below. No wonder she was scared. She was a tiny thing and had a crowd of big men beneath her. And a long way to fall.
“You’ve had quite the day. What do you say I help you from this tree and we go far, far from here? Where there’s a bath and food. Some clean clothes. Gunnar and Erik want to meet you, too.” I was the soother of the three of us. I’d never appreciated that mantle before, but now, I was thrilled. I would be the one to coax our mate into my arms, into our protection, once and for all.
“All right.”
Her hand was so small in mine, I could not wait to discover what I would feel pressing her body to mine, tasting her. Thrusting my cock into her eager core and listening to her soft cries of pleasure.
First, I had to see her safe. Usually everyone else took care of the big problems. I was the lighthearted one. Joking, inserting humor into desolate situations. Of course I wasn't always so upbeat. Hell, that fun banter hid the fucking hurt I carried around. But this, Sophia, was bigger than stupid hurt from my past. Bigger than my mother and my brother, the pain they'd caused me. What I hid behind a quick smile and a joke.
But our mate had been forced to defend herself, in the wilds. She hid from us as if we were a danger to her. And now, I used my quick smile and soft tone not to hide anything, but to relieve her worries. I was showing her the real me, because hell, she was mine.
I
asked her to shift close enough that I could scoop her up into my arms. She was soft and warm and so tiny I didn’t want to let her go. But I couldn’t jump from this height holding her, so I had to set her on her feet beside me. I moved down branch by branch, holding her hand as she followed.
Erik stepped up and he held out his hands. “Jump, Sophia. I’ll catch you.”
She was directly above him, not more than a few feet. She reached her hands out and put them in his, then jumped. He caught her easily and she was in his tight hold. Erik would not let her go.
I lowered myself down to the soft forest floor and sighed, relieved to know we had our mate once and for all. Sophia buried her face in Erik’s neck, all but burrowing in. He reveled in the embrace, squeezing her as tightly as he could without hurting her, then kissing the top of her head.
“Welcome to Viken, Sophia,” Leah said.
Our mate turned her head and offered the Queen a small smile. “Yeah, well, it sucks so far,” she muttered. “And I thought New York was bad.”
Leah laughed. “I’m sure your mates will more than make it up to you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Sophia, who blushed a pretty shade of pink. Confused, I tilted my head at our Queen, unsure if I’d understood her suggestive tone.
“Leah, behave yourself,” Lev commanded his mate, but the Queen threw back her head and laughed, the sound full of contagious happiness. Sophia’s smile was genuine now. Even Lev, our stern-faced King, grinned at his joyful little mate.
But when Gunnar stepped close, Sophia’s eyes widened and she pushed away, trying to escape Erik’s arms. When he refused to let her go, she turned away, hiding her face. “No. Not him. If you’re my mate, then don’t let him touch me. I…don’t trust him. You can’t trust him.”
The mood of the group changed then. Stilled. Even the animals in the woods seemed to sense something and were quiet. Erik offered a confused glance to Gunnar over Sophia’s head. “Love, Gunnar might be a little moody and definitely intimidating, but I swear, he will not harm you.”
Mated To The Vikens (Interstellar Brides Book 8) Page 5