by Lee Savino
Something flickered across her face. Relief. She hid it behind a sullen frown. “You say it like I’m a possession.”
“You are,” I announced. “You belong to us. It’s time you knew it. You may wear the jerkin for now, if you accept your punishment willingly. Come, back over my lap.”
Something flared in her scent. Arousal. Thorsteinn halted his pacing, angling his head towards the scent.
I hid my surprise but not my glee.
“You don’t have to act like you’re enjoying this.” she muttered but pushed herself over my lap.
“I’m not acting. I intend to enjoy every bit of this. Now how many swats for running away?”
She started to answer, and I clapped my hand on her bottom. “Not up to you. I say—as many as it takes to remind you every time you sit.”
I squeezed the globes of her tight bottom, warming the flesh. I may have spent an extra-long time doing this, enjoying the scent of arousal that rose like the sweetest perfume. “You are truly a spaewife,” I murmured, chuckling at her annoyed huff. “One more thing, little mate. It’s okay to cry.”
“I don’t cry.” She ground her teeth.
“If you say so.” I palmed her bare ass. “But it will do you good.”
“You cry when you get spanked?” She raised her head to glare at me. I could only shake my head at her defiance.
“Careful. Little ones who challenge their mates get fucked. Hard,” I slapped the underside of her rounded bottom, enjoying the sharp crack that echoed about the lodge.
Her eyes darted to the floor, but her scent rose around me, a sweet miasma. She could not hide her arousal.
“You like this. Admit it.”
“I…” a sigh shuddered through her.
“No matter. You do not have to say it,” I delivered three crisp swats to the right cheek, admiring the pink blush. “I can smell it well enough.”
Her head tossed back and forth, her brow wrinkled in confusion. She was an innocent. We had not touched her intimately. Why had we waited so long? The space between us was now a chasm.
We wanted to be sure. We claimed her so quickly, to heal her.
Our mistake, brother. We should’ve done this from the first. Spanked her for running and fucked her until she would never think to leave.
Better late than never.
I hoped so. I hoped it was not too late.
The spanking went on. I paused plenty of times to rub her sore bottom, easing the sting and awakening more feelings in her. It wasn’t the pain that would bring her obedience.
Sure enough, I reached between her legs to find her silky lips. “So sweet and wet. Do you know how to touch yourself to feel good?”
A slight sob ran through her.
“Shhh, let it out, there’s a good lass.”
She pushed away from me, scrambling back.
“Leave me alone.”
Thorsteinn started for her and I gestured him to leave her. She could be angry. She could put up walls for now.
One way or another, we’d tear them down.
* * *
Will this work? I asked via the bond. Sorrel was curled up on a pile of pelts, sleeping bathed in firelight. Every so often she twitched.
“It must work,” Thorsteinn answered out loud, all confidence. He couldn’t hide his trepidation from me. I felt his emotions through the bond. “If it does not, the alphas will pronounce her sentence.”
She cannot die. Not after everything we have been through.
Before that happens, we will leave. We will take her and run.
I shook my head. And how long would we survive without help from the pack? The Corpse King had grown powerful. Even when we were on patrol, we relied heavily on our pack mates to give us aid. Until we rose up together to defeat our enemy, the safest place for any spaewife is on our mountain.
We will train her to obey, Thorsteinn insisted. Only when she is truly tamed can we ensure her safety.
I clenched my jaw before I said what I thought: Sorrel would never be tamed.
Thorsteinn caught my hastily banned thought. He glared. She will break. I will make sure of it.
Poor little maiden. I crossed the lodge and squatted next to her, tugging a pelt over her shoulders.
Her forehead wrinkled. She had so many burdens, even in sleep. Surely, she would allow us to take at least one.
We must convince her she belongs with us. As we should’ve from the first, Thorsteinn said.
And if it doesn’t work? I traced a finger over her brow, wishing I could smooth the worry lines there.
It must.
We didn’t voice what we feared most: we’d waited too long to make Sorrel ours.
* * *
Sorrel
A rough hand shook me awake in darkness. For a moment I was back in the abbey, getting roused first by my friends, then by an angry nun with a switch.
“Sorrel, time to rise,” Vik rasped.
“No. Too early.” I tried to cover my head with a pelt, and he pulled it away.
“You must wake,” he said with a laugh. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
I raised my head and glared at the darkness beyond the entrance of our tree lodge.
“Rise now, or after a spanking. Your choice.”
With a huff, I sat up.
“Good lass,” Vik grinned.
“Where is Thorsteinn?”
“Gone to hunt. Come.” He tugged me to standing and led me to the far side of the fire pit where a pot of water steamed.
“First a wash.” He tugged my jerkin up and I caught his forearms.
“You used to let me bathe myself.” They even gave me privacy. Even around my own friends, I refused to undress. The scars on my back were only part of it. I did not want anyone to see me without my armor.
“That was before you ran. Now you will rely on us for everything. Eating. Sleeping. Bathing,” his voice deepened. “Pleasure.”
I flushed and looked away. They had only begun to initiate me into the rites of pleasure before they were called away on patrol. Still, I remembered.
“You remember it, don’t you?” he asked. “How we held you and cared for you?”
“Yes, I remember.” I raised my chin. “And then you left.”
“That was our folly, and our greatest regret.”
I blinked at the sadness in his tone.
“Come,” he pulled off my jerkin. I reached for the cloth and he tutted I gritted my teeth and stood still as he ran the cloth over my neck and shoulders, down my breasts.
“We will wash you every night like this,” he informed me in a low tone. “We would’ve last night, but you fell asleep so quickly.”
“I—” last night I’d succumbed to exhaustion after the spanking. “I was tired.”
“So you will be every night. We will wear you out,” Vik promised with a wicked flash of fang.
I bowed my head. Frowning, he tipped up my chin, “What is it, little one?”
“You say you will claim me. But what if the bonding does not work?”
“It will work. We will not stop until its complete.”
“What if it is not possible?”
“Let us worry about that.” He rubbed the cloth between my breasts, slowly washing down my front. I pushed him away, and he tutted at me. “Hands behind your back,” he ordered, and slapped the side of my thigh with the cloth when I refused. Rolling my eyes, I did as he bid. The sooner the bath was over, the better.
But not so for Vik. The huge warrior crouched over me, his touch surprisingly gentle. He lingered at the tips of my breasts, chafing them with the cloth until I sighed. His cheek curved, and I fisted my hands to keep from smacking him.
“Funny,” he murmured, kneeling and bending to run the cloth between my legs.
“What?” I grabbed his broad shoulders to stay upright. My teeth gritted. I was not affected by his touch. I was not.
“I would’ve thought you’d fight me by now.”
I raised
a brow. “You want me to fight?” I asked the top of his head. “I thought you wanted me to obey.”
“Not I,” Vik’s fangs flashed as he smirked, still threading the cloth between my legs. The rhythm never ceased, pressure growing at the apex. Soon it would be too intense for me to ignore.
“Fine then,” I drawled. One moment I was still. The next I had thrown myself backwards, kicking the pot and sending it flying. Water splashed everywhere. Even though I hadn’t pushed him hard, Vik landed on his back. He roared and I froze like a cornered rabbit, only to realize his howl was laughter. He rose and advanced on me, dripping wet, sloshing through the water pooled on the floorboards. I lost my lead and he lunged, catching me easily. I pounded his back, kneeing him in the side. His body was so hard, I did more damage to myself. We ended up tangled on the pelts. He dropped his long body over mine, pinning my wrists to the floor. Still, I writhed.
“Sorrel,” he laughed. “Give up, sweet. Little shield maiden.”
“Never!” I kicked upwards, aiming between his legs. At the last moment he turned, and I stubbed my toe on his iron thigh. I yelped and he dropped down, flattening me. “Beautiful,” he pronounced, and heat flooded me. His lips found mine and he murmured, “Little fighter. Lovely and fierce.”
He kissed me and I bit his lip.
“Yes,” he growled, and wrenched my head back by my hair. His lips burned down my jaw, his beard abrading my vulnerable throat. He pinned me with his giant body, lifting enough of his weight on corded biceps that I wasn’t crushed. His hips covered mine, the bar of his erection pressed into my leg.
I don’t know when I stopped fighting and started kissing him. At one point he angled his head, coming up for air. Snarling, I gripped handfuls of his hair, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and tugging him down. His laughter filled my mouth.
He dragged his thigh between my legs, right over the sensitive junction. Sparks flew up from my aching center.
“Is this what you like?” his voice was heavy in my ear. His body covered mine, arms bracketing my head, long legs stretched over me. His knee rocked slowly, pressing the perfect spot. “Does this feel good?”
“Yes,” I arched under him, my nipples furled and needy. “More.”
His dark chuckle sent tingles down my back. He continued rocking his thigh between my legs, rubbing me senseless. I moved with the heady rhythm, my feet finding the floor and pressing up, my hips straining for more stimulation. I rubbed myself against Vik’s heavy thigh, ignoring his amused laughter. I did not care that Vik was mastering me. I did not care that he was the enemy. I reached for the sensation spiraling higher and higher, desperate for more.
Pleasure broke over me. I gasped and bucked, my feet drumming on the floor.
“Good,” he praised me. “Very good, little one.”
I blinked and Vik rose over me, unfastening his breeches with one hand.
“Stay there,” he ordered and fisted his cock. His eyes burned on my breasts, my legs, my face. Mustering my weak limbs, I started to sit up.
“No,” he barked, as stern as Thorsteinn. “Lie still.”
It was torture to lie there, my center throbbing, as he handled himself. The warriors had been careful around me before, giving me plenty of soft touches and sweet words, but never igniting intense desire or driving me inexorably towards pleasure.
I watched, fascinated as his essence spurted from the broad head of his cock, coating my chest.
“Yes,” Vik purred. “You will wear our scent. We will mark you this way before you leave this tree.”
“We’re leaving?”
“Do you not want to train?”
“I thought...” They’d trained me, sparred with me before. But everything had changed. “I thought I was to be punished.”
“This is your punishment,” He said, taking my hand and running it through his gleaming essence until my skin shone. “To smell like us. To wear our scent. To be driven mad with longing.”
My legs clenched. I squirmed, feeling suddenly empty. Rubbing my thighs together lessened the ache.
“That’s it,” Vik murmured. “That’s the way.” He pushed my hand between my legs. “Touch yourself.”
“I don’t... I don’t know how.”
“You never stroked yourself to completion? Not even at the abbey?”
Biting my lip, I shook my head.
“Let me teach you.” He set his thumb against me and stroked upwards with mini movements. “Barely the lightest touch. Do you feel it?”
“Yes,” I breathed. All sensation rushed through me, rising to a peak. At the last, he took his hand away.
“Why did you stop?”
“Punishment,” Vik smirked and licked his fingers. “I want you weak and wanting us.” Laughing he strode across the lodge and tossed a pack back at me. Pleasure time was over, but I was to be left unsated.
I stomped my feet. Vik moved about the lodge, making ready to leave. He was not looking. He told me I might touch myself. Perhaps I could…
The second my hand touched my nether lips, Vik was upon me. “No, naughty one.” He planted my wrists on either side of my body and held me easily as I struggled.
“Why?” I shouted.
“This,” He freed a hand to slip between my legs, “Belongs to us. You receive pleasure only at our hands or our command.”
I thrashed under him, ashamed at how easily he held me. Finally, I stilled.
“Good girl.” He rose and pulled me up. “You’re learning.”
“I’d learn faster if you didn’t tease me.”
“But I love to tease you,” he grinned, then caught my face between his hands. My breath caught at his tender expression. “We will do everything we can to bind you to us.”
My body still ached for more stimulation, but his gentle voice soothed the cracked wound of my heart.
“You belong to us, Sorrel. We’ll bind you to us forever, so you will never ever leave.
* * *
Vik
Sorrel’s dark eyes met mine. Lately she’d looked hard and wary, but with her body soft and flushed from her climax, she looked different. Hopeful.
Her skin pearly with my seed. My scent mingled with hers. It pleased the beast.
My chest rumbled with a contented half-growl, I rubbed my cheek against hers, angling my head to brush my beard over her forehead and down her left cheek. As I did, something flicked in the open bond. A light touch, like a butterfly alighting on a flower. Quick and then gone. But it had been there.
A third presence waited in my mind, expectant. I sent my question to Thorsteinn through the bond. Did you feel that, brother?
Yes, a touch of hope in him, too. But then, more wary, What have you done?
I didn’t answer. I teased Thorsteinn too. He wouldn’t be pleased I’d touched her without him. But if we’d touched her from the start, maybe we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
Sorrel sighed when I released her. Her eyes followed me as I fetched the pack I’d made for her. “Here. Get dressed.”
I left her to dress and finished preparing to leave, gathering my weapons, dousing the fire.
When I turned back, she still stood naked, hunched over what I’d given her.
“Sorrel? Is something wrong?”
Her head jerked nay. She remained hunched, was she close to crying? She never cried.
“You replaced them,” her chin wobbled.
She held the new tunic and breeches we got her. From the beginning, we knew she didn’t like dresses. Breeches were the first gift we’d given her, barely a day after taking her from the abbey.
“Do you not like them? I thought you preferred breeches.”
“I do.” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears that alarmed me more than a horde of draugr. “You remembered.”
“You’re a hunter and a fighter breeches are far better.”
“I know.”
“Then what is it? What is wrong?”
“The warriors said I was stran
ge. They would make me wear a dress.”
“What warriors? Where?” I would kill them all.
“The nuns, too. They would beat me if I…” she raised the breeches.
I looked from her to the clothes. “The nuns aren’t here. If they were…” I left the threat unfinished. I did not like to kill women. But I would, if it meant Sorrel’s happiness.
“No one let me wear them. No one,” she repeated, intent on my face, “but you.”
“Yes, well. They’re better for sparring.” She was looking at me with the world in her eyes and I couldn’t take it. “It wasn’t me anyway,” I backed away, grabbing my sharpening stone and pocketing it. “It was Thorsteinn. He made sure to raid a village or two and grab some pairs. It was nothing.” That wasn’t true. The first pair we gave her, yes, was raided. But after that we found someone to make them for coin.
“Come on now,” I spoke gruffly. “Put them on. We must be off.”
She rushed to put them as if afraid I’d change my mind.
“If we hurry, there will be time for sparring before Thorsteinn returns. Since you were good, you can climb down.”
She gave a small smile at that. She loved her independence. I had to bite my tongue all the way down, worried like an old woman that she might fall. But she wriggled down the trunk like a squirrel and sprang safely to the ground.
“Some of the warriors think that you should be locked up,” I told her when we were on the ground. “Caged or chained to a rock, or worse.”
She angled her face away, frowning.
“They will not like seeing you roam freely about the mountain. Stay by my side. Close to me, as if bound by a leash.”
She made a face and I grasped her chin firmly.
“You obey us, or you will be hobbled.”
Her lips pressed together in a sign of rebellion. I chucked her under the chin.
“Obey. It will go easier on you. But if you fight us... it will be more fun.”
She frowned thoughtfully all the way to the practice site. We’d set this up soon after we first brought her here, and used it a few times before the thick snows set in. She’d longed to be a warrior and we indulged her, giving her breeches and weapons to wear, letting her cut her hair short. We wooed her in our own way, but whenever we’d touched her, she’d shied away. A result of her capture by the enemy, we thought, and let her be. But the rift only grew, until the three of us lived like warriors, side by side but never closer. By the time we were called to patrol, it seemed easier to go and start over when we returned.