Tamed by the Berserkers: A menage shifter romance (Berserker Brides Book 7)

by Lee Savino

  She did not even protest. Gleaming with sweat, she slumped onto the pelts. We wrung another climax or two from her sated body, this time with my fingers penetrating the tight circle of her ass.

  “Soon we will claim you fully,” I told her, and watched in satisfaction as those simple words made her buck and break.

  “But not tonight,” Thorsteinn said wistfully. We’d spilled our seed on the pelts beside her, surrounding her with our scent.

  “Soon,” I promised. Sorrel made a small sound, her eyes heavy and mouth lax. She’d fight us again in the morning. It was in her nature. Any concession of hers was hard won, but worth it.

  She gave one last shudder and fell asleep.

  * * *

  Sorrel

  The next morning, I lay in bed as long as the warriors let me. Thorsteinn finally approached with a cloth and bucket of water and wiped me down. I squealed at the chilly touch of cloth.

  “Should’ve woken when the water was warm,” he chided me. “We would see to you at night, but you fell straight asleep.”

  I flushed at the memory of so much pleasure.

  Vik chuckled knowingly. “Perhaps last night’s events will make you more amiable.”

  “Not likely,” I muttered, but lay back and let Thorsteinn caress between my legs with the cloth.

  Vik stood and excused himself. “I must ready for today’s training,” he said and wagged a finger at me before disappearing down the rope ladder. “Be good.”

  “Good girls get rewards,” Thorsteinn promised, before tugging me up. To my dismay, he grasped my collar and guided me to kneel on a pelt near his usual seat.

  “You said I could sit on your lap,” I whined.

  “If I set you on my lap, I will not give you food. I will give you something else.” The front of his breeches was tented.

  “Perhaps we could…”

  He stopped my mouth with his fingers. “We told you we would claim you when you beg for us. Are you ready to beg?”

  I jerked my chin back and forth, pouting.

  “Come then. Time to eat.” His hand guided me to my knees. “We told you we’d make you our pet. Don’t tell me you do not enjoy it.” He plucked my nipples, which were hard as pebbles, and awakened a telltale prickle between my legs. I squirmed and refused the first bite. How could I be aroused by this?

  “Come, Sorrel. Play the game, pet. Please?” Thorsteinn pressed his forehead against mine. When I nodded his head moved too and I laughed.

  He stroked my hair as he fed me.

  “I enjoy keeping you naked,” he murmured. “If you were truly our pet we would collar and cage you, and keep you undressed. Would you like that?”

  I rolled my eyes and accepted more food from his hands.

  “Nothing to worry about. Nothing to fear. You just let yourself become ours.” He tugged my hair gently, massaging my scalp until I felt half drunk.

  “Your nipples stand to attention so prettily.” His left hand played with them as he fed me with his right.

  Inspired, I curled my tongue around his fingers, lapping up every drop of honey until his eyes turned molten.

  “Is that what you like?” he asked, his voice deep and dark.

  I nodded. He wanted to play a game? I would win.

  Eyes on mine, he scooted back on the stump he used as a seat. He opened his breeches and drew himself out. “There’s more for you to lick here, if you like.”

  Heat flared in my cheeks, arcing through my body. He was changing the rules, but I was caught up in the game.

  I scooted forward, accepting the pressure of his hand on the back of my neck. My tongue flicked at the turgid length. Thorsteinn hummed in pleasure.

  “Won’t Vik be jealous?”

  “If he is jealous, then he’s jealous,” Thorsteinn said, and tugged my hair so I licked up and down one side of his cock then the other. “Besides, he has taken liberties with you before.”

  He showed me how to suck him, pinching my nipples to correct me, rolling them gently when I did well. I’d finally learned to take his length several inches into my mouth when he pulled me up. “Here. Straddle my leg.” I lay along his heavy thigh, my leaking center set right on his breeches. “You’re being such a good girl for me,” he crooned. “Rub yourself as you suckle me. Take your pleasure.”

  I would’ve whimpered, but he guided my mouth back onto his cock, feeding his length into my mouth inch by inch. His free hand still caressed my breasts, building the fire in me to a raging inferno. Before I knew it, my hips rocked, seeking relief against his hard leg.

  “That’s it. Obey your master.” Reaching down, he spanked my canting bottom. “Faster. Find relief.”

  Pleasure flicked through me. I danced on its knife edge. The tug on my nipples, the slick patch on Thorsteinn’s breeches, the earth and salt taste of him filling my senses—it all combined into a roiling vortex that tossed and shook me.

  I moaned around Thorsteinn’s cock, and he started spurting, drawing out to bathe my face with his seed. I blinked but met his pleased smile with one of my own.

  “Such a good girl,” he stroked my hair back from my face. He helped me up and fetched a cloth to clean me. “As much as I love seeing you wear my essence, you can’t train with us like this. Too damn distracting.”

  When he was done, he kissed me thoroughly. At last, reluctantly, he pulled away.

  “Come. Vik waits for us.”

  “What about—” I pointed to the stain I’d left on his clothes.

  “If I had time, I’d make you lick it up. We are late, though, so.” He shrugged.

  “Do you mean,” I swallowed. “You will wear them out today?”

  “Oh yes, pet.” His amusement had a wicked edge. “With pride.”

  5

  Sorrel

  “After yesterday, I thought you would not let me out again,” I said as we walked from Yggdrasil.

  “You mean after the mist lured you away?” Vik asked. “That was our fault. We should be more vigilant.”

  “I’m going to scout this area,” Thorsteinn grunted. “Stay close to Vik,” he ordered me and stalked off, face grim.

  My face must have fallen, for Vik put an arm around my shoulders. “He doesn’t blame you, Sorrel. He blames himself. If it were up to him, he’d keep you in a stone tower and guard you day and night. He does not like the sneaky tricks of the enemy we fight.”

  “The spell?” I whispered, as if mentioning it were dangerous.

  “Yes. Do not worry, we have plans to break it.” He busied himself with laying out the weapons we would use today.

  “How?” I wondered. “Is it possible to break such a spell?”

  “The mating bond can. It has its own protective magic.”

  That only filled me with despair. The elusive bond. “And what if it does not form?” I kicked a clod of dirt.

  “It will,” Vik returned to my side. “Do not worry about that. There is already something between us, can’t you feel it?”

  I shook my head. He grabbed my hand and pressed it to the bulge in his breeches, laughing when I tugged away.

  “That is not bonding,” I muttered, flushing.

  “Is it not?” Vik’s laugh was catching, and I smiled along with him.

  “The bond is like water,” he said, coming at me slowly, as he would when he taught me to spar. “It flows into any empty spaces.” He raised his fist and I blocked the blow. He twisted and I dodged a kick. “And when you least expect it,” he feinted left, feinted right, and when I raised my arms to defend myself, he dropped and rolled, coming up beside me and capturing me in his arms. “You’re caught,” he breathed in my ear.

  “Not quite,” I raised a foot as he had taught me, and stamped close to his groin, twisting to break his hold. I dropped to the forest floor and he pulled me back by my foot.

  “Arr,” he growled playfully, “You are quick but not quick enough.” He stopped when he saw my face. “What is it?”

  “What if it doesn’t work? T
he bonding, breaking the curse, all of it?”

  He sobered quickly. “We plan to tell the Alphas we suspect magic is involved. If they understand that, they may be lenient.”

  Rosalind could have acted under a spell. I could explain her actions without naming her traitor. We just had to break the spell so I could speak.

  “Come on, then,” I motioned. “Let’s train.”

  We wrestled under the mild spring sun. Birds flew over our heads, chattering as if they knew the mock battle below them would not end in bloodshed. Vik taught me how to use my body weight to flip a man on his back. Even though I was small, I was fast, and I could use my opponent’s height and weight against him and get away.

  “Be like a fish,” Vik said. “Even if a fisherman catches you, you can thrash and break his grip to slip away.”

  “You always have me running away.”

  “If you’re faced with a more powerful enemy, yes. Your best weapon is surprise, but once they face you once, you will not surprise them again.” He raised his voice, looking beyond me. “Isn’t that right, brother?”

  “Yes,” Thorsteinn straightened from the tree trunk he’d been leaning against. “Listen to my brother, Sorrel. Heed his words.”

  I rolled my eyes. Not even Thorsteinn’s somber mood could dampen my spirits. I pushed a sweaty strand of hair from my face and accepted the drink Vik offered. It occurred to me that I had never been so happy.

  “Sorrel’s done well. She learns quickly.”

  “Oh?” Thorsteinn studied me.

  I handed the waterskin back to Vik and took a fighting stance. “Come at me.”

  Setting aside his weapons, he did. I anticipated his feint and ducked his first advance, which came stupidly slow. Thorsteinn faced me again, a hint of surprise on his face.

  “She’s fast,” Vik said from the sidelines, grinning.

  “Silence,” Thorsteinn grunted. This time he attacked quickly. I got in a blow to his side as I darted away. He followed and seized me, pulling me to face him. “I’ve seen all your tricks. Got you now.”

  I darted my head forward as Vik taught me and smashed my skull into his face.

  He staggered back

  Vik laughed wildly. “The little warrior becomes the master.”

  I sucked in my breath as Thorsteinn stood with his head tipped back, blood streaming from his nose. “Argh,” he growled to the sky, but when he strode back to me, he was laughing. “Well done, little warrior.”

  “You’re not mad at me?”

  “For learning the lesson too well?” He ruffled my hair. “Next time we go on patrol, we should take you.”

  Go on patrol. All happiness lefts my body. “Did the Alphas give you orders to patrol the far reaches?” I shouldn’t ask. I have no right to.

  “No,” Thorsteinn frowned.

  I gnawed my lip. If they left, who would protect me from the pack? I’d be on my own. I’d be safe for a time in the tree lodge, but after a time it would be best to sneak away. Perhaps off the mountain—

  “Sorrel,” Vik squatted to be at my height, his forehead creasing. “We’re not leaving you.”

  “If the Alphas tell you to, you’ll have no choice.”

  “So eager to be rid of us?” Vik ruffled my hair.

  “I only meant, if you had to go, it would be best if I went too—”

  Thorsteinn cocked his head, scowling. “Are you so eager to leave?”

  I shook my head.

  “Come,” Thorsteinn’s hand clamped onto my arm. He dragged me a few feet before I get my legs working. His face darkened. I offended him.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Enough of this play. We have work to do.”

  I wanted to explain that I had no desire to run from them, but we were walking so fast. I trotted gamely beside him, almost stumbling when he stopped abruptly.

  “When we face them, you must remember, I am in charge. You do as I say, immediately. Do you swear?” His grey eyes pierced me, emotions passing over his face like clouds.

  “Yes,” I blurted, still curious.

  “They’re there. Over that ridge.” He made no move to climb the hill, so I stayed where I was. A strange lowing and shuffling sound made me step closer to him.

  The air had a heavy, oppressive weight to it. A scent like an oncoming storm. Even the sun shone dimmer in this place.

  “Where are we?”

  “At the magical boundary the witches set around the mountain,” Vik explained, joining us. His hand ghosted up my back.

  “It is not just our patrols that protect you and the spaewives. The Corpse King has ravaged this island to add to his forces. His power grows every moon.”

  A breeze kicked, scattering dead leaves. I choked on the rotten smell.

  “What is that?”

  “The Corpse King’s forces.”

  “They’re there? Just beyond the hill?” I stared the boulder topped rise with horror. Vik’s arms slid around me, and I pressed close.

  “It’s all right, Sorrel,” Thorsteinn said, his voice gentler. He touched my hair. “They cannot get in.”

  “But how do you leave?”

  “You’ll see.” With one final squeeze, Vik sauntered away. A few steps and he turned. Thorsteinn tossed him something.

  “Come,” he guided me to follow the tattooed warrior. I held my breath as we grew close to the top of the hill. The stench made my eyes water. I crested the hill and gasped.

  The boundary was an invisible line in the brown leaves. On one side, Vik paced, rolling the rune stone between his palm. On the other, an endless line of grey-skinned horrors, dressed in rags. Their rotting faces pressed against the unseen barrier, the bubble of magic that protect the mountain.

  “There’s so many.” I recoiled from the stench, the sight.

  “Yes,” Thorsteinn agreed grimly. “They are the undead. The Corpse King raises them to do his will.” Thorsteinn tugged me back against him and I pressed against him, reassured by his strength.

  Vik danced right up to the boundary, tossing the rune stone like a juggler. The undead forces on the other side howled and slavered, bony fingers scrabbling to reach him. He paced back and forth, his powerful body framed by the undead masses. He tossed the rune stone once, twice, catching it lazily.

  “What is he doing?” I asked Thorsteinn.

  The giant warrior tucked me closer and bid me, “Watch.”

  Vik found a spot in front of the slavering ranks. He cocked his head… and send the ball streaking towards the barrier. It blazed a path into the draugr and disappeared. A blast, a boom, a wash of great, bone stripping heat. The earth shook.

  Fire flared amid the Corpse King’s ranks, flames licking along the rotted clothing, the grey skin and exposed bones. The undead shrieked, opening their mouths with a banshee’s scream that died in the roar and crackle of the great fire. Smoke billowed up, blowing over us in a wave of foul ash.

  I hid my face against Thorsteinn.

  “Balefire,” Thorsteinn whispered. “Be brave, little warrior,” he murmured.

  “It worked.” Vik bounded back to our side. I gritted my teeth and faced the boundary again. A hole opened up in the ranks of draugr. Skeletal arms thrashed against the blue sky and were quickly overtaken by the fire. I turned away, pretending the crackling sound was very dry branches in a fire.

  “It’s new magic,” Thorsteinn said, and showed me the rune stones.

  Vik took a few more out of his pouch. “Want to try?” He herded me towards the boundary. The hole had filled in, undead snapped their teeth at me. “Pick a spot where they group together.”

  “Vik,” I pressed against him.

  “They can’t touch you inside the boundary,” Vik promised. “The rune stones can reach them. You can do it, little warrior. Remember how they chased us? They took you and your friends.”

  “Yes,” I straightened. “Took us straight to the Corspe King.”

  “You want to fight,” Vik set a rune stone in my hand. “
Fight.”

  I clutched my weapon, weighing it in my hand. Vik pushed my legs apart, correcting my throwing stance. I shut my eyes and remembered the fight after the abbey, after my leg had broken and Vik and Thorsteinn had first tried to make me their mate. The draugr had poured from all directions, overwhelming us. Berserkers dying. Me and my friends taken, terrified. The stone hall of the Corpse King, stinking like a tomb. I took a deep breath, smelled rot.

  “Now,” Vik ordered, and I threw.

  A blast and he shielded me. I peered out between his tattooed forearms at the smoke and destruction I had wrought. And I laughed.

  “Another. Give me another.”

  The rest of the day, I raced up and down the boundary line. The draugr poured into each opening, their ranks endless as a vast, stinking ocean. At times, Thorsteinn and Vik would wade into the fray, crossing the boundary and sending draugr flying to their doom.

  We fell into a rhythm. I would throw my rune stone, they would follow, roaring, to scythe down any foe that remained standing. When the ranks of draugr replenished and overwhelmed them, they retreated long enough for me to throw again.

  “Will it ever end?” I coughed on some leftover smoke.

  “Tired?” Vik offered me a water skin. His skin was slick with sweat and the fluids of the dying draugr. His chest heaved and he had cuts on his arms from the enemy’s weapons. As I drank, the worst of them healed before my eyes. Vik’s grin was bigger than I’d ever seen.

  “No,” I shoved the container back at him and took out my sling. “Let’s go again!”

  Bit by bit, blast by blast, we cut down the enemy. At last I could tell—when the draugr rushed to replenish their line against the boundary, the ranks had thinned. They didn’t stretch as far as the eye could see.

  “It’s working,” I shouted. “We’re winning!”

  Vik banged on his shield, snarling happily at the enemy. Thorsteinn was calmer, waiting for the blast with his axe and spear outstretched. He fought with no shield. Vik didn’t hide behind his, but sent it crashing through the dead men’s ranks, mowing down several at a time.

  I strode to the boundary edge, pacing fearlessly in front of it. The draugr had learn to recoil from the sight of the rune stone, but when I hid it in the sling, they pressed against the boundary again, slavering as they tried to reach me. I swung my sling, waiting for more to gather in one spot so I could destroy them. We would clear the enemy out of this side of the mountain. And I would’ve helped.