He felt Emi’s hand sliding up his face and her fingers sinking into her hair. Gods of Yamato, even the gentle gesture made his cock spring in his trousers.
She was right, though. Emi was more than capable of handling herself. While the women initially treated Emi with cool reserve, reserve eventually melted away to respect. Even though Emi wasn’t used to household chores, she was eager to learn. Once or twice, Dai even heard her laughing with the other women, and the image made him smile.
“I know you’re just being sweet, Dai.”
Sora snorted. “Sweet? Our ferocious Dai?”
“Dai is sweet, unlike a certain fiend I know,” Emi scoffed, gently pressing him to her neck.
“Just the way you like me, Emi.”
Watching the two bicker always made him smile. Dai knew Emi equally cared for both of them, and while he couldn’t make her laugh like Sora, he had other means to please her.
After scenting her, it was only right Dai tasted her. His tongue lashed out of his mouth and he began to lick at her creamy white skin. Her fingers tightened on his hair. She leaned closer to him, making noises of assent when his arms wrapped themselves around her slender waist.
Dai sucked and nipped playfully at the graceful curve of her neck, using a bit of teeth to make her moan.
“Dai,” she murmured.
He immensely liked hearing his name on her lips, and seeing how soft her face became at his touch. Soft, compliant, and beautiful. Dai could feel Sora leaning close to Emi, his hand touching his briefly before sliding into the folds of her kimono.
Sora must have found and tweaked one of her nipples, because she gasped in his arms.
Dai’s eyes lazily crossed to the rest of the hall. He wasn’t a shy man by any means, and he wanted to show the rest of the clan what a treasure he and Sora claimed. Some of the men and woman watched them with appreciation in their eyes, while other men were similarly showing affection to their mates.
The members of the Black Bear Clan weren’t modest or reserved, and a bear showering his mate with affection only showed how much love and tenderness they had for each other.
Inside him, his bear twitched its ears in alarm. Dai paused from his task. Spying the woman and the reluctant hunter she was dragging in their direction made him growl.
“Dai, is something wrong?” Emi’s voice still sounded thick, but Dai liked that she was alert to the change in the atmosphere.
Sora withdrew his hand. Glancing at him, his lover followed his line of sight and his entire body stiffened with tension. Taking a deep breath, Sora pushed Emi into Dai’s arms.
“Take care of Emi. I’ll deal with the bitch,” Sora said harshly.
Trusting him, Dai nodded. He kept his arms around Emi. She shot him a questioning look, but eventually watched Sora. Concern was evident on her features.
Sora stood from the floor and met the woman and the hunter midway.
“Kimi, what do you want?”
“Is this the human whore you picked up, Sora?” The tall, lean, and dark-skinned female shifter gave Emi and Dai a raking and critical glance.
“She’s certainly pretty enough, but fragile looking. The whore’s just a mortal breeder, Sora. If you want something better, you can always join Nobu and me.”
Dai could see Sora trying to shake off the anger riding his body.
Emi grew still in Dai’s arms.
“Who?” She spoke the words softy, but there was a calm and frightening anger Dai could sense gathering inside her.
“Her name is Kimi. There’s a complicated history between them, Emi. She used to be Sora’s mate before he became mine. Kimi left Sora for Nobu, the hunter beside her.”
“I see.” Dai’s focus went back to his lover. He was unaware Emi had wriggled away from his arms until it was a second too late. Seeing the determined expression on her face, he cursed.
“And why would Sora waste his time on you?”
Dai winced at the sound of Emi’s disparaging tone. She didn’t raise her voice because she didn’t need to. The sweet poison was present there. Dai could imagine Emi using such a tone on all the unsuccessful suitors who tried to woo her. Emi came by Sora’s side, but Sora didn’t push her away.
Dai could see his lover bringing her protectively to him, and a lazy smiled appeared on his lips. His lover had the situation under his control.
“Watch your words, bitch. I can rip you to shreds without batting an eye.” Kimi sneered. “Remember your place, mortal. You’re just a breeder for our males.”
Emi was unperturbed. “Oh? If you think so highly of yourself, why don’t you start by giving your man and your clan some children?”
Kimi snarled, lunging at her, but a worried-looking Nobu held her back.
“You should remind your bitch of her place, Sora.” Kimi hissed.
“Emi knows. It’s between Dai and me. Heed me well, Kimi. We’ll protect our mate from everyone, including barren female bears like you.”
Dai could see it took all of Nobu to drag Kimi out from the hall.
“Provoking Kimi is dangerous, Emi,” Dai finally said quietly.
“I couldn’t let her talk to Sora as she pleases,” Emi pointed out.
Sora leaned over to give her a kiss. “Dai, the other female shifters won’t give Emi trouble. They hate Kimi, too.”
“She isn’t very well liked?” Emi asked.
“No. She tosses one male after the other. No one else would take her as a mate, apart from desperate ones like Nobu,” Dai explained.
“Ah, I see.”
Dai turned to Sora. “Are you taking her out to the woods today? It would be good to keep Emi away from Kimi for a while.”
Sora nodded.
Dai was about to turn away and join the other warriors for their usual morning patrol, but he felt Emi’s small fingers on his arm.
“Dai, will you join us for lunch after your duties? I made a hearty bento good enough for three. It would be nice if we could enjoy a nice warm afternoon by the river.”
Dai caught the mischievous glint in Sora’s eyes, and knew he had other plans aside from lunch. Imagining Emi spread out for him under the warm sun in the woods was enough to make his cock ache with need.
“I’ll see you and Sora at lunch,” Dai finally said, kissing her cheek.
Her smile warmed him immensely. He had a feeling time would pass by too sluggishly during his morning rounds. Sora was one lucky bastard since he had Emi to himself all morning.
* * * *
Emi wasn’t sure what was wrong with her body. Lately, odd moods seemed to strike her and she felt nauseous every other morning. She ate twice as much as she usually did, too, like she was eating for two. It had been just a few weeks, too. Surely, she couldn’t be pregnant.
Besides, she’d rather be sure than disappoint her men, especially Dai, who’d confessed to always wanting children.
After having breakfast with Dai and Sora in the hall, she helped clean up in the clan hall kitchens with the other women. She promised Sora she’d see him soon with their lunch, and they’d make their way to the nearby woods surrounding Bear Valley. It made her warm thinking how she had the entire morning and afternoon with her men.
“Something on your mind, Emi?” asked Rika.
She was of the female shifters in the clan who was around the same age as Emi was. Rika was also always willing to help her understand the clan’s customs or teach her when Megumi wasn’t around.
Emi debated asking Rika if it was different being pregnant with bear shifter cubs from being pregnant with normal children, but decided against it. While most of the female bear shifters in the clan were easy to get along with, discussing children was always a tricky issue.
At her silence, Rika went on. The bear shifter wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and Emi liked that immensely about her.
“You shouldn’t worry too much about what happened in the hall. Women like Kimi need to be reminded of their place every now and then.”
; “I lost my temper. I don’t know. I just got so mad,” Emi explained, uncertain about what she just did.
Dai and Sora weren’t angry, but it wasn’t them she had to worry about. She’d noticed both the female shifters and the mortal women gave her mixed reactions when she entered the kitchen. Some wore disapproving looks, and others showed odd approval.
Emi didn’t want to start a fight with any of them, especially if she planned on living with Dai and Sora in the future, but she had to place her foot down and stake her claim. Shifters, she learned, were territorial by nature, and if she let Kimi insult Sora without doing anything, she was going to appear weak.
Rika gave an unladylike snort.
“Every woman, shifter or mortal, has the right to defend their mates. Not every mortal female would stand up to a female bear shifter, though. That took guts, Emi. Just be careful.”
She remembered Dai said something of the same sort. Was Kimi really such a threat?
The washroom felt hot. Her stomach recoiled again, and before Emi threw up across the bowls she’d just washed, she excused herself. She welcomed the cool wind on her cheeks and face.
“What is wrong with me?” she muttered to no one in particular.
At least she no longer wanted to heave out the contents of her stomach.
“Emi, how long have you been feeling unwell?”
Emi blinked, surprised to see Megumi intently studying her. Her ebony eyes were slightly unsettling.
“It’s nothing. I’ve just been feeling under the weather these past few days. It will pass.”
Apparently Megumi caught her lie, because the older woman gently placed a hand over her flat belly.
“I do not believe it will. You might need to endure this discomfort for a few months more.”
“You mean…” Emi hesitated. “Are you certain? I don’t want to disappoint either Dai or Sora with false news.”
“I’ve lived a long time, child, and I’m never wrong. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for you to pay a visit to the healer.” Megumi’s eyes crinkled at the corners.
Her hopeful expression and the maternal and tender way she stroked her stomach took Emi back.
“Come, Emi. I’m sure you have a hundred questions you want to ask, and I’ll try my best to answer them.”
“Don’t you have a clan meeting to attend with the other leaders?” Emi asked.
“A clan meeting can wait. I’m going to be a grandmother. Imagine.”
The other woman looked so elated by the prospect of grandchildren, Emi was terrified to disappoint her with false news, too. Over the past weeks, Megumi had been closer to her than her own birthmother was. Megumi had been kind, patient, and had welcomed her into her own home and clan like Emi was her own blood.
It was strange to think Emi saw her, Dai, and Sora as her family now.
Like her father, Emi’s own biological mother had been distant. The only time Emi really saw her was in court, and her mother always surrounded herself with other noblewomen and their courtiers.
Emi felt Megumi’s lips on her forehead, as if she understood her worries.
“Even if you aren’t pregnant, Emi, you’re still my daughter-in-law. My son and his mate love you with all their hearts, and I’ve come to love you, too.”
Those words were enough to fill her eyes with tears. More than ever, she wanted it to be true. She had to blame it on Dai. Each time he talked of cubs, the more she imagined their children running about the house naked, occasionally shifting from humans to adorable bear cubs.
* * * *
Kimi flew into a rage. She tossed everything she could lay her eyes on around the house she and Nobu shared.
“Curse the lofty bitch. I’m going to kill her!”
Kimi didn’t care how loud she was being. After Dai and Sora’s mortal bitch talked her down, she went to the other female shifters in the clan, expecting some support. With the other female shifters on her side, she could call a vote during the next clan meeting and throw Sora’s new bitch out.
The last thing she expected was Megumi cutting her short and threatening her with her claws. “If you lay a single mark on my daughter-in-law and my son’s mate, I won’t just exile you, Kimi. I will gut you alive myself.”
The sheer ferocity in Megumi’s eyes both terrified and surprised Kimi. Just what was so special about Sora’s uptight female breeder? Megumi was one of the clan leaders, and no one questioned her word.
Speaking with the other females garnered the same result. No one wanted to go against Megumi after she’d given her protection to the mortal, and some of the bears even said they liked Sora’s bitch.
“Calm down, Kimi. Why can’t you leave this issue alone? Weren’t you the one who discarded Sora in the first place?” Nobu demanded.
He grabbed her arm and stopping her from throwing aside a ceramic family vase.
“Listen to me, Kimi. It’s apparent this female has already made her place in the clan. Antagonizing Dai and Sora is one thing, but now that Megumi’s involved, we should back off.”
Snarling, Kimi wrenched back her hand and jabbed a finger at her lover’s chest. She’d picked Nobu over the other males because he didn’t mind yielding to her. What she didn’t need was him questioning her decisions. She had a feeling Nobu knew she still harbored feelings for Sora, but she wouldn’t admit it out loud.
It was one thing for Sora to find a male mate in Dai, but the seven hells would freeze over before she allowed a mortal woman to have his child.
“The female breeder isn’t going to get away with humiliating me in public, Nobu.” Kimi spat. “If the other females of the clan won’t support me, then fine. I’ll handle this on my own.”
“Kimi, what are you planning?” Nobu asked her nervously. “Whatever it is, I’m done. I’m not risking my place in the clan to satisfy your pride.”
“You’ll help me, Nobu. Or else forget seeing your cub.” Kimi’s hand lingered on her flat stomach. “I think it’s a boy, too.”
Nobu’s eyes widened in shock, and she knew she had him. It was a lie, of course. It had been nearly a century since a female black bear shifter bore any natural children, but she couldn’t execute her plan on her own. Like any male in the clan, it was easy to manipulate them once Kimi brought up the topic of cubs.
“Are you with me or not?”
Nobu bit his lower lip. She could see him considering his options, but she knew she had him. “You’re my mate, Kimi. Of course you have my support.”
Chapter Seven
Sora had the entire afternoon planned. He intended to showcase his archery to Emi, possibly make her swoon over his skill, eat a nice lazy afternoon lunch with her and Dai, and then ravage her together with Dai on the grass.
Just thinking about spreading Emi’s beautiful limbs and ivory body for himself and Dai to feast on in the open woods was enough to get him rock hard.
Unfortunately, plans he made around his and Dai’s mate tended to backfire. Emi apparently had some training with the bow and arrow and for a human, shot quite well.
“So you’re one of the hunters for the clan, Sora?”
“Hmm?” Sora hardly heard her question.
He had molded his body against hers. Sora had a hard time thinking with her scent pressed so close to his nose. Seeing his disappointment at failing to impress her, Sora hit her with his sad puppy-dog eyes. Eyes he used on Dai when he wanted to get the big warrior to do something.
Apparently, it had been effective on Emi, too. She buckled at his look, and asked him politely for pointers.
Sora was just all too happy to have her standing so close to him. Emi was holding his recurve bow and he’d helped her notch the arrow by guiding her hands. She certainly didn’t need the lesson, but he was rather pleased she pretended for his sake.
“The clan’s hunters don’t hunt in groups like Dai and the other warriors?”
“We work best alone. It’s easier to hunt prey that way because small animals tend to sense predators workin
g in groups.”
Sora tried to answer Emi’s questions about the village and their way of life as best as he could, but the last thing he wanted was to talk. He had to be patient, though, because he promised Dai he wouldn’t start without him.
“Sora.”
“Yes, Emi?” Sora pressed himself harder against her back, liking the small sound she emitted.
“I can feel your hardness.”
“I won’t apologize for being horny, Emi. I can’t help myself, especially when I have such a beautiful mate just standing a few inches from me.” Sora leaned closer to nibble at her earlobe.
Before he could slip his hands into the folds of her kimono, she gently parted herself from him. Unable to help himself, Sora growled in frustration. He watched her intently as she placed his bow down and returned the arrow to the quiver.
“Are you done pretending to teach me archery, Sora?” she asked him.
He reached out to grasp the end of the single long braid of her hair and undid the ribbon. Emi’s silky black hair fanned behind her like a waterfall.
“Feel how hard I am for you, Emi.” Sora gripped her small hand and led it to the bulge in his trousers.
“I want to feel you again, to feel the muscles of your pussy contracting around my cock. Your pussy knows who it belongs to, but I’m going to wait for Dai because we plan to take turns having you for dessert.”
Slight color rose to her cheeks, but she didn’t admonish him.
Instead, she asked in an amused voice, “Do you now?”
She surprised him by stroking his hand and kneeling in front of him. The sight of Emi looking up at him only made him remember his throbbing shaft. Gods of Yamato, he wasn’t sure he could wait for Dai. Emi was no longer the blushing virgin maiden they found on the road. She was now a woman who knew what she wanted. Knowing she wanted him made his cock throb and ache even worse.
“Emi,” Sora began.
“Hush, Sora. Let me take care of you. I’ll take care of Dai later. Then three of us can have a pleasant lunch, and after, Dai and you can have me for dessert like you said.”
Mating Two Bears [Yamato 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 5