“Really, Dai and Sora. It’s been months since Megumi told us about Kimi. I think she’s settled down and moved on.”
“I doubt it, Emi. Kimi’s a woman who’s capable of holding grudges for a long time,” Sora murmured, surprised when she took his hands and kissed them.
“Stop worrying. Go hunt some wolves and leave me to my peace.”
His expression took a less serious note, and Emi was more wary of him than ever.
“We’ll hunt, but first you need to relax.” He nodded to his mate. “Dai.”
It was all Sora needed to say to his lover. Even though she huffed and complained, she thoroughly enjoyed their attentions. She lay comfortably flat on her back, with blankets and cushions under her. Emi used Dai’s lap as a pillow, as Sora peeled open her clothes.
His lips felt wonderful around her sore breasts. Only gentleness followed his every touch and kiss this time around. Sora kissed his way downward, gently stroking her skin and her belly. Emi let out a sound when she felt the cubs move in her. Sora looked up at her, eyes wide with surprise. It was a good look on him, she decided.
“The babes moved,” he said in wonder.
“They did, love. Come feel them. You, too, Dai,” Emi encouraged.
Sora and Dai’s hands felt warm on her belly. The cubs jumped again, as if recognizing their fathers.
“Feisty, like their mother,” Sora said thoughtfully.
“Since the healer said it might be twins, I’m really hoping one of them is a girl.” Dai’s large but gentle hands began to wind into her hair, massaging her scalp and stroking her. Emi sighed contently.
“If one’s a girl, she better have Emi’s looks,” Sora remarked, teasing, laughing at Dai’s rumble.
He settled himself between Emi’s thighs. She shivered when she felt his fingers parting her legs. The playful fiend suddenly thrust his nose up her moist pussy. Emi was tempted to swat him, but Dai gently kept her hands in place above her head.
He kissed the insides of her wrist, making her sigh again. “Dai, you’re nearly as bad as Sora.”
“Emi, you smell so damn good.” Sora’s hands on her thighs were firm. He blew on her pussy, making her moan. Moisture flooded between her legs.
“So pink, so lovely, and so fine. I don’t think I can ever get enough of your cream, Emi, and of you.”
Her entire body quivered when she felt his heated mouth on her clit. Gods, the things the hunter could do to her. She buckled when he closed his mouth around her hardening nub, sucking at it until it throbbed. He made his way down, licking at the edges of her pussy lips before thrusting his tongue into her waiting slit.
Emi cried out. Gripping her legs apart, Sora continued fucking her with his clever little tongue. She began to thrust her hips, offering herself to him. Her pleasure mounted with every thrust, lick, and suck he administered. With Dai’s powerful hands gripping her wrists and Sora’s hands firmly on her thighs, Emi’s orgasm nearly drowned her.
Her head reeled as her body shuddered and let out a sigh.
“There, love. Our parting present. Think of us while we’re gone.” Sora grinned at her.
“Oh, you miserable, fiendish bear,” Emi murmured with affection.
Her two men took turns kissing her deeply, but not before checking she had her comforts before they left. Emi hummed softly to herself, not hearing the sound of the shoji doors being shoved aside.
It was only when the menacing shadow fell on her that she turned, her mouth frozen in a wide O of surprise. She didn’t see the blow coming. Emi only remembered thinking how her legs failed her, and how her hands desperately but uselessly covered her belly.
Her babies.
She didn’t care what happened to her. All that mattered was keeping her babies safe.
* * * *
Dai was with the other warriors, examining their kill. The warriors and hunters of the Black Bear Clan didn’t necessarily hunt down and kill every intruder wandering into their lands, but the wolf kin had overstepped their boundaries.
Looking at the fallen bodies, both in human and in wolf form, he shuddered. He couldn’t imagine these ruthless shifters coming into Bear Valley, and taking their woman. Over his dead body.
He frowned when he caught sight of a panicked female in a pink kimono running in their direction.
“Rika, you shouldn’t be here,” Shin, Rika’s mate, said worriedly. “Did something happen?”
Dai’s heart stopped when Rika looked directly at him, her expression one of panic.
“Dai, I was supposed to check on Emi, but when I got to the house, she wasn’t there, and there was a sign of a struggle.” Rika hesitated, but Dai grabbed her shoulders and ignored Shin’s growl of warning.
“What else, Rika?” Even without looking, Dai knew the sound of Sora’s hurrying footsteps nearby.
“I th–think it was Nobu, Dai. His scent is all over the place.”
Dai let out an ear-shattering roar. If Rika scented Nobu, it could only mean his treacherous and spiteful mate was involved. Rage tinted his vision and swept through his entire body. Dai kept envisioning Emi, pregnant, helpless, and in the hands of Kimi and Nobu. His fingers tore furiously at his armor.
Dai couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His bear needed to be let out. In seconds, his skin tasted the cool air. Black fur began to cover his body, and ebony claws began to protrude from his hands and feet.
“Dai, we have to look at this calmly,” Sora was saying, but Dai didn’t want to listen.
Their mate was in trouble. Couldn’t Sora understand that?
Still in the process of shifting, Dai let out another thunderous growl before breaking into a run. He could hear Sora cursing behind him, but he knew his mate would be close on his heels. Dai scented the air, drawing deep inside of him to track Emi. After the first time he and Sora claimed her, they’d immediately established a spiritual link with their third, so it wasn’t hard tracking her down.
Kimi and Nobu had taken Emi out of the village and into the wide expanse of woods at the back of the valley. Dai was familiar with this rocky end of the valley. Young bear shifters claimed this area was haunted and frequently dared each other to enter the series of caves nestled at the valley wall.
The still logical and human part of him understood why the pair would take Emi here. It would be a nightmare if they took Emi into the complicated passages in the caves. Too bad Dai was hot on their trail.
He raised his snout, and cold rage coursed through his veins at the faint smell of Emi’s blood. Their mate and the cubs she carried were injured, possibly bleeding. Enraged, he was about to let out an ear-shattering challenge, but a paw swatted at his side, and a smaller bear was running behind him. Sora.
Dai growled his displeasure, annoyed when his lover swatted at his nose again. He wasn’t interested in what his other mate had to say. All that mattered was tearing Kimi and Nobu to pieces and retrieving Emi and their unborn cubs. Sora delivered another swat, this time more painful and insistent.
Careful, Sora seemed to say. Careful.
Dai drew back his rampaging bear a little, even though it took all of him. Sora was right. If he issued a challenge, Kimi and Nobu would know they were there and get the upper hand.
Unhappy, but understanding the need for some cunning, Dai’s ruffled fur settled down. He followed the lead of his mate, as they crept as quietly as they could into the entrance of one of the smaller caves. Ahead of them, a fire burned low, and they heard the rise and fall of arguing voices.
“Kimi, we shouldn’t—”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Nobu. If you’re not going to gut the bitch, then I will.”
Those words were enough to shove aside Dai’s human half. When he barreled toward the pair this time around, Sora didn’t stop him. The smell of Emi’s blood grew more prominent.
Hurt mate. Must protect mate and cubs.
Sora was smaller and faster. He was on Nobu in seconds. The other hunter let out a yelp of surprise, and nothing else, as So
ra’s claws dug into his throat.
“Stay away, Sora, or I’ll kill your bitch,” Kimi hissed, her voice breaking.
Her hands were shaking as she held out a slender knife to Emi’s slender throat. She didn’t see Dai creeping up behind her. Dai caught Emi’s surprised eyes, but she didn’t give his position away. Dai’s large paw came down, drawing blood, and tearing Kimi from his pregnant mate.
Kimi shrieked in pain on the ground. She was reaching out for her bear to shift, but Sora was on her. Dai let his kill go. Knowing Sora’s bitter history with the treacherous bitch, he gave the kill to his mate.
Dai shifted back to human form, and used his large body to block out Emi’s view of Sora ripping Kimi to shreds.
“You don’t have to protect me, Dai,” Emi huffed.
She looked bruised, a little beaten up, and tired, but if she could talk, then she was fine. Or so Dai thought.
After cutting her free from the ropes binding her, Dai’s nose tingled. The smell of blood rose again, as his fingers drifted down to the wet patch over her kimono. It wasn’t a shallow injury. The blood was too dark. He swallowed hard, refusing to believe his fingers came away with her blood.
“Emi,” he whispered.
Dai had fought in hundreds of battles and faced a dozen enemies stronger than him, but never before in his life had he been so frightened.
“The babes are safe, I think. When he hit me, I moved at the right angle…” Emi trailed off.
She looked unbelievably pale. After saying those last few words, she sagged against him. Dai caught her, feeling numb.
“Sora.” His voice sounded so pathetically soft and weak at first, so he had to try again. “Sora, she’s hurt bad. We have to get her back to the village.”
Dai tried to be careful, as he lifted her prone body in his arms. He couldn’t stand to look at his lover, because Sora’s terrified expression must’ve mirrored his own.
“Dai, what have we done? We promised we’d protect her from anything.” Sora’s voice was a bare whisper.
His mate was demanding answers from him, but Dai had none.
Chapter Nine
“Rika, what’s happening? Megumi and the other women threw us out.”
Sora grabbed Rika’s arm on her way out of the birthing chambers inside the clan hall. Dai hovered by his shoulder, similarly a mess of nerves. The female shifter gave him an impatient look.
“Get out of the way, Sora. Megumi and the other healers are doing the best they can.”
Sora refused to let her go. “It’s been hours and the sun is up. No one is telling us anything. Rika, please.”
Something in his expression must’ve gotten to her, for Rika let out a sigh.
“It’s a premature birth, Sora. Emi’s a strong woman and she’s fighting the best she can, but I have to ask you two. If it came to a choice, who would you save, Emi or your cubs?”
Dai recovered before Sora did. “How can you ask us such a thing?”
“We’re being practical here, Dai.” Rika sounded impatient. “I have to get more supplies. Think about it.”
She pushed her way through. Sora leaned against the wall, unable to think.
“If it came to a choice… Gods of Yamato, it’s a cruel choice,” he murmured.
“But one we have to make.” Dai swallowed, leaning against the wall beside him. “Emi… I think she’d want us to pick the babes. The healer said Emi risked herself to save them, after all, by making sure they weren’t hurt when she fell.”
“Does she? Or do you just want cubs that badly, Dai?” Sora immediately regretted his words the moment they came out of his mouth.
Dai growled. The large shifter’s hands were suddenly on him, slamming him violently against the wall. “Don’t you dare, Sora. You know I love Emi as much as you do.”
“I know. I’m sorry. Fighting won’t help.”
The strength in the warrior’s arms ebbed away and Dai only leaned his forehead against Sora. They didn’t speak for a while. Just stood like that until the tension between them dissipated.
It took a few more restless hours before Rika emerged again. Her expression was tired, but not grim. Sora was too afraid to hope.
“Come see your mate and your cubs,” she said, yelping when Dai enveloped her into a joyous hug.
“Emi’s fine?” Sora croaked.
“She’s still weak, but she’ll recover.”
“And you said ‘cubs’?” Dai asked hopefully.
“Come see for yourself.”
The healers grumbled as they nudged their way into the tiny birthing chamber. Sora and Dai kneeled on either side of Emi’s futon. She looked spent and exhausted, but managed to give them reassuring smiles. On either arm, she held a baby, one brawling boy and one sleeping, tiny daughter.
“Dear Emi, you’ve scared us to death.” Sora leaned forward to kiss her cheek and Dai mimicked the gesture.
“Oh, Emi, they’re beautiful.”
“Don’t overlook your other boy,” came Megumi’s chiding voice.
Sora looked up in surprise to see another, smaller boy nestled in blankets in Megumi’s arms.
“Triplets? We have triplets,” Dai said, as if he could hardly believe the news.
“Yes.” Emi smiled faintly, but Sora could see the pride and love in her eyes.
“Boys, take your cubs from your mate before she faints. Emi’s had a long day,” Megumi pointed out.
Dai easily took the boy in his arms like a natural, but Sora hesitated until he felt Emi’s free hand touching his.
“You’ll do just fine, Sora. I know you’ve been questioning yourself if you’ll make a good father.”
Sora’s hand tightened over Emi’s small one. Gods of Yamato, for such a small woman, Emi had remarkable strength and an indomitable will.
“You knew about my insecurities?”
“I knew,” Emi said gently. “Now stop delaying and hold your daughter, Sora.”
Sora gathered the little bundle in his arms. Sleepy ebony eyes opened and stared right into his heart and soul. A strange sense of emotion swept through his entire body. The world fell away, and all that remained was the wonderful creature staring up at him, reaching one chubby fist to him.
All his fears melted away at that single look. He curled his fingers gently around those amazingly tiny fingers and kissed them reverently.
“I love you, Emi. You, Dai, and our cubs. We’re going to make a wonderful family.”
“Aye, we will,” Dai agreed, sidling beside him, holding their son.
Together, they watched the woman they both madly loved fall into a deep and gentle sleep.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angelique Voisen writes LGBTQ erotic romances and likes experimenting with different sub-genres. Her stories are often set in exotic settings and may include blades, fangs, kinky magic systems and happily-ever-afters.
For all titles by Angelique Voisen, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/angelique-voisen
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Mating Two Bears [Yamato 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 7