The Troll Bride

by S. J. Sanders

  I will never escape this place.

  KATE

  It’s the low keening howls that wake me. I turn in the dim golden light and look over at Cavek. He lies curled in on himself on the opposite side of the bed, shivering. His claws tear rivets into the bedding beneath him that will once again need to be mended. In the many weeks I’ve been here with him now, he seems to have suffered from some unknown night terror. One he refuses to share with me. I feel helpless as I hear him call out wordlessly, broken up only by vicious growls and snarls at his invisible tormentors.

  I crane my neck to check on Cavekji. To my relief he’s still sound asleep, a pudgy fist curled up against his now apple green cheek. I slide across the mattress, careful to not get too close in case he mistakes me for his attacker.

  “Cavek, wake up,” I call out to him. “Come on, babe. Come back to me. There’s no one here but us. Wake up, my love.”

  I repeat this refrain over and over until his muscles finally relax and his labored breathing evens out as he’s released from his nightmare. He turns toward me, the glow of his purple eyes focusing on me in the weak light of the early morning. He breathes out slowly.

  “Kate,” he whispers with such love and longing it nearly breaks my heart. He’s hoarse from his frantic cries.

  “Yes, I’m here,” I soothe. I scoot over and wrap my arms around him. He relaxes into my embrace, his entire frame shuddering in relief.

  “Thank the gods,” he murmurs so low I barely hear him.

  I stroke my hand up and down his back.

  “Do you want to tell me about it?”

  Every time I’ve asked, he refuses. He stills beneath my touch and goes utterly silent. My heart sinks. He isn’t going to share with me

  “I do not want to burden you with this. Nor do I wish you to look at me any differently,” he says, his words almost tremulous. He draws back to look down at me, his eyes shining. “I want you to see the male I was when we met. That is how I want you to see me. Not broken.”

  I’m almost numb with shock and then regret sets in. I had no idea he felt that way. That he assumed that I’d ever think less of him for surviving. I stroke a hand down the heavy scars marking his flesh.

  I never told him anything about how I really felt for him. He’s shown me his love in every action, but I never showed him that I love him. Sure, we’ve joked a lot, but I have been doing the same old, same old. Shielding my heart.

  If there were anyone I could trust with my heart, it’s Cavek.

  “I love you, Cavek. Nothing you could say would ever make me love you any less. I’ve seen these scars and they’re just another part of you. They weren’t there when we met, but that doesn’t change the way I feel.” I take a deep breath and let it out. “I’m trusting you with my heart. Please trust me with this.”

  His eyes widen and then star-like tears gather in his lashes, glimmering with some unknown magic as they fall and glide along his face. My breath hitches at the sight.

  “I love you too,” he rasps around his tears.

  “Tell me.”

  He draws me and tucks me against his chest, my cheek nestled against the hollow of his neck. I can feel the thudding of his heart and I turn my head to press my lips against it.

  “When the werewolves captured me, for the first week they tortured me endlessly. All to discover the hidden entrance in the magic protecting our kingdom. You see, Kate, no one can enter our kingdom without either a troll to show them or knowledge of the secret entrance. I refused, so they did everything they could think of to degrade, hurt, and shame me. My guard took particular pleasure in it.

  “When they couldn’t break me, they threw me in a dank cell with every intention of letting me rot there. Once a week, they would pull me out to torture me again. Every week my guard would laugh as they prepared to haul me out, and I could smell his excitement. When I dream, sometimes they’re good dreams, but sometimes they take me back to those moments and I am alone in my misery without you and our family,” he says as his body trembles with lingering distress.

  I stroke his hair, feeling the urge to cry for him but I blink back my tears, trying to stay strong for his sake. My mate survived through months of terrible abuse.

  “I’m so proud to have such a strong male who wants me of all females for his mate,” I whisper around the emotion thick in my throat. “What can I do, Cavek?”

  His arms tighten around me. “I just want to forget. I want only your touch and scent with me.”

  I draw up and meet him halfway, our lips sliding against each other. The kiss is a sweet give-and-take as our tongues dance with each other. I feel Cavek’s desperate embrace as our kiss changes from sweet to frantic, a brutal reflection of his need for connection.

  I meet his need with my own when I realize that I could have actually lost him—lost all of this—during those terrible months that he suffered. The desire to connect and affirm our bond is a living, breathing thing that rages within me.

  I need all of him. All his pain and happiness.

  I shiver as I feel the sting of his sharp teeth grazing my bottom lip as he sucks it in between his own and tugs on it. His claws erotically dig ever so slightly into the flesh of my ass as he pulls me tight against him.

  With a shaky gasp, I pull away and sink back down into the bedding and chuckle as Cavek’s arm tightens around me.

  “Going somewhere, love?” he growls with his desire-roughened voice.

  My pussy drips sopping wet with the heat of my arousal.

  “Is there somewhere you’d like me to go?” I murmur as I slide my fingers down his taut emerald abs until they come to rest and curl around his thick shaft. That part of him leaps eagerly against my palm, the tip of dewing with a pearl of precum that I rub over the head of his cock.

  I pump his length a few times in my hand, and Cavek turns his head and groans into his pillow. His arms release me so that his claws can dig into the mattress. The only thing at risk is the condition of our bedding as I begin my southward journey.

  “Gods be merciful,” he gasps as my tongue sweeps over the tip a few times before I suck him into my mouth.

  My tongue toys with his piercing as I suck and stroke his cock with my tongue. I take it as deep as my unfortunately superior gag reflex allows. But I make it good for him. I pump the base that doesn’t fit in my mouth with one hand, and with the other I stroke and fondle his balls, making him shudder with his rapidly rising pleasure.

  His fingers tangle in my hair and a tremor rips through me. I expect him to take control of the pace, but I’m surprised when he pulls me off his cock and flips me onto my belly. His hands draw my hips up and my pussy pulsates with a fresh flow of heat and desire. Cavek growls and he blankets me with his body, his cock nudging against my entrance.

  I’m surprised that I feel no impulse to fight against his obvious dominance. Instead, everything within me submits in this moment. I lower my head and pant into the bedding as he brushes his cock against my clit, teasing the entrance of my sex with slow deliberate pumps of his hips. He licks at my shoulder, running his tongue back and forth in small circles.

  “Mine,” he rumbles. “My mate.”

  “Yes,” I moan. “Forever.”

  His cock twitches against me and he chuckles.

  “Forever. I will never let you go now. I’m sealing you to me,” he growls seconds before clamping his teeth onto my shoulder. I shriek but the sudden burst of pain flees under a flood of intense pleasure. What is that? I can feel something pump slowly into my veins, leaving a hot, erotic burn as it fills me.

  A hum runs through my body, drawing a sharp orgasm at the same moment his cock dives into me. My ass shakes with each rough thrust, my arms and shoulders trembling from the exertion of keeping myself braced as he rocks into me. His sack slaps rhythmically against my clit every time he drives forward. One orgasm spirals into another and I pant, moan, and writhe, my voice joining with his deep grunts and growls.

  My body tightens as
he swells inside of me as he drives deep within and grinds against me. The release of his hot seed triggers my own climax, my scream rising with his roar. Together we collapse onto the bed, a mass of sweaty limbs and sweet drawn-out kisses as we pet each other. He spends several minutes licking his bite mark. I feel a fizzling burn all along the punctured skin and the area he marked from my neck to my shoulder. After several minutes he pulls back and settles against me.

  “We did that a bit out of order,” he says with a wry note to his voice.

  “How so?” I ask, snuggling into him.

  “Traditionally, I’m not supposed to do that until our mating ceremony. I would mark you publicly.”

  “Mark me?”

  I feel him nod. “Our bites heal quickly but I secrete a special saliva during mating that not only heals the bite but stains the skin around it.”

  A giggle burst out of me. “Honestly, as stimulating as it was, I think that would be a bit embarrassing if we did it in front of anyone else.”

  I feel his body behind me shake with his deep laughter.

  “Naturally, we’re still going to have the ceremony. Mother will insist. We aren’t the first pair to succumb to the need to seal themselves to one another before the formalities are taken care of.”

  I grin as he nuzzles my neck, kissing the delicate skin there again. I could stay in his arms forever.

  A small whimper from Cavekji’s basket draws us out of our contented worship of each other. Cavek leans his forehead against my own.

  “I think our son may need to be moved to his own room soon,” he laughs and kisses me soundly before sliding off the bed.

  I admire the flex of his ass as he walks over to the basket and bends over. The horrible scarring from shoulder to thigh doesn’t detract at all from the beauty of his muscles in motion. I smile as he stands back up, cradling our son to his chest. He’s whispering something to our son, a blissful expression on his face as he brings Cavekji back to bed with us.

  Nestled between our bodies, our son yawns, his brilliant eyes slowly blinking as he falls back to sleep. As I lie there, I’m not really watching him; I’m watching my mate. His pale lavender hair falls over his face like a gossamer curtain and his black lips tilt up as he smiles down at Cavekji. His glowing eyes flick back up to me and he settles deeper into the bed, his thick arm wrapping around both of us in a protective embrace.

  Chapter 15

  Cavek

  With our mate bond sealed and the courtship period concluded, our lives as a family slip into an easy pace. To my surprise, we hadn’t even needed to tell Boukie. The moment we left our room the next morning, Boukie came running out of her room with Stitch tumbling after her and declared that I’m her daddy now. She didn’t give me much time to dwell on it before she was up in my lap. I may not have sired her but, in that moment, I knew she was mine. My daughter. Life transitioned to the quiet pace of family life, and I found that I treasured each of those days even more.

  Not that I don’t have my responsibilities. Now that Kate and I are no longer courting, and word of that didn’t take long to reach my parents, I have resumed most of my previous duties, including alternating patrols around our territory. Despite being taken away for hours on end, having a family to come home to makes it all worthwhile. Kate and our children—even with the mischief Boukie gets up to with Stitch—make my life one of peace and contentment when I’m not having to bash thick-skulled heads together when some of the males around here get out of control.

  I’m still concerned about the Warue, but even Serus, upon returning from the northern border, has assured me that the tribe isn’t showing any interest in the border or attempting to slip over into our territory. It’s like they are ignoring our very existence. Rather than celebrate, my brothers and I agree that the whole thing is highly suspicious. Yet it has had its indirect benefits.

  To my surprise, the regular conflicts between the tribes bordering our territory have had one truly positive impact on our kingdom. The Evarue on our western border have broken their silent isolation from the world and have opened up peace talks between our peoples. Representatives from the tribe are coming today to meet with us, and Mother and Father have specifically asked me to be present, as one of the most diplomatic members of our family.

  I am digging through the trunk looking for one of my better silk tunics when I hear the front door slam. Kate had gone out just minutes before to look for Boukie to get her ready to attend with me. By that sound, it seems she isn’t too happy.

  Plucking up the deep blue silk tunic I make my way into the common room and come to a grinding halt. The stench nearly does me in, attacking my sensitive nose, but the sight before me stops me where I stand. I try to hold my breath and venture closer, but it doesn’t help. My daughter watches me with a sheepish smile.

  “Hi, Daddy,” she squeaks.

  I frown down at her, showing my displeasure while I try to ignore the sentimental assault. It’s not an easy task, especially when her eyes widen as they fill with unshed tears and her lower lip juts out with a quiver. Thankfully, the smell coming off her is so nauseating that it keeps my mind focused on what is important.

  I wrinkle my nose and try to breathe only through my mouth. Boukie is standing on a chair, where Kate doubtlessly set her, covered in a reeking mixture of prized fertilizer, mud, and chicken feathers. A lot of chicken feathers. Even Stitch, sitting at the foot of the chair, has feathers and muck caught in his scales.

  Kate returns to the room with a bucket of soapy water, her nose wrinkled with a distaste I would expect from any reasonable being that possesses a nose.

  “Boukie, how the hell did you end up in the neighbor’s coop?” she asks as she dunks a heavy sponge into the water.

  “Mommy, that’s a copper for the swear jar,” she says around a trembling sob. I almost admire her tenacity in the face of punishment. Yet part of me is amused because the swear jar has become the bane of me and my brothers. She may be small and human, but she possesses the ears of a night-flier.

  My mate isn’t as easy to sway. She scowls fiercely at our daughter as she strips the soiled garments off her and hands them to me. I don’t want them but accept them anyway. I pinch them between my thumb and forefinger and, opening the door, I fling them out into the garden. Might just be best to burn them. I don’t know if I want to touch them again. Once was enough. I don’t know how Kate can stomach cleaning Cavekji’s filth. My mate is a brave, strong female.

  When I return, Boukie has been wiped clean and is wearing a fresh tunic.

  “Mommy, I didn’t mean to do it! Stitch saw the chickens and was chasing them. I was just trying to get him to stop. But when I was carrying him out, I tripped and fell in the yuck,” she says pitifully.

  Kate snorts with irritation. I stifle a chuckle, but I can’t keep my lips from twitching. I imagine that Bishol had a good laugh over it.

  “I hope you at least apologized to Bishol,” Kate says wearily as she attempts to wipe down stitch and Boukie nods with earnest solemnity. The graveness with which they are treating the moment is too much and I begin to laugh, making my sweet mate scowl at me.

  I duck the sponge she throws at me and hold my hands up. “I’m not laughing at you, mate, but you worry too much. Trolls have a different perspective on such mischief. No doubt Boukie gave him quite a bit of entertainment. In fact, it is the rest of us you should feel sorry for, because no doubt it will be his favorite story to tell everyone of how the little princess fell in his fertilizer pile next to the chicken coop.”

  I watch a small smile reluctantly tug at Kate’s lips as I pull on my tunic. It’s almost a shame. I know that my mate loves to gaze upon my bare torso. Unfortunately, while my mother would find it splendidly romantic, my father would not be as impressed if I didn’t at least try to be presentable for our visitors.

  While Kate retreats to our chamber to change, I go into Cavekji’s new room. My son is awake and babbling to himself. I smile down at him and watch him
play with his feet. He has become interested in grabbing and exploring everything within reach lately. The minute he sees me, a wide, toothless smile stretches over his face. Making silly noises at him, I reach over the tightly woven walls of his well-padded bed, lift my son into my arms, and proceed to ready him.

  Waiting in the common room for us, Kate is a glorious sight in her saffron yellow dress, her dark hair rippling in loose waves down her shoulders. She flashes a nervous smile and I can understand why.

  Other than our courting activities, this is our first time socializing in public. There will be members of the troll court she has yet to meet plus meeting the Evarue representatives. It’s natural for her to feel nervous. I grew up in that world and even I want to hurl—to borrow a quaint human euphemism—whenever I have to attend a royal function at the palace.

  All at once, I want to keep her concealed safely in our den. I don’t want her around the werewolves at all. I look down at the slick stain on her shoulder and admire the rainbow play of light over it. At least my mark should deter other males.

  KATE

  I know Cavek tried to warn me before, but I don’t know if I really believed him until now. The werewolves are massive creatures and look almost exactly like bipedal wolves, with a short fuzz of fur over hard abs, large humanoid hands, and massive muscled chests and biceps that most human men would kill for. The long hair trailing from the crown of their heads flows loose except for a few braids framing their faces. The rest seems to blend in with the fur coats along their backs. It’s almost artistic, the way it fringes the back of their arms and haunches. They’re awe-inspiring, intensely masculine creatures.

  Madi rushes to greet us, clad in her signature bubblegum pink but accented for the occasion with pink crystals.

  “Kate, you’re here! I am so happy to hear news of your mating. I told Virol that it would happen so, and here we are. Though I had hoped to have the mating ceremony before the mating, who am I to judge? Sometimes, a finely built male is just too hard to resist,” she states with a knowing smile.