Chapter 17 Willow #2
“No, never at you,” he says as he continues to wipe my cheeks with his thumbs. “I’m upset the beast got in here and got so close to you. I’m upset you almost drowned. I’m upset you made it chase you.”
“It was going to kill you,” I say with another sniffle.
“Still, you should never put yourself in harm's way like that. I couldn't stand it if something happened to you.”
“That’s how I feel too!” I say with a tinge of frustration. “I couldn’t let it attack you when you were weaponless.”
“You’d rather risk drowning than let it attack us?” he asks, looking confused, and I nod.
“Yes. And I’d do it again.”
He exhales heavily, his lips pulling into a tight smile before he pulls me even closer and wraps me in a hug. He turns his face sideways, where it presses into my chest, and I wrap my arms around him, dropping my cheek to the top of his head.
“We don’t deserve you,” he mumbles.
“I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you,” I tell him, knowing it to be true. I’m nothing special.
He pulls his head back and looks up at me as my hands find their way to the sides of his face. “Kiss me,” he commands. Feeling the need to do just that, I lean forward and press my lips to his.
He holds me tighter and his lips move against mine, and for a moment, I get lost in the kiss. But he doesn’t let it go on for too long, pulling back to smile at me, looking more at ease once he sees the lust on my face.
Pushing to his feet, he finally passes me my nightdress. “Get changed, my tiny treasure. I’m going to wait right on the other side of this wall for you.”
With that, he steps to the side to give me some semblance of privacy as I hastily change, not wanting to be a burden and take up too much of his time. When I pick my dress up, I see a small patch of grass underneath it. I look around but don’t see any more in this area. Strange.
When I step out of my changing area, Ronan takes my wet dress and my hand, leading me back to our sleeping area. “Will you sit here while we take care of a few things?” he asks.
“Can I help?” I ask hopefully, but he shakes his head.
“I don’t want you skinning animals or risk you being seen at the entrance helping with the traps.”
“What about the fire?” I ask, even though it’s already blazing high from Bo’s efforts.
He glances at it then smiles. “Yes, if it starts to die down, you can add more wood or stoke it. But be careful.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, the word slipping out unconsciously. His eyes darken a little, and I drop my gaze to the fire, unsure why I like that.
“And watch for the greenery spreading,” he adds.
“I saw a little bit of grass where I was changing.” He nods, glancing at the fire before he goes to help the other two.
They take a few hours to reset the traps and cut up the grimclaw. By the time they’re done, we have more meat than we could eat in days.
“We should cook it now,” Bo says as he assesses the giant pile of meat. “So it doesn’t go bad.”
Ronan nods. “It might attract other animals if we leave it.”
Remembering they had gone hunting earlier, I point to the smaller carcass off to the side as I ask, “What about that one? Do you think the grimclaw smelled it? Is that why he came in here?”
They all look to where I’m pointing with looks of surprise on their faces.
Finally, Hawk shakes his head. “We’re fools. Of course that would attract predators.”
“We’re cooking all of this meat now,” Ronan says angrily as he stands and grabs the other carcass, dumping it in the giant pile of raw meat.
In order to cook it fast, instead of skewering it like they usually do, they lay bigger pieces out over large, flat stones that they place in the fire. They work sort of like frying pans, being so thin that they seem to heat right through.
It takes a few hours, but by the time the sun has set and the crickets are out chirping loudly, all the meat has been cooked, and Ronan announces we can finally go to bed.
I’m grateful because today has been exhausting, and I’m ready to go to sleep and start tomorrow fresh. Besides, it will mean we’re only three days away from being able to leave this place and go home.
I’m just not sure where home is for me anymore.
Bo lies down behind me, moving close to my back as Hawk lies on his side, facing me. He reaches up and runs his thumb down my cheek as he examines my face.
“Are you okay?” he asks, after a few moments.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Well, that won’t do,” Bo says with an exaggerated sigh.
“What?” I ask in confusion.
“You should never be just fine. Not with us.”
Bo moves my hair back from my face, exposing my neck, and places a long kiss there, just below my ear. The action sends a bolt of desire coursing through my body, and I bite my lip and squeeze my legs together.
“Will you let us make you feel better?” Hawk whispers as he starts to move even closer to me, our noses almost touching. “Let us show you what your mates can do for you.”
He strokes my cheek again, and I find myself aching to say yes. I want to know what it feels like to have them touch me. Really touch me. But thoughts of the future have me biting my tongue. Would saying yes mean I’m committing to them forever?
I’ve only known them for a few days, and even though I already know that my life would feel empty without them, it’s hard to cross that line.
Even though they’ve repeatedly told me they will help me find my sister, it feels like I’d be choosing them over her somehow.
Like I’d be replacing her as the most important person in my life.
Izzy and I have barely spent any time together in the past few years, since they scheduled us in different places, and she was forced to marry. I’ve only seen her once in the past six months when she’d snuck back in and found my wrist chained to my bed, not allowing me to leave.
She didn’t know that father had been doing that to me, so when she came to break me out, she had no way to break the chain, and we were interrupted before she was able to help me. That was just a week and a half ago.
I was so happy to see her. She told me it was almost impossible to break into the compound, and that she’d been trying to get me out for months.
So agreeing to stay with my Vikings feels like I am throwing away everything she has done for me, because she has nobody out there, and she will never stop looking for me. I just know it.
“This won’t solidify the bond,” Bo tells me, bringing me back to my current situation of being sandwiched between the two strong and handsome Vikings who seem to want nothing more than to be with me and make me happy. “Nothing has to change if you say yes. You still get to decide your future.”
I try to take in what he’s telling me, but with the soft kisses he keeps placing up and down my neck, I’m a little distracted.
“We just want the chance to try to persuade you,” Hawk says, his nose almost touching mine.
“Persuade me to do what?” I ask, tilting my head to give Bo more access.
“To choose us,” Bo answers for him. “So what’s your answer, little mate?”
My heart leaps in my chest at the nickname. The more they call me that, the more I like it. I’m not sure if it’s my desire that has me whispering, “Yes,” or if it’s curiosity at what they are going to do.
Hawk closes the distance between us and kisses me.
His lips are firmer than the other two, and I find I like the differences between them.
I reach up and touch his face, my fingers itching to finally know what he feels like.
When I scratch my fingers along his jaw, he groans, his mouth moving over mine hungrily.
I open for him, and he isn’t shy about experimenting with his tongue. It’s wider and thicker than the other two, surprising me since he’s the shortest. But he’s still a giant of a man. The way his tongue caresses mine has me whimpering with need.
My free hand trails over his stomach and abs, all that firm skin making me want to touch him everywhere. Bo’s hand on my stomach starts to move lower, and I find myself silently begging for him to touch me between my legs, my core positively aching for them.
His fingers pull up my nightdress as he whispers, “Can I touch you, Willow?”
I nod my head as a strained whimper escapes me. I pull away from Hawk just enough to answer, “Yes.” Hawk uses his hand behind my neck to pull my lips back to his, like he can’t get enough of me.
Bo doesn’t wait to pull up the last few inches of my dress, exposing my core between us. His fingers lightly run through my folds, making me gasp as my head tilts back. Hawk peppers kisses along my jaw and down my neck as Bo’s fingers find my clit, making me cry out when he rubs his thumb over it.
I had no idea that it could be a source of pleasure. My education definitely didn’t prepare me for anything like what I’m feeling now. It spoke of sex in the more clinical sense, but I knew that it was something that the men in the compound enjoyed.
Even though women never seemed to enjoy it, I knew that wasn’t the case in the rest of the world. Izzy hadn’t told me much the night she returned to try to free me, but she did tell me that everything they taught us was lies, that women should have equal say and rights.
I never really understood what she meant until I met these three. Since day one, they have treated me like a person who matters, and not an object as I’d been raised to believe.
All thoughts of Izzy and that world fade as Bo starts to circle my clit with his thumb. “Bo!” I moan, unsure if I want him to stop or keep going, the sensations completely foreign to my body.
“Try to relax,” he whispers in my ear. “Let us take care of you.” I try to nod, since I feel incapable of speech. The way my core tingles and throbs, I have no idea what I want but feel like I might burst if I don’t get it soon.