Chapter 3
Three
Iwasn’t sure how long I’d been unconscious. Long enough for me to be moved. I woke up in a strange tent alone, my hands still bound and my face throbbing from the hit. I was looking around for something to cut my hands free when someone new joined me.
He was enormous. I’d never seen a man that large before.
He stood so tall, he had to duck to enter the tent.
His shoulders were as wide as mountains and there wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t muscled and threatening.
He looked as though he could snap me in half like a twig.
His hair was shaved, and he had a thick beard that was a little bushy, making him look even more intimidating.
I shrank away from him, a fine tremble rolling through me as I stared up at him.
His face twisted into something almost apologetic and when he spoke, his voice was soft.
Not at all what I was expecting. He murmured something and sank to one knee in front of me, reaching for me with one of his huge hands.
I flinched, expecting another hit, but his touch was gentle when he cupped the uninjured side of my face.
His thumb brushed my cheek, dashing away tears I hadn’t realized were spilling from my eyes.
The warm rumble of his voice filled my ears again, just as gentle as his touch. When I opened my eyes, he offered me a small smile of encouragement.
This barbarian was confusing. I wasn’t sure what to expect from him.
I almost wondered if he would be kind and leave me be, but then he gently pushed against my chest with his free hand, forcing me to lie on the bed.
My heart pounded rapidly as he pulled my tunic over my head.
It got caught on my bound wrists and he frowned, seemingly unsure what to do about it.
He eventually decided to just rip it until the material was nothing but shreds and tossed it away.
When he reached for my trousers, tears spilled over my cheeks. I knew better than to fight, it would only make it worse, and I’d accepted that this was going to happen, but that didn’t make me any less scared. I never liked pain, and I knew whatever he had planned for me, it was going to hurt.
My boots, trousers, and little clothes were removed.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could have remained unconscious for longer so I wouldn’t have to be awake for this part.
For a long moment, I lay there without knowing what he was doing.
My entire body shook with fear, but when he finally touched me, his hands were just as gentle as they had been before.
Big, rough palms slid over my naked skin, tracing over my arms and down my chest. When light fingers danced along my shaft, I gasped and squirmed from the ticklish feeling.
I tried blocking him with my bound hands, but he pushed them away and forced them above my head, holding them there out of the way.
His free hand continued its exploration, touching my cock some more before moving to my balls and cupping them in his palm.
The gentle touch felt good, and my cock stirred from the stimulation.
I tried to think about other things, it was wrong to enjoy it, but the barbarian’s gentle exploration was hard to ignore.
He spoke low, his rumbling voice making me shiver. His tone sounded curious and when I peeked my eyes open, he was watching his hand with something akin to fascination. His expression was so earnest that I almost forgot he was my captor. Wasn’t he supposed to hurt me?
I tensed when one of his thick fingers brushed against my hole.
He murmured again, lifting himself up and looking around.
He spotted something but seemed confused about how to get it with the way he held me.
He glanced at the hand holding my wrists, then back at whatever he was looking at over his shoulder.
Finally, he pushed a little harder against my wrists, giving me a look that said to keep them there.
I obeyed because, thus far, he’d been kind to me.
I didn’t want to act out and earn his ire.
If I thought the hit from the other barbarian had been bad, I got the feeling this one would be worse. He was way bigger.
Once he was certain I wouldn’t move, he leaned back and reached for a bottle I hadn’t noticed before.
It was filled with some kind of liquid, and when he popped the lid, it didn’t have any identifying scent.
He dipped his fingers into it, seeming just as curious about the contents as he had been while touching me.
Why did I get the feeling he had about as much experience with intimacy as I did?
When he reached for me again, I nearly swallowed my tongue. Whatever the liquid was made his fingers slippery, and he rubbed them over my hole, causing me to shudder and my thighs to clamp shut. Why did that feel so good?
His free hand slid between my thighs, forcing them apart again. He moved his big body between them to prevent me from closing them again and continued to touch me. I squirmed beneath him, feeling a flush work its way down my neck. It was wrong to enjoy what he was doing to me. Right?
He kept rubbing my hole until I was gasping, and my cock was hard and throbbing.
I was embarrassed over how much I liked the touch and kept my eyes squeezed shut to avoid looking at him.
At least until the pressure against my hole increased, and he slipped the tip of one large finger inside me.
My eyes flew open in surprise and my hands jerked down automatically to stop him.
He caught them before I could do anything, pulling them back over my head again.
Slowly, he breached me a little more, sawing that finger in and out until my body relaxed and accepted it.
It felt… weird. Weirdly good, too. I knew I shouldn’t be enjoying this, but I couldn’t help myself.
He pressed the finger deeper, almost like he was searching for something, and I squirmed from the weird pressure in my middle.
I figured he found what he was looking for when he pressed on a spot inside me and I cried out in surprise, my hips thrusting into the air unconsciously.
Lightning bolts of pleasure crashed through me every time he brushed that spot, and his rumbly noise of agreement said he was happy with the result.
I wanted to clamp my legs closed, to stop the pleasure from overwhelming me, but with him in between my legs and my hands caught over my head, I couldn’t.
Pressure bloomed and stung a little as another finger joined the first. He froze when I flinched, slowing his movements until the pinch eased and my body relaxed.
He did the same thing with the third finger.
He was being really careful not to hurt me, which was confusing, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to question it.
I could accept this life if I was going to be treated so gently.
Each time my body relaxed and accepted his fingers, he went after that spot inside me again, rewarding me with so much pleasure I was sobbing.
I felt close to release when he pulled his fingers free. Without thinking, I made a noise of protest. I wanted to come. I didn’t care anymore that his people had stolen me. All I could think about was my release.
It was when he rolled me onto my stomach and tipped my hips that I realized what was happening.
Fear shot through me again and I jerked my head over my shoulder to look.
I immediately regretted it. Maybe if I had kept my head down, I wouldn’t have seen the monster about to breach me.
The barbarian’s cock was huge. Intimidatingly so.
There was no way that it would fit inside me without pain.
His soothing murmurs started again, and he ran a palm gently down my spine while he coated his cock in the liquid until he was dripping with it. I really wished I understood him. Maybe his words would have made me feel better.
My bondmate had been responding so beautifully before now.
I hadn’t thought I’d ever be attracted to a male, but watching him moan and writhe beneath my fingers was more than enough to make my cock ache to be inside him.
It was only when he saw my cock that he stiffened and the fear came back to his face.
“You have to relax,” I murmured, trying to soothe him by rubbing his back. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
He shook beneath me and I worried the longer I dragged this out, the more scared he would feel. I showed him with my fingers that I could be gentle, and he eventually enjoyed it. I would do the same with my cock.
Since looking only frightened him, I carefully pushed his head down so he wasn’t looking over his shoulder anymore. He buried it in the furs, his bound hands twisting in them as he braced himself for pain. Tyal said if he was too tense, it would hurt more. I needed to get him to relax.
Shuffling closer, I ran my hands up and down his back, squeezing the tense muscles to encourage them to soften. He eventually understood my intention and let out a slow, shaky breath, doing his best to relax.
“Good job,” I crooned, leaning over him to press kisses along his shoulder.
I wanted to kiss him all over, but I thought it was best to get Ugbar’s demands out of the way first. Then I could indulge myself in caring for him properly.
I was not like my brothers. I didn’t want to be cruel to my bondmate.
While he was relaxed, I fisted my cock, guiding it to his entrance.
Mimicking what I’d done with my fingers, I started rubbing against him, teasing his hole until little mewling sounds escaped his mouth.
Then, while he was distracted, I pushed inside just a little.
He tensed again, this time around my cockhead, and the groan that ripped from me was a little wild.
I’d felt nothing that good before. I wanted to slam inside him, to feel the tight heat around my entire cock, but Tyal warned me not to.
He said it would hurt the male. Instead, I did as before, moving in tiny intervals until his body relaxed enough to accept me.
It was a test of my control, and I had to bite my fist more than once to stop myself from fucking him roughly. I reminded myself whenever it began to overwhelm me that I didn't want to hurt him. I wanted him to enjoy it as much as I did.
He whimpered into the furs and I froze, worried.
He was trembling again, his face hidden from me.
I couldn’t see if he enjoyed it when he did that, so I forced myself to stop so I could encourage him to look at me.
I petted his hair, crooning words of encouragement until his face came out of the furs and I could see the tear tracks on his cheeks. The ache in my chest came back.
“I promise when this is over, I will never hurt you again.”