Saved by a Barbarian (Not-So-Savage Barbarians #2)

Chapter 1

One

“ C ome on, Patrick. You have to forgive me. I know I acted like an ass, but I was just a kid. I was scared.”

He said that, but Richard Oberon the third was the bane of my existence when we were kids. He tormented me. He and his friends. They spent years making sure I was miserable. I wanted to believe him. I didn’t want to be bitter for the rest of my life. It was just hard. He was a bully.

“How do I know this isn’t a trick?” I asked cautiously.

“Why would I ever say it out loud if it wasn’t real? I don’t want to end up hanged.” He stepped closer, taking my hands in his and rubbing his thumbs over my knuckles. My heart twinged. I had hidden away that part of me for years. I wasn’t sure how to handle the kind of attention he was giving me. And it was hard to focus on staying strong when he was so sweet to me.

“This is real. I’ve wanted you for years. You’re the only one for me. And now that we’re adults, we can make it work. Give me a chance.”

Swallowing hard around the lump in my throat, I searched his face. We were nearly the same height. I’d been smaller when we were younger, which always made him seem huge and intimidating. Now that I’d gone through my last growth spurt, we could look each other in the eye. It put us on more equal ground, and it made me connect with him in ways I didn’t expect.

I saw the fear, the heartache. He put himself at risk by exposing his nature to me. If I didn’t share that nature, it would’ve been dangerous for him. Being like us wasn’t legal in our town. There were very few towns that allowed it. I’d been planning to save up enough to move to a safer one, to finally live my life, but it’d take time. Spending that whole period alone and hiding wasn’t a pleasant thought. And if Richard was like me, maybe he’d want to come with me.

“I… I forgive you.”

His relief was instantaneous, his shoulders slumped as the weight of his guilt sloughed off. And his smile… Richard had always been handsome, even as a little kid. But whenever he smiled, it gave me butterflies. Combined with the relief he felt, his smile was almost blinding.

Yanking me closer, he hugged me tight, and I wrapped my arms around him to comfort him. He wasn’t shaking or anything, he was too brave for that, but I felt the tension in his body. He was obviously upset.

When he pulled away, he looked excited. “So, we’re together then, right? We can, uh… try some stuff? I’ve always been too scared to ask, but I feel like I can trust you. You know what it’s like to want something you can’t have.”

My cheeks burned at his comment. “Y-yes, I understand. Um… I’m not sure?—”

He pouted at me, those big blue eyes widening in a pleading expression that did funny things to my heart. “Come on… I’m twenty-three and have never been touched. It’s a travesty, Patrick. My hand can only help so much.”

In the back of my head, a little voice said it was too fast to do anything with Richard. He only just apologized and confessed to me. But we were the same age, and it was awful not being able to get close to someone without fearing them turning you in to the warden. And thinking about Richard touching himself was a little hot, honestly. Who could think about that and not get turned on?

“Richard…” I protested, albeit quietly and without much strength behind it. He stepped closer. I felt his erection press against my hip, and my whole body quivered with long-repressed want. Would one night be so bad? We could talk more after, and figure out how we wanted this to work. He couldn’t just come out and say we were friends after years of bullying me without people getting suspicious. It would take a while for us to establish ourselves as good enough friends to see each other regularly. Who knew when we’d next get the opportunity? Did I want to give up the chance to finally experience intimacy just because things were so new with us?

Grinding himself against me, he leaned to whisper in my ear. “Come on, baby. We’ll start off simple. Get on our knees for each other. Don’t you want to explore with me?”

My knees went a little weak at his suggestion. Yes. I did want that. I heard about things men and women did together, and I always imagined what it’d be like to do it with a man. It was like my sexually repressed side took over my mind and made me a little reckless because I found myself nodding and melting when Richard smiled at me again.

This was a good thing. Things were going to change for me. My business was doing well, which made my father resent me less, and I finally had someone who wanted to be with me. It was worth the risk.

“You go first,” he cajoled, nudging me a little further back against the hedge. When he’d asked me to meet him out here during a party, I thought he’d start bullying me again. I was determined to stand up to him for once. I never thought we’d end up like this.

“Shouldn’t we… I don’t know… kiss first?”

I dreamed most often about kissing. About what it would be like to feel someone’s lips against mine, their arms wrapped around me. The image always warmed me to my core, and I desperately wanted to feel it for real. But Richard was nervous and impatient, glancing over his shoulder towards the house a few times.

“I’m not sure how long we have until someone comes looking, Patrick. Let’s just do it, alright? I’ll make it up to you later.”

He was right, of course. Richard was a popular man. He had lots of friends. There was no telling how long it would be before someone came looking for him. There wasn’t enough time to explore everything, and from the way he ground against me, he obviously needed relief. I did too, if I was being honest. I could wait for a kiss. Hopefully, we could meet up often and explore somewhere more private so we could take our time with that part.

My heart pounded in my chest and my stomach clenched with nerves as I sank to my knees. Richard’s eyes lit up, and he raced to free his erection from his trousers. His giddy excitement filled my belly with butterflies. He really was quite handsome. And after tonight, he would be mine, even if no one else knew. It would be a secret we shared between us.

My breath caught in my throat when he finally freed himself. I’d seen a cock before, obviously, since I had one myself, but never another person’s. It was a heady feeling, and my hand shook when I reached to touch him for the first time. He wasn’t overly large, which was kind of shocking, actually. With the way he strutted around, I kind of figured he’d be bigger. I resisted the urge to compare him to myself. It didn’t matter. His foreskin was retracted, he was obviously desperate, and if I didn’t get on with it, there wouldn’t be enough time for him to touch me too.

I was tentative at first, licking along the head and down his length. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing. I had never seen the act myself to be able to mimic it.

“Suck on it,” Richard demanded, his voice gruff. When I looked up at him, he looked impatient, and the shadows played with his expression enough to remind me of the cruel looks he gave me when he was mocking me. It made me hesitate, but then his face softened, and he ran his fingers gently through my hair, cupping the back of my head. “Come on. I want a turn with you, too.”

Excited by the prospect, I bent my head to the task, sucking his cock into my mouth. The taste was salty but not entirely unpleasant. He was a little musty, though, which wasn’t enticing. I chalked it up to nerves about telling me about his nature that made him sweat so much. Ignoring the smell, I sucked a little more into my mouth, shivering when Richard groaned quietly.

“That’s it. Take more. Keep going.”

My whole body flushed with excitement, and I felt my prick leaking in my smallclothes. If I wasn’t careful, Richard wouldn’t get a chance to have a turn before I reached completion. It was just so exciting finally touching a man like this. And the way he spoke?—

Suddenly, the hand that had been gently cupping the back of my head fisted my hair instead, gripping to the point of pain. Tears stung my eyes at the painful touch, but before I could release Richard’s cock to complain, he shoved me against him, forcing the entirety of his cock into my mouth. The smell was overwhelming with my nose pressed to his groin and he forced himself so abruptly deep, it hurt. The combination triggered my gag reflex, and I tried to pull away, but Richard wouldn’t allow it. He thrust his hips, groaning and telling me how good it felt. I’d enjoy the commentary more if it didn’t hurt so much. I finally yanked myself free, gasping for air, and I flinched when I looked up at Richard and he reached completion all over my face.

“R-Richard!” I protested, my throat hoarse. I still had to get home, and it wasn’t safe for either of us if I looked debauched.

His chuckle was familiar and cruel, and when I mopped my face with my handkerchief and looked up at him again, he looked triumphant.

“Richard?”

Tucking himself away, he gave me a vicious smile. “I always knew. I think most of the town knew. But the mayor is a stickler, and we never had any proof. We do now.”

“W-what are you talking about?”

His head tipped, and his smile widened as his friends came around the hedge, leering at me.

“You see, I have all these witnesses now. I’ll be able to tell the mayor that you got me drunk and took advantage. Forced yourself on me. Then we’ll finally be able to rid this town of your filth. You’ll be hanged for this, you know. You should come to terms with it now, Patrick. You brought this on yourself.”

Horror and terror warred in my gut, freezing me where I knelt. On the ground at their feet, like I had been my entire life. I was a fool to have trusted him. So starved for love and affection that I willfully believed the man who tormented me my whole life wanted me. I should have questioned things more when he refused to kiss me.

“Here.” One of Richard’s friends offered him a glass of wine. “Spill this on your shirt. It will make things more realistic. And don’t forget to slur and stumble.” He tousled Richard’s hair to make him look mussed and ripped open his shirt for good measure. They had it all planned out. They were so desperate to get rid of me. Why? What did I ever do to them?

My gaze flicked back toward the house. I couldn’t run in there. No one would believe me. I wasn’t even sure I got all the seed off my face. But I couldn’t stay here either. Not without facing the noose. My gaze shifted again, this time over my shoulder. We were on the edge of the mayor’s property. A few dozen meters away stood the forest. I had no other choice. It was the only possible chance I had to survive.

So while they were distracted getting Richard ready for his big acting debut, I ran. And I didn’t look back.