Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
HENRY
My cheeks burned hotter at his sultry request. I never would have considered the sounds I was trying to muffle were any sort of music, but apparently Garrun felt differently.
The sentiment was sweet, and made me want to give in to his request, but I was hyper aware that we hadn’t gone far from the fire to get to his tent.
What were the chances people were nearby and would overhear us? That would be embarrassing.
Garrun released my aching cock, and a whimper escaped me, worried he’d stop if I didn’t give in to what he’d requested. But before I could explain myself, he took me in hand again, this time with something on his palm that made the touch extra slippery.
“Oh, gods! Garrun!”
“Yes, erska. Like that,” he encouraged, stroking my shaft with the slippery substance to ease the glide of his roughened palm.
My body moved of its own volition, back arching, hips thrusting in a desperate bid for more friction.
I’d touched myself, of course, but nothing I’d ever done had come even close to feeling as amazing as this.
“Do you want more?” he queried, his voice husky like he was just as affected as I was.
“More?” I panted. How was there more? Any more and I’d explode.
Still, I nodded, biting back another whimper as he moved away from me again.
My heart stuttered when he came back and laid his big body against mine, the skin to skin contact making my eyes flutter shut as sensations flooded my senses.
His soft warm skin was a direct contradiction to the tight muscles of his abs.
The feel of his hard cock gliding along mine sent me into a scramble, my fingers digging into his sides and along his neck until I could pull his lips to mine, muffling the moan that ripped from me when he ground against me with more intention.
I hadn’t thought without clothes would be much different, but it really was.
I’d never felt anything like it. Every grinding movement was like fanning a flame, making my body hot all over and sweat gather on my skin.
“More… more…” I wasn’t even sure what I was asking for anymore. I was just babbling at that point. All I knew was that I never wanted him to stop.
Tangling his tongue with mine in a deep kiss, Garrun thrust harder against me, quiet grunts and groans escaping him that made me understand better what he meant about the sounds being music. I couldn’t get enough of those sounds either.
Tingles started at the base of my spine, making my movements more frantic as I lifted my hips to meet his grinding thrusts.
It was too much and not enough, and when my release finally crested, it felt like the whole world paused for a breath.
I shattered, moaning into his mouth as my hips jolted and warmth spilled between us.
Garrun wasn’t far behind me, his movements turning jerky and not as smooth as before.
I had only a second to touch his face, to feel his expression as his face twisted in pleasure, before he came with a low moan that gave me goosebumps.
“That escalated quickly,” I murmured mostly to myself as I fought to catch my breath. I wasn’t fully sure what had just happened. One moment we were kissing, the next we were all over each other, like twenty eight years of pent up sexual tension burst out all at once.
I felt Garrun’s frown against my fingertips, his tone confused when he asked, “What?”
Shaking my head, I chose not to try to translate that.
I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t on board with what happened.
I was just surprised. I’d planned on taking things slow, to not let myself get overwhelmed.
That apparently went out the window when such a sweet and handsome man was pinning me to the bed and rutting against me.
My cock twitched in an effort to harden again. It was a little embarrassing, but Garrun was nice enough not to comment. He kissed my palm softly before shifting away from me and grabbing a cloth of some kind to clean us up.
When he laid back down beside me, I turned to face the warmth of Garrun’s body, suddenly cold without him pressed against me despite the heat in the tent. His fingers carded through my hair, brushing a few sweaty strands off my forehead. “Are you alright?”
I smiled at the sweet question, using touch to find his mouth and kiss him soundly. “I’m good. Surprised, but good.”
He huffed a laugh, leaning closer to press his forehead against mine. “Surprised is a good word to use,” he said, kissing the tips of my fingers when they traced over the smile on his lips. “You keep surprising me.”
I could say the same about him. Garrun made me feel seen in ways I’d never experienced before.
Not only that, but he made me feel… normal.
He didn’t constantly draw attention to my limitations or treat me like I was made of glass.
We were two red blooded males overtaken by passion.
Nothing else needed to be said about it. I liked that.
My hands moved to touch him again, drifting up his chest and along the thick muscles of his arms. My fingers traced the scars that marred the smooth surface, some long enough to go from his back to his ribs, lining up almost perfectly with the ones on his arms. Like he’d been covering something when he got them.
“Can I ask what happened?”
The words were almost a whisper. I didn’t want to break the moment or make him think the scars bothered me in any way. I just wanted to know more about him, about the injury that haunted his sleep and made people unjustly afraid of him.
“A gronnok went after Ekkar when he was just a pup. I had only enough time to throw my body on top of his to prevent him from getting hurt. I tried to get up, to run away or fight back, but…” He trailed off, face twisted in remembered pain.
“I had to shield Ekkar with my body. I could not defend myself doing as such. By the time my brothers found me, I had passed out from the pain and blood loss. No one is sure how long it took. Long enough for the gronnok to leave its mark.”
I didn’t know that word, but based on the size and placement of the scars, I could make a guess. Only an animal with enormous claws would leave such a mark. Like a bear.
“You sound unhappy. Do you regret it?” I asked, tracing my fingers over the scars on his face again.
“No,” he murmured, and I felt his lashes brush along my fingers as he closed his eyes. “It was to protect Ekkar. But perhaps if I’d been faster or stronger, I could have fought the gronnok and kept my skin. I didn’t even try.”
He sounded angry with himself for that, but it felt like he was missing the point.
“You were protecting Ekkar,” I reminded him.
“How much time did you have to make a decision before covering him like that? I bet if you’d have taken the time to retrieve your weapon and confront the animal, it would’ve been too late. Right?”
His brow furrowed a little tighter, but he gave me a small nod in response. “I could have perhaps faced the gronnok long enough on my own for my brothers to join me but not before it killed Ekkar. He was too little. It would have sliced him in half.”
I winced at the thought, remembering just how deep the scars on Garrun’s back and side felt. I didn’t think he was wrong about that. If Ekkar was just a little puppy, injuries like that would’ve been fatal. Garrun knew that too and chose to protect his friend over his own safety.
“You protected him with your life. That’s brave, Garrun. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”
From the way his face was set, I wasn’t sure he believed me yet.
I’d keep pushing, though. He did something incredibly brave, something I wasn’t sure I would’ve been able to do myself if I’d been in his place.
I used to make Alice move spiders out of my room because I was too scared to do it myself.
I don’t think I could’ve been brave enough to face down a bear and put myself directly in its path.
A thought struck me, and I stiffened suddenly. “He’s… not here, is he?”
For a moment, Garrun seemed confused before he finally huffed out a laugh. “No, erska. He’s not here.”
“And he wasn’t when we…” I trailed off, feeling my face flame hot. Ekkar was incredibly smart. I didn’t want him as an audience while Garrun and I were intimate together. I got the feeling he’d find a way to let me know he was judging me.
Chuckling, Garrun leaned in to reassure me with a kiss. “He was not here while we were enjoying each other. He doesn’t like the heat of my tent this late in the day. He goes to the forest to find his supper and lay in the shade.”
My breath escaped me in a rush, and I leaned my forehead against Garrun’s shoulder, a smile pulling at my lips when his body shook with silent laughter. “Shut up,” I complained with a grin. “It would be embarrassing if he was here.”
Garrun hummed, lifting my head with a knuckle under my chin to kiss me again. “Ekkar is protective of you. I would worry if he were in here with us that he would bite me for making you whimper like you did. It is best he is not here the next time we come together as well.”
I wasn’t sure if I’d ever blushed so much in my life. “I… I didn’t whimper!”
I didn’t even need to touch his face to feel the smugness coming off him.
I groaned, defeated, and buried my face against his neck to hide my burning cheeks.
It was bad enough that I was making all that noise when there were potentially people around to hear me.
If they thought I was whimpering, it would be even worse.
“I loved to hear your sounds, erska. It is like beautiful music to my ears. I wish to hear it always—” His words cut off with a laugh when I poked him in the side.
He was teasing me on purpose now. I poked him again just to show my displeasure, but when he squirmed away, a grin spread across my face. Was my big barbarian ticklish?
“Henry…”
His words held a warning I had no intention of heeding.
I was suddenly glad when we cleaned up that I’d taken the time to fix my trousers.
It meant I was unhindered when I went after his sides with determined focus.
And when he barked out a laugh, all thoughts of embarrassment fled.
All I cared about was Garrun’s laugh and the way it made my belly flip and my heart race.
The man deserved to laugh. I was more than happy to be the one to help him do it.