Barbarian's Mate (16 page)

Haeden nods and sits up in the furs, his hand leaving my pussy. I’m a little sad about that but the naughty gleam in his eyes is making me anticipate what comes next. I admire his body as he rests back on his knees, because there’s not an ounce of fat under all that velvety blue skin. He’s nothing but rock-hard muscle and abs that go on for miles. And a big dick. Can’t forget that part.

He grabs one of my legs by the ankle and carefully lifts it into the air.

I can’t help but giggle. “What are you doing?”

He frowns down at my laughter and gives me a serious look. “I told you. I am
frankissing
my mate in all her places.”

“Oh, sorry,” I say, teasing. “I won’t interrupt again.”

“Good,” he says, voice sharp. “This requires all of my attention.” For a moment I think he’s suddenly in a pissy mood for some reason, but then I see his mouth twitch and I realize he’s fighting back a smile.

Another peal of laughter escapes me, especially when he holds my foot close and then licks the bottom of it. I squeal, wriggling at the ticklishness. “Don’t lick my foot!”

“Silence, female. Your mate is pleasuring you.” He licks my foot again and then nips at my toes.

I can’t stop laughing. It’s ticklish and silly all at once.

But then he kisses the side of my foot, and all of the laughter dies in my throat because that one tender little action just made me melt. And then I’m no longer laughing as he kisses my ankle, and then drags his tongue over it. When he moves on to my calf, nibbling at my skin, I’ve gone from finding this amusing to finding it terribly arousing. My cootie agrees, humming loudly.

He continues to make his way forward, ignoring the outside of my leg in favor of inner knee and then inner thigh. He glances at me every so often, as if wanting to make sure that I’m watching. Like I could turn away? I’m utterly fascinated by his mouth on my skin. When it parts and he licks at the inside of my thigh, I feel myself getting all wet again, and my hand reaches down between my legs to start touching myself.

When Haeden sees that, though, he pushes my hand away. “That is mine.”

“Pfft. I can touch myself if I want.” And I put my hand there again, my fingers seeking out my clit.

He pulls my hand away again. “Do I need to show you that it’s mine, female?”

Oooh. Now I’m all hot and bothered, especially at the sly gleam in his eyes. “Maybe?”

He grunts acknowledgment of my response and presses one last kiss to my inner thigh before putting a hand on the opposite thigh and pushing it wide. He leans over the juncture of my hips and his braid falls onto my leg. “This is mine,” he growls low in his throat, and that’s the only warning I get before he pushes his face between my thighs and begins to kiss my pussy.

And oh God, I almost come again right then and there.

Like he promised, he kisses my folds and then licks them with his tongue. This isn’t exploration as much as it is sheer determination to torture me, and he’s doing a really great job at it. I moan as he drags his tongue over my sensitized clit.

“So wet,” he rasps between licks. “Your taste is like nothing I have had before. It makes me only want more.”

I grab the braid on my thigh, feeling desperate to anchor myself to something, but when that doesn’t satisfy the urge, I take his horns instead. He holds my thighs spread apart and licks me with long, slow, leisurely strokes of his tongue and each one makes my hips buck and rise. I want him to go on forever, even as I want him to stop and fill me with his cock. It’s torture, all right, but the best kind. “Haeden,” I moan. “I need you.”

“I need you to come for me,” he replies in a husky voice, and then licks my clit with that delicious ridged tongue of his. “I want to have my tongue inside you when you do.”

Another moan rips from me at the visual image, and I push his head back down for him to continue licking.

“My mate,” he murmurs between licks and nibbles. “I have waited so long for you. To taste you. To pleasure you.”

“You have?” His words are melting me more than his tongue is. “I hope…I hope I’m not a disappointment.” I’ve fought him so hard and I’m feeling guilty that I’ve pushed him away for so long.

“Never a disappointment. It is everything I have wanted and more.”

For some reason, it makes me weepy. Maybe it’s all the emotion barreling through us, courtesy of our cooties. Maybe it’s because it feels like, for the first time, I’m loved and cherished. Whatever it is, a sob escapes my throat.

Haeden tenses and a moment later, he’s up in my face, frantically kissing me. “My mate, my heart. What is it? Why do you cry?”

I shake my head. “I’m just happy. Emotional, but happy. You’re giving me everything I ever wanted.”

“We have not fully mated yet,” he reminds me with another kiss. I can taste myself on his lips, and it’s a weirdly erotic flavor.

“So what are we waiting for?” I slide a hand to his hip and wrap my legs around him, trying to maneuver him into the perfect spot. “An engraved invitation?”

“A…what?” His brow furrows.

“That’s human for ‘stick it in already’.”

Haeden’s eyes narrow. “It is?”

“Close enough.”

He hesitates over me, and then leans in to press another kiss to my mouth. “I do not want to hurt you, my Jo-see. Human females are not as strong or large as sa-khui females. What if I am too much?”

I pat his shoulder. “That’s sweet, Haeden, baby, but there are eleven other women who are very happily mated to your tribemates and not a single one has complained that her man broke her in bed. We’ll be fine.”

“There are eleven other females, but I do not care about them,” he says, and strokes my hair gently. “I only care for my mate. And she is small and fragile.”

“She can take it, I assure you.” I’m torn between frustration at the delay and giddiness at his sweet words. “We’ll go slow and I’ll let you know if it’s too much, all right?”

Like hell I will, but if he thinks I’ll sound the alarm, at least we can get things moving. And I’m getting desperate for things to get moving. The deep ache inside of me urgently needs filling.

He gives me another look of concern, but then kisses me, because he knows kisses are awesome and they don’t hurt me. I return the kiss with urgency of my own, dragging my tongue against his in what is hopefully an enticement for more. He pulls his mouth from mine and groans, eyes closing, and I realize just how difficult this is for him. He’s already come once, and if I’m sensitized, I’m sure he’s in agony.

And yet he’s stopping because he doesn’t want to hurt me. God, that’s sweet. I caress his cheek. “I love you, Haeden.”

He grunts acknowledgment and thrusts his cock against my pussy. It slicks against my folds, dragging along my heated, sensitive flesh. I moan encouragement. He thrusts against me again, and his cock barely stabs at my entrance. I’m not sure if this is foreplay, stalling, or him just not entirely sure what to do next, but it’s time to take matters in hand, it seems.

I reach between us and take his cock in my hand. The breath hisses between his teeth and his body stiffens over me. I wait, just in case he’s going to come, but when he doesn’t, I realize he’s just trying to hold out. “You’re doing awesome, baby,” I whisper, and then guide him to the entrance of my core - my cunt, as he crudely calls it - and set the head of his cock against me. Then, I place my hand on his butt and urge him to push forward. “Take your mate,” I tell him. “Claim her.”

A roar begins in his throat, soft and growing louder. His body shudders and then he thrusts - hard - into me.

I gasp, because it’s an onslaught of sensation all at once. He’s big - really fucking big - and thick, and when he pushes in, I feel every ridge on his cock, every twitch of his muscles. His spur pushes through the folds of my pussy and rubs against the side of my clit, like a big extra bonus that I never knew I wanted until this moment. His tail lashes back and forth, like an angry cat’s, and it sends little motions through our joined bodies. Our khuis hum in time, synced up, and my entire body feels like it’s vibrating, which only enhances the sensations ripping through me.

And his cock inside me? God. It’s a strange cross between pleasure and pain with his initial thrust but as he stiffens over me and his body freezes, it slowly morphs into a bone-aching pleasure.

“Did I…harm you?” Haeden strokes my hair again. “You made a sound.”

I reach up - and boy, that seems like effort because I feel a bit like a butterfly pinned to a cork board, except, well, a sexy version. It’s like I’m a bundled mass of nerves that are centered around where he’s impaling me against him.

It’s amazing.

“Jo-see?”

Oh, shit. He wants an answer and here I am, all dopey with endorphins. “I’m wonderful,” I breathe, a blissful smile curving my mouth.

“I need to…move,” he says in a strangled voice. His hips grind against mine, just a little, as if he’s trying desperately to hold back from going to town on me.

“Then do it,” I encourage. I move my hands to his big shoulders and squeeze my legs tighter around his hips. This close together, the sheer size and bulk of him against me is emphasized, and if it were anyone else, I might have a real concern for my safety in his arms. But this is Haeden, and he would absolutely
die
before harming me, so I know I’m safe. “I trust you.”

It’s like my words cause the dam to burst - and his control flies out the window. He groans loudly and then his hips surge against mine. It’s a strong, hard thrust of his cock deep inside me, and then I’m groaning just as loud as him because when he moves? Not only do I feel every ridge drag back and forth inside me, rubbing against my walls, but his spur glides against my clit, brushing against the hood. It feels incredible.

Then he’s moving again. And again. Each thrust seems to grow in strength until he’s pounding into me. And it feels amazing. My groans have turned to little cries, and I’m lost in the whirl of sensation. The entire world has boiled down to just this moment, just this place where our bodies are joined and all pleasure seems to be exploding through me at once. As he fucks me, it’s like every sensitive spot in my body is being teased at the same time, and it’s too much. Another blistering orgasm rockets through me and I scream out his name, my nails digging into his shoulders. I can feel my pussy clenching tight around him like a vise, and somewhere in the blur of pleasure, he’s shouting my name in a hoarse voice, and my cootie is singing with his so loudly it’s like a freight train is barreling through the cave. And I just keep coming through all of this cacophony of sound and bliss. Over and over, orgasm after orgasm wallops me.

I’m pretty sure I pass out at this point.

At some point, my senses come back to me and I realize I’m flat on my back on the furs, still gasping for breath. My body is wet with sweat, and the warm velvet that is Haeden’s skin is stuck to my own. His big body is crushing mine into the furs but strangely enough, I like it. And my mate? He’s pressing kisses to my neck, our cooties purring gently in our chests.

“Wow,” I breathe. “You might have boned the consciousness out of me.”

“Eh?”

“Nothing.” I pat his shoulder absently. “Was it good for you, baby?”

He exhales deeply and props up on his shoulders to gaze down at me. I realize that I might still have his long braid wrapped around one hand — or what’s left of it. I think there’s more hair loose than in his braid at this point, and this is the most mussed I’ve ever seen Haeden. He’s sweaty and flushed and his long hair is everywhere and it makes me grin. “It was…enjoyable.”

Wow. Faint praise much? I frown up at him, and I realize that I blabbed about loving the guy mid-bone and all he did was grunt at me. Maybe he didn’t hear me. “I love you, you know.”

Haeden narrows his eyes at me as if I’ve said something puzzling. “Of course you do. We are mates.”

I shove a hand at his shoulder. “Are you serious? I just confessed love to you and you’re all ‘duh’ about it?”

“I am what?”

I start wriggling out from under him - no mean feat, given that his epic cock is still buried inside me and feels amazing and still a little hard - and try to get away. “Get off of me. I am so done here.”

“What?” He grabs me and holds me down under him, and all my squirming just seems to make all my sensitive girl parts get all turned on again. “Why are you mad?”

“Why am I mad? Because I told you I loved you and you act like it’s nothing!” I smack a hand on his shoulder. “You’re all ‘mates love each other’ and all I have to say to that is bullshit! I’ve seen Asha and how she treats Hemalo! She can’t stand him. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was screwing someone else just because she wants to piss off her mate! Or how about Zalah, huh? Did she love you? Did you love her? Because you resonated to her just the same as me!”

He looks at me with surprise and stiffens. I see a flash of anger cross his face and then that awful, dead look returns to his eyes. He gets off of me — and I feel an ache of emptiness when his cock slides from my body — and moves to the fire. He pokes at it with a long bone and won’t look at me.

I should be mad, but instead, I feel like I fucked up. I feel guilty and awful, like I just crushed whatever we had under my foot. I threw Zalah in his face, and that’s a low blow. I wouldn’t like it if he threw my past in my face - the foster dads that snuck into my bed, the guys I slept with in high school when I was desperate for anyone to love me, the alien that raped me on the ship. I have a very long history with sex, all of it bad. And yet here I’m lashing out at the one person that made me feel wanted and adored, all because he didn’t say the right words back to me when I wanted to hear them.

I look over at Haeden. His back is stiff, his tail still except for the small flick of the end of it near the furs.

I pull the blankets up around my chest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I just…” I exhale deeply. “I have a real need to be told that I’m wanted and loved. I never was as a kid and now I guess it’s still a sore spot with me. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you, though.”

He slowly puts down the bone and turns to me. Haeden’s eyes are narrow, the look on his face tight. I wince, expecting him to give me an earful of how pissed he is.