Taen

Merci

Devlin is second largest male I've ever been in a room with alone. His elder brother being the first. I've been put in these chambers which are all dark wood and lush green wall hangings to hyperventilate in my coat while he prepares for whatever it is he's about to do to me.

I've an idea. It's not like I didn't see what Ren was doing to Netta. Well... not entirely. Some of the girls at market have whispered about their husbands, but I'm not wed so they won't tell me what it is they do.

He'd fed me tea and biscuits, apologizing for not having a

proper meal

at this hour, then left me in his room while he

tidied up

.

He's hardly touched me so far. Which is good. Maybe I won't be ruined come night fall. Maybe I can escape, return home, and take what things I have to town. I could stay with my friends. Claim Netta's been stolen if she won't leave.

Something tells me she's here to stay.

Shifting on my feet only brings me closer to the bed.

The Sveril's bed.

It's silken coverlet is tangled, heavy with his woodsy scent. While the oak floor is clear of debris, about half his bureau drawers are askew. There's a small framed painting of a pair of girls on the end table next to his bed. I'm reaching for it when the door opens, and Devlin steals my attention.

He's in his sleeping things. A set of thin grey linen sleeping trousers and a tunic with a deep loose cut down his chest. Through it, coarse black hair peppers fine muscle. He's got nice arms. The way his sleeves are rolled up sends a flush through me. When I meet his gaze, I'm reminded how incredibly foreign he is. Devlin's cat eyes glitter.

My skin pricks with fear.

Devlin

I've no idea what I'm doing so I give myself a few good slaps to be sure I'm not in a dream and pace the hall.

There's a girl in my chambers. One with big hazel eyes fanned in dark lashes and loose chestnut hair that's dressed in large shaken out curls. One that my brother has somehow delivered to me and asked me not to breed.

It must be a joke.

She's in there filling the room with the smell of her heat and I've no idea how to keep my hands to myself.

Fuck, I'm not even fully awake. My cock's got all my blood currently. Hard and dampening my trousers, I'd rather be using it than the deck of cards in my hands.

Ren's growl comes through the wall answered by breathy feminine sounds, and I find myself blinking at the door. Clearly, he knows what he's doing.

I need a plan. I've no idea if she's willing. If she is, this will all be easier. It's doubtful. Human girls don't just show up in Sveril lands of their own accord. Prejudice and fear runs deep in them thanks in large part to creatures like my eldest brother.

I've plenty of belts in my chambers. Should she fight I could simply strap her to the bed. My cock pulses at the thought of her laid out like a feast on my sheets.

Lost to reason, I throw open the door and inhale her heat. I make a sound deep in my throat—something like a growl. It's so primal it startles me. It startles her too.

Merci, the girl, takes three steps back, putting her legs against my bed. "Please—I don't want it to hurt."

My shoulders melt. She's my bride and she's scared out of her wits. This is the creature I'm to cherish all my days, the blessing of the Gods I do not deserve, and she's trembling. I hold out my hand and ask, "Would you like to play cards?"

"Is that all you want from me?"

"For now." My cock calls me a liar.

"Just be honest with me. I—I don't know what's going to happen..." She scrubs her eyes with the back of her hand.

I set down the stack of cards on my bureau and urge her to sit on the coverlet. Her rough wool coat is wrapped so tightly around her I've no idea what the rest of her looks like. She stares right into my eyes though, playing at boldness. "I want to go home."

After drawing a deep breath, I struggle to find the right words. "Merci, this is your home for now. Maybe in a year or so I'll build us our own longhouse but for now this is where we'll live."

"I don't—this isn't what I want." She bites her lip. It's distractingly attractive. Her loose curls are lovely, and the way they trail along her long neck... She reads my thoughts. "You're going to ruin me, take my maidenhood."

I crook a brow. "That's a ridiculous concept. Our females are rarely virgins when they become brides." At her look of confusion, I explain, "There are so many of us and so few of them, they tend to try a few males out before they settle on their favorite."

Her eyes flash with anger. "So you only abduct and force those outside of your tribe?"

"It's better for those females than being sold like veal. Unmarked females are fair game, and when they're here, they're worshiped." Sveril males may be territorial, might be willing to fight or fuck a female into submission, but we know their value. "How old are you?"

"I turned eighteen just before the solstice."

Old enough to know what her near future would be like, regardless. "Do you have a betrothed? Are you promised to another?"

She shakes her head.

"Then I'm not giving you up. You're too precious. Too stunning."

Merci searches my face, cheeks turning pink.

"You look flushed, won't you let me hang your coat?"

Reluctantly she nods and shrugs it off, allowing me to carry her woolen shield away from her and store it out of reach. She's in a thin shift, maybe her nightgown. It's insubstantial and hardly hides the curves of her breasts. The outline of her pert nipples teases me.

She folds her arms over her chest and gives me a hard stare. "I think—I think we should discuss some things."

"Likely a good idea." Stuck with inspiration, I decide to distract her. I return to her but put myself on the far side of the bed and take up the pack of cards. "Aces and pairs?"

"I don't know what that is."

"Simple matching game. Aces can steal an opponent's pair, first to four matches in a color wins."

"We have a similar game."

I deal the cards and try to work out what I'm to do with her.

She blurts, "Netta says you're going to put yourself between my legs."

My mouth's suddenly gone dry. "I'd like to. Very much. I want to slide my cock into you, fuck you until you're drunk with pleasure and cum deep in your sweet body, but Ren's asked me not to give you my seed."

Her cheeks turn violently red before her eyes shift to her cards. The girl drops her first pair, one she's drawn in the first hand, and swallows. "They don't tell us what to expect until our bridal night."

"Any nines?"

"No."

I pull an ace. "So you've no idea what putting myself between your legs entails?"

Her cheeks are bright pink now. "I have an idea. I saw Ren and Netta, a little anyways." She pauses. "Any fours?"

Nodding, I pass a black four, one that won't match the red pair she's already laid down. Our fingers brush and the heat, it sends my blood surging. She's smelling up my room and making it hard to think straight. "Are you afraid of me?"

"I'm afraid you're going to hurt me." She sets her cards face down and focuses on me. "Netta said it would hurt."

"My cousin told me it hurt his bride a little at first, but they've got three babes so it can't be that bad." That pretty flush melts away. Right. I'm not supposed to breed her. I need to relieve the ache she's causing in my shaft and keep her at ease. If I can just give her my barb she'll be drunk on me. "Can you stand?"

She's trembling but she obeys. The way she squares up to me, juts her chin out at the levels her eyes one mine, sends flutters through my chest. The moment my lips touch hers I lose all reason.

I've only kissed two other girls. That alone is a feat among my kind. Our females are usually wed young, heavy with child by the following spring. If my sisters had survived, this house would have been filled with a half dozen niblings by now. My mind reels with the taste of her lips and the sheer luck of having her near me.

I try to make it sweet for her. Cupping her cheek and stroking gently into her mouth until she sighs. I run my other hand down her spine until I feel her body melt against mine. Then I pull away.

Merci's pupils are blown wide, she's staring at my lips like she's thinking about kissing me again, but the spell is broken by our sibling's chorus of pleasure. Her hands clamp over her mouth.

I wince. "I could live another lifetime without hearing that."

Then Merci's laughing and I've joined her. It breaks the tension and settles something in the room.

I'm speaking before I've even made sense of my words. "I can give you pleasure." I trail my fingers up her spine. "You can touch me, explore me, and I won't do a thing, or I can do everything for you. When I fuck you, I don't have to breed you. I can stop myself, spill my seed elsewhere."

At this point I'll promise her anything to empty my venom sack. I lean forward, hovering close to her lips. "I want to make you make noises like that. Cum so hard you can't see straight."

Her eyes are wide. "Cum?"

Gods, she's so innocent it makes my head spin.

I can't answer her. I'm kissing her, pressing her hips into mine so she can feel how bad I need her. Every time I break away from her mouth, I hear myself saying, "Please?"

My shaft is hot and aching, tenting my sleep trousers and seeping slick though the thin linen layers. I know she must feel it.

I turn my back to the bed and lie down, pulling Merci with me and ruining our card game. I need her weight on me. Need to fill my hands with her sweet round ass and make her feel my need. At some point in my fevered thrusting I realize she's kissing me, that her nipples are hard points pushing into my chest and that her fingers are buried in my hair, pulling me closer.

She says, "Okay."

I freeze, confused. "What?"

"I said, okay."

Merci

The moment Devlin has me straddling his hips I stop thinking clearly. The tender area between my legs aches. Something throbs but when he thrusts his hips a delicious firmness offers a wave a relief and pleasure. I kiss him and he does it again. The closer I pull him the more friction he gives me.

Devlin keeps begging me for something, I'm not even sure what it is anymore when I say, "Okay."

"What?" He's confused. Eye's almost black with arousal. Gods, he's really handsome. I want to suck on those lips. Breathe the heavenly way he smells in until I'm dizzy.

"I said, okay." I quickly add, "As long as, you don't, you know."

Devlin gives me a crooked smile, twin dimples mark his cheeks as he wriggles under me and pulls off his tunic. My pulse hums under my skin. I've seen shirtless boys in the fields before, but I've never been allowed anymore more than stolen glances.

He's not like the boys in the fields. Twice as thick but somehow not bulky. Being so close to him is a heady sensation. Utterly terrifying, but new and curious.

Devlin tells me, "Put your soft hands on me. Touch me."

So I do, marveling at his contours. Eventually my hands drift up his neck, to his pointed ears. I'm leaning close enough that he's able to kiss my neck, pulling my attention back to the heat between us.

"I want to kiss you everywhere." He tugs my gown off, over my shoulders and fixes his eyes on my breasts. I follow his gaze but notice for the first time the wet outline of his shaft cemented to his sleep trousers. It's peeking out from beneath my sex, which is guarded by my soaked undergarments.

Embarrassed, I start to apologize, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"

"It's my slick too." He bites his lip and rolls his hips. "Let's take them off."

I don't expect him to push me off and roll me under him, nor for the white briefs to vanish so fast. Devlin looks down at me and licks his lips. My heart is hammering so loud I can't hear my own thoughts.

Then he's bare and his impressive shaft has my full attention. It's darker than the rest of him, a deep olive, covered in a slight sheen. He splits my thighs, pressing his length along my sex as we were before but this time it's incredible. We roll our hips, the slick heat between us driving me mad. I can't press him close enough to get whatever it is that I'm chasing.

This is filthy, what I'm doing with him. Letting him taint my body. But what's the harm if he's not going to leave his seed in me? I doubt anyone will ever know.

Devlin pulls away and I whine. "I can make this even better."

He pulls my hand from his waist and bring is to his shaft. "Take my cock, stroke it. I want you to feel it."

I'm amused but this isn't the same high I was after. It feels dangerous though. He's hard and throbbing. Slick and rose petal soft—well everything except for a lump near the base of his shaft. When I brush my thumb over it, pressing the lump, Devlin sighs with pleasure. "You feel that? That's my barb."

It occurs to me that nothing called a barb should be near such a tender area. Devlin sees the thought in my face. "It's a tiny piece of cartilage but when I sting you, it'll be bliss."

"Dev--I don't think--"

He thrusts into my hand, so the tip makes contact with my heated sex. "Females beg for it. Let me give it to you."

He's guiding my hand so his head circles the delicate pearl in my folds. It's phenomenal. I'm so sensitive I shiver. Then he guides me lower, dipping into my channel before swiping his heat back into my folds. Every time his blunt tip pressed low my stomach swoops.

The rhythmic pleasure has me closing my eyes and kissing him again, but soon that dipping sensation turns to a pressure as he rolls his hips into me. I try to pull him up, back to the spot that sends shocks of pleasure through my core, but he pulls my hand away and pressed his hips into me.

"Devlin, wait-"

Either he doesn't hear me, or he ignores me. The pressure increases, turning sharp.

"You're hurting me." I try to push him away, to press my hands into his chest be he's gone feral. His eyes, already inhuman, are black.

"Take me."

"You're too--" He covers my mouth with his, cutting off my words. It's all I can do to remember to breathe. To stay calm even though my body wants to tighten.

He presses forward until the pain abruptly turns into a burn and I feel oddly full. Devlin growls in approval. "I'm going to fuck your fantastic body until you're crying from pleasure."

Devlin

My head buzzes.

Merci's trying to push me back, but her soft little hands are useless. As soon as I lodge my cockhead in her pussy she starts to tighten up. Cutting off her protest with a kiss, I push forward as slowly as I can. I feel her body make way and have to take a few breaths before I lose control. Her flesh is so hot, like slick velvet.

"I'm going to fuck your fantastic body until you're crying from pleasure."

I thrust to the hilt, watch as her pink sleeve swallows me. Pleasure jolts up my spine. It's wonderful. Fuck. I never want to stop.

Her skin is so soft, body so yielding.

Despite my urge to fuck her mindlessly, I swivel my hips, stretching and exploring her vise-like cunt. Merci pants. Her eyes are squeezed shut as I test her body. When I grind my pelvic bone into her soft little mound, she makes a sound like a bird.

Gods, do I like this.

My mouth descends on her breast. Her skin is so soft and sweet. Delicious. When I finally empty my venom sack I want to feast on her honey. I should mark her tonight, make her swallow my seed, but I can't focus on anything other than the building pressure in my groin.

I work myself deeper. Fuck her until she's fisting my arms and trembling under me. Then I slam home and my barb slides into her delicate flesh.

Merci doesn't cry out. Her hazel eyes fill with tears seconds before the wave of pleasure hits her. Her back arches and cunt contracts violently around my shaft. I've gone dizzy with my delight of emptying into her body. When we finally finish spasming and gasping for air I give her a lazy grin. "How was that?"

Her giggles turn into a sigh. Merci's lips are swollen, cheeks flushed, and eyes glassy with pleasure.

I watch her face as I slowly pump into her body. Every soft swell of her pussy sends sparks of pleasure across my skin. The deep olive of my shaft sinks into her slick pink folds in a mesmerizing way.

Fuck this

, I think.

I'm breeding her.

I'm not about to waste my cum on her stomach. Even the heady thought of marking her isn't enough to pry my cock out of her sweet warmth. Although I know I'm about to send myself into rut, I don't care.

The sound of our skin slapping fills the room. Beneath me Merci coos her appreciation, oblivious to the orgasm racing through me.

Merci

Whatever I was feeling before Devlin's venom hit me has been obliterated. My head is full of clouds. This is better than the ale I'd had last summer. The heat pooling between my legs builds again as Devlin works his body into mine.

He takes my mouth again, groaning as he presses into me hard. Warmth bathes my womb, sending a shower of pleasure coursing through my body. Devlin feeds me his ragged breaths until he seems to recover enough to kiss me. He's tender, sweet, and gentle now.

As he pulls his shaft from me, I'm left strangely empty, sore and uncomfortably wet. Devlin rocks back onto his knees and stares hazy-eyed at me, jaw cocked. "Fucking beautiful."

My cheeks sting. I've got to look away before I start hyperventilating. "Are you going to finish?"

"I did."

I turn back to him, confused. "Where did you put your seed?"

He slides his fingers into my channel, making a wet, sloppy sound.

"But-But you said-"

"I changed my mind." Devlin grins drunkenly. His fingers work small circles around my clit.

"But you said--" My stomach flips. "I could end up with a babe."

He shrugs and stretches a well-muscled arm as he yawns. "Likely will. Our stings make us particularly virile." Then he flops beside me and runs a hand up my belly until it skims my ribs, stopping on my breast. Devlin pinches my pebbled nipple, sending sparks to my sex. "I intend on breeding you often, and in excess."

I choke on my air when he presses his mouth to my neck and begins to suckle. I've a flash of need. Of desire before panic suffocates it.

"I need to rest before I go into rut." He licks the column of my throat. "Then I'm going to keep you high on my sting as long as you're in heat."

My gut feels like ice. I should have run. I had so many opportunities to run. But I didn't because I was too afraid to be alone again. Everything was so surreal before, now his seed is leaking out of me and I'm aware of the dull ache in my core.

So minutes later, when Devlin's drawn a quilt up to our necks and snores into his pillow, I rise and make for the bath. I'll scrub out his seed, run, and get home before anyone's the wiser. No one needs know I've been defiled. I'll take a husband and pretend like nothing's happened to me. Like Netta's disappeared and I've the house as my dowry.