Bryn was reclining on a stone, waist-deep in water, looking relaxed and quite good. Rain was near him, underneath a small waterfall from a higher water source, letting the hot water run through his hair. Somehow, Nevyn and Varon had beat them to the spring as well. She was positive she had just seen them enter into one of the cliffside homes. They must have flown over here to get there faster.
Mat began to strip before her, along with Gentrin, who called out saying Senri was going to be there soon and that the males present needed to keep their cocks to themselves.
“Wait, Senri gets us a warning and Mave doesn’t?” Nevyn asked, laughing. “What is this?”
“That’s on Matesh to give that warning.” Gentrin stepped into the hot water, wading closer to the other males.
Mat waited in the buff for her, nodding to the water. He had a smirk, as if he wasn’t worried about anyone bothering her with their cocks. “You want to come in or do you want to wait and try the female spring later?”
“I’ll come in,” she answered. “I’ve been nude in front of a bunch of males before.” What was really holding her back was the fact that she had never bathed safely with a group of males before. This screamed the community washing areas of the pits, and yet, there were only friendly smiles and easy conversations in the spring. It brought her back to this strange feeling of how she was free and she could trust these males in ways she could never trust the other gladiators.
With that, she pulled off her dirty, beaten leather armor and followed Mat into the steaming hot water. She hissed at the first touch of the heat then moaned as it sank into her bones. She couldn’t resist finding the deepest area and sinking further in, letting it cover her shoulders. Mat stayed close to her, kissing her wet shoulder as a hand caressed her side.
The kissing moved to her neck and his hand roamed onto her ass, squeezing lightly. She turned and met his mouth in a slow kiss, but wasn’t really thinking to take it any further. He was, his other hand creeping up her thigh. She could feel his cock pressed against her hip, begging for her attention.
“You’re supposed to be bathing, you two!” Nevyn teased, splashing water at them. “No sex in the springs, remember?”
Mave shook her head as Mat growled at Nevyn. She would ride Mat later, but at that moment, she was just glad for how nice the water felt on her wings, how her muscles relaxed more with every passing second. It was heaven.
“None of that,” she told her male. “Let’s just enjoy this. I never let myself get so dirty until I met all of you.” She was used to daily baths and wanted them back. She also wanted Elvasi blood. Therein lay her problem.
I should remember that life doesn’t always give me what I want.
She nearly scoffed at herself. She had learned that lesson in the pits. Life had trade-offs. She was finally the member of a community, but she had lost the prestige and security she had built in the pits. She was finally free, but now she was a mercenary, a new one, and traveling meant she couldn’t take the same bath, day in and day out. If she wanted Elvasi blood, she had to go out and find it, and that meant getting dirty.
Mat backed off without a verbal complaint, smiling that arrogant smile she found frustrating and sexy. He knew if he wanted to press the issue, he would get the attention he craved that she hadn’t given him on the road. Not that he’d demanded it while they were on the road. Neither of them had pressed the issue.
She realized that at some point, he was going to beg for it while they were in the village. Needy male.
He’s lucky I love that particular activity, too.
Zayden joined them a short time later, sinking into the water far from anyone else. He had been quiet the entire trip. He didn’t bother Rain and he didn’t talk to nearly anyone else.
Senri and Willen arrived last, slipping into the water slowly with plates of food. Mave’s eyebrows went up at the amount. Were they trying to feed the entire Company?
“Snacks, everyone. Share so everyone has something to settle their stomachs.” They put the food on a rocky outcropping in the middle of the spring. Mave didn’t dive in yet, watching all the males scuffle over it. Senri finally sighed, reached between them, and stole an entire plate of what looked like meat cubes. She brought them to Mave and Mat and set them up on a rock behind them. “There. So you two don’t need to fight with the rest of them.”
“What is it?” Mave asked immediately, grabbing one of the raw-looking pieces. It was coated in some sort of seasoning and barely cooked, so juicy that it dripped into the spring. Mat just shoved one into his mouth, mumbling a thank you as Senri’s males waded closer to them.
“Venison. Deer meat. We hunt here regularly, and maintain quality herds all over the mountains so the supply never dies off.” Senri waved a hand at her. “Eat it.”
Mave shoved it into her mouth, chewing slowly. The flavor was gamey and rich. The meat was tender and succulent. The juices, obviously some blood, mixed in with whatever seasonings were on it and the spice exploded in her mouth. She finished quickly, breathing hard to try and end the spice that had just exploded on her tongue.
“Shit. Should have warned you about the heat,” Mat said apologetically.
She shook her head. “No. I knew it was going to be spicy. You all put this heat on everything. I’m just not completely used to it yet.” She took another piece of the meat and ate it. “It’s very delicious, though. Thank you.” She directed the compliment at the female, who began to laugh.
“Oh, don’t thank me. Willen just whipped those up thinking everyone here would enjoy it. I don’t cook.”
“Senri is in charge of the village’s protection. A warrior like you, but she doesn’t have Kian’s roaming nature.” Mat chuckled. “She hates cooking. She hated crafting. She would rather use all of those things than need to spend the time making them.”
“Ah…” Mave ate another piece, nodding.
“Willen is the cook of my household. Gentrin is a blacksmith for the entire village, though most of his work is for the Company and my unit.”
“Are females often in charge of protection?”
“Yes and no,” Senri answered, giving Mave a curious look. “You don’t know?”
“Uh…” Mave shook her head slowly.
“She doesn’t know anything, our new little female,” Nevyn called out. “You need to explain everything really clear for her.”
“I was an ensam as a gladiator,” Mave told her, hoping Senri wouldn’t judge her for it. “I became a slave so young that I…don’t really know anything. They’re helping. I learn more every day.”
It hurts less to admit each time I say it. That’s something.
“Good. These males would have no excuse to leave you ignorant.” Senri said it with a level of viciousness that Mave didn’t really understand. “What kind of Andinna leave a female as an ensam? And what do you mean you were a gladiator?”
“You missed Alchan’s announcement.” Mat sighed.
“I’ll tell her,” Mave said quickly. Another female, one who was showing kindness already. Mave wanted to be the one to come forward and tell the story this time.
Senri’s eyes went wide as Mave gave her the quick version of the tale. Who she was, why, and what she had been through. Only the barest of details of everything before meeting Mat and Rain. She told the story of the escape, noticing how Senri and her husbands were now watching avidly, not even touching the food. None of the Andinna in the spring were eating by the time she finished.
“Oh, you poor child,” Senri whispered, reaching out. “Come here.”
Mave wasn’t sure how to feel as Senri wrapped her arms around Mave’s waist, holding her close. She patted the female’s back as she was held tightly. She hated being touched, but Senri didn’t feel like a threat. The hug just made Mave uncomfortable.
“If you need anything, you let me know. I’m not good at many of the feminine things we Andinna do, but I can at least help guide you on the basics. I promise. You need a wardrobe? Willen,
Gentrin, talk to some males you know about that. I don’t want her in the hands of the other females until everything is prepared.”
“Are the other females bad?” Mave asked, now worried.
“No, but they tend to make their own groups, little packs. I don’t want to see you stuck in the middle of all of that, especially if you have Mat in your mayara.” Senri gave Mat a look. “We all warned you that your behavior was going to come back on you.”
Mave had no idea what that meant.
“Well, they’ll deal. I never made any promises I couldn’t keep and they all knew it.” Mat was defensive. Mave narrowed her eyes. She had never seen Mat defensive before. He noticed her look and conceded without it needing to be a later conversation, continuing his explanation. “I…I had a lot of female attention that I enjoyed, but I never made any promises to join any mayara. There was no love in any of it, just sex.”
“Until Allaina, who wanted him to leave the Company and stay with her. You almost joined hers until she gave you that ultimatum.” It was Rain who said that, giving Mave another piece of the puzzle.
“She would do well to leave me alone,” Mat growled back.
“Who’s Allaina?” This was the second time Mave heard the female mentioned.
“Matty,” Bryn called out. “The one who called him Matty.”
Matesh snarled louder. She ran a hand over his thigh, realizing he wasn’t happy with the line of discussion.
“We’ll talk more about it later, if you want,” she said quietly. She didn’t want their first night in the village to be about old lovers. She didn’t want to hear that awful nickname, either. It was so childish.
Senri and her males shared a silent look but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, Senri began discussing who would make what for Mave. Mave decided this was the female she would trust her things with, like the stones. She couldn’t carry those around for the mission.
They talked well into the night, until Mave could see the wrinkles on her fingers. Many were leaving now, jumping out of the water and grabbing their things before flying off, still in the nude. Mave didn’t comment on that, shaking her head in silence at the sight. She couldn’t stop herself from watching with Senri.
Especially Bryn. For some reason, she watched him intently when he rose out of the water. His lean form drew her eye, his tatua complimenting the way his muscles moved as he prowled out of the water. He had no fat on his body. He was nearly as scarred as her, too. She had never really noticed before how his body was marked with hundreds of years of violence, small white scars everywhere.
She couldn’t help but take a look at him soft either. The cold night didn’t seem to cause him any problems like she knew it did for many other males.
She tried to ignore a small bit of lust for the male. An errant thought ran through her mind, burning an image permanently there. Bryn’s lean form between her legs, moving with the power of a bigger male, proving himself to be much more than he appeared.
When did I start looking at Bryn like that?
The image changed ever so slightly as Mat pressed up against her back, shifting her to sit on one of his thighs in the water. Mat was kissing her as Bryn sent her over the edge. That was now at the forefront of her mind.
She tried to banish the thought, continuing some conversation with Senri and her husbands. Mave had so many questions, but she didn’t want to overload the female she had just met. After they dealt with the hunters, she would begin her interrogation. Senri would be able to tell her things the males couldn’t. What had Mat said? She needed a female friend.
Finally, she rose out of the water with Mat, and together, they walked back to the village. Mave tried to banish the image. It left her feeling uncomfortable and strange, the idea of two males in her bed. It screamed of things she had once been forced to endure.
“We’ll stay in the Company quarters for this visit,” Mat said softly, directing her to a large, ground-level door. “We won’t get much privacy because it’s basically a barracks with small rooms, but it’ll have to do until they set us up a home.”
“That works,” she responded, not really caring where they ended up sleeping, as long as it was comfortable. She was more tired than she had been in weeks. Arriving in the village had been exciting and exhausting, but she wasn’t sure it was any different than she expected.
33
Mave
The next day, Mave woke up in a small room with some simple blankets around her, alone. She quickly remembered where she was. The village, the strange incident with Jesvena, and meeting Senri.
One day to relax, then we’re going Elvasi hunting.
Mave honestly couldn’t wait. She didn’t want to go out and travel more, but she knew they had to, and she couldn’t say no to the idea of making sure they were never attacked like that again.
She rose and found clean, fresh clothing already waiting on her. Someone had come in and laid it out. She picked up the shirt, finding it was just a wrap and she didn’t know how it worked. She dropped it and went for the bottoms instead, finding supple cloth breeches instead of the leather she had grown so accustomed to. She slid them on and went back to staring at the shirt, frowning.
Where’s Matesh when I need him?
The folds and way it was designed made her think some of it was obvious but she really didn’t understand. She tried a few different ways to put it on. Frustration began to brew and she dropped it again.
“I might as well go outside without it,” she growled, staring at it on the floor. She looked to the door and wondered if there was anyone out there who could help her. She would need to apologize to Matesh later for it. She knew he loved helping her get ready in the morning. Normally, she thought it was a tad excessive, but this time, she really needed his help. “I really need to learn how to do this on my own…” She groaned, opening the door, not bothering to cover herself at all and look out to see who might want to help her.
She didn’t see anyone immediately and stuck her head out further. At that point, she would even accept Luykas’ help.
“Mave, what are ya doing with yer tits out?” Bryn asked as he rounded a corner. She jumped, turning to see him at the other end of the hall, in the direction she hadn’t been paying attention to. His eyes dipped straight to her chest, making her have the obscene want to stick them out further. His summer-sky-blue eyes darkened, and she saw how his body tightened and tensed.
He likes them. She really enjoyed the idea of Bryn being attracted to her.
“I don’t know how to put the damned shirt someone left me on,” she said, explaining it calmly. “Get over the tits and come help me. Normally Mat is around when I wake up and does his thing helping me, but I have no idea where he is.”
“Ah. I caught him taking yer armor out for cleanin’. He must have gotten someone to loan ya clothes. I was comin’ to get ya. We have somewhere to be.” Bryn’s cheeks turned an amazing shade of pink as he turned away finally. She hadn’t expected him to get embarrassed over some breasts, not when he had probably already seen them. Females had them, and there was nothing she could do about the size of hers. They had always been bigger than the Elvasi females she had seen. They were big enough that the other gladiators had liked making comments, even.
Maybe they only made comments because I had the only tits they ever saw. Doesn’t matter. I need his damned help.
“Bryn. My tits are out. If you want them to stop being out, I need some help.” She was growing more impatient by the second. He was also trying very hard not to look at said tits now, that much was clear. “If you won’t, find someone who will explain how to put the damned thing on.”
“I’m comin’,” he muttered, looking down and away from her chest as he walked closer. She let him in the small room and he grabbed the shirt before she could. He lifted it, looked it over and nodded. “All right. So this is one that’s designed for ya females to get on fast and without your males bothering you, or if you don’t have any. You should g
et this pretty easily.” He motioned for her to come closer. She stepped in front of him and paid attention to everything he did.
“Ya throw this over yer head.” He showed her a loop that was sewn in. “Then ya take these two parts and wrap ‘em around yer core, like so.” He did it, showing her how the large piece of fabric split into two tails. She noticed how the fabric ended up laying naturally over her breasts, tight enough that they didn’t fall out, but loose enough that she didn’t feel cramped.
She also noticed how his knuckles accidentally grazed over her abdomen and ribs as he worked. Her mind brought up the vastly inappropriate image she had conjured the night before seeing him leave the spring. She wasn’t able to focus again until he was done wrapping it and showed her the ending.
“Then ya tie ‘em off or tuck ‘em, yer choice.” He tucked them in the front. In the end, it was the effect that she had a nice, thick shirt on, but it left her entire upper back exposed around her wings.
“This is what females wear?” she asked incredulously.
“Males wear ‘em too, when we really need something to help against the cold. There was a time when Andinna females went shirtless too, but it was a long time ago, before we dealt with other races. The other races didn’t appreciate it, and females ended up liking not havin’ their tits do…things.” Bryn shook his head. “Ya know. Tit things. Many females do go topless, in the hottest of summer months, as long as there are no humans or anythin’ around.”
“Moving around. Females don’t like their breasts getting in the way.” She could relate to that dislike. She got annoyed by it as well.
“Aye.” Bryn stepped away from her. “Now, with that done, ya can go outside without feeling weird.”
“Oh, I would have gone out without a top on if I had to.” She didn’t really care. Her body had been on display for the masses. It had been used and beaten in front of them. She had lived with males, and on the hottest days, they all stripped down. She normally kept bottoms of whatever she had on, just because it was a safety measure, but her tits? She didn’t particularly care if those were on display anymore.
The Mercenary's Bounty Page 31
