by Lily Thomas
Then he shot off, the cold air once more chilling her bare skin. She couldn’t wait to get back to the cave and get some fur clothing back over her bare skin.
Thankfully, it didn’t take them much longer to reach the cave, but it was long enough for Aiyre to regret her decision to leave the cave. Her nose was completely frozen, and she could feel icicles forming on her braid and eyelashes. She needed the warmth of a fire again.
Once they arrived at the mouth of the cave, she slipped off his back, her muscles frozen from the cold, and she walked stiffly inside the cave. She went straight for her fur clothing, which she quickly slipped on before rushing over to the fire to enjoy the warmth pouring off of it.
Daerk followed her in and grabbed his own clothing, but not before she got an eyeful of pure muscle and a nice sized member dangling between his thighs. She found it a bit difficult to swallow, her gaze completely glued to the sight before her.
He sent her a smirk when he caught her staring at him, before he covered up. She found herself wishing for more time to take in the view his body had given her. Her lips tingled in delight as she thought about him demanding her surrender as he pushed her up against a cave wall.
“Aiyre?” Ezi’s weak voice broke through to her shaking her out of her erotic thoughts.
“Yes?” Aiyre looked over at her longtime friend. Ezi’s eyes finally looked clear, and her leg even looked a bit better with less of a purple tinge and back to looking like healthy pink skin.
“Are you alright?”
“Am I alright?” Aiyre shook her head confused by the question. “You should be more concerned about yourself.”
“But your leg.” Ezi pointed at her. “I saw it when you came rushing in.” Ezi reminded her of her own injury.
“Oh.” Aiyre looked down at her thigh where a red mark was slowly growing across her leather pants. Then the pain started to come back as she stared at the wound.
Daerk grabbed a fur blanket and held it up in front of her.
“What are you doing?” She asked as she frowned up at him.
“Making sure you can take your pants back off without an audience, and so Eron can take a look at the claw mark on your thigh.”
She raised an eyebrow. “We’re shifters. We’re used to being naked.”
His gold eyes just stared down at her.
Quickly, Aiyre shed the pants, and then took the fur blanket from him, so she could sit back down and keep everything covered except for her injured thigh. She got the feeling he was being stingy about nakedness just because they were mates. Which would have to change, because being a shifter meant a lot of running around in the nude.
The man named Eron made his way over to her with a pack of supplies, pushing past Daerk. Daerk moved around her so he could get a better visual while Eron had room to work on her leg.
“Your shaman?” She asked as she looked up at him.
“Yes.” He folded his arms in front of his chest, his eyes never leaving the mark on her thigh.
Eron looked up at her. His eyes were a striking blue, and he had a shock of blonde hair that was going grey on his head. He had a kind face, aged by time, but still keeping features of a once dashing man.
“How is it?” Daerk asked on her behalf sounding more concerned than she felt.
“It’s fine.” She remarked. It was little more than a scratch. It had just shocked her system. She’d thought she was going to die and her pronghorn side hadn’t been sure which form would save her best.
“You aren’t a healer.” Daerk shushed her.
“She is right. It will be fine with time to heal. It looks like it was just the upper layer of skin. I will still wrap it to make sure infection stays away.” Eron began mashing some herbs together.
“Good.”
She glanced up to see relief wash over Daerk’s face. Her heart pinched in her chest. He’d been worried about her, and for some reason, it caused her heart to putter in an arrhythmic beat. Despite what he might be, she found herself feeling special with all the worry and attention he sent her way.
“What happened out there?” Tor surged onto his feet and rushed over to take a look at her wound.
“A wild sabertooth got a claw into her thigh,” Daerk growled, both at her and the fact that he hadn’t prevented the injury. His hands moved to his hips as he glared down at her.
“I’m guessing you saved her?” Tor glanced between them.
“Yes! He saved me!” Aiyre vented. “I wasn’t the one who defeated the sabertooth.”
“Feel better?” Daerk asked as he folded his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow in response to her temper tantrum.
“I do.” She glared up at all of them.
“You could have given me some time,” Daerk grumbled. “I told you I’d be back with help.”
“I was afraid she wouldn’t live long enough. You said it might take two days, and I didn’t think she had two days.” Her nose wrinkled as she smelled the mash of herbs Eron was placing over her wound. It smelled like rotting flesh.
Then he wrapped up her thigh in a strip of leather.
“That should stave off any infection, but let me know if you feel any pain or see anything change, like color or odor,” Eron informed her. Then his eyes landed on the old wound on her arm, but after a quick inspection, he didn’t deem it necessary to worry about it. Eron rose and went back over to Ezi to check her bandaging.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to smell an odor change with that paste.” Aiyre scrunched up her nose some more as she leaned away from the herb mash on her leg.
Eron glanced over his shoulder as he rolled his eyes. “Breath normally, and you will get used to the smell.” Then he turned back to Ezi.
“Will she be able to use that leg again?” Aiyre asked as Daerk held up the fur blanket so she could get her pants back on with privacy.
She rolled her eyes. He was going to have to get over hiding her body.
“We will have to see,” Eron said, making no promises. “It appears to just be a twisted ankle, and the wound is healing, so everything should be fine.”
Ezi smiled. “It will all be fine.”
Aiyre wasn’t so sure about that. Not being able to move around without help would irritate her past insanity, and she feared Ezi would be no different.
Daerk didn’t seem able to keep his eyes off of her, and it made her feel uncomfortable, more because she was finding it hard to keep her eyes off of him as well. The damn sabertooth was too good looking for his own good.
“Are you hungry?” He squatted beside her, and she breathed in his masculine scent eagerly as it flowed around her weaving a spell over her.
He was definitely someone to fear because she could feel an attraction pulling her closer despite her best intentions to keep away. And that scared her witless. He may have been one of the sabertooths involved in murdering her clanmates… although she was beginning to wonder if that was just something she was telling herself falsely.
He’d still given her no reason to believe he was a man who would be involved in such a cruel attack.
“Yes. I need something to eat.”
Daerk pushed himself back up to his feet and made his way out of the cave, and then came back inside with some frozen pieces of bear meat. He stuck them on a branch and placed them over the fire. Then he came back to sit down next to her.
A little too close. Aiyre scooted away.
“What you did may have been foolish, but it was brave as well.” Daerk murmured.
“Was it?” She figured it had been a bit harebrained.
“It was.” He turned his head so his golden eyes could run over her. “You wanted to save her life. I respect you for being so kind and loving to a clanmate. Such dedication is a good trait for a mate.”
Aiyre’s nose crinkled. “I don’t know how you plan on this working. Your clan won’t accept us.” She pointed between them.
“You don’t know my clan.” He shook his head, as his golden e
yes bored into her. “Our current leader has led them astray, made them afraid, and fed them lies about yours. What they need is to see the truth and have the peace of mind that their leader won’t kill them for speaking their mind.”
She cocked her head to the side as she fiddled with her braid. “And how do you plan on making such an environment safe for us? We would never be able to defend ourselves against a clan of sabertooths, if they decided they didn’t want us among them.”
Daerk leaned towards the fire and tested the meat with a finger, and then put the branch holding the meat back over the flames. “I agree that it would be hard to bring you into the clan, but staying out here and starting our own clan would be a lot harder and dangerous.”
“Or Ezi and I could leave and find another pronghorn clan to join.” Aiyre tossed out the other option.
“And Tor and I should be happy with such an idea?” Daerk snorted as he shook his head of short brown hair. “To let our mates out of our sight and hope life goes well for you? To miss our opportunity to have offspring with our mates?” She watched the muscles in his neck tense at the very idea.
Ezi had been right then. She was Daerk’s mate, and Ezi was Tor’s mate. The gods must be insane. Then again, she’d always been taught she should have faith and believe their gods would do what needed to be done. But a sabertooth mate? She wasn’t sure they were right about that.
“You could have another woman,” Aiyre argued.
“Could I?” He arched an eyebrow. “Your people have no mates, yet you assume you know how it feels.” He leaned in close, their noses almost touching. “Having a mate is like having a piece of you outside of your chest, a part you now need to keep safe, a drive inside of you pushing you to claim your mate, to keep her in your arms, and to fill her with offspring. I will never just let you go.”
Aiyre gulped. His voice was full of passion, and she believed every word he uttered. This had clearly been something he had been striving for his entire life. And it made her worry he wasn’t about to let her go. Not that she had anywhere to go now that she was clanless.
Daerk backed off and examined the meat again. Determining it was ready, he took off a piece and held it out to her. She tried to take it with a hand, but he withdrew the meat and shook his head.
He held it back out and brought it up to her lips, a wicked gleam entering his eyes. She opened her mouth and let him place the piece inside her mouth. Her lips closed around his fingers as she took the meat from him.
Daerk sent her a heated glance, a fire burning deep in his golden eyes.
She felt her stomach flitter around in excitement, and she turned her gaze over to where Ezi was sitting against a cave wall. Ezi was staring directly at them and raised an eyebrow in Aiyre’s direction.
Aiyre had no idea what was going on, so she shrugged her shoulders in response. She got the feeling it would be only a matter of time before things between them heated up. His eyes didn’t just watch her. They caressed her with every glance.
He fed her a couple more pieces of the bear meat, seeming to get some joy out of the action, and she was hungry enough not to care that he was hand feeding her. He held out another piece, and she slipped her lips around his fingers before taking the meat with her teeth. As she pulled away, she bit her lip and watched as his eyes flickered down to the small movement.
“Would you like more?” He asked.
Aiyre shook her head. “I think I just need some rest after such an exciting day.” More like thrilling. She was tired, and the heated looks he sent her way were going straight to her head, confusing her. She needed to remember he was a sabertooth and from a clan that had murdered hers.
He inclined his head, but his eyes never left the sight of her.
She settled down for sleep near the fire, as everyone else settled down for the night. It was peaceful, and she found herself relaxing for the first time in days. Here she thought she might spend the rest of winter alone.
Daerk settled near her, but she found it surprisingly comforting to have him not far away. Even her pronghorn was warming up to him after his recent save of her life.
Chapter 10
Aiyre woke slowly as she felt movement near her. Looking over her shoulder, she watched as Daerk rose and made his way further into the darkness of the cave. He disappeared into the murky darkness where the firelight didn’t reach.
She wanted to roll over and ignore him, but… she was intrigued and had to know what he was doing. She sat up on an elbow and watched his shadow disappear around a corner in the dark recesses of the cave. She rolled her eyes. Why did sabertooths have to be so strange?
She laid her head back down on her fur and tried to get back to sleep, but she couldn’t. She had to find out what he was up to back there.
Curiosity pulled her off her fur. She quietly padded her way to the back of the cave and peered around the corner, and there he was, just standing, looking at her with those eyes that sent shivers racing over every inch of her skin.
“Hello.” His deep voice greeted her, almost seeming to purr at the end.
She found her feet pulling her further around the corner. “What are you doing back here?”
“Wishing to the gods you would join me and glad my wish came true.” His heated eyes washed over her.
Aiyre found herself smiling. “Why?” She had some ideas, but she wanted to hear it come out of his mouth.
“To see if my mate would accept me.” His hands reached out, and he lightly grabbed onto her shirt, pulling her further into the dark.
His head dipped, and he placed a kiss against her lips. Aiyre wasn’t too sure what to do with herself. He pulled away, and then came back for another kiss when she didn’t protest his attentions.
She was curious, and maybe it was because she had sleep still fogging her mind, but she wanted to explore more of this. Recently, she’d been faced with death, escaped that barely both times, and now she was facing a possible life of loneliness unless she accepted this matehood.
Right now, all she wanted was to feel loved and enjoy the presence of another. After all the death in her life, she was ready to enjoy life, even if he was a sabertooth. She was desperate for a connection, any connection.
Their lips melded together, and she felt her toes curl in excitement as his hot lips coaxed hers to open her mouth. It was something new, something she wanted more of, and she could care less that it was a sabertooth causing her to feel this way.
One of his hands weaved its way into her hair and massaged the back of her scalp. He growled when his hand encountered the braid, “We need to set your hair loose.”
“Mmm hmmm.” She agreed, her mind going hazy with lust. She’d probably agree with anything he said at this moment.
“You taste so sweet.” Daerk murmured against her lips. His tongue flickered against the crease of her mouth, and she opened her mouth, allowing him access.
His tongue darted in and played with hers before retreating back to his own mouth. Playing with her and teasing her.
As they kissed, his hands worked their way through her braid until her hair was set loose around her shoulders, and he was able to run his hands through the strands. “Much better.” He growled.
Then his hands moved down to the hem of her shirt and pulled the fur shirt up and over her head. He let it drop to the floor of the cave.
Cold air rushed up and brushed over her nipples puckering them. She sucked in a sharp breath at the sensation rolling over her. She’d been naked in front of men before, but not in front of a man who was staring at her like he’d never seen anything prettier.
His hand came up and played with her hot flesh. “You are so toned, yet you have such soft areas on your body.” He growled. The enjoyment in his voice pleased her all the way to her toes.
Daerk couldn’t believe it. He was finally about to enjoy his mate for the first time, and he was having a hard time containing his absolute delight. Images of her naked body flashed in his mind’s eye. He couldn
’t wait to have her panting underneath his body as he drove his hard shaft into her wet and welcoming sheath.
The moment her shirt was off of her body, his hands had a mind of their own. They molded and cupped her full breasts. His thumbs rubbed over the hard nipples, causing Aiyre’s mouth to pop wide.
Daerk smiled. This was better than any fantasy he could have ever imagined. Soon his tent would be filled to the brim with children, and he wouldn’t have to spend another night alone. But maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Just because she spent a night with him didn’t mean he’d won her heart.
His cock had gone hard a long while ago. Now all he could think about was seeking his release, but he also wanted to explore his mate. This would be their first joining, and he didn’t want to rush it and have it be their last. This was his opportunity to sway her mind and heart into trusting him.
All he sought was her pleasure and happiness.
His hands stroked down to her waist, and then stroked their way to her butt, which he gave a light squeeze. He’d been telling the truth when he said her softer curves had pleased him. She was toned from a life of living in their harsh world, but she still had a layer of pleasing flesh.
Daerk quickly made short work of her pants, dropping them to the cave floor and leaving her naked in front of him.
“Undress me.” He commanded her.
Aiyre stepped forward and put her hands at the hem of his fur shirt. She paused, and for a second he thought she might back out of what they were doing, but then she pulled the shirt up. He bowed his back so she could get the fabric off his tall frame without struggling on her tiptoes.
She flung it across the cave, and he smirked.
“Eager?”
Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. “How can I be eager when I have no idea what I am getting into?”
“You have yet to be with a man?” He found it surprising, to say the least. “As part of an unmated species, I would have expected you to have several partners by now.” Not that he wasn’t pleased to find it was the opposite.
