Tribal Dawn: Blood-and-Shadow (Volume One)

by Cassie Wolf

  “I think I’m hungry.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I need food.” Atsu stood up. When he walked towards the door, Jocelin blocked his way. He wouldn’t even allow himself to return her gaze, he just had to get out of there and cool down.

  “We can get food soon. You were staring at me and my friends at the waters, weren’t you?” she asked with her head tilted.

  Atsu sighed and went to push her out of the way but she brushed his hand back down. Gritting his teeth, he tried to trick her by feinting one way and stepping the other but she was too quick and clever. “I wasn’t looking at your friends. I don’t fucking know them, they don’t interest me.”

  Jocelin raised an eyebrow and her taunting smile widened. “Oh, so you were just oggling me then?”

  Atsu ran his hand through his dreads and growled low under his breath, his patience wearing thin. “I was not oggling; I was making the most. Now, I am really fucking hungry…” He went to lift her away from the door but she swiftly brushed the robe from her shoulders and stood naked in front of him. “What the fuck are you doing?” he asked her, his cheeks burning.

  Jocelin gave him another smile and slipped her fingers down the front of his apron, pulling him closer to her so he could feel the warmth from her body and even her heartbeat against his. Full of desire, and the arousal between his legs beginning to burn just below her fingertips, he couldn’t stop his eyes wandering to take in as much as they could while she rested her head back on the door. “I like you, Atsu. I wanted to give you your own private view. But if you are really that hungry…”

  As she trailed off, Atsu brought his fingers to her chin, turning her to face him as he kissed her tempting lips. The instant he locked with her, he felt some of his frustration melting away. Jocelin kept her fingers a teasingly short distance away while her other hand scraped up his chest before hooking around his neck. As the two of them embraced, the heat between rose. While his arousal ached with wanting, her own sex radiated a welcoming warmth as the pair pressed and kissed, losing themselves in each other.

  Atsu growled from the back of his throat as her hand dropped lower, feeling every inch of him, while she softly moaned in the embrace. As she did, he trailed his fingertips down to caress her perfect breasts and slowly stepped back towards the bed.

  His heart was hammering but he was too overcome with lust to care about the consequences. When they reached the bed, he pulled himself away and gazed into her eyes, watching them sparkle with as much craving as his own.

  Breathless, he said, “Are you pure?”

  Jocelin’s cheeks flushed pink as she smirked and raised her eyebrows. “Are you?”

  Atsu let out a nervous chuckle. “Come on, you know that’s different.”

  She bit down on her lip and nodded. “I am pure from males but have been taught by women.”

  “Mine was a drunken mistake, so I hope they showed you what to do because I have no fucking idea,” Atsu said and reached his hand into her hair, pulling it back ever so slightly to kiss and bite at her neck.

  Jocelin sighed and let him place her on the bed while his lips could not stop nibbling at what they desired. She pulled him up to lie on top of her and gazed into his eyes once more as she slowly directed his hand to drag down her ribs and the dip of her waist. As much as he wanted to hide his nervousness, his fingertips were trembling as she slowly placed his palm on her sex.

  She guided him to press down and twist and turn his fingers in pleasurable motions, gasping, allowing them both to get used to each other’s bodies and scents. The pressure of his arousal being so agonisingly so close to where it wanted to be forced Atsu to use a self-control he never knew he had as he watched in fascination this perfect woman moaning to his touch.

  His lust soared and animalistic snarls and growls, all new noises, burst from his throat. He stroked at her cheekbone, brushing away the stray hairs that clung onto her, when suddenly she pulled away his hand. The pair kissed once more, hastily now as Atsu pulled away the apron and let his sex meet hers for the first time.

  “Wait… Atsu,” Jocelin stammered.

  Instantly he stopped and ran his fingers over her forehead. “What?”

  “Just… please be gentle.”

  “I will try,” he said with a smirk. His hand gripped her thigh, wrapping it tightly around his back. Jocelin quickly moved her other to lock behind and reached her hand to his chest.

  Atsu teetered on the verge of entering. Jocelin winced at the pressure beneath but he tried to keep a firm, reassuring grip on her and attempted to be as gentle as possible. With her tightness clutching him, it was near impossible for him not to feel on the verge of finishing already. Jocelin’s thighs clenched all the more the deeper he went and her sounds were spurring him on, until it all became too much and he gave into a powerful thrust of their first mating.

  - CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO -

  Masika kept the jar and leaf well hidden beneath her dress, tucked inside a pouch. With dread creeping over her, she dragged her feet through the hut while her chest tingled. She knew if she held off she would never do it. Perhaps while it was new in her mind it wouldn’t be so bad. As Inari said, it was going to happen at some point, just now Dia would be too drugged to realise she wasn’t a virgin.

  As she passed the warriors and headed back towards her quarters, she breathed hard and tried to block the thought from her mind. Going into her room, she rifled through the drawers to find the best quality dress she could: one made of red, silken fabric with rainbow bead decorations around the chest. She brushed the thick locks up and pinned them as best she could before covering her eyes with elegant speckles of red and black war paint.

  Masika gazed at herself in the mirror and bit her lip the moment her eyes clapped on her stomach. Her mind was telling her to hate it, that she should just accept it would die and that nothing could come from it but inside her soul, she knew it was wrong. For all the bad thoughts she had of this unborn innocent and how certain she was that she didn’t want it to be there, the tiniest part of her told her she would regret it if anything happened to it. Given what she was about to do to Dia, she knew that part of her was winning.

  She glanced out of the hole in the wall, still expecting to see her hut standing. They had, of course, removed all the rubble and it was as though no lives had ever dwelt there at all. It was as if the entire tribe wanted to remove all trace of her brother, which she was partly grateful for.

  She left just after Dia would have been fed by one of the trainee healers. Her legs trembled with every step while the twist in her stomach fought against the mixture Inari had given her, trying to make her sick again. She couldn’t allow that. This had to go perfectly.

  She strode past the trokhosi seat, making her way to the medicinal room, when Jasari suddenly whistled sharply at her. Masika glanced over her shoulder with her hand on the door. He eyed her suspiciously and clicked his fingers to command her to stand before him.

  She approached slowly, careful to make sure the pouch was well covered as she meekly stood before the Chief.

  “You look… pleasing, Masi. You are embracing your life here now?”

  She nodded and kept her eyes to the ground.

  “Mhmm. Step closer.”

  Masika did as was asked. Jasari eyed her up and down before he gripped the cloth at her waist, yanking her as close as she could possibly get without sitting on his knee. He stroked his palm over her stomach, making her sick to the core with his touch, before he spun her around and caressed her thighs roughly.

  “You are turning into your mother more and more with each day,” he mumbled with a click as he licked his lips.

  Masika closed her eyes tightly and chewed on her lip while the Chief’s hands wandered up and down her legs. Wherever he touched, the feeling that he had left a trail of filth which needed to be cleaned instantly made her dizzy. Her legs trembled with fear and the urge to run away.

  “Mhmm. Go back to what you were doing. I shall
speak to you privately another time,” Jasari muttered and pushed her out of the way.

  Masika nodded a couple of times, trying to keep her composure as she made her way through the medicinal door. Her heart was pounding with fear; she didn’t want to do this. Dia was barely conscious on the bed before her. The swelling in his head had decreased a lot but the burns and broken nose still caused him tremendous pain on a daily basis.

  Dia opened one eye and peeked over to the door, a slight grin, near toothless, emerging on his face. “I was wondering where you had got to.”

  Masika forced a smile as she wandered over, grabbing the usual bowl and rag from the side, and sat herself down beside him. Even though Inari had told him he could walk, Dia had chosen what Masika believed to be the overdramatic approach of pretending he couldn’t even lift himself from the bed. She knew he had been putting on some of whimpers and cries by now and at times she had felt like punching him in his face and clearing out the rest of his teeth for it. One time as she sat applying a cloth to one of his swellings, she had to endure while he went on and on about what an uncontrollable monster her brother was and how he had saved her life by agreeing to become her mate. She just smiled behind gritted teeth and nodded at every single lie he spoke, like a good mate should do for her male.

  “I was stopped by your father on the way in,” she responded and placed the cooling cloth on his head. Standing up, she went over to the usual green-filled jars and slipped hers amongst them. She dropped in the leaf and took a nearby mixing stick to crunch it all together into one before she turned back around with a smile. “I was thinking, Dia, what my brother did was horrible. You were so brave.”

  Dia raised a suspicious eyebrow as she slowly approached with the painkilling substance. Since he had been confined to the room, the euphoric feeling from the stuff had become the highlight of his day. “Well, he needed to be stopped. Now he is gone forever.”

  Masika’s eye twitched with her forced grin as she tilted the jar forward to his lips. She watched as his adam’s apple moved with every thick gulp. Removing the empty jar, she walked over to the door and shoved a stick through the handle to make sure no one else could come inside.

  Dia glanced at her. She knew he never fully trusted her intentions; as much as she had tried to care for him, it was hard to believe her caring for her family had dwindled so easily. “What are you doing?”

  “I want to mate with you. I want to thank you by carrying your seed and giving you a strong son,” Masika said. The bitter taste burnt the back of her throat as she uttered the words and pushed the chair up against the bed.

  “I can’t do that… Masi.” Dia yawned. His eyes were dark and dozy, his muscles relaxing like he was melting in place.

  “Yes you can, Dia,” Masika whispered and climbed onto the chair, then stumbled to hike on top of him. “Your sisters can’t give you the sons and daughters you need. Imagine your child striking my brother, Dia. After all the humiliation he has caused, to be killed by his own blood?”

  His gaze struggled to focus on her on top but his arousal was taking over without him being conscious of it.

  Masika twitched as she felt the rise between her legs. The leaf was already kicking in. But he was still hesitating. With a dry swallow and limbs shaking, she lifted the dress off and threw it to the floor. The cold of the room felt sharp on her exposed skin and she couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes as he stared at her. His hands lazily clutched at her flesh.

  She couldn’t help but whimper under her breath as every touch made her skin crawl. She wanted to flee and hide in her room. She wanted anything else in the world to happen but not this.

  Staring emptily into the distance, a stray tear rolled down her cheek. Dia had dragged his fat hands to his trousers and pushed them down with all the strength he could muster before he grabbed onto her hips.

  Masika bit on her lip. Her body felt as though it had frozen as he lifted her up and threw her back down. Her thighs instantly trembled in pain, tears streamed down her cheeks and she couldn’t stop gasps of agony escaping as he grunted and thrusted.

  There was nothing she could do but wish it would come to an end soon. She tried to think of anything else in the world, anything to take her away from this place, but the only thought that came into her mind was how much she wanted her brother back.

  When the final grunt eventually came, Masika watched as he fell rapidly asleep beneath her before she shakily slid off. Feeling weak, the pain between her legs causing her to limp, she picked up her dress and threw it back on before she tripped across the floor and walked back to her quarters.

  No one appeared to notice any difference between her usual depression and the state of trauma she felt right now. Even if they did, none of them dared to show a caring side towards her. When she dragged her feet back to her familiar quarters, Kanzi was already inside with the afternoon meal placed on the table.

  “Masika?” she asked, rushing over as Masi nearly toppled to the ground.

  Masika stared blankly around the room as Kanzi closed the door. Her chest was no longer beating with anxiety and worry. It was hollow. The luxury of the living space felt dirty, cheap and disgusting as she slid down the door and sat on the ground.

  Kanzi didn’t say a word as she sat beside her, wrapping her arm around Masika’s shoulders to comfort her friend in need.

  - CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE -

  The first time they mated, it didn’t last long and was painful for Jocelin. Atsu didn’t understand why until he moved and saw the trickles of blood on his clean sheets. Believing it would be his only chance, he couldn’t stop his mouth savouring the taste of her skin, leading to them mating multiple times throughout the night.

  With his muscles aching in places he never knew was possible and his lips cracked and dry, he couldn’t stop himself even as they both lay at the end of their fourth climax. Jocelins cheeks were burning scarlet beneath him as she laughed with exhaustion and pulled his face up to hers.

  “We should stop now… and get some rest,” she stammered and nuzzled his nose with hers.

  Atsu paused between breaths and frowned. With a quick spin, he rolled beside her with the sheets sticking to his sweat-covered skin. Jocelin sighed dreamily and nudged his arm out of the way to lie on his chest. He glanced down at her, confused by her affection as she tucked herself tightly into his warmth. His fingertips traced over her upper arm, stroking gently as they lay in silence.

  “Jocelin?” Atsu finally said before his heavy eyelids defeated him.

  “Mhmm?”

  “I would slit the throat of any male who looked at you with lust,” he declared simply.

  The lids over her green eyes lifted as she gazed at Atsu. “What if my father decided against the bind and you had to become a worker? You would have to respect that and the male who became my mate.”

  He shrugged and clutched her closer to him. “No I wouldn’t. I’d challenge that male too, kill him and wear his bones for armour to prove my point. I would keep doing it until I had enough to make my own trokhosi.” He gazed dreamily into her eyes and gave her a tired grin. “No one but me is fucking touching you.”

  Jocelin remained silent. She moved her palm over his chest, gently hovering above it for a moment before letting her nails meet with his flesh. Scratching down, she buried her head beneath his arm with a wide grin on her face. “Then you leave me with no choice. We will have to bind.”

  The rush of adrenaline hit hard once more. He bit down on his lip to contain a smile. With a low growl, he swooped his arms beneath her and placed her on top. Jocelin giggled as she steadied her straddle and placed both of her palms over his chest. “We can tell my father at dawn.”

  “What happens then?” Atsu asked as he caressed her thighs.

  “He will plan the ceremony,” she replied, “although you may not like what the ceremony entails if you don’t want males touching me.”

  Atsu furrowed his brow. “Wait… males are going to touch you as
part of the bind? I thought binds were just words in front of some people?”

  “Well, you are not wrong. That is part of it, but because I am the Chief’s daughter and you are to become an heir, it is different. The males won’t touch me, but you might not be happy with it.”

  As he felt her heat grinding on him ever so slowly and watched her breasts move in rhythm, other thoughts took over Atsu’s mind. “I can kill them after,” he said.

  The black void of the night sky and the crescent moon were fading into the amber warmth of dawn by the time the pair couldn’t mate any more. They fell into a deep slumber, muscles aching from head to toe, until the blazing morning sun woke the tribe with its warmth.

  The couple quickly dressed and tried to appear as respectable as possible before talking to Pazade, but Atsu noticed the purple bruises covering Jocelin’s skin where he’d bitten her.

  “Won’t he wonder where they came from?” he asked as he tied his aprons.

  Jocelin shrugged as she battled her tangles. “We will see. He will probably already know.”

  “Can’t I be killed for it?”

  “Not when I came to you, no,” Jocelin sweetly replied with a smile.

  They left the room and the smell of medicines immediately hit the back of Atsu’s nose, sending him slightly dizzy as he followed behind Jocelin out of the back door.

  In the tranquillity and relaxation of the garden, Pazade sat with his cup and bottle of red alcohol at a table between two pots of towering violet and yellow flowers. He opened an eye at the pair as they approached and pointed for them to pull up a couple of nearby chairs.

  “Father, we have some news,” Jocelin started.

  Pazade raised his hand to stop her and spoke dryly behind his cup. “You weren’t in your room this morning?”

  “No, I wasn’t.” Jocelin gazed at the ground. Atsu dragged over the chairs and sat himself down while brushing a few stray petals away from his arm. “Truth is, Father… I shared Atsu’s bed.”