The Hunted

by Jaid Black

  Peggy glanced down between her legs, watching as her husband’s cock slammed into her flesh over and over again. The sight of his heavily muscled body holding her comparatively smaller one pinioned before him while his hips pistoned back and forth as he pummeled into her was the most erotic thing she’d ever laid eyes on. She came on a loud groan, her back arching and her eyes closing. “Oh god.” Her head fell back onto the pillows, her nipples stiffening to the point of pain, her body convulsing. “Oh my god.”

  Geirwolf fucked her even harder then, the vein at his jugular bulging. “My cunt,” he ground out again and again as if it was a mantra. “Mine.”

  He went primal on her then, pumping in and out of her in fast, violent thrusts. He fucked her as if he was branding her, like an animal marking his territory.

  Geirwolf impaled her pussy over and over, again and again. Perspiration dotted his forehead and his muscles clenched tightly as his body prepared for orgasm. The look of pleasure on his face—that expression that so closely resembled pain—held Peggy spellbound once again as he buried himself inside of her to the hilt in a series of lightning-quick, deep strokes.

  “You’re mine, Peggy,” he growled, his teeth gritting. “All mine.”

  He broke on a loud groan, his body convulsing as he violently climaxed into her cunt. She threw her hips at him the entire time, using the movement to suck all of the cum out of his cock with her pussy. She kept the fast, furious movement up for a solid thirty seconds, not relenting until he collapsed on top of her with a moan, spent and satisfied.

  It was a long while before either of them spoke. They simply laid there, holding onto each other as if the world had gone mad and they were each other’s lifeboat to sanity. But then again, perhaps they were.

  “I love you, Peggy,” Geirwolf confessed. He placed a gentle kiss on first one of her stiff nipples and then on her lips. “I’ve waited my entire life to find you,” he murmured. “And I hope that one day soon you will come to love me.”

  Peggy ran her fingers through his silky, sunny-blonde hair. “That’s assuming I already don’t,” she whispered. She sighed. “And you should never assume anything.”

  Chapter 15

  2 months later

  It had been a long two months. Life in the breeding stalls was, after all, rather boring and monotonous. There wasn’t much to do once your training was complete—other than watch other terrified women get trained during the days, then wait for your husband to come to you at night. And oh, how she had come to look forward to the nights…

  Geirwolf was, for lack of a better expression, the best fuck on earth. He was attentive and possessed great stamina and had also, she thought with a small smile, turned out to be orally fixated—a fact Peggy would never complain about.

  But it was more than the sex. It was also the talking. They talked a lot, she and Geirwolf. About everything and nothing. About the inane and the important. But mostly they discussed what their life would be like when she became pregnant and left the breeding stalls.

  She walked toward her private chamber, knowing that Geirwolf would be coming to her soon, her thoughts on the conversation they’d had last night.

  “I can’t deny that I’m falling hard for you, Wolf,” Peggy said, her hand absently stroking his chest. “But I also can’t deny the fact that my work with the Inupiat is important to me. Or the fact that if I do become pregnant I would want my mother to be able to see her only grandchild.”

  “Peggy,” he sighed. “I wish there was a way to grant you your desires. Yet my people would literally kill me did I try to take you from New Norway, if even for just a week or two.”

  “But Wolf…”

  He held a finger up to her mouth. “The way our people have survived all these years is by remaining unknown to the outside world. No one who comes here—no one—is allowed to leave once they set eyes on New Norway unless it is to join the gods.” He sighed. “I cannot say I am sorry you are mine, but what can I do?”

  Peggy closed her eyes, her heart sinking. “Nothing, I guess,” she whispered.

  Geirwolf placed her hand on his erect cock. He wanted to be sexual again, any fool could figure that out, yet contrarily his thoughts seemed far away. His next words confirmed it. “The priests who serve as interim to the gods have declared for a thousand years that we are to live below-ground,” he murmured.

  Peggy’s head came up. “Why?” she asked, genuinely interested.

  “Visions they’ve had. Visions of a future earth where women are scarce.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “That’s fascinating,” she said truthfully. She was forever the anthropologist, always interested in myths and legends. “So they believe that by staying below the ground—”

  “—That our people will never suffer this famine of females,” Geirwolf broke in. “For we will continue to breed women in the numbers the gods intended, rather than become like the depraved who live above ground.”

  Peggy chewed that over, intrigued by the prophesies that had fueled the invention of this culture a thousand years ago. “Interesting,” she murmured.

  And, once again, Peggy had dropped the subject of her career and her mother. But even when she had caved in she had also realized that, inevitably, the subject would come up again. Like tonight.

  Peggy sighed as she plopped down onto the bed. She had a lot of feelings swimming through her brain, all of them stemming from the knowledge that she was pregnant.

  Pregnant, she thought, her heart racing. She was well and truly pregnant. Ivara had given her the exciting news this morning after she’d taken some primitive looking, yet highly accurate, test. By now even Geirwolf must know, she mused. So how did she feel about it?

  Peggy raked her fingers through her hair, asking herself that question for the millionth time since she’d been given the news that she was to leave the breeding stalls tomorrow and go with Geirwolf to his home. On one hand she was elated, not only because she got to leave the boring stalls, but also because she was thrilled with the idea of having a baby.

  And not just any man’s baby, Peggy…Geirwolf’s baby.

  Geirwolf. She loved him—she was in love with him. He had gotten under her skin just as she’d known he would and had stolen her heart along with her body. And, just as Geirwolf had once predicted, she now held her hands out to him in the nights, wanting him to hold her, to love her.

  Peggy bit into her lower lip, her thoughts a mess. On one hand she was elated to be pregnant, but on the other hand she was terrified. Being pregnant, after all, made her life in New Norway seem more…real. More real and more permanent. She was a true New Norwayer now, a full mate to the man who would one day rule the people here. She didn’t know how to feel about that.

  Being pregnant also meant something else, something that made her eyes tear up just thinking about the reality of it…

  Being pregnant meant going through the delivery, and then through the joys and sorrows of motherhood, without sharing the experiences with her own mom. She knew Geirwolf disliked talking about these things for he felt as though his hands were tied where her mother was concerned, yet Peggy knew that a great sadness would always live inside of her without her mother in her life.

  Growing up, her family had possessed little money but a lot of love. Her mom had worked two jobs after her father had died just to keep food on the table and a house over their heads. She had also worked her butt off to put Peggy through college. The fact that she was so close to becoming a Ph.D. was a point of pride her mother prattled on about to anyone who’d listen—and even those who didn’t listen.

  Peggy smiled, nostalgia overwhelming her whenever she remembered her mom. How could she be totally at peace, she thought, when her mother would never lay eyes on her grandchild?

  “Hello little mommy.”

  Peggy glanced up from where she was sitting on the bed to a smiling Geirwolf. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, just as they always did. He was holding a gift wrapped in a silk covering, which she c
ould only assume was meant for her. She supposed the gift was probably the gold arm bangles women were given to wear when they left the breeding stalls. “Hi.”

  Geirwolf’s eyes narrowed. His gaze raked over her nude body then back up to her face. “You are…different today.” His expression was stoic as usual, yet uncertainty lurked in his wolf-blue eyes. “Not so happy as I was hoping you’d be,” he murmured.

  “No—no! I’m very happy!” she quickly assured him. She shrugged, looking away. “Just not completely happy if you know what I mean.”

  “Your mother?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  He sighed as he sat down next to her on the bed. He was quiet for a moment, but then he said, “I want you to be completely happy about this baby—our baby. We made this child together and he or she deserves our devotion.”

  “Oh Wolf I know that.” Peggy shook her head. “How could you think that I—”

  He placed a callused finger to her lips. “I don’t think that.” He smiled. “But I want you to be happy.” He sighed like a martyr, mumbling something about the unholy depths a man would sink to for his woman. “Your mother—she is widowed?”

  “Yeah.” Peggy’s forehead wrinkled. “Why?”

  “I just needed to be certain,” he muttered.

  Peggy gasped. “You’re going to steal her?”

  “Yes,” he said without apology. “Since this is the only way you will be happy.”

  She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Steal her?” she whispered to herself, her feelings in overdrive.

  The thought of her mother coming to live here—and being forced to walk around naked for crying out loud!—competed in her mind with the thought of her mother cleaning rich people’s houses every day all day long just to make ends meet. And, worse yet, she believed that her only child was dead…

  “Do it,” Peggy murmured, hoping she was making the right decision. Her mother was a beautiful woman. The warriors here would be tripping over themselves to get to her. “Just promise me she won’t end up in the Commons or the Dungeon of Shame.” Her nostrils flared. “I mean it.”

  Geirwolf blinked. “Why should she dislike the Commons? And what in the world is a Dungeon of Shame?”

  Peggy huffed. “Don’t pretend ignorance. Ivara took us to both places and I know what they are.”

  Geirwolf smiled slowly. It was beginning to occur to him how it was that Ivara was able to break the reticence of brides down in mere hours. She lied to them. “Do enlighten me.”

  Peggy told him about her experience in the Commons and about how the men there touched any woman they wanted to. She told him about the blue-eyed devil who had pulled her down onto his lap and scared the wits out of her. (Geirwolf would be having a long talk with his blue-eyed devil of a brother.) And then she told him about the women who had been hung in cages in the Dungeon of Shame, splayed out on all fours for the use of any man who wanted them. By the time she was done talking, much to her disgruntlement, Geirwolf was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

  “How can you laugh about that?” Peggy squeaked. “It’s deplorable!” This was the first time she’d ever seen him laugh and she had to admit he did it quite sexily.

  Geirwolf grinned as he sat her nude body down on his lap. “That was all lies Ivara concocted. Truly, the Dungeon of Shame doesn’t even exist.” He chuckled again. “She must get some of her widow friends together for these little performances to scare the brides into relenting.” One eyebrow shot up. “Pretty ingenious do you ask me.”

  Peggy frowned. “I can’t believe I was taken in by that.”

  “I’m glad you were,” he teased. “I was dying to breed you.”

  She shook her head, but couldn’t help but to grin at that. “And the Commons?”

  Geirwolf’s expression turned serious. “It’s a real place, but nothing non-consensual goes on there.” He shrugged. “Only widows not bound to any warrior are permitted to go there. It’s a place where they can do anything they’d like, sow their wild oats so to speak, before settling on another warrior.”

  “That’s why their pubic hair is shaved? That means they are widows?”

  “Ja—Yes.”

  Peggy chewed that over for a moment. She supposed it all made sense. The females she’d been trained with who had been native New Norwayers wouldn’t have known about what went on in such a place because they were too young to, so that explained their fright as much as the fright of the non-natives.

  She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Ivara’s one smart cookie, I’ll give her that.”

  Geirwolf chuckled at that. “It appears so.” He shooed Peggy off of his lap and stood up. “Come. We can discuss this after we get you out of these damn breeding stalls. I’ve been waiting for you to be moved into our home for an age it feels like.”

  Peggy smiled, his dark, brooding accent sounding sexier than ever. “Me too.” She couldn’t wait to leave the stalls. She wanted to find out if Michelle had settled in well, she wanted to see her mother, and she admitted, she wanted to be with her husband on a full-time basis.

  Geirwolf’s body stilled. His eyes searched hers. “Are you really happy about the baby?” he murmured.

  “Oh yeah.” She grinned, then gently patted her tummy. “I can’t wait to have your baby, Wolf. I hope she’s a girl so she can give you major hell.”

  He smiled at that. “I wouldn’t complain,” he said softly. “I will love her. As I love you.”

  Peggy stood up on tiptoe and kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m glad you love me.” She smiled. “Because I love you too.”

  Epilogue

  5 years later…

  Peggy Brannigan Valkraad had lived a charmed life thus far, a life that seemed to grow more and more charmed every day. Five years and two kids later, she and Geirwolf were more content than either of them had dreamed possible.

  “Do you think you’ll finally have a girl this time?” Michelle asked on a grin, her hand absently stroking her own round belly. Michelle was pregnant with her fourth child and Peggy with her third.

  Peggy grinned back as they walked toward the bartering stalls together. “I certainly hope so. Of course, Wolf promised his brother Bjorn that if this one was a boy we’d name it after him since we named our first two sons after his father and next oldest brother.”

  “Aevar and Arne are little rascals. I’m not so sure you need to add another Valkraad male to their numbers,” Michelle teased.

  Peggy chuckled at that. “True enough. My mom and I are hoping for a girl this time.”

  “How is your mom anyway?” Michelle asked as they walked into a grocer’s den.

  “Great!” Peggy said happily. She thought back on when her mother had first arrived in New Norway a little over four years ago right before she’d given birth to Arne. Her mom had fallen almost immediately for Geirwolf’s uncle, though she’d been hardpressed to admit it at the time. But then that was a different story. “She’s pregnant, you know.” Peggy grinned. “I’m going to be a sister again!”

  Michelle gasped. “Nobody told me! That’s great!”

  “Yeah,” Peggy chuckled. “Though mom still swears she’s too old to be birthing babies like a savage. You know, without drugs.”

  The two friends laughed at that, then ventured further into the grocer’s den. Peggy spotted Geirwolf almost immediately, their two boys sitting on either of his broad shoulders, pointing out foodstuffs they wanted.

  Peggy smiled when her husband’s wolf-blue eyes found her aqua ones. Already five years had gone by and she felt more attracted to him now than she did then. “You need some help, big guy?” she teased.

  Geirwolf winked at her. “You best believe it. These two little warriors want everything they see. Pigs, the both of them.”

  She chuckled at that. She turned to Michelle and hugged her goodbye, promising to stop by her and Ragnar’s cavern tonight for a game of cards after the boys went to bed.

  Peggy’s eyes flicked away from the
grocer’s den and toward the ice-coated stone door that lay a few feet away, hiding New Norway from the rest of the world. She smiled nostalgically, remembering the day not too long ago when she’d been brought to her home through that very portal.

  “Are you coming, my love?” Geirwolf asked from behind her. “I’m wanting to barter for this bread. What do you think?”

  Peggy turned on her painted feet, the ice-coated door forgotten. “I think I love you,” she murmured. She smiled at his blush. “More and more every day.”

  “I love you too,” Geirwolf said softly, his lips coming down to brush against hers. “And I’ll show you how much tonight.”

  Peggy sighed contentedly, her smile dreamy as he threaded his fingers through hers. Geirwolf and Peggy Valkraad walked back into the grocer’s den hand-in-hand, their two sons happily perched on their father’s shoulders.

  Also at Ellora’s Cave:

  Ellora’s Cave

  www.ellorascave.com