15. Jarrus

Kharag had a point about claiming our mate, but I wasn't convinced it would stop Azad. Goblins tended to be cowardly except in large numbers. They may have tried an ambush or sneak attack to steal a mate, but rarely pursued one to this extent. Something more was going on. I suspected that Kharag also had the same fears, but hoped a mate claim would counter whatever dastardly deed Azad was planning. Since we would not make the herd before being overrun, the mate claim was our best option to save Olivia and ourselves.

And I got to prepare her for the claiming. I couldn't have her first. I was too big. She needed more preparation. More time, which we didn't have. But Kharag could get her ready for me.

"Where is Kharag going? Is he leaving us?" Olivia stood up and walked over, her tone anxious and worried.

"He'll be back shortly. He was always known for his traps and ambushes in our troop. He's going to spring some surprises on the goblins. Then he'll return."

She eyed the trail doubtfully and sat on the log. I knelt next to her, asking her what I wanted to ask since that morning, but had not had the chance. "Do you not want to be alone with me? Are you afraid?"

She cocked her head at me. "Of course not. You wouldn't hurt me, would you? You're one of my mates, aren't you?"

The band around my chest loosened. "You accept me then?"

"I have a choice?"

I sighed. "You have all the choices, mate. If you don't want me, I will walk away. Not happily, but I will defend you, then leave."

She gave me an impish grin. "Good to know. But I'm okay with it. I would have said something if I wasn't okay with it."

I stood and drew her to her feet. "We need to claim you. Now."

A hint of fear entered her eyes, along with something else that I couldn't identify. "Why? Can't we just get to know each other and spend some more time talking or something?"

"The longer you stay unclaimed, the longer someone else can come along and take you."

She looked down the trail. "Like Azad?"

I nodded. "Or someone else." She shuddered. I tilted her head back to me. "Do you want to reject us as mates? If so, tell us now."

She gazed into mine with that same unnamed emotion. But it cleared, and she nodded. "How does it work?"

"It's simple. We fuck you. Each of us, and you accept us as your mate."

She frowned. "That's it? No biting or clawing or anything?"

I grinned. "There might be some of that, but the bond is a deeper level, a connection, and our scent blends with yours so others know that you're ours."

A slow smile crossed her face, and she reached over and palmed my erection that was straining the front of my trews. "I'm not quite sure I'm up to this yet, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

My grin was wicked. "We'll have lots of preparation."

I took the furs off the horse, along with the saddlebag, and spread them under the oak tree on a bed of leaves. I took her hand and led her over. "This all has to go. I want to see my mate when I fuck her for the first time. I didn't get to see you well enough this morning."

She flushed a deep red that traveled down her neck and to the top of her breasts. "We're in the open. Anyone could come upon us."

I shook my head. "No one would dare. Trust us, mate."

With shaking fingers, she quickly took off her blouse and the pants, holding onto me for balance as needed until she stood before me in her naked glory. I swallowed hard at the sight of her creamy skin dusted with freckles. Her firm, toned thighs that would grip me as I fucked her long and deep. The full mounds of her breasts that would swell with milk for our young. The curling red hair that dusted the tops of those mounds that I wanted to hold as I fucked her from behind or had draped over us as she rode me to completion. So many choices, so little time.

She tugged at my trews, hands brushing the aching cock that threatened to burst through the material in an effort to get to my mate. But I had to be patient, prepare her carefully. And Kharag had first rights to her, partly because he was her first mate and because he was smaller. Not by much, but he would stretch her for me.

I grabbed her hands and pulled them away. "Not yet, little mate. You're not ready for me."

She pouted. "Just a taste."

I considered her words. It might help. It would certainly give me relief, so I wouldn't be too rough when it came my turn. I'd been aching for far too long. I shook my head. "Soon. Lay down or I'll warm your ass first."

She eyed me doubtfully but laid down on the furs. I unfurled the saddlebag and took out the training device. She narrowed her gaze. "I thought you were going to mate me. Why use that again? Can't you get it up?"

Oh, she was asking for punishment. With a swift movement, I flipped her over my thighs and slapped her ass several times until it was red. She squealed and wiggled on me, trying to evade my hands, to no avail.

"I told you to watch your mouth, mate. Kharag warned you, too. Now you take your punishment like a good girl."

I paused to admire my handiwork, my hand stroking the heated skin as Olivia sniffled beneath me. I wormed my hand between her thighs to test her pussy and found it absolutely drenched. I sank a finger deep into her channel, and she moaned.

"I think someone enjoyed her punishment a little too much. What do you think, mate?"

She clutched my leg and buried her face against my calf. I worked a second finger in her channel, pushing in and out, the sound of her wetness loud in the clearing. She arched her back, pushing her pussy into my hand, screaming out a climax, her channel clenching tightly around my fingers, almost snapping them off.

I chuckled. "I think we're going to get along just fine, little mate."