16. Bracken

Chapter 16

Bracken

“ W hat a damn disaster, and after finally being able to mate with Sun.”

I was so overcome with a strange emotion I refused to name that I hadn’t considered the fact I was risking our safety by taking flight over the trees to run away in the first place. I was over emotional and needed to keep myself in check.

Yes, I was determined not to return until I sorted all my conflicting feelings out. But that was no excuse to put them all in grave danger after the massacre on the battlefield that would surely make its way back to higher ranked nocs in Daaku’s good graces soon enough.

I could fight on my own, not weighed down with transporting Kiar and our companions, but if I caught the attention of our enemies, I would be a beacon for every blood-drunk noc in the area to descend on our location.

So, after clearing the cliff, I drifted downward and latched onto a thick branch inside the forest. Spinning until I was hanging upside down, I allowed my inflamed cock to retreat and blood to cool. I needed to think, and I always felt more clear-headed this way. Once I settled down, a bolt of understanding hit me out of the blue.

Sun wanted to dominate, not be dominated. In the cell, he had gotten hard because he wanted to be me, not Clem. Kiar had simply overpowered him, and now Sun was forced to accept the pleasure of submitting to a being more powerful than him.

But I had not broken him yet. I had waited too long, and I had missed my chance. The rush of victory had made him lower his senses, but he had made sure to make a show of putting me in my place, of rejecting me in front of Kiar and Clem. And for the second time. He meant to humiliate me this time.

This knowledge was one large, bitter pill I was forced to swallow.

What other reason could there be for him to reject me so boldly? He had all but passed out, shaking in pleasure once I entered him. Kiar had done well forcing that tight hole of his wide open so that I could shove every bit of my cock inside my human without mercy.

How good it felt to fuck Sun as my little warrior cried and begged for more.

I shut my eyes.

The memory was too much, his pheromones still clinging to my fur, and my unfulfilled desires were too potent to ignore.

I grabbed my newly erect cock and stroked it fiercely, the force and tightness of my palm a far cry from the stranglehold the infamous Noc Fucker had on me just moments ago.

For that was his new title since Sun would have killed me with pleasure if he’d allowed me to slick his guts and flood his hole with my seed after being fucked open for me.

But no, all I had was my hand, rage, and the image of Sun’s disdain burned into my mind to push me over the edge. Kiar was allowed to split his backside open, but a short round of breathless play had earned me his spite.

It was hopeless. We were doomed before we even began. If I’d known Sun would never willingly submit to me, I wouldn’t have bothered allowing Kiar to open him for me. It was torture to watch and never be able to join in.

Unlike his naga lover, I highly doubted I had the restraint to not do serious harm to Sun if he wanted me to challenge him and force him to submit, as was custom between two dominant nocs lusting after one another.

“Bracken? Bracken, where are you?”

I nearly fell from the branch when Sun’s voice broke through the trees, interrupting my thoughts.

Peeking out from the foliage before parting it with my claws, I was shocked to see a flush faced, still slightly damp Sun, panting beneath me far below the canopy.

It wasn’t the type of panting beneath me I preferred, but the sight of him still fueled my fantasies, even as I grimaced at the bite mark embedded in his neck. It was yet another reminder that Sun had chosen submission under Kiar.

So why not me? What’s wrong with me?

Rubbing my cock again, I took Sun in. His loose, damp hair and partially nude body were too erotic, piercing gaze widening in shock, no doubt because I didn’t stop stroking even as he spotted me. Rather than cool my passion, his appearance ignited my rut.

“Keep standing there, and I’ll cum all over your face. I’ll pour my seed on your body and make your bath worthless. Begone, Sun. I don’t need to be rejected twice in one night.”

“…Deviant. I’m a pot to a kettle, but you’re a damn deviant, Bracken.”

“Look who’s talking,” I growled, the stiff outline pressing against the silk of his harem pants not lost on me.

It made me angrier. Why had he come? To shove it in my face that I could never have him? I didn’t enjoy power plays like this. And it wasn’t like I could challenge Sun without killing him and myself, so I was left to stew in my hatred of being humiliated and my self-loathing for not confronting Sun then and there.

“...I didn’t know you were a sadist,” I forced myself to say, forlorn. “I wouldn’t have bothered trying to claim you. You’re no match for me in a battle to fight for the right to claim the other,” I stated, describing what was apparent to me, yet caused Sun to laugh so hard in bewilderment that he doubled over.

“Why are all of my nocs running away and jumping to such strange conclusions?” Sun groaned, casting his eyes to the darkening sky.

“You’re his elder. Keep calm,” he muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

What the hell is he muttering about, I thought, my hand slowing on my cock before stopping as Sun smiled at me. An ear-to-ear grin. Suspicious. What the fuck is he up to now?

“Come,” Sun beckoned, smiling too tightly with clenched teeth and squinted eyes, flexing his fingers to his wet pecs. “Come back with me to climb part of the Naran Mountains and make camp before it gets dark. I’m sorry. Let’s talk about it in the morning. We don’t have much time to reach the temple.”

“No,” I gritted out, “I’ll follow you all on my own time, like Hadi. And stop smiling at me so freakishly.”

Sun snorted, and I smiled now, preferring his pretty, pissed-off face to that fake happiness.

Despite wanting to swoop down and shower him with affection for at least coming to apologize for his temper tantrum like a good boy, I gave him an earful, pretending to be furious when I was confused, and… sad.

“We will camp at the base of the mountains tonight if I lag behind or not. You have Kiar to help you along the way. I promise I won’t die before I reach you all, no different than Hadi.”

We sat in stony silence, or more like I hung while he stood. We both crossed our arms against our chests. If he thought he was more stubborn than me, Sun was dreaming.

Finally, after what felt like eons, he huffed before delivering music to my weary ears.

“Fine. I’ll come to you. If you’re my master, you should be the bigger… man? Noc? Ha! Either way, you should be more emotionally stable than this, but I digress. I’ll come, and then you will follow.”

My ears perked up, wings flapping before I could stop them. Excitement snaked through my core, and I was genuinely excited. This was the first time he’d called me master.

His lips were moving, but I didn’t hear a thing until Sun decided to piss me off again.

“...But you’re not my master. You’re my partner, do you understand, Bracken?”

“You? My partner? You’re not my equal. You never will be,” I gritted out, not playing into this new attempt to subjugate me.

“Just you watch. I’ll drill it into your bullish head one day that I’m not your pet or princess, you dumbass spoiled brat! You can’t always get your way.”

Startled at being called a brat and then by his agility, I watched Sun sprint to the tree trunk, propelling himself upward, using his heels and a knife-like shard of Blood Onyx to scale the scorched bark.

Impressive, dare I say remarkably for vermin, as he made it near enough for me to swoop him up into my awaiting arm. I spun on my claws and took him with me until I stood upright with Sun tucked into my arms between the thick foliage.

“Since the only language you seem to understand is sex, let’s get it over with. Then we return,” he said, and I growled happily, too stunned to speak.

He could say what he wanted or pretend to be my equal. Either way, Sun acknowledged that he wanted me just as badly and was willing to try and submit, and that was half the battle ahead.

Maybe it was time to categorize Sun as not submissive but certainly breedable, and I guessed I could bear his hatred if he could force himself to bare his ass without a duel.

I didn’t waste time, eager to pick up where we left off, even in this filthy fucking forest, avoiding looking into his eyes, not wanting to see his disdain for me. Sun curled into my arms as I stood him on the giant branch, and I saw the moment he finally realized how high he was off the ground as he clung to me. I assumed so by how wide his eyes went and the tiny trembling of his palm.

How cute. I knelt until I could sit, my back pressed to the bark. Sun didn’t waste time getting to work once I dragged him into my lap.

He bent down and bent over, taking my hard cock into both hands with a scowl. He was licking and stroking me in no time, but still, I was uneasy and found myself teasing him to mask my frustration.

“You’re not my pet, but here you are on your knees begging for my seed,” I observed with a sly grin.

“Shut up before I bite you,” he snapped, pumping his shaft as he sucked on the tip of my dick with abandon.

So, I did just that, enjoying how he put his all into pleasing me instead, even in a dangerous situation like this. It was new, exciting, and sexier than I cared to admit seeing Sun try so hard to keep me hard, to get me ready to fuck him when he didn’t want it…

I wanted to believe that, but I hated it deep inside of my soul. What was so wrong with submitting to me? Was my cock too big? Was my technique so terrible? Had I not held him down at the right angle? I had never second guessed myself in such a way.

“Just like that. Yes, squeeze my balls while you work the tip,” I groaned, still hard despite the storm of emotions spinning in my mind.

Sun shot me a glare even as he dutifully carried out my orders. I shouldn’t have been that close to shooting my seed down his throat, but I was, and that made me furious.

Not this time. This time, we will mate properly with no distractions.

I reached for him, ready to pick him up. But Sun flinched as I seized him, and I withdrew my hand as if burned.

“…Were you truly that afraid?” I asked as he stroked my thigh, grunting my approval as he lavished my throbbing shaft with attention.

His tongue stilled on the slit leaking pre-cum, arms stretched, hands cradling my balls.

Sun screwed his face up, eyes cutting left before he choked out, “… Yes. To put it mildly, I couldn’t breathe, and it wasn’t pleasant.”

“What? Did you think I’d kill you? I would never hurt you. And if you haven’t noticed, your soul is still sworn to me. To us. We’re bonded. ”

I could only hope he understood the depth of my sincerity and what being bonded meant if there was an equivalent in the vermin-infested realms. He wasn’t some fly-by-night mate for me. Not anymore, and not after we broke the tether. What we had would last a lifetime, if he allowed it.

“But you did. Just now,” he said, and I could tell he was trying to sound fierce. “You hurt me, and I had to come and grovel. Don’t you see how backward that is, Bracken?”

To my dismay, he sounded afraid more than he sounded frustrated. But why?

“It was supposed… to feel good,” I tried to reason with him, forcing him to stop sucking cock long enough to listen for once. “When you can’t breathe, it’s tighter for me, but it feels better here.”

I scraped his exposed stomach with my knuckle. I had seen him get fucked enough to know he had the same spot inside of him, a pleasure point. An odd but useful similarity between nocs and humans.

Clem’s whole body was like that now, an erogenous zone after years of practice. But when I first discovered it, Clem said it sent him into another world. Indeed, it was even more sensitive in a human. I knew Sun knew this, too.

“For Clem, you mean,” Sun said, and confused, I nodded.

What was the difference?

“Haaaah… Like I expected. I may be the same size as him, but I’m not Clem. Almost dying doesn’t feel good for me, even when fucking. Even when you… press against that place inside me. What feels good for him won’t always apply to me. I am not him.”

“But you two are more or less–” he cut me off.

“We’re the same height, that’s about it. Do you regard all of those smaller than you as being one and the same?” Sun asked, and I soured.

“Do you not look upon all nocs and think them the same? I am not sorry for assuming since you seemed just as starved for cock as Clem.”

Sun’s eyes flew open, taken aback. “...True. I guess I can’t argue with that. I never differentiated between your kind before.”

He frowned, grinding his teeth, clutching my knee before he whispered, “Maybe coming here was a mistake…”

Frustrated and flustered, I pushed him away because I didn’t have a retort to that. Then I caught him before he slipped, forgetting he’d fall to his death without me like an idiot. His lack of claws and wings was awful during times like this when we were arguing. Usually, I could just toss Clem about, and he’d flutter to the ground eventually.

“If you try to kill me one more time today, I’m murdering you first, Bracken,” Sun tried to joke as he clung to me for dear life.

“Forget it. Why come here to humiliate me again in private? You should’ve just stayed with your mates,” I said, despondent.

“Humiliate you? You tried to kill me! You just tried to do it again,” he said, stunned. “And aren’t we all… Mates? Bonded or whatever.”

“I did no such thing!” I shouted back, irate that he thought such light play amounted to a murder attempt, even though I accidentally did almost murder him right now. “And we are bonded. Not just mates. At least, I thought.”

“Ugh! You’re going to make me rip my hair out, throwing around words I don’t understand. You’re usually not this damn chatty, Bracken. Whatever. I’m going to bring you back. And I guess makeup and make lo—have sex before that so you’ll shut the fuck up and stop whining!” Sun corrected himself, but I didn’t miss what he had been about to say.

I chose to ignore it to spare his fragile feelings, but warmth blossomed in my chest, just as warm pink hues flushed his cheeks he usually only reserved for Clem and Kiar in the throes of passion.

“I’m not good at this, you know. Working through my feelings and explaining things is new to me, too, as I’m sure it is for you,” Sun grumbled, facing me, cross-legged in my lap, slapping my hip as I brought him closer so he wouldn’t fall as he ranted. “But we have to use our words. We have to work it out together. I’m used to ordering people around, too, you know! But we must bend a little for each other, or we’ll break. Do you understand me?”

He looked like a doll; honestly, I could not imagine him ordering an ant around. But I believed him. Among the vermin… I could sense he always got his way among his people. Sun was adorable enough, strong-willed, honest, and strong compared to other weak beings, qualities his humans must have appreciated.

I could understand, which made my head spin.

Then how will we work? I thought.

Frowning, I muttered, “So you are a sad?—”

“A leader! There’s a major difference. You’re used to leading, not being led around, too, right? So, it’s hard to listen, yes?”

“Yes,” I admitted, feeling at odds with following anyone since I was born, even Hadi at times, who once deserved my unquestioning allegiance.

“Alright. That’s progress to get you to admit that,” Sun whispered with a tiny smile.

This time, it didn’t look forced, making my heart hammer in my chest.

“I guess I can play along for a while,” he said. “I’ll consider it to be a drill. Ah, erm, a war game. I feel like that’s how you view this, anyway. Fucking is the same as fighting to you and Kiar and Clem.”

I suppressed a snort. If I was “fight-fucking” as he accused me of doing, Sun would be soaring through the air and tossed around until he was dizzy, smashed against a tree, then railed until he squealed, caged, and trapped in my claws.

Everything we’d done together had been gentle for my kind.

Regardless of how I felt about it, I conceded Sun didn’t view it the same way. Clearing his throat, he continued.

“How…” he searched for the right words, finally landing on, “How did you train Clem? Surely you didn’t ram into him like you did to me today the first time? Or choke the life out of him? When you started mating in Yewan, in your cave, how did you start to overcome this?”

He waved his hand up and down, and I figured he meant our difference in size. My newest mate seemed unaware that he and Clem were the same size, but I ignored that for now, to focus on the crucial part. Sun was willing to try again, mainly how I liked it, which meant the world.

I didn’t know where he got the strange idea that Clem began warming my cave almost a decade after we first met, but I let that slide. One thing at a time. Exploring that tight hole of his was of primary importance before he changed his mind again.

“You’ve been training on Kiar’s cock for over a month. Was that not enough?” I asked as he got back to what he loved most—draining his masters’ cocks dry.

“That’s not the same,” he lied, undoing his pants as he turned around in my lap and stood, ass up so I could reach it before taking as much as he could into his throat again.

I sighed in contentment, lifting Sun’s legs before resting his knees on my shoulders. I loved how his fingers sought me each time he was unsteady, his dainty claws barely scratching my skin as I drew him closer until his gaped hole was mine for the tasting.

Circling his puckered hole with my tongue, I marveled at the fact it was still slightly gaped from taking me and Kiar. I was momentarily intoxicated, harder as he whimpered, knowing I needed to answer Sun when all I wanted to do was eat my fill of his ass.

“It’s more or less the same, his training and yours. That’s how I trained Clem until he could take it, all of me. It could cause a problem when the difference in size and strength is so great,” I explained, one of my black claws catching the reflection of the setting sun as I lifted it into the air. “So, I had to improvise with objects. At least you trained on a live cock, or should I say cocks, plural?”

“But was it as fast as today when you trained Clem?” Sun demanded to know, trying to impart some hidden meaning in his words I could not decode as he balanced on my thighs.

It was hilarious to watch him try to have a serious conversation, flipped upside down, as I rimmed his ass. But I realized Sun had two main emotions—unwavering anger or unrepentant lust with little daylight in between.

Sometimes, he experiences them at the same time, like right now.

“Not as fast. But you’re stronger than him, remember? My equal. I had to train Clem slowly. In chains,” I said between lavishing his cheeks and cock with my tongue, soaking in his unique human scent.

I teased his body to my heart’s content, trying to distract him from the angry hue of my cock and the inevitable intrusion.

Sun shuddered as I lifted him and flipped him mid-air one more time so that he faced me once more, “I’ve been afraid to ask, but why in chains?”

“For his protection. Squirming makes you look more like prey. Like vermin. But he liked the breath games the most. And Kiar lied, saying you liked to be held down, helpless.”

“Oh… Oh…” Understanding lit up his gem-like eyes, before they softened back to black, his fingers tangling in the fur around my neck. “Hold me down then. But I don’t like to be helpless. I don’t want it to hurt. If it hurts a little, I bear it to feel good. It’s better for me when my lover is a little more tender, alright? I guess, as tender as a noc can be, that’s what I want.”

I twitched, excited and confused, and, dare I say, thrilled by the challenge. Being gentle was easier said than done. I preferred the camouflage of a cave when I was more vulnerable with my bonded mate. But then, it dawned on me that no one could judge me here. In the literal sense because Hadi was off somewhere moping by himself, and Kiar was protecting Clem by the river.

Sun would also not judge me. He would respect it more if I took my time and treated him with as much tenderness as possible. I wasn’t sure how tender I could be, but I would try for him.

“Bend over,” I said, nudging him back on his knees, even as I did the work for him.

“Kiar already…” Sun trailed off, moaning as my tongue probed his hole again. “You don’t have to keep working me there. I’ll cum and make a mess before we can get started.”

“I’ll make a mess of you anyway, so what’s the problem if I stretch you and taste you with my tongue first?”

Besides, he needed to be wider, so I could fuck him to completion this time around. He whimpered, squeezing around my tongue as I forced it deeper inside.

He collapsed into my lap, panting. A small puddle of cum soaked my thigh, as Sun clung to me, finally wide open for the taking.

I refused to mess up another opportunity to ruin him, to reshape him from the inside out in my image.

“You don’t care about anything but ramming that big fat cock into me, huh, do you?” he asked in a daze.

“I do care,” I whispered, bending him over more, clenching his thighs together as I guided his gaped hole to the tip of my cock. “About a lot of things, including you, Sun. I can prove that to you soon enough.”

And then, I pressed into him, first the tip, and then half of my length as he shook and shuddered, dripping no cum even as his insides constricted like he was cumming. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted him to feel like he would die even if I wouldn’t hurt him now. An idea popped into my head when Sun lifted his head to the sound of wind whistling through the leaves above our heads.

“I wonder what the king thinks of his infamous nemesis now, on his knees, begging like a whore? Oh, Noc Fucker, tighten up,” I jeered, palming and then slapping his ass as he cried out. “Put on a good show for him.”

I smirked as he whimpered, instinctively raising his ass as he rocked back on me. I licked my lips, excited to know I wasn’t off the mark.

Sun did like pain. Or more, he liked the thrill of being watched and watching. More than anything, he loved the humiliation. The act of fucking nocs was turning him on, and now I could see that clearly.

It was times like this I needed Clem and, more recently, Kiar with me. Sun deserved a mouthful of cock right now and his penis to be pleased at the same time, to be fucked like an animal while we watched to amplify his pleasure. It was only fair since he’d been such a good boy and came to me to beg.

But it wasn’t so bad. No, actually, it was wonderful to have him to myself for once. I couldn’t wait until I could bottom out and rearrange him now.

First, I had to practice patience so he wouldn’t turn his venomous gaze on me again. I allowed Sun to set the tempo, about two-thirds of my length inside of him, stretching him to the limit.

At least, that’s what I would have said before I witnessed how his incredible, hungry hole took both of Kiar’s cocks at the same time. Or, felt for the first time the mind-numbing euphoria of fucking Sun balls deep as he sobbed in the river.

“I… I don’t get off on fucking nocs. Or being watched… I just… you all are… It feels so good, Bracken! Don’t stop.”

I had no intention to, but I enjoyed the encouragement to keep pounding his sweet ass and stretching his glorious hole to the breaking point.

“You do. Every time I make you remember how much you like being defiled by nocs, oh, how fucking tight you get, my sweet little Sun. You’re strangling my cock.”

“I do not!” he protested, even as he fucked himself on me, turning his head just enough so I could see the tears in his eyes, teeth gritted, gaze darting through the veil of leaves surrounding the branches, looking for Hadi.

I took pleasure in his futile attempts to resist the taboo. It turned me on, watching my mate struggle to close the gap between his ass and my groin, too.

“Here, let me help you,” I said, dragging my cock out just enough to help him turn around.

Once his ass cheeks rested on my thighs, I got to work guiding my cock back inside his snug hole.

Sun fit tighter than a glove, like a toy made for my pleasure, kicking then shaking as I force my way back inside. I delighted in the array of reds and pinks he was turning, sucking on his nipples as he panted, pleading through a veil of tears for more.

This time, he didn’t fight or whimper in fear. His cascading moans pitched higher, cock jerking and spraying me with streaks of white on my chest. Sun curled his toes and knotted his fingers in my fur. He was enjoying himself for once, babbling nonstop, injected with curses to claim him.

“More… Harder,” he grunted. “Faster, Bracken, please!”

Good. It wouldn’t be long before Sun was addicted to this feeling, unable to live without my discipline. I’d make sure of that.

I rubbed his stomach, remembering the way I could feel Kiar’s cocks sliding inside of him, rippling underneath his flesh. It swelled and rounded with my length, and I couldn’t wait to breed him. Tonight, I would imprint my shape in him.

“You’ll make me dizzy if you keep spinning me around,” he chastised as I dragged my cock from my mate one final time to turn him back around, the slick pop making my shaft jerk as pre-cum dribbled down his thighs.

“I want you in the position you prefer,” I said, remembering Kiar’s advice and Sun’s clarification. Though, I would have preferred to hold him close to me, chest-to-chest.

But he liked to be on his knees, bent over, bound, but not helpless. I had nothing to bind him with but kept Sun pinned under my claws, back pressed to my chest, asking him how he wanted it.

“Can I bottom out?” I asked, already filling him.

“…Do what you think is best, if you think I can handle it. I trust you,” Sun moaned as I pressed more than halfway in.

I wanted to say his trust was misplaced in me, but there was no point lying to myself, even outside of earshot of my king. He could trust me with his life. I’d give mine again for him–

“Ah! But at least pretend to be gentle, you big bastard, and hurry up and cum,” he demanded as I slammed inside until his ass pillowed my balls.

“Your head needs to be checked for mood swings,” I grumbled as he cursed me while squeezing and rocking back to meet my thrusts.

“And your lips need to be sealed from spilling shit during the worst times,” he said, even as he whined sweetly.

I rolled my eyes, enjoying the crushing tightness and thankful I’d slicked him again.

“Stop yapping and take my dick deeper, needy little brat, ” I threw his insult back into his face, forcing his chin up so I could drive my tongue down his throat from above, and slammed his ass down my cock until he was full, not tempering my thrusts anymore.

“Ahhhh! Oh fuck… Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes…” he moaned as I took him to my tempo now.

For lack of a better word, I couldn’t approach Sun as the same kind of animal. As he mentioned before, I had to change my tactics and be adaptable. I would break him down, maybe even more sweetly than with Clem.

Because instead of physically making it hurt, I decided it was best to tear him apart with my words. I pulled my tongue out and brushed his hair aside to catch a glimpse of his face from the side.

“You hate fucking nocs; you hate me so much but can’t get enough of me, huh?”

He stilled, confusion warping his slutty expression. “Hate you?”

“What else am I supposed to believe when you humiliate me in front of Kiar and Clem when you open for them so easily? But now look, ugh,” I groaned, deep inside my bonded mate. “You’re opening for your enemy.”

“Stop!” he commanded, and I stilled, filled with trepidation because I was so close, and he was too, we were so close to completion–

“Again, with your silly ideas that I humiliated you… I don’t hate you, Bracken. Gods, it’ll take time for you to understand, but I’ll make you learn to ask,” he mumbled before surprising me by kissing my knuckles and clutching my hand tightly around his chest.

His heart hammered in my palm as he whispered, “You want to feel wanted, needed. I need you, Bracken. I want you, too. I don’t hate you.”

Sun burned red, so much so that I thought he was running a fever. But no, he was embarrassed, deeply so. And it made it all the more endearing to hear him choke on those sappy words reserved for my ears alone. He tried to pull away from me, but I wasn’t letting that happen now.

“Come here. You’re not running away this time,” I gritted out as I scooped Sun up, hooking my arms under his legs so that he was little more than a ball in my arm, shaped for my pleasure.

I stood, the weight of the world bearing down on us both. Sun’s body convulsed as I shoved every bit inside of him.

“Bracken, wait– I! I… It’s too much!”

“Take it! Take all of me, Sun,” I grunted, clawed feet digging into the bark as I pumped my shaft into his tight, heated flesh. “You’re mine, damn it! You’re a part of me now.”

Sun was mine. Mine to protect, to shelter, and pamper. And, yes, mine to wreck, to ruin, to destroy–

“Ah! Fuck!” I shuddered, the haze of my lust lifting long enough to realize I was being too rough again. When Sun was more used to me, I would take my fill with abandon.

“How does it feel?” I asked, slowing down.

“Incredible. Painful. Please, Bracken, don’t stop now.”

I felt invincible at that moment, spurred on by his pleas for more. And though I would never, ever, not even under the threat of death, admit it… I loved him. I wanted his adoration. I desired to see Sun look at me with love, too, and not just lust eventually.

Holding his legs together, hooking my arms under his knees, I continued to thrust into him. Sun clutched the fur on my arms, loose hair tempting me to yank as he peered over his shoulder with hooded eyes. His cock spasmed again, but nothing came out. Still, his insides constricted like he was cumming, and the feeling was nothing short of divine this time because he was so fucking tight.

I nearly stumbled, getting back down, resting on the bark again so I could bounce his ass against me without tearing him a new ass as I finished.

“Bracken! Oh Gods, Bracken, come. Fuck me! Fill me up. I can’t take anymore,” he shouted, biting his hand as he failed to muffle his moans.

“Yes! Yes, good boy. Beg to be bred by your master. You’re such a good boy when you obey me, pet,” I moaned, my tongue snaking around to fill his mouth as I rammed him once, twice, then thrice before I saw stars.

Sun’s soaked hole clenched around my cock as he came. It was so tight I couldn’t suppress a growl as I exploded inside of him and filled him to the brim with my seed. He stiffened, but slowly, my precious pet melted into my arms to my supreme pleasure.

“Better?” I asked.

A kiss. I’d seen Kiar do it often enough, and Clem seemed keen to shower me with them. But it felt special coming from Sun, seeing as I didn’t initiate it.

“Better…” he whispered before I yelped as he cut through my lip with his blunted fangs, “And I am not your fucking pet for the last time!”

“Yes, yes,” I snorted, spitting out the droplet of blood. If he could still bitch, moan, complain, and bite, the mating had gone well enough.

I inhaled his scent, burying my face into his hair with a happy hum as he fell back into my lap. “You smell better now.”

“Why?” he asked, sniffing his arms as if he stank. “I’m covered in sweat and cum again.”

I chuckled.

“Because you smell like me again. I detest any time you don’t carry my scent as my mate.”

He nodded, and I decided to ignore his small smile this time. I liked to see him flustered, but I learned I liked it even more when he was unguarded around me. And he melted into my arms now in a way he’d never done before, outside of sleeping. If I mentioned how good he felt in my arms, would he react the opposite way he should, getting defensive again?

“Next time, I’ll take you in the open since you like being watched,” I stated, amused as he searched the trees and seemed disappointed to realize that Hadi wasn’t here with us and hadn’t seen us mating in the trees. “That way, you’ll tighten even more without losing air to your lungs by force. Deal?”

He mumbled something about not liking to be watched, but I didn’t press it, enjoying the sweet mood. But I knew the truth. He wanted to be paraded around, to be watched and made low before those he used to kill for sport.

We all had done much worse under the watchful gaze of Hadi’s shadow before, and I had the sneaking suspicion we’d do even more devious things now that he had reawakened if only we could get him to see the light.

After all, he was one of our bond mates too, whether he liked it or not.

“Should we…” I drifted off as I noticed he was sleeping again. Not seeing the need to wake him, I held him in my arms and leaped down from our love nest.

Once I hit the ground, I quickly returned victorious to the water’s edge. Hadi was still missing in action, but when I caught Kiar’s and Clem’s attention, their eyes widened in shock. We said nothing, understanding what needed to be told without words.

“A little help?” I asked, lifting my claws as usual, and they nodded in turn.

I dunked Sun in the water gently, and Clem beamed at me. Kiar even cracked a smile as they helped me to clean him off. The cold half woke him up, but he let us finish before succumbing to exhaustion again.

Once we were finished, I slung Sun over my shoulder and gazed at the snow-covered mountains.

“Now what?” Clem asked, and I shrugged, hoisting him into my arms too as Hadi leaped down, web slinking out to aid his descent, having finally returned from only the Gods knew where.

Maybe he had been watching us after all.

“Now we commune with our creator, Goddess Tsuki.”