Clawed (Black Mountain Bears Book 1) (5 page)

“Oh, I intend to,” he said, pressing between the joints of her toes and digging in.

Emma groaned with pleasure under their touch. She let herself lie back on the warm stone and enjoy the attention. For the first time, she didn’t care that she was naked, or that they were naked too.

After a few moments and no further attention than on her feet, August said, “Princess, do you have any other requests?”

Emma was drunk with pleasure already. The heavy ache in her core was still there, but the simple contact had calmed her. And supposedly she was a princess, and these two men were intent on pleasing her any way she chose. What other requests did she have the guts to make?

“Can I request anything? Like . . . fresh strawberries and champagne?”

August laughed. “We can’t wish things into existence, and nobody delivers here.”

She clenched her eyes shut. She could ask for anything, and God did she want it all. Her core tingled with the very idea of what she could ask for.

“Rub higher.”

“How high?” August asked.

“Until I tell you to stop!” The volume of her own voice startled her and she pressed her lips together. But it felt good, letting out a little of the frustration.

August’s hands on her thigh felt even better. He dug his fingers in gently, working the muscles. She hadn’t realized how much her entire body ached from the hike. The ache between her legs had become so overwhelming, it obliterated everything else.

She cracked her eyelids and looked at Julian.

“Julian? You’re still massaging my foot?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Move higher until I tell you to stop.”

It didn’t feel like a game to her, but she sensed the need to play it. Julian complied, massaging up her calf and higher. Every digging touch sent a fresh surge of lust through her.

She couldn’t take her eyes off them, enthralled with their attentive touch. Julian let his gaze slide up over her curves, lingering on her breasts and licking his lips.

“Come here,” Emma said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Not even asking now? You learn so quickly.” He crawled up beside her and waited on his knees, his cock jutting up proudly between his thighs.

“Asking is overrated,” she said, astounding herself with her boldness. “My breasts ache. Massage them and use your mouth as well as your hands.”

“As you wish,” he said, grinning. He slid down beside her on his side, pressing his entire length against her while he started kneading one breast with his hand. He pressed his lips to the tip of the other, the feather-light caress causing her to arch her back in pleasure.

“Oh, God, yes! More, please!” Fuck, she’d lost her mind. This wanton bundle of naughty cravings couldn’t be her, could it? Oh, but the things she wanted to make them do to her now that she’d asked for these simple things.

“What would you like?” Julian asked, punctuating his question with a darted tongue flicking at her nipple.

“Want you both to put your mouths on me. Suck me, Julian. You, too, August.” She spread her thighs and was pleased to see the look of pure hunger that took over August’s placid features.

August closed his eyes and shook his head. “You need to be more specific. We’re not mind readers.”

Julian, in fact, seemed to have figured out precisely what she wanted, his mouth already wrapped around a nipple, sucking so hard she thought she might come just from the pleasure of that little nerve bundle being worked against his tongue.

“My pussy. I want your tongue on it. In it. Suck my clit until I beg you to stop.”

August’s green eyes twinkled and he lowered himself to the stone between her thighs, stretching out belly-down and making himself comfortable. He took a damn long time of it, too, pausing to adjust his erection beneath him. It started to seem like a kind of ceremony. A tortuous ceremony in which he teased her mercilessly with his tongue, starting at her knee and licking a slow, wet trail up her inner thigh.

When his mouth finally reached her center, he let out a gust of breath that made Emma groan and buck her hips up. His mouth met her flesh and he grunted softly but didn’t pull away. August abruptly shoved his hands beneath her ass and gripped her, holding her aloft and wrapping his mouth around her sopping pussy as though he were taking a big, messy bite of juicy melon.

He slid his tongue into her, then out and up through her folds, making a circuit until he found her aching clit and pulled it between his lips. He toyed with it gently. Too gently. After a moment, Emma squirmed and glared down at him over the top of Julian’s head. Julian didn’t have to be told how to suck her tits, but apparently, August needed more detailed instruction.

“Harder, please! Suck my clit harder. Oh, fuck! I need you inside me.”

She flung her head back, losing herself to the sensation of August’s fingers sinking into her. Being filled was amazing, but she wanted more than just fingers.

Julian’s attention to her breasts never faltered. He had both lush mounds squeezed together in his hands, alternating between suckling each nipple. His hot, hard length rubbed against her hip, fiery friction making her wish for the coolness of the water again, but there was no way she’d stop letting them pleasure her until she’d had her fill.

Emma reached with one hand and grabbed his cock, wrapping her fingers around his steely girth. She stroked him urgently, wanting to beg to be fucked, but not able to find the words within the morass of other pleas tumbling around in her head.

“Sweet fuck, Emma, you have the most amazing tits. I’d love to bury my cock between them, just like this.”

She raised her head and looked at him, struck by how lovely he looked as he reverently gazed down at the mounds of her bosom pressed together in his hands, her nipples hard and glistening from his saliva.

“Do it,” she said. “Fuck them.”

Julian straddled her chest, his eyes bright with eager lust. “Don’t worry, these pretty things are still getting my full attention,” he said.

His balls drifted soft and hot against her belly as he positioned himself, holding her breasts apart and then pressing them together again around the engorged length of his cock. He squeezed her breasts tighter, continuing to move his thumbs in circles over her nipples while he thrust between her flesh with a low growl of pleasure.

Emma stared up Julian’s torso, awe-struck at how beautiful he looked, lost in the pleasure he took from her body. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his hips, digging her fingers into his ass and urging him not to hold back.

Beyond her field of vision, August had her thighs gripped tightly in his hands, spreading her wide open and tonguing her clit in tiny, maddening circles. He slid his hands back down her thighs, slipping deft fingers between her folds into her hungry, aching channel. He fucked into her hard with three fingers, rubbing at the bundle of nerves on her inner wall until she cried out from the pleasure.

“August! I need you to fuck me. Please!”

“No can do,” he said, voice hoarse and low-pitched with desire.

Emma let out a frustrated groan. “I want you inside me when I come. Julian, you do it if he won’t. One of you, please fuck me.”

Julian smiled down at her, pumping his hips between her sweat-slick breasts. The glistening purple tip of his cock shoved into her face and she wrapped her lips around it, sucking the residue of his fluids off the end. He quickened his strokes, his face clenching into a grimace. Abruptly, he let out a cry and pulled back, wrapped his hand around his cock, and stroked himself to orgasm. The milky fluid spilled over Emma’s breasts and collarbone, a line of it landing on her sternum, and a hot series of droplets grazing her lips. Julian let out a satisfied sigh and moved off her.

“Princess pussy is out of our league, at least to truly fuck you,” Julian said, and bent his head to begin licking his spunk off her bare breasts.

Emma nearly objected again, but instead cried out with renewed pleasure when August added another finger to the three that were already sunk deep into her. His other hand slid beneath her ass again, fingers probing at the sensitive cleft already slick from the flood of her juices running between. One finger hit its mark and slid deep into her ass.

The pleasure of that particular unexpected invasion surprised Emma and she gasped, but she was far too lost in all the competing sensations to object. Besides, it felt so fucking good to be filled up so thoroughly. She forgot any sense of propriety and simply let loose all the dirty things that had been barreling through her mind so far.

“Fuck, yes! Lick me, Julian, lick that cum off my tits. God, I want to know what it feels like to have your cock shooting into the back of my throat, in my cunt, in my ass. I want both of you to fill me up so full I’m tasting you for weeks. Mmm, August, yes! Fill me up, stretch me open with your fist. I want all of it! All of it!”

The burning ache in her center seemed to expand outward, nearly consuming her. Then August did as she begged, his hand turning and his thumb joining the others. The stretch of him was almost painful, but was just what she needed. When his knuckles rubbed back and forth on her G-spot, he slipped a second finger into her ass.

Emma’s world exploded. Her eyes flew wide and she stared blindly up at the towering trees above her. She was sure she’d shattered to pieces, each shard becoming a bird fluttering up to the heavens. She lost track of what happened next, only aware of the utter calm emptiness that came over her as she let her body relax while August slowly extracted himself from her body. She let out a soft shudder as his knuckles grazed the sensitive spot on her inner wall on the way out.

She lay, limp and lethargic on the smooth, warm stone, half-dozing while the two men dove into the water. After a little while, the glorious feeling of the afterglow subsided enough for her to feel somewhat normal again. She placed her hands on her lower abdomen where that unbearable ache had been. It had felt almost like cramps, but cramps that encompassed her vulva and sensitive external flesh just as much as her womb. Estrous was what August had said, and that they really were ursa like she’d believed.

But not just them. She was one of them. Her mother was their queen. Yet her entire life, she’d never known.

She stood on shaky legs and slipped into the cool water, diving under for a second to wash the remnants of Julian off her skin. When she came up, they were both standing on the hidden ledge a few feet away, dappled afternoon sunlight playing across their skin and a mountain breeze ruffling their hair.

August was taller and burlier than Julian. He had thicker hair across his chest and a more prevalent scruff on his chin. Julian’s hair was darker, straighter, and slicked back from the water and he had virtually no body hair covering his golden skin. His dark eyes twinkled as though they shared some secret. Which Emma supposed they did now.

Her face heated when she remembered all the nasty things she’d blurted out in the heat of passion. The memory didn’t make her want to hide, though, as it might have done before.
Before I learned what I am,
who
I am.

“That was fun, but I have to ask, why am I out of your league yet we can do these things?”

“You’re the Queen’s daughter. We’re just barrier guardians. We serve you, and we were sent to . . . make you comfortable.” August scrunched his face up, trying to find the words.

“Our cocks in your snatch are a strict no-no,” Julian filled in. “We are not worthy.” He seemed to enjoy the way August blushed at his stark explanation.

Emma gawked. “What the fuck? You are two of the most amazingly perfect men I’ve ever met. Who
is
worthy, if you’re not?”

August sighed. “We need to take you to your mother now. We’ll tell you everything on the way.” He dove in and swam to the far side of the pool, then climbed out with Julian following silently behind. They both slicked their hands through their wet hair, looking back at her.

Holy fuck, I have to follow those two glorious asses?

Emma swallowed and gave them a sheepish smile, reminding herself that they’d just shared a very naughty interlude, and she’d had maybe the most spectacular orgasm of her life. She let out a deep sigh, watching their bare asses flex as they walked down a wide forest path ahead of her.

Maybe she couldn’t fuck them, but wow, she’d enjoy the scenery as much as she could.

Chapter Five

T
hey reached an almost civilized-looking flagstone patio after half an hour of walking. Handmade wooden furniture was set about beneath shady willows and sunlight filtered through, flickering over the stones like tiny spotlights. Butterflies flitted, landing on the summer blooms that grew around the edge.

Emma nearly sat down to rest on one of the benches, entranced by the idyllic setting. It was just like their back patio at home, where she loved to spend lazy afternoons reading and enjoying the mountain sounds when she wasn’t studying.

But the men kept walking, heading with more determination than before toward a stone staircase in the side of a berm that flanked the house. The steps wound up through the greenery, meandering until they reached another patio built into the slope of the hillside. It was just as expertly masoned as the first, with stone seating and one huge, hewn log table with benches to match.

“Where are we?” Emma asked. “Is my mother here?”

Julian turned to look at her. “Not quite. This is our house. We can’t exactly greet the Queen naked, can we?”

“I-I guess not?” she said, even though she was a little disappointed that nudity wasn’t actually a regular thing here. She’d grown comfortable enough being naked with these two men that she imagined she could pull it off anywhere, as long as they were naked beside her.

“Ah, you have any girl clothes in there? Something my size?”

“Your mom was prepared,” August said, leading Emma up a spiral staircase to a loft above.

There was very little in the room aside from a comfy looking mattress on the floor and several small shelves shoved beneath the steep ceilings. The peaked roof made it tough to stand up straight, but skylights let sunlight stream in to illuminate the layers of clothing spread out on the bed.

August’s aroma permeated the room, making it difficult for her to think. The clothes meant less to her than the knowledge that she was in his space.

“This is your room?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. “It’s what we’re allowed. Not the room a princess deserves. You won’t have to come back here once you’re home again.”

Glancing around again at the cozy space, Emma said, “Fuck that, this place is amazing! I love it. You should see my old room. I made it as much a cave as I could, but it was always too dark. This is like a cave, but with sunshine coming in, too. So perfect I could never leave, if it were mine.”

August seemed agitated for a second, then closed in. She didn’t have time to process the clutch of his hand at the back of her head before he kissed her, his lips hot and sweet.

Then he was gone, retreating just as swiftly, stumbling halfway down the steps like he’d come too close to a live wire.

“I’ll let you get dressed,” he said, turning before she could respond and trundling back downstairs, his face red as a flame.

“Not worthy, my ass,” Emma muttered. She’d never met two more amazing men. Her entire body still tingled from their fun. She could still smell them both on her, too.

She threw herself onto the bed, heedless of the clothes scattered over it, and grabbed one of the pillows. She pressed it to her face and inhaled. God, she could live in Julian’s spicy, woodsy scent.

Her eyes flew open and she held the pillow more tightly, sniffing it.

Was this August’s room or Julian’s? She hadn’t gotten a full tour—she’d just assumed since he brought her up here, that it was his room. But this pillow very definitely smelled like the other man.

She sat up and turned, tossed the pillow down, and picked up the other one. She sniffed it hesitantly, filling her lungs with the slightly smokier aroma of August.

“You bastards,” she muttered, but impulsively buried her head between both pillows and took a deep breath of them both. What kinds of things did they do together in this bed? She could only imagine.

The needy ache in her core threatened to grow again, so she sat up with a sigh. She shouldn’t test that urge, as much as she wanted to. There wasn’t time for it.

“Right. Time to meet my mother, and find my cousins.”

* * *

When she made it back down the stairs, Emma was dressed in more luxurious clothes than she’d ever owned, and surprised that everything fit. Her image of her mother was of a slim, tall woman . . . a supermodel, really. But if these clothes had belonged to her own mother, the woman clearly had some meat on her bones. Emma’s estimation of the woman elevated several notches, yet her anxiety about meeting her mother didn’t change.

She wore a loose, flowing blouse, a sheer, green gauzy silk she was sure revealed everything underneath. There had been no bras available, nor panties, so she’d just shrugged and donned what she could find. She felt so much freer since she’d woken up after coming here. Free enough to ask two gorgeous men to do naughty things to her—free enough to not feel the least bit odd to be walking stark naked through the woods with them. After that, she could easily go without undergarments and wear a blouse that left nothing to the imagination. The skirt that went with it was a more conservative, knee-length and dark brown velvet. Soft leather boots covered her legs up to her calves.

The sight that greeted her below nearly took her breath away. If the two men were breathtaking naked, they were even more so wearing clothes.

“Wow,” she breathed. “You two clean up well.” They each wore matching pale linen shirts with a subtle tribal pattern woven in, and worn leather breeches that hugged every single slope and bulge of their hips and thighs. Somehow their stances made her think of braves in loincloths, which just made her drool a little bit. She swallowed hard, remembering the spectacular orgasm they’d given her earlier.

“You look amazing,” August said, his throat working as he settled his gaze on her breasts then let it drift lower.

“Thanks,” she said with some effort. “Can we go now?”

They both sprung to action, opening the door for her and following her out. She took a deep breath once in the open air again, and it calmed her a tiny bit, but their presence was still too much for her.

“How long is it to get to her?”

“She’s close. About twenty minutes?”

She turned and looked up at them both. “I want to go alone. Just tell me how to get there.”

August frowned and Julian stepped toward her. “You need us . . . ” He trailed off and raked his hands through his hair. Finally, he sighed. “All right. Just tell her you asked us to stay behind. The path is through the gate at the top of the hill. Just follow it a little ways and you’ll be there.”

Emma smiled and leaned in, kissing him on the cheek. “Thank you. I’ll see you soon enough, I hope.”

When she pulled back and looked at them both, they were frowning. August gave her a sad smile. “Of course. We are always at your service, Princess.” His expression looked even more forlorn as she started to move toward the gate at the far edge of the stone patio they stood on.

“Emma, wait,” he called to her and she turned. Both men stepped swiftly toward her. August grabbed her in a fierce hug and kissed her. When he let her go, she found herself pulled into Julian’s arms and given the same treatment. The desperation in their actions confused her and aroused her at the same time, the unbearable confusion of pain and desire threatening to overcome her again, and something more than that now. Something she wasn’t prepared to comprehend.

“Guys, we just met. You’ll see me again, I can promise you.”

“It may not be up to you,” Julian said. “Just know that today meant everything to us. To have been permitted to service the Princess of the ursa was the highest honor any ursa male could hope for.”

She stared at them, trying to understand what the hell they were talking about. A sinking feeling settled in her stomach. Without another word, she nodded and turned to leave, deciding that if her parents were indeed at the end of this walk she was about to take, they would have to give her a lot more answers than she’d expected.

Emma let out a sigh, trying to let the beauty of the forest settle her mind. Too many questions tumbled around for her to find peace, however. First there was the incredibly intimate awakening she’d had, followed by the most overwhelming need, which both men had fulfilled more expertly than any lover she’d ever had.

She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that they weren’t even really human, and neither was she.

Something rustled in the foliage nearby and she turned, but nothing was visible in the darker shadows. Yet out of the corner of her eye, she was sure she caught the dark shape of a huge, black-furred animal keeping pace with her. After a few more steps, she believed another one walked through the woods on the other side of the path. She kept her gaze fixed on the way ahead of her, strangely comforted that they’d chosen to follow her, even though she’d asked them to let her go alone.

“You’re more worthy than you give yourselves credit for,” she whispered.

* * *

Emma couldn’t have imagined a more spectacular home for what she now understood was ursa royalty. The majestic structure was part living tree, part mossy stone. A long, wide veranda spanned the entire front of the lodge that seemed to go on forever. Instead of wood columns along the front, the massive trunks of ancient, living poplar trees shot up through the roof and high above, their greenery speckled with the familiar orange-yellow of the tulip-shaped flowers Emma had always loved so much.

As she made her way closer, four figures ventured into the sunlight in front of the lodge. A regal woman in a long, green dress came first, her long, silver hair spilling in cascades of curls down her bare shoulders. She wore a wreath of flowers around her head and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. From the eager smile on her face, they couldn’t be tears of sadness.

Emma’s throat closed up and tears of her own threatened to spill when she saw the familiar man at the woman’s side, his arm wrapped around her and his other hand at her elbow, as though supporting her.

“Papa!” Emma yelled, and tore the rest of the way up the stony, tree-lined path.

He stepped toward her with open arms and a wide smile splitting his bearded face. “Emma, baby. I knew you’d make it in time.”

She buried her face in his chest and held him tight. “God, I missed you.” In her peripheral vision, she saw the other couple step close to support the woman her father had been standing beside.

Emma pulled away and looked at the woman, smiling, then to her father. He rested his arm across her shoulders and turned to face the others. “Emma, this is your mother, Maia Stonetree, and your aunt Mona, Maia’s younger sister. I think you know this other numbskull already.” He casually pointed at her uncle Ted, who rolled his eyes in mock irritation.

Emma laughed and stepped in to hug the silver-haired woman. “Mama, I’ve waited my whole life for this.”

“Oh, baby, so have I. So have I,” her mother said in a reedy voice. She shook a little with emotion, her arms far thinner and her body more delicate than Emma had expected. Now that Emma had her arms around the woman, she was suddenly concerned she’d hurt her if she hugged too hard.

After a moment, they released each other and Emma wiped her eyes, turning to greet the others. “Aunt Mona,” she said, gripping the woman’s hands. Mona was dark-haired and robust, with shining brown eyes fringed by long lashes. She greeted Emma with a warm hug.

Emma’s Uncle Ted stepped in close and gave Emma a half-hug, squeezing her close and kissing her on the crown of her head.

“It’s good to see you again, Em,” he said.

Her father ushered them all inside, and as Emma followed, she was alarmed to see how much the others doted on her mother, her father giving her support as she struggled to climb the steps. They started toward what looked like a throne room of sorts, directly inside another set of doors. A giant chair, elaborately carved from a single tree trunk, rested on a dais, surrounded by greenery. It was illuminated from above by a skylight, sun streaming down directly onto it. Emma stared in awe.

Her mother shook her head and tugged at her father’s arm. “Sweetie, not in there, not yet. She needs time to get used to the idea.”. Emma’s father nodded and switched directions, leading them through another set of huge wooden doors into a comfortable sitting room.

“Get used to what idea?” Emma asked, unable to wait any longer to talk to them both, to find out everything she could about who she was.

She found a seat on an overstuffed sofa near the large leather armchair her mother rested in. The other three settled in as well, and her uncle emitted a whistle that reminded Emma of birdcalls he used to teach her when she was little. A moment later, three young men came in with stoneware platters loaded with food and arranged them on the coffee table in the center of the room.

Emma’s stomach growled in response to the spread, but she forced herself to wait.

Maia sat up a little straighter and glanced at Emma’s father. He cleared his throat and looked at Emma gravely. “As our daughter, you’re Maia’s heir, Emma. And the truth is, she isn’t well. As the heir, you need to get used to the idea of ascending when she’s gone.”

“And there are other obligations, as well,” her mother said. “You must take a mate. And my hope is that you would agree to do so before I die, so I have the chance to bless my grandchild with my magic before I am too weak.”

“Oh, God, Mama!” Emma stood up and went to crouch at her mother’s side, holding her frail hands in both of hers, tears threatening to fall again. “What can I do to help you?”

“Your presence means more than you can imagine, Emma,” her mother said, squeezing her hands.

Emma shook her head, struggling to process everything, but this was the worst. The heir part made sense, but her mother dying now, when she’d just found her? A tightness gripped her chest at the idea of losing the woman so soon. But they wanted her to find a . . . a
mate
and have a baby. Apparently, right away. The last part held surprising appeal to her, and her mind flashed to the accidental outburst she’d had with Julian and August. Her core ached savagely.