Van, Becca - Her Norland Warriors (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

“Yes, baby. We were. There had never been an opportunity for us to join with any other women, since women are so scarce on our planet. Not that we wanted to,”
Dagr answered.

“So there’s no unwritten law that you have to remain virgins?”

“No,”
Dagr replied.

“You’d never even thought of going to a pleasure planet?”
asked Jess.

“Yes, we had, but the opportunity never arose. We are always too busy with our pirating and ruling to find time for such matters. Why do you ask, sweetheart?”
Hakon asked.

“Before I answer, I want you all to promise me not to hurt the men who abducted me,”
Jess negotiated.

“What? Why would you ask this, baby?”
Dagr asked.

Jess could hear the anger in his question, but ignored it. He was such a dominant man. The thought of negotiating with her over the men who had taken her was probably choking him.

“They really meant no harm, and they haven’t hurt me,”
Jess began. “
When they found out the pirating was being stopped, they went a little crazy. They figured since a lot of the warriors found their bond mates while stealing goods, they wouldn’t have the chance to meet their own mate. No one explained to them it was only a temporary measure. They didn’t think they would ever have the chance to meet their bond mate and were angry at their leaders, as well as you, for stopping the raids. They’d heard I was different from the other women, and in their angst, decided they would just take me. If your cousins had explained the stealing would begin again in a few months, I don’t think they would have done what they have
.”

“That is no excuse for what they have done, Jessamine. They need to be punished for taking you. We can’t let them get away with their crime,”
Hakon stated.

“Oh, I’m not saying don’t punish them, just don’t kill them. Maybe you could find another punishment more suited to the crime. They really haven’t done anything to hurt me,”
Jess reiterated, then waited for a reply. When none was forthcoming she became indignant.
“Well?”

“Well what, mate?”
Dagr asked.

“Are you going to let them live? I’ll be very angry if you hurt them. They sound like lost little boys. Maybe you and your cousins can arrange for warriors to go to pleasure planets to relieve some of their, uh, urges. That way the warriors without bond mates will have something to look forward to and something like this won’t happen again,”
Jess suggested.

“Our mate is not just gorgeous, she is intelligent as well,”
Loki replied.
“I think your idea has merit, little Jess. What do you think, brothers? Do we make a rotation for our unmated warriors to have recreation time on some of the pleasure planets and suggest our cousins do the same for their men?”

“I suppose we could do that. The last thing we want is for our mate to be taken from us again,”
Hakon said, sighing mentally.

“I think your idea is well thought out, baby. And because it was your idea, you can organize the roster rotation,”
Dagr said, portraying his smirk to Jess when he felt her gasp.

“Why do I have to do it?”
Jess whined.

“Because it was your idea,”
Hakon replied.

“Gee, thanks a lot,”
Jess stated facetiously.

“You are very welcome, mate,”
Hakon stated with a chuckle.

“We are in sight of the building, baby. Go and hide,”
Dagr commanded.

“There’s no need for me to hide. They are too busy talking amongst themselves to even bother with me now.

“Do as ordered, Jessamine,”
Hakon commanded.

Jess didn’t bother to answer, but she didn’t move either. She had no need to hide now, and she wanted to make sure her mates didn’t hurt their cousin’s warriors.

Chapter Fourteen

Jess didn’t even flinch when the door to the cabin crashed open. She slid her eyes over to the door and saw the fury on Hakon’s, Dagr’s, and Loki’s faces. She rolled her eyes and covered her mouth when she yawned. Her mates drawing their swords, however, had her boredom gone and her body taut with tension. She jumped to her feet and placed herself between her mates and the three warriors who had been stupid enough to abduct her.

“Put your swords away. They aren’t needed,” Jess demanded, her stance aggressive with authority. She stood with her hands on her hips, her shoulders back, and her chin in the air.

“Jessamine, you will get out of the way now,” Hakon commanded, his eyes never leaving the warriors behind her.

“No. I don’t think I will.”

“Baby, if you don’t move out of the way, when we get you back home, I will put you over my knee and spank your pretty little ass,” Dagr stated through clenched teeth.

“Promise?” Jess asked with a smile.

Her mate’s baulking, then the wicked, sexy grins spreading across their faces, made Jess’s pussy clench and weep with desire. God, they were so sexy. Their runic tattoos moving as their muscles bunched when they held their swords, was enough to make her want to jump their bones. She decided playing with her mates’ minds might distract them enough so they would be more lenient on her childish abductors. She remembered how their mouths and hands had felt on her body and the sensation of their big, hard cocks sliding in and out of her holes as they fucked her. Three very aroused males groaning made her eyes snap open just in time to see her men adjusting the bulges in their pants. She smiled at Dagr as he glared at her.

“You’re in for it now, little Jess. Dagr has that ‘just wait until we’re alone’ look on his face,” Loki said quietly with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Jess just smiled and shrugged a shoulder, turning toward Hakon and Dagr as they skirted around her. She grabbed a hold of the back of their leather vests to try and halt their progress across the room, but she didn’t have a hope in hell. She felt Loki move in behind her and tried to break free as he wrapped a large, muscular arm around her waist, pulling her back from his brothers and against the length of his body. Jess gave in and slumped against him, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. She tried to hear what Dagr and Hakon were saying to the three warriors standing before her mates, their heads bowed in supplication, but she was too far away. And her mates were talking too quietly.

“How did your dress get ripped, little Jess?” Loki asked from above her.

Jess tilted her head back so she could meet Loki’s eyes and knew he was angry by the ticking muscle in his jaw and the fury in his eyes. Jess reached up and stroked his cheek with the palm of his hand.

“It was an accident. Don’t go getting all Neanderthal on me, too.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Jess. Now answer,” Loki demanded in a hard voice.

Jess had never heard that tone from her gentle giant before, and could see his control was tenuous at best. So she decided to answer him.

“The one with the scratch marks on his hand gripped my dress in his fist as he was talking to me. The material is so thin and flimsy it ripped. He didn’t hurt me, Loki.”

Loki didn’t reply. He picked her up into his arms, moved over to the chair, and placed her in it. He gave her a hard stare, which she took as a silent command to stay where she was, and she gave a nod of her head. She watched as Loki stalked his prey. She had never seen him in this macho role, and it was turning her on big-time.

Loki came to a stop between Hakon and Dagr. Jess saw him looking at each of the men’s hands, and then he reached out, grabbing the man in the middle by the throat. He picked the man up one-handed, with such ease, and then threw him across the room. The large warrior landing with a thud made her cringe, but she knew better than to get in the middle this time.

“You are the one who scared my mate so much? You ripped her dress. How do you think she felt being in your hands, feeling so helpless against your massive size and strength?” Jess heard Loki growl.

“I am sorry, sir. It was not my intention to rip your mate’s dress or hurt her in any way.”

“You think abducting my mate with the intention of rape is not hurting my mate? How could you think such a thing? You were not the one connected with her mind. You did not feel her fear and anxiety to be in the hands of such large, strong strangers. I ought to rip your head off your shoulders,” Loki ground out.

“Loki—” Jess began, but was interrupted by Dagr.

“Stay out of this, baby,” Dagr said, pinning her with his eyes.

Jess knew when to withdraw from a battle. She was just going to have to trust that her men would not go too far in punishing the three warriors.

“Get up,” Hakon snarled and watched intently as the warrior rose to his feet.

Jess gasped with horror as Hakon’s fist slammed into the man’s face. Blood spurted from his nose as the warrior dropped to the floor, out cold.

“I see you have found my warriors, cousin. If you will leave them to me, they will be punished for what they have done,” Nadal said as he walked into the building.

Jess felt her ire rise and jumped to her feet. She moved toward Nadal and planted herself in front of him. “This is all your fault. If you had explained to your warriors that the raiding was on hold temporarily instead of telling them there would be no more raiding, they never would have kidnapped me.”

Nadal looked at her with confusion and scratched his head. “I’m sure I said the raiding was stopping temporarily.”

“No, sir, you did not. If you had explained to us, we would never have taken your cousins’ mate,” one the warriors replied.

“Well, shit. I am sorry, Lady Jessamine. It seems you are correct. My humblest apologies,” Nadal said with a bow.

“Don’t worry about it. I know it was not intentional. My mates and I think you should arrange for your warriors to have time to enjoy the…facilities at one of the pleasure planets. That way they will have something to look forward to and not go off the deep end again. Make sure you arrange it.”

“Certainly, my lady, I will see to it at once. Now, please let me offer my thanks to you and my cousins. I’m sure after your ordeal you are tired and hungry and would like to refresh yourselves,” Nadal said courteously.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’d just rather go home. Do not be too hard on your warriors. They felt helpless at the loss of never meeting their mates. I think they have been punished enough,” Jess said as she looked at the warrior still supine on the floor, then glared at her mates.

Jess had had enough for the day. She just wanted to go home, have a long soak in the large shower, eat, and retire. She could feel herself getting emotional and didn’t want her men to see her in such a state. She turned her back on them, skirted around Nadal, and walked out the door. Her stomach growled, and she was beginning to feel ill. Her body began to shake, and her teeth chattered together as reaction set in. She’d had a hell of a day.

Jess walked over to the line of trees yards away and sat down at the base of a large purple trunk. She leaned her back against the trunk, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. She couldn’t seem to stop shaking, and tears were leaking from her eyes. It pissed her off to be in such a state, but she couldn’t stop it. She lowered her head down to her knees, placed her arms around her legs, and curled into herself. She was so cold. The coldness had penetrated bone-deep, and she didn’t think she’d ever feel warm again.

Then she was surrounded in heat. She lifted her tear-streaked face to see her men surrounding her. She snuggled into their big bodies, sighing as their body heat began to warm her. She could hear each of them in her mind crooning to her as they tried to offer her comfort. Eventually her teeth stopped chattering, and her shaking limbs slowed to the occasional spasm.

Loki scooped her up into his arms without a word, placed a tender kiss on her head, and began walking. Jess looked over to each side to see Hakon and Dagr frowning at her with concern. She gave them a tremulous smile, snuggled into Loki’s arms, leaned her head on his chest, and closed her eyes with a sigh. She was safe and back in the arms of the men she loved. She let exhaustion pull her down and fell asleep.

Chapter Fifteen