A Warrior's Claiming (The Instinct Book 3) Read online

  Not the Vyctore, though. They wore only their loincloths, boots, and arm-bracers. Nothing special. Skehl looked the same. Though taller than most except for a handful of males, Skehl blended in. Or so he liked to think.

  Similar to Arghet and the others, he had skin tanned from the sun, skin-colored tribal markings on his chest and arms, long, black hair, and plenty of muscle and scars from a life lived for war. Unlike the Earthers and a few barbarians with obvious offworlder ancestry, he and his kind possessed white eyes with a golden center, no hints of other color or black at their focus.

  But differentiating him from many, Skehl had been born with a dark tribal marker on his left cheek, one that sometimes turned a dark black or red, he’d been told. Skehl didn’t know when the color changed, but he’d often sensed some indefinable emotion and felt the mark heat in response.

  “You paying attention?” Arghet said in a low voice as one of the elders continued to talk.

  Skehl leaned down to hear better. Though Arghet was tall, Skehl stood a good head taller. So close, he caught Arghet’s scent, a robust, masculine essence that made Skehl feel…strange. He pulled his head back and stared straight ahead, not trusting himself to look at his companion.

  “We have tonight to bed down and relax. Tomorrow morning starts the competition.”

  Skehl said nothing.

  “I need to ‘relax,’” Efhel said in a low voice. “I’m all knotted up.”

  Tattan, a fellow warrior, laughed quietly. “Yes, I am as well. I think we should definitely find a few females to help us relax before the coming competitions.”

  Nearby warriors from different clans, having overheard them, nodded in agreement.

  “What about you, Arghet?” Tattan asked. “You feeling ‘knotted up’ too?”

  “I’m keeping my head clear for the scitia match.” The scitia—a slender blade Arghet was famous for wielding.

  “I don’t care about keeping my head clear,” a warrior from another clan added. “As long as my cock is no longer so stiff, my sword arm will be ready.”

  The elder finished his speech, and more lurid comments from those around them had the group laughing. Even Arghet cracked a smile.

  When Talzec and Skye joined them, the Vyctore moved as one to an unoccupied area by a small lagoon. Talzec nodded. “This is where we shall stay.”

  The others began depositing the many sacks of goods they’d brought for trade and gift-giving. Among the clans, the giving and accepting of gifts, apparently, was welcomed at such a large event. It also showed everyone what clans had worth bargaining for.

  A large male, his hair in braids and threaded through with colorful feathers, approached with a smile. “Ah, the Vyctore.” To Skehl’s eyes, that smile read false. The dozen warriors with the stranger stood tall and strong. One of them, a male almost too pretty to be a warrior, shot Arghet a sharp look.

  “Fehlen.” Talzec took the male by the forearm and gripped him tight. “How fares the Chamra clan?”

  Fehlen glanced from Talzec to his group, lingering on Skye before focusing again on Talzec. “Not as well as the Vyctore. Hear tell you have a female warrior as one of your mates, and you defeated the hated Nasuhl. Elder Ihlar was singing your praises.”

  Arghet returned the sharp gaze directed his way, his expression flat, yet Skehl felt him ready to move at a moment’s notice.

  Not liking the attention the Chamra alpha had given Skye, Skehl took a step forward at the same time Arghet did, protecting her sides while Talzec stood front of her.

  Skye sighed and muttered something under her breath, but blocked from view by the larger men, she would need to physically push them aside to see anything.

  The pretty male continued to stare at Arghet. “Arghet of the Vyctore. It’s been a while.” The barbarian was more slender than most and stood slightly taller than Arghet. His gaze remained intent, bordering on rude.

  “Yes.” Arghet said nothing else.

  Skehl didn’t like the stranger. He glared at the threat, not caring for the Chamra clan. The others didn’t seem to like them either, for they too stood ready to battle.

  “Ah, Elder Ihlar. A good man.” Talzec continued to hold Fehlen’s arm, his smile wide, as if nothing was amiss.

  Skehl didn’t notice either male putting undue pressure on the other, but Fehlen broke out into a sweat. He tugged his arm once, and Talzec released him.

  Fehlen cleared his throat. “We shall see you on the field tomorrow.”

  “We look forward to it.”

  The Chamra warriors departed.

  Talzec gave Arghet and Skehl an approving nod.

  Something hit Skehl in the back, and then he felt himself shoved aside by…the wind?

  “Hey. I’m right here, you know.” Skye glared at everyone before centering her ire on her mate. “What the hell was that about?” Her golden hair and brown eyes with a black center looked so different from what Skehl was accustomed to. He did his best not to stare, but she intrigued him with her alien appearance. Skye had more height and more muscle than typical barbarian females.

  He could well believe her a warrior, even if she did baffle many in their clan. The women and men seemed to like her, especially because she completed Talzec and Xaveht’s bonding. But many couldn’t understand her need or want to battle.

  Arghet regarded the woman with a faint smile. Skehl knew Arghet found her amusing. Arghet liked her, but he didn’t know what to do with her. Skehl did what came naturally. He’d protect her until his dying breath. Skye was female and mate to his alpha; he could do nothing else. But when he tried to step closer, the wind kept him back.

  “Skye, stop.” Talzec chuckled. “Poor Skehl. My mate is a power, is she not?”

  Skehl realized Skye had been pushing him with her mind and blinked in surprised. “Yes, alpha. She is.”

  Skye smiled. “Good. Now that we’ve determined I’m not some helpless lamb, what’s going on with the Chamra clan?”

  Arghet frowned. “What’s a lamb?”

  “The Chamra clan?” Skye said again, louder.

  Talzec answered, “They have always been leaders in the tribe. But when I took over, we replaced them in favor. Apparently they haven’t accepted their place yet. But we’ll make sure they do, won’t we, warriors?”

  The others shouted their encouragement. Skehl thought he should have done so, but he remained cautious around the others, afraid to say or do the wrong thing. Still not trusting of the clan who seemed too good to be true.

  The group broke up, many in search of food and entertainment. Arghet tugged him away from their space, then nodded back at their alpha.

  Talzec and Skye embraced, and Skehl thought they intended to have sex.

  As he and Arghet walked away, Arghet warned him to not get into trouble. “Stay here while I fetch us some flehik to eat. Don’t kill anyone.”

  Arghet left, and Skehl stuck to the shadows of the trees, comfortable with the fullness of life in the jungle. A faint moan reached him, then the panting and grunting sounds he’d heard all too many times in his old clan. But what he saw when he moved closer surprised him.

  Chapter Two

  ARGHET DIDN’T KNOW why he felt protective around the big bastard when he knew Skehl could protect himself, but something about the giant seemed vulnerable. He couldn’t figure it out, but Skehl felt almost…innocent.

  Thinking such absurdity irritated him, and he wondered if the male did that on purpose, made others underestimate him before he destroyed them.

  When they’d stood shoulder to shoulder in the clearing, phelthar had surged between them. It had been especially strong. Arghet felt the male to his toes, and to his shock, his body had responded. Lust for a male when Arghet had never wanted more than one female to bond with. It didn’t make sense.

  Though Talzec and many others had taken to male pairings to satisfy their sexual needs, Arghet kept his tamped down. He fucked a female or two and always left them pleasured, but lately sex felt lacking.
His body released, but his mind and soul remained apart. So now he abstained.

  Perhaps too long if his body considered Skehl a potential partner.

  With a grunt of annoyance, he fetched two large hunks of crisp flehik and returned in search of Skehl. What he found shocked him.

  Skehl seemed fascinated by a trio fucking against a tree. The female sucked one cock, and while she worked him, another took her from behind. The threesome didn’t mind their audience, as Arghet noticed several other warriors watching, many of whom soon took enjoyment in each other.

  “You would join them?” Arghet asked his new clanmate, nodding to several warriors beginning to engage in sex.

  Skehl shook his head, and Arghet saw that Skehl wasn’t aroused. Arghet wasn’t either, his mind on tomorrow’s bout, and oddly, of the frustrating female he had yet to capture.

  He and Skehl walked away, taking a moment apart from the others by moving deeper into the jungle. With so many barbarians in the vicinity, it wasn’t easy to find space apart. But Arghet had come to the last set of games, and he knew a few areas not heavily trafficked.

  Some distance deeper into the jungle he found a flat slab of raised rock surrounded by red-stems that not only smelled lovely but provided some semblance of privacy. He and Skehl settled on the rock and ate. Arghet shared the water skins he’d brought, foregoing the ale many others had been consuming.

  Though the festive air encouraged one and all to let loose and mingle, Arghet didn’t trust so easily. Though they all were part of the Cloud Tribe, not everyone subscribed to the ideals of brotherhood. Just look at the Nasuhl.

  “Why do you not have others suck your cock?”

  Arghet choked on the bit of meat he’d been swallowing. When he could catch his breath, he stared at Skehl, who remained expressionless. “What?”

  “The others pair often, but you never do.”

  “You don’t either.”

  “I don’t feel the need. Not usually.” Skehl frowned. “In my old clan, there was much screaming, blood, and beating involved with sex. It didn’t seem worth the price for release.”

  Arghet considered what the big male was telling him. “Skehl, have you ever been with a woman?” He paused. “Or a man? I know the Nasuhl didn’t believe men should have sex with each other, but they must have. You didn’t have many females in your clan.”

  Skehl shrugged. “Everything pleasurable with the Nasuhl had to be hidden. The alphas didn’t want us happy. They wanted us mean, hungry.” Skehl paused. “I did what I was told. In my way.”

  “What way is that?” Arghet asked quietly. He couldn’t always get Skehl to talk to him, so he didn’t want to ruin anything now. Perhaps he could learn what it was about the giant that bothered him.

  Skehl looked into his eyes, and the marker on his cheek began to glow. “I do what is right. And only what is right. Nothing else.”

  Passive resistance. Who would have guessed the berserker had it in him?

  Arghet found himself impressed despite his reservations. “You’re a lot smarter than others give you credit for, aren’t you?”

  Skehl stared at his face, his gaze intense.

  “Skehl?”

  “Fucking. What does it feel like?”

  Arghet blinked, trying to keep up with Skehl’s thoughts. “Ah, well, it’s good. Very good. The heat around you builds. Pressure between your legs, then it’s gone when you release your seed.” Arghet had a strange thought. “You do know about a male’s seed, don’t you?”

  Skehl shook his head.

  Arghet’s cheeks heated. He felt awkward having such a conversation. Typically the older males instructed the younger ones in the ways of sexual desire upon a male’s first awakening into manhood. But Arghet wasn’t always good with words.

  “So, yes. Okay.” He drew in a breath and let it out. “When a warrior is aroused, when he desires a partner for pairing—for sex—his cock fills. Thickens.”

  Skehl shifted so that he sat with his legs crossed. Then he shocked Arghet anew by untying his loincloth, so that he sat naked…his cock stiff as a board.

  And the thing was huge. A large shaft to fit with Skehl’s large frame.

  “I, ah, you feel the urge to pair now?” Kind of obvious, but Arghet was out of his depth.

  Skehl’s cheek glowed a bright red, and his golden eyes gleamed with what Arghet might have viewed as hunger. “I feel your energy. It likes mine.”

  Arghet had no idea what Skehl was talking about. “Yes, well.” He coughed, determined to ignore Skehl’s arousal. Except his own body responded in kind, his cock impossibly hard, almost to the point of aching. What the five hells…? “When we grow aroused, our member grows slick. It allows for ease of penetration, as we are so much bigger than our females.” He might as well tell Skehl all of it. “Should you choose to pair with a male, it allows ease of penetration there too. Because we do not grow wet inside us as the females do.”

  Skehl frowned, glanced down at himself, and gripped his dick. His eyes widened. “That feels good.”

  Arghet swallowed a groan. Had Skehl never touched himself before? He refused to ask. “Yes, it does. The pressure on your cock increases your enjoyment, but you must take care not to squeeze too hard, or you’ll hurt yourself.” Seeing Skehl’s nod, he continued, “When that moment of release comes, you can measure what you give. Your first or second seed.”

  He watched, dry mouthed, as Skehl began pumping himself, the male’s cock slick with arousal.

  Arghet cleared his throat. “Your first seed is that which stays. It is to release the phelthar which builds in us. It eases us, and it will not make a female pregnant. Unlike our second seed, which comes out in abundance, more than our first seed. It is then absorbed into another’s skin and body. It can also be used as a scent marker.”

  Skehl met his gaze again, his breath coming faster. Arghet had to admit, watching the male take his pleasure had turned their conversation into a most erotic interlude. His balls ached, and his dick pressed against his loincloth, the tension within frustrating and stimulating as hell.

  “To mark with one’s seed?” Skehl panted. “To show ownership?”

  “Of a sort,” Arghet answered, his voice hoarse. He shifted on the stone, aching. “The male’s second seed is a power, a gift from the Maker that when shared with a female, will saturate her with seed and get her with child. It’s copious, so releasing second seed into another’s mouth can be a bit much.” But so fucking good. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d released into a female, and he didn’t know why he’d waited so long. “Yet when released onto another’s skin, acts as an odorless marker. Only our kind can detect it.”

  The urge to claim the male near him was overwhelming, not to mention startling.

  “You want to release.” Skehl nodded at Arghet’s lap, Arghet’s erection evident. “Yet you do not?” Skehl released his hold on himself. “I should stop? This is wrong, my taking release?”

  “No. No, you may take your release any way you like. And it’s never wrong with a partner either, so long as your partner is willing.” Arghet wanted to emphasize that, especially to a former member of the Nasuhl. “When it comes to sex, we never take from another what they do not willingly give.”

  Skehl cocked his head. “Do you wish for ease?”

  Arghet needed to tell Skehl about the instinct, about a male’s need to pleasure his female, to get her with child and share his second seed. But a roaring wave of desire stole his breath. He didn’t understand this driving carnal hunger, and he tried to ignore it.

  But Skehl was there, in front of him, removing his loincloth. “You are very big. Nearly as big as I.” Skehl nodded. “I want to feel this again. To know this pleasure. It is… unexpected.” He seemed surprised. “It is good.”

  Arghet groaned, and seeing the markings on Skehl’s chest and arms deepen to black, knew he couldn’t leave the male alone.

  “You are darker. You want me too,” Skehl said, suddenly more chatty
than he’d been since entering the camp. “Yes. I think this is something I should do.”

  Before Arghet could ask what Skehl meant, the warrior bent down and took Arghet’s cock in his mouth.

  Arghet hissed, in surprise and pleasure, and placed his hands on Skehl’s head to pull him away. But he couldn’t make himself. “Yes,” he moaned, and tugged Skehl by the hair to show him exactly how much to take. “Suck me. Just a little bit of teeth there. Not too much. Stars, yes.”

  He neared completion way too soon, his body on fire to mark the male before him. To show everyone where Skehl belonged. Even as Skehl sucked him with enthusiasm, his movements awkward yet sincere, Arghet couldn’t slow down. He wanted to give the innocent male pleasure first, but Skehl’s relentless mouth made that impossible.

  “I…release me,” he said, his voice hoarse. “My second seed is coming, Skehl. Please.”

  Skehl barely managed to pull away before Arghet was releasing over the male’s throat, his chest. He continued to spend, marking Skehl’s belly, some of his seed running down to coat Skehl’s own cock.

  Skehl watched, seeming fascinated, as the seed slowly disappeared, the marker now embedded into Skehl’s flesh.

  “You marked me.”

  Arghet didn’t know if Skehl was glad or not, but he couldn’t let the male go. Not yet.

  “You are still hard?” Skehl asked, glancing in surprise at Arghet’s unflagging erection.

  “Yes. As are you.” Arghet smiled. “You have more to learn, Skehl. Lie down.”

  Skehl obeyed without question, captivated by the sensations coursing through his body. The foreign heat and pleasure made him want more. Knowing he now belonged to Arghet brought home the fact that his life was now safe, full of mysterious wonder. And he had to experience it all with Arghet.