The Warrior's Reluctant Bride Pt. 02

"Yet no one challenged you," she pointed out, insulted.

Arching a brow, Asim smiled, "because they know me marrying you must be good for them somehow, even if most of them don't see it yet. They know I don't do anything unless it benefits them in some way."

"And what of me? Marin was kind to me," Raina confessed, changing the topic, "you are not."

Chuckling humourlessly, Asim smiled at her, "I treat others as I am treated."

"You are my chieftain," Raina argued, placing the blame squarely on his shoulders, insinuating it was his duty to rise above her baiting.

Laughing out loud at that, Asim grinned widely at her, his hand on his knee as he turned his body towards hers. "And that means I should be impervious to your tongue lashings? I assure you Raina, I have feelings, even if you would like to believe otherwise."

"You did naught but threaten me!" she countered viciously, "what of my feelings? What reason did you give me to want to be yours? You call me a spoiled child, hurt me, and dismissed me."

"Because you argue with me over things that are not choice!" he thundered.

Growling, he turned back to his whetstone, "we go in circles. Forget your coward that can't be bothered to fight for you. You are mine, the sooner you accept this, the sooner we will get along."

Sitting in silence, Raina sat with her head tilted down, appalled. "You could be kinder," she whispered, her eyes stinging with tears she refused to shed in front of him.

"And you could fulfill your duty without a fucking fight," he snapped back, annoyed opening up and exerting patience with her hadn't changed anything between them.

Wrapping her arms about herself, Raina closed her eyes, Anik's smiling face floating in her mind's eye. How many times had he been cut by Rukh's blade, crying that he wanted to farm while their brother pushed him to be fierce; that it was his duty to protect their people and learn to fight? How many times had Rukh laughed at her for daydreaming and told her she was lucky she'd been born a girl and had the luxury to daydream? That her head was not constantly full of worries as his was?

Biting her lip, she thought of the dream life she'd planned with Marin. Of the children he'd promised her, of long days in the fields together, of the way he would plait her hair for her, whispering words of love in her ear. Of the night they'd spent in the meadowlands, hidden by the tall grass as they gazed up at the sky and he held her hand and told her tales of the constellations.

She opened her eyes to the reality sitting in front of her. Was Asim capable of even half that tenderness?

She studied Asim's profile, her brows narrowed in concentration, "do you like the stars, Asim?"

Glancing at her, puzzled by her question, but welcoming her pleasant if not hesitant tone, Asim nodded, "The tale of the boy and the bear is my favourite," he murmured.

"I do not know that one," she whispered, trying to picture Asim in the field with her, her hand between his scarred fingers the way Marin had held her. "Will you tell it to me?"

Sighing, seeing no reason to deny her request, Asim turned to face her once more, setting aside his tools. "There was once a boy, Boru, who did not heed his mother. Easily distracted, he followed a rabbit into the woods and became lost among the trees. As the sun faded and night overtook the forest, Boru began to cry, terrified by the shadows and sounds of the wild. Hearing the cries of a pitiful creature, the wolf Kilir and the mother bear Heena, came to answer the wails. Kilir driven by hunger, Heena by worry as the pitiful sounds resembled that of a cub." Asim paused, studying Raina's face as she waited for him to continue.

"Kilir snapped at the boy, eager to taste the meat that hugged his fragile bones, but Heena stepped between, shielding the boy with her own body as she would do for her own cubs. Kilir offered to share the boy with her, telling her that her desire to spare the boy was unwise, that the boy would grow to be a merciless hunter and would kill her own cubs one day if they did not kill him first."

"Heena agreed that the boy would one day be a hunter, but for now, he had no way to defend himself. She drew attention to Boru's short claws and blunted teeth. He was no threat and to kill him now would be honourless. Killing the boy would ensure the village hunted every last creature capable of his murder in retribution. She knew she could mold the boy, that she could raise him to respect the living world. The wolf raged, calling her a fool. Still, she did not waiver. Driven off by her size and the threat of her jaws, Kilir retreated to the woods. That night, Heena warmed Boru with her furs and used her great claws to procure him fish from the stream so that he might not go hungry."

Raina stared at him raptly, nodding at him, encouraging him to go on, "Thanks to Heena, Boru survived that night, and every other that followed, learning from her how to fish, how to shelter, how to discern which berries to eat and how to respect the creatures that surrounded him. To never take more than what was needed to survive. To respect the balance that encircled him."

"When Boru returned to his tribe, thanks to the wisdom and the strength of the bear, he became a great leader. He fed his people, he kept them warm at night and he respected time. He taught them that life must be given the opportunity to grow to its full potential and not to be snuffed out early due to greed. This is why we do not hunt cubs," he explained, his hand fisting around his necklace, "why we respect the bear and all she provides for this tribe. Why we honour the fight, the difficulty of felling her, how she makes us prove we are worthy to sleep in her furs and eat of her meat. That we abide by her teachings and take only what is fair and not what is easy."

"We do not have this story among my people," Raina told him, eying his necklace, thinking of Davar's wooden carving.

Smiling softly, Asim nodded, "that is a shame, it is a good one. My father told me this story every moon as a boy." Frowning, he sighed, "I do not think the Uruki know this story either. They hunt the young and take too much. It is why I have need of your people in the first place. The Uruki do not respect time, only the now and the hunger that drives them."

"Like me you mean," Raina murmured, feeling very small. Knowing how important replanting seeds and not harvesting too early was. That a harvest had to be cared for and cultivated if it was to grow well enough to feed everyone.

Snorting softly, Asim sighed, "the story was not meant to shame you, Raina."

"But I am the wolf, thinking only of my desire for Marin and not how it would destroy my people in the long run. That I want what is easy and not what is hard but for the best."

Shaking his head, Asim smiled softly, "you read too much into it Raina, it is but a story. I could easily be painted as Kilir in my hunger for you, not giving you enough time to adjust to your new tribe, before making lustful demands."

Kicking off her boots, she reached up and pulled the ties at her shoulders, yanking off her sleeves before taking hold of the hem of her tunic, tugging it up and off her body. Asim watched curiously as she lay back in his furs and spread her legs as she settled her weight back on her elbows.

"What are you doing?" Asim asked dryly, ignoring the warmth of his growing length due to her nakedness.

"Offering myself to my husband," Raina explained calmly.

"Now you want me?" Asim asked in disbelief, deeply suspicious. "This farce doesn't become you," he muttered in annoyance, waving his hand at her dismissively, turned off by her game.

Pushing herself to a seated position, Raina frowned, unsure how else to gain his attentions. Coming to her knees, she crawled over to his back, brushing his thick black mane over his shoulder and off his neck. Smoothing her hands over his shoulder blades, Raina lowered her mouth to his skin, kissing her way gently towards his neck, thickly corded with muscle.

She nipped him, tugging his necklace out of the way so she could press kisses to the tan skin beneath the beads.

Spreading her knees to either side of his hips, Raina wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing kisses to his spine as her hands skimmed over his broad chest and rippled abdomen. She pressed her forehead to his back, inhaling deeply, the sent of the trees and the forest floor filling her nostrils.

Resolving herself, she let one of her hands dip lower, squeezing his cock through his leather wrap. "What if it's not a farce? What if I'm ready to stop thinking only of myself?" she whispered, peppering his skin with light kisses, "What if I understand my duty to my people now?" she asked, punctuating her words with a gentle jerk of his cock. "What if I am ready to do what is hard for me, but for the best?"

Groaning, Asim's hand circled her wrist, pulling her fingers away from his turgid member. "Then I would ask for us to start anew," he murmured, enjoying the way her soft lips felt on his spine. "But I fear you are not genuine," he grunted.

Closing her eyes, repressing the deep feelings of betrayal she felt towards Marin, Raina let loose her lips. "My cunt weeps for Asim," she whispered, "as you said, it matters not that my heart still beats for another. I will fulfil my duty to my people, no matter my personal desires, as my brothers would."

Asim's brows arched in surprise, knowing how much her admission had cost her pride. "Show me," he murmured, turning to look over his shoulder at her dark head buried against his back.

Releasing him, Raina scooted back on their furs, spreading her legs wide for his inspection. His blade forgotten, Asim moved between her legs as she spread her pussy with her fingers. His mouth twisted in a small smirk. "Your cunt does weep," he agreed, admiring the glistening pink of her soft pussy petals, pleased touching him so briefly had aroused her this much.

"I would have you gush for me though," he murmured, positioning himself between her legs.

Raina tossed her head back, afraid to meet his eye, trying not to think on how sad she was in that moment as Asim kissed her trembling inner thighs. He nibbled her wet flesh gently as he reached for the washcloth from his water bowl, wiping her pussy, hoping the water would sooth her slit from his previous rough treatment.

"Your cunt is as beautiful as the rest of you," he told her as he fixated on it, brushing his thumb gently over her labia, damp from the washcloth. Doing her best to ignore his words, Raina stared at the tent peak, repeating Marin's name in her mind as she conjured his face. Hoping if she thought of him, it might dispel some of her guilt in so quickly accepting and inviting Asim to touch her. Was she not as fickle as Marin if she forgot her love for him so soon?

Lowering himself to his knees from his crouch, Asim kissed her knee, dragging kisses down her inner thigh as his fingers toyed with her pussy. "A fucking feast," he murmured, settling his head between her legs, doing as Davar had advised.

Raina jumped as his breath ghosted over her nub before the flat of his tongue dragged across it, causing her to lift her hips against his mouth. He groaned at her response, leaning in with greater enthusiasm, loving how responsive she was as he ate her, nuzzling her clit with his nose as he wiggled his tongue in her hot, wet little hole. Skin flushing the entire length of her body, Raina attempted to push his head away, overwhelmed by the feel of his mouth on her tender flesh.

Annoyed by her ongoing resistance, Asim dug his fingers into her ass and lifted as he straightened his back, forcing her hands out to either side of her in an attempt to maintain her balance. Raina grunted, his fingers digging into her bruised flesh making her eyes water.

"That's better," he rumbled around her pussy lips as he pressed a sucking kiss to her clit, enjoying the way it made her moan.

Raina closed her eyes, the pain of his fingers digging into her ass cheeks reminding her intimately of what he'd done to her the previous evening as pain and pleasure filled waves washed over her. "Asim," she whispered in reminder, certain Marin would never make her feel this way as she teetered between anguish and pleasure, both making her pussy pulse and contract.

"Mmm," Asim hummed against her clit, pleased she'd used his name. "Wife," he grunted before stuffing his tongue into her hot greedy hole.

"Asim," Raina whispered again as his fingers tightened on her bruised bottom, heightening her pain for a split second before his teasing tongue washed it away with pleasure. 'Marin' she thought with misplaced loyalty, as the pleasure consumed her, trying to keep the two feelings and men separate in her mind even as her pussy dripped over Asim's tongue.

Releasing her bottom, he climbed to his knees, sucking two fingers into his mouth, he wet them before dragging them over her nipples. He pinched them gently, enjoying the way her hips twitched as he teased the golden peaks. Bringing his fingers to the juncture of her thighs, he rubbed her sex softly, dragging his fingers through her folds.

"Asim, I want-" Raina protested weakly, desperate to demand him to be rougher, to make it easier for her to hold him and Marin apart, unsure which of them was the villain and which was the good man anymore.

Plugging her mouth with two of his fingers, Asim quieted her as he dipped the fingers of his other hand into her depths, licking his lips as he watched his digits disappear within her, her arousal gathering around them.

"Hush, do not ruin this," he warned, not wishing in the slightest to hear anymore of her protests, not when she had finally submitted. He shuddered as her tongue swirled around the thick digits filling her wet mouth.

Moaning, Raina's eyelids fluttered as he fingered her tender hole, still sore from his previous attentions. Tugging his fingers from her, Asim divested himself of his clothes and took hold of his cock. He pumped himself slowly, enjoying his view of her and her slickness before moving forward, aligning himself with her glistening pink sex.

One hand on her knee, the other cupping a breast, he pushed forward, seating his entire length, pausing between each new inch, watching emotions flit over her eyes as he filled her slowly. Lowering himself over her, he slipped his hand up to her jaw, drawing her to him so he could kiss her, his tongue dancing across the seam of her lips before darting passed them to caress hers.

Raina groaned as he rocked inside her, his probing tongue wreaking havoc on her senses as she squirmed beneath him, tasting the residue of her own juices in his mouth.

Propping himself on an elbow, Asim used his free hand to cup her breast, palming and squeezing it softly, brushing his thumb over her nipple, teasing it. Trailing his mouth to her ear, Asim licked the shell before twisting her nipple, making her cry out as he slammed his cock deep inside her, making her push against him uselessly as her pussy spasmed around his length. "Say it again," he whispered, his breath hot, wanting to hear his name slide off her tongue.

Blue steel met amused grey as Raina's lips twitched. "Asim -- know this. I do not care for you, even if my body drips for yours, this is duty, nothing more," she told him instead, determined to remind him she had spread her legs willingly only out of obligation.

Closing his eyes against the distance he found in hers, Asim lowered his face to her shoulder, burying his nose in her neck as he held her tighter and rocked his pelvis against hers harder. He reminded himself he didn't need her affection, only her capitulation, even as her words caused the pleasure in his cock to ebb slightly.

Raina peered up at the cloudless blue sky above her through the tent hole and tried to force her mind away from the large man atop her, and the pleasure he was giving her. Instead, she pushed her confused feelings away and focused on simpler things. She pictured Marin in the fields, growing muddled and frustrated as she pilfered from his basket without his knowledge. The thought made her giggle.

Annoyed by his own feelings at the unusual sound, Asim reared back on his knees, yanking her up on her bottom and then up into his arms. Raina shrieked as she was thrust back into the moment, her eyes on Asim's determined ones as he glared at her, his hand on the back of her neck, the other supporting her bottom as he lowered her onto his cock, forcing her to hold eye contact.

"You will not think of him when I am inside you," he ordered, bouncing her, the movement forcing her to wrap her arms around his neck to maintain her balance.

"You cannot control my thoughts," Raina told him firmly, a pleasured grunt punctuating her words.

A brow arching as though he thought her words amusing, Asim held her gaze, "I wonder if the life I plant in your belly will be as stubborn as you, and possess as venomous a tongue," he teased, releasing her neck so he could take hold of her ass with both hands, enjoying her pained cry as he dug his fingers into her bruises purposefully.

"Let us hope your child is more reasonable than you are," she hissed.

A small smile crept over Asim's lips, "oh yes, because you are so very reasonable, in comparison," he countered, slamming her against him, holding her still as he grinded against her, enjoying the way her cunt clenched his thickness.

"Ohh," Raina groaned, her eyes narrowing in annoyance even as pleasure tingled through her body at the fullness in her well stretched pussy.

"It surprises me, that a woman so sour of tongue could possess so sweet a cunt," he spouted the backhand compliment at her as he pulled her off his cock and dropped her in their furs. Taking hold of the backs of her thighs, he pulled her lower body up his torso, letting her tailbone rest against his collarbones as he dipped his head to kiss her core.

With no leverage to fight him, Raina stared up at him in unfettered lust, meeting his gaze as he trailed the tip of his tongue through her heat. Keeping eye contact, Asim nipped her clit, grazing it with his teeth, enjoying the way her body trembled. Balancing her with one hand, Asim brought his fingers to her slit, working two inside her, watching her face contort with pleasure as he brought her closer to the edge.

Raina's mouth hung open as she panted, his talented fingers wreaking havoc on her ability to think. She moaned, her belly rising and falling rapidly as his fingers stroked her most sensitive passage. Her body coiling, Raina prepared for the oncoming pleasure, looking forward to the deep spasm that would ravage her body as she unconsciously rocked against his mouth, needing more of his tongue against her clit, so close she could cry.

Bringing her to the cusp of orgasm, enjoying the way her body tensed and flushed, Asim dropped her, his fingers and mouth falling away from her body as he leaned over her to gather his clothing.

Eyes fluttering open in confusion, Raina stared at him in wide eyed befuddlement as he tucked his turgid member away and climbed to his feet. "Asim," she demanded, venom on her tongue.

"Come, I promised to take you riding," he told her, extending his hand to the naked disgruntled woman in his bed furs.

"Asim," she protested, her tone tighter, angrier as she lay there unmoving, stabbing him with her eyes.

"What?" he asked, his tone giving away none of his amusement.

"You can't just-" she began, snapping her mouth closed as his eyes gleamed.

"Can't just, what?"

"I was close." She spat.

"Mmm," Asim hummed in amusement, trying to ignore the needy throbbing coming from his cock.

"You need to finish me," she demanded haughtily.

Chuckling, Asim shook his head, letting his hand drop, needing to retake his power after being so vulnerable with her, "I don't need to do anything to you aside from seed you, giving you pleasure is not required. If you want something more from me, you'll need to ask. Nicely. I imagine it might be difficult with that forked tongue of yours though," he teased.