STORY EXCERPT

“Got ourselves a feisty one eh, Sora?” remarked the man behind her.

“We struck gold, Dai,” the second rider agreed, his grin still spread across his handsome face.

“Don’t you two dare ignore me!”

Emi let out a gasp when the muscled arm around her waist tightened possessively. Something soft and not at all unpleasant shoved itself at the nape of her neck, making her shiver.

The bandit called Dai is sniffing at my neck.

Normally, Emi would’ve slapped any man who’d dare shove his nose at her neck. She only froze, not doing anything to dissuade the curious nose that ran from the base of her hairline down to the collar of her kimono. It was a strangely erotic gesture, one that left her entire body trembling.

“Gods of Yamato, Sora. Our woman smells good.”

“I’m not your woman, or anyone’s woman,” Emi said.

Her haughty defiance caved to a squeak when the arm holding her slipped into the folds of her kimono to touch bare skin.

“Let me go this instant, you filthy bandits!”

How the bandit managed to keep one hand on the reins of the horse, while the other fastened her to him astounded her.

“She has a mouth on her, though,” Sora remarked.

Emi noticed that while his eyes were focused on the road ahead of him, he occasionally spared her glances. Glances she was certain were not the least bit innocent in nature. Her heart thumped mercilessly against her chest and her breathing grew uneven.

Emi was petrified, but there was something else, too, that told her these men wanted something else from her aside from merely sating their sexual appetites and wishing her violence.

Why carry her off, when they could’ve easily shoved her on the ground, taken her maidenhead, beaten her, and left her off for dead? Did they have a sinister agenda worse than being left for dead?

By the Gods, why did something like this happen to her? She desperately hoped it was a horrid dream she’d soon wake up from, but the hard saddle against her thighs and the male behind her told her it wasn’t.

“Let me tell you something, woman. We don’t take the unwilling.” Dai’s breath tickled against her ear as he spoke.

The harsh texture of his callused hand was a sharp and foreign contrast to her smooth skin. His wandering hand traveled up her belly, ribs, and finally plucked one nipple. The sudden sensation made her moan, and made her back arch. Emi’s back hit Dai’s solid chest and arousal flooded her between her legs.

“I can smell your arousal from here, woman,” Sora said unhelpfully, licking his lips.

How can he know that, or for that matter, smell me? Heat flooded her cheeks and neck. Emi lifted her chin despite her embarrassment.

“I have a name, you know. It’s Emiko, or Emi, not ‘woman.’”

“You haven’t answered my question, Emi. Tell me one more time to let you go, and we’ll leave you alone.” Her name on Dai’s lips felt odd. It felt like he was savoring the very syllables of her name like it was edible.

“Just to remind you, Emi. These lands don’t belong to the crown of Yamato anymore. This is bandit territory and I can assure you the next group of men that will come along won’t be as nice as us.” Sora showed her his surprisingly white and sharp teeth.

Emi bit her lip. The lean, handsome bandit was right. She didn’t trust these two, but at least they haven’t done anything to her yet. At least she could pretend to be docile and eventually find some way to escape. One glance at Sora’s contemplative gaze told her he was the more calculative and cunning of the pair.

I have to be careful with him. Dai may be the muscle, but Sora’s the brain.

“What do you want of me?” Emi finally asked.

She gasped when Dai’s clever fingers pinched one of her nipples again, sending a sudden bolt of desire through her core.

“You, Emi. We intend to claim you and make you ours,” Dai said, leaning forward and tonguing her neck.

A shudder passed through Emi at the words “ours”. She’d never encountered a man who was so forward and savage about his desires, and she realized she liked it. These men were strangers to her and she was a stranger to them, yet they didn’t bother with hiding their intentions.

Wooing and courtly politics were always one and the same to her. The countless noblemen who’d courted her over the years always hid their true faces behind their masks, never unveiling their intentions. They never saw her, and she them. Although she hated them, Emi was adept at playing such games. Without those games, she became less certain of herself.

“What do you mean?” Emi was losing herself and she knew it.

Stripped of her courtly mask, attire, and attendants, it was frightening to simply just be Emi. Frightening and a little liberating. For some strange reason, she knew Dai and Sora would abide by their word that they wouldn’t take an unwilling woman. Emi wasn’t a fool. The last thing she’d do was trust two bandits, but they didn’t seem to mean her harm yet.

“The way you’re reacting to me tells us enough. You can use your sharp little mouth all you want, Emi, but your body tells us you want us.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Dai began to sniff and nuzzle at her pale slender neck. Emi stilled, but she didn’t resist or push him away. Dai meant what he said. While bears treated their mortal mates better than wolves did, an unclaimed female was still a tempting invitation to other bear shifters.

If Dai and Sora didn’t take Emi now, they’d risk her being taken away by others, and Dai didn’t think he’d allow that. The mortal woman had already sunk her hooks in him for some unexplainable reason.

“No,” Emi said weakly, but she didn’t push away the hands he wrapped around her small waist.

“No? You seem to be enjoying Dai’s attentions, though, Emi.”

Sora approached them. Dai’s hands slid beneath the belt of her kimono. She sighed when he unbelted the strip of silk cloth.

“Aren’t you enjoying our attention, Emi?” Sora asked.

“I…” Emi trailed off when Dai grinded himself against her.

“Tell me, Sora. Are her breasts as fine as I’ve imagined them?” Dai asked his lover, recognizing the heavy look of desire on his features.

“That and more. They’re beautiful and milk white.” Sora neared Emi until they were inches apart. “Don’t you want to feel Dai’s hands on these lovely treasures of yours, while you feel my hands pleasuring your dripping pussy?”

“Yes,” she murmured. “Touch me, please. Both of you.”

Dai didn’t wait a second longer. His hands drifted past her fine silk kimono. When they finally touched silky, soft, and smooth flesh, Emi sighed contently against him. Dai could feel the brush of Sora’s skin just in front of Emi, and his talented fingers slipping beneath her undergarments.

Dai found one of her breasts, and he pinched one hardening bud just as Sora slipped his hand to her wet cunt. Emi cried out against his arms in surprise.

“Tell us one last time, Emi. Do you want this? Do you want us?” Sora asked again. “Because your body is telling me yes. Do you see how wet you are for us?”

Dai could hardly contain his groan. He could smell Emi’s arousal flooding her cunt and soaking her undergarments. She wanted both of them. Dai knew that now. He wasn’t certain before. Neither he nor Sora took unwilling women, but he was certain now.

Sora withdrew his fingers, and they came out wet. “Have a taste, lover.”

He held them out to Dai, who licked every last bit of Emi’s sweet cream.

“Yes,” Emi whispered.

“Yes what, you sweet proud thing? Tell us clearly what you want and we’ll make sure you’ll have it,” Dai murmured against her ear.

She shuddered against him, only making his cock harder.

“Yes, I want you both. More badly than I’ve ever wanted any other man.”

Dai’s heartbeat and breaths quickened. Her words called to him and his bear more strongly than ever. The black bear that shared half his soul surged against him, wanting to feel the press of Emi, their mate, against it.

The bear had known, just as Sora’s own bear had known, that Emi was their mate the moment they saw her emerge from the fox’s forest. She was the perfect fit to their two bears.

“That’s all we wanted to hear.” Sora slipped his hand into her undergarments again. “I want to feel you come against my fingers, Emi. I want to feel the muscles of your cunt contracting around them.”

Dai bit his lip to muffle his groan at that image. Sure enough, Sora worked her with his talented fingers. Dai’s cock had been on the receiving end of those fingers, so he wasn’t surprised Emi would come soon.

“Describe to me what you’re doing, Sora,” Dai commanded.

He began to kiss the side of Emi’s neck. She smelled so tempting he had to administer little licks and sucks just so he could taste her.

“I’m just running circles around her swollen little nub, Dai.” Sora wore a familiar grin.

“You don’t have to be so graphic,” Emi said in staggered breaths. A moan then came out of her.

“I’m now fingering her pussy, Dai. By the Gods of Yamato, her cunt lips are so wet. She’s really begging to be fucked.”

“Please…” Emi murmured, panting.

“Are you feeling generous, Sora?” Dai asked his lover.

“Not yet, lover. My fingers are still enjoying the sensation of her soft, pink, and wet folds against it. I can imagine it already, Dai. She must really taste so sweet.”

Dai groaned at that, and he could imagine Sora parting Emi’s legs and putting his clever tongue to work. It would’ve been splendid to watch Emi’s expression buckle and be overcome with pleasure.

“Maybe she wants to feel your fingers inside her, Sora.” Dai pressed his nose against the nape of Emi’s neck again to inhale her wonder. “Do you want to Sora to finger fuck you, Emi?”

“Yes. Oh, yes. Please, Sora,” Emi begged.

Dai sniffed his way to the side of her neck so he could see what Sora was doing. The slender man pumped one, two, and three fingers inside Emi’s wet cunt. The woman let out a sigh against him as Sora began to thrust them into her with rapid motions.

“Come for us, sweet. Come for Dai and me,” Sora told her.

She shuddered violently, collapsing helplessly in pleasure in Dai’s arms.

“I’ve never…That was…” Emi whispered as Sora leaned toward her to taste her lips.

“That’s just a taste, sweet. What’s to come is much better,” Sora said after the kiss.

“You’ll not just give us pleasure, Emi. It’s our job to give you pleasure, too. You’re about to find out what’s it like to belong to two bears and two real men who know how to give their woman a good time,” Dai told her plainly.