Page 16 of The Barbarian's Claim
Respect filled me, and when I looked at him again, I saw more than the frightened tribute who clung to my tunic and hid from the world. “You are a brave man,” I said quietly. “Not many would survive as long as you did.”
He lifted a shoulder, obviously uneasy with the compliment. I let it go. It would not help matters to make him uncomfortable.
Something nudged at my mind, and I narrowed my eyes. “How old are you? You said you had to leave at seventeen andyou lived two years outside of the orphanage after that.” In our clan, the age of adulthood was twenty. We did not accept tributes younger than that. If Uttin accepted him despite that?—
“T-t-twenty,” he said softly. “Th-they arrived to f-fetch me on my b-b-birthday.”
A grunt was all I could offer him. To think his becoming a man was spent in fear of what would come instead of celebrating like he should have been was abhorrent to me. The people of the towns were cruel, and I hated them a little more than I had before he told me the truth.
It also meant he was twenty years my junior. I hadn’t thought to ask when I claimed him. It didn't matter; I wouldn’t have changed my mind, but it did unsettle me a little. I was so much older than he was, and vastly more jaded with the world. Aside from my protection, what did he gain from our bonding? What else could I even offer?
Ten
MATTHEW
It was colder sleeping out in the wilderness instead of in a tent. I figured that was the reason Einar only brought one bedroll. I was getting used to sleeping close to him, so it didn’t bother me. I rather liked it. He was a warm, solid presence, and I slept better beside him than I ever had before. He nudged me into the inside of the roll, putting him on the side with the opening closest to the fire. I assumed he did that on purpose so he could get to his weapons faster if there was any danger, and I didn’t mind it. I was snuggled in close against his back, the bedroll tight around me like a hug, and I fell asleep quickly because of it.
Sometime in the night, we must have turned over, because I woke up facing away from him with his big body pressed against my back. It was a first—he generally didn’t move much while sleeping—and with the way I was trapped in the bedroll, I couldn’t move away to avoid him.
Something poked my behind, and my eyes flew open in surprise. I shouldn’t have been; most men woke up this way.Even I woke up that way, which was why I was always careful to turn over sometime in the night and give Einar my back so he wouldn’t notice. But I guess I never expected it from Einar. He was so serious all the time that I couldn’t imagine him aroused.
Which was unfair. It wasn’t as though he was ugly or his body was displeasing. He was tall and wide, with thick muscles and thighs the size of tree trunks. I saw them whenever he bathed in the river. He had more body hair than most of the other barbarians, but that didn’t ruin the appeal, in my opinion. He kept his hair shorter than most in the clan, shaved on the sides, and only long enough on top to pull into a small ponytail. And his face, while intimidating when he was glaring, was pleasing to the eye. His brows were thick and almost always drawn together, either in annoyance or a frown, giving him a little crease between them. His beard was long enough to braid like other barbarians did if he felt the inclination, though I doubted he would. His eyes were as dark as coal, and when they locked on you, it almost felt like he could see into your soul. It was the scars that made others think twice about approaching him. Four large scars cut across his face, narrowly missing one eye. There was a section of beard that didn’t grow because of it, and it made his frowns look deeper and more intense than if they hadn’t been there.
To me, the scars didn’t detract from his looks. They made him look rugged and intimidating, and that only increased the feeling that I was safe with him. No one would approach me without his permission. It was his personality that made me think him disinterested in pleasure. He glared at the world, growled at anyone who spoke to him, and generally avoided the clan as often as he could. His actions didn’t give any indication that he wanted more than to have everyone leave him alone.
His arm slid off his side and dropped around me, tightening a little to draw me closer. The move ground his erection againstme, and I bit my lip to stifle a gasp. It was hard not to get aroused myself when such a strong and handsome man was pressing his erection against my behind, even in his sleep. My cock, which was already perking up like it did most mornings, thickened in my trousers. My lip was starting to get sore, I was chewing on it so much. I wasn’t sure what to do. Einar had never given any indication that he was interested in me. He’d claimed me to protect me. His arousal was probably just his body’s natural reaction to waking. But… I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested.
It was a risk, asking him to be intimate with me. I didn’t want to ruin the comfort we had with each other now. No. It was better that I kept my interest to myself. Though I couldn’t help pushing back a little when I felt his cock twitch against my ass. I was only human.
The arm around my waist tightened again, and his hand opened to span across my stomach. My belly quickened at the touch, especially when he moved my tunic out of the way to touch the skin instead.
“What do you need, Matthew?” he asked, his voice husky with sleep. It made me shiver and press back again, my blood scorching with want. He made this growly sound that wasn’t anything like when he was angrily growling at one of his clanmates. It was filled with heat, and it made my breath come a little quicker because of it. My not answering him wasn’t because of embarrassment. I had never felt this way before. I couldn’t think long enough to form words in my head. I could only whimper.
He said something in his language then, harsh and tight with restraint. I was worried he’d pull away, so I caught his hand on my belly, urging him lower without my voice. When his hand disappeared into my trousers and wrapped around my cock, I moaned and writhed, unable to help myself.
The first stroke had my eyes rolling into my head. His hands were rough, but not in a bad way. And he was careful with me, stroking roughly enough to make it pleasurable without hurting me. While he touched me, his hips thrust against my ass, grinding his cock into me. I wanted to ask for more, to fully pull down my trousers and feel his skin against mine, but I couldn’t. I was too lost in the sensation of his touch.
I was getting close when Einar jerked suddenly, ripping open the ties of the bedroll and exposing us both to the cold morning air. Against my heated skin, it was a shock, but I was too worked up to complain. Einar rolled me onto my back, shoving my trousers down and my tunic out of the way. I couldn’t ask what he was doing because the moment my stomach was exposed, he started touching me again, and I felt my balls tighten in warning of my release.
His hand twisting over the head of my cock proved too much for me, and I moaned as my release overtook me. It was nothing like when I touched myself. With Einar touching me, it felt like so much more. My stomach tightened, and I curled in on myself a little from the force of it, splashing cum all over my skin.
I was still coming down from the explosive release when I heard Einar grunt. I opened my eyes to find him looming over me, one hand planted by my head while the other stroked his cock. My eyes widened as I took him in. He was big all over, and I was glad he wasn’t demanding more from me. The size was a little intimidating. How was I meant to take it? Would it even fit?
“It will fit,” he growled, like he could see the question written on my face.
I trusted him and accepted his words before letting my curiosity get the better of me. I couldn’t touch his cock with how he was jerking himself, but his balls were within reach. I’d never had the opportunity to truly touch another man before, and my belly quivered with excitement as I cupped him. He madeanother growly sound, this one more intense, but he didn’t ask me to stop. I rolled the globes in my hand, testing their weight before squeezing very gently. I was mimicking how I liked to touch myself, but I never expected it to work as well as it did. Einar stiffened and let out a shout as cum exploded from his cock onto my stomach and chest. I sucked in a breath and felt my cock twitch despite my earlier finish. Was it wrong that I liked him marking me like that?
Einar dropped onto his side and rolled to his back, breathing heavily beside me. I’d just barely managed to catch my own breath, so I didn’t begrudge him the time to do the same. I wasn’t sure what to do next, honestly. Was it possible to get out of the bedroll and to the nearby stream without making a mess?
“Don’t move,” Einar said in warning beside me as he sat up. For a moment, I worried there was a creature coming for us, but he didn’t move to grab his weapons. He reached for his bag instead, pulling a cloth out of the bottom. He used it to clean up my belly, his expression surprisingly dark. Did he not enjoy himself? Was he angry about how quickly I’d finished? Should I have encouraged him to take me anyway?
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, avoiding my gaze as he tugged my tunic back down to cover me again.
Without him looking at me, he couldn’t see the question in my eyes. I was forced to say the words out loud. “F-for w-what?”
His lip twitched against a scowl, and all the happy, fuzzy feelings from before vanished. I must have done something wrong. Why else would he look so angry?
“For touching you like that. You chose me to protect you, not for that. I got carried away and?—”
