Page 17 of Mated To The Vikens

I moved to stand beside Gunnar and Erik so Sophia could see the three of us together.

“Yes, they’re big brutes,” Leah continued, huffing out a laugh. “But they’re yours. They won’t hurt you. Right, guys?”

We nodded in unison and watched as Leah scooted around the trunk. Sophia sat there, her fingers gripping the rough bark. She looked at each of us in turn, and my cock grew hard as she looked into my eyes for the first time. I saw longing there, and fear. Her gaze lingered on Erik’s long brown hair before shifting to Gunnar.

She froze and her eyes widened, growing darker, but not with fear. I’d seen many women react to Gunnar in exactly the same way. With desire.

“Come down, sweetie. I promise you, you’re safe now,” Leah insisted, her voice soothing.

Gunnar handed me his ion blaster, stepped forward and held out his hand to our mate. “Come down now, Sophia. You’re safe. I am Gunnar, your mate. And I give you my solemn vow, no one will ever hurt you again.”

We waited. Impatiently.

“I…can’t.” Sophia’s voice was soft, timid. Tired. The small sound made my heart clench in my chest.

“They won’t hurt you,” Leah repeated. “No one here will hurt you. If I know your mates, no one will hurt you ever again.”

I heard Gunnar grunt.

“I’m not afraid of you, at least not anymore,” Sophia continued, and she stared down into Gunnar’s upturned face. “I can’t climb down. My muscles are frozen and stiff. I’ll fall.”

I didn’t wait then, but stalked over to the base of the tree and began to climb. Sophia’s eyes widened the closer I got to her, but she didn’t move. When I stood on a lower branch and we were at eye level with each other, I smiled.

“Hello, beautiful. I’m Rolf, your mate.”

She offered a small smile. Gods, she was lovely. This close I saw that her hair was actually a mix of colors, light brown and red strands mixed in with the masses of gold. Her skin was soft and creamy, the swells of her breasts visible beneath the thin slip of cloth she wore. Her lips were a pale pink and her soft brown eyes looked up at me with a stark loneliness I understood all too well. When I held out my hand, she placed her smaller one in mine and that slight touch made me burn to taste her, to wrap her in my arms and keep her safe from the world. The heat of it, the connection, had her meeting my gaze, wide eyed.

Nodding once, perhaps telling her that I felt it, too, I then glanced down at the others, a good twenty feet below. No wonder she was scared. She was a tiny thing and had a crowd of big men beneath her. And a long way to fall.

“You’ve had quite the day. What do you say I help you from this tree and we go far, far from here? Where there’s a bath and food. Some clean clothes. Gunnar and Erik want to meet you, too.” I was the soother of the three of us. I’d never appreciated that mantle before, but now, I was thrilled. I would be the one to coax our mate into my arms, into our protection, once and for all.

“All right.”

Her hand was so small in mine, I could not wait to discover what I would feel pressing her body to mine, tasting her. Thrusting my cock into her eager core and listening to her soft cries of pleasure.

First, I had to see her safe. Usually everyone else took care of the big problems. I was the lighthearted one. Joking, inserting humor into desolate situations. Of course I wasn't always so upbeat. Hell, that fun banter hid the fucking hurt I carried around. But this, Sophia, was bigger than stupid hurt from my past. Bigger than my mother and my brother, the pain they'd caused me. What I hid behind a quick smile and a joke.

But our mate had been forced to defend herself, in the wilds. She hid from us as if we were a danger to her. And now, I used my quick smile and soft tone not to hide anything, but to relieve her worries. I was showing her the real me, because hell, she was mine.

I

asked her to shift close enough that I could scoop her up into my arms. She was soft and warm and so tiny I didn’t want to let her go. But I couldn’t jump from this height holding her, so I had to set her on her feet beside me. I moved down branch by branch, holding her hand as she followed.

Erik stepped up and he held out his hands. “Jump, Sophia. I’ll catch you.”

She was directly above him, not more than a few feet. She reached her hands out and put them in his, then jumped. He caught her easily and she was in his tight hold. Erik would not let her go.

I lowered myself down to the soft forest floor and sighed, relieved to know we had our mate once and for all. Sophia buried her face in Erik’s neck, all but burrowing in. He reveled in the embrace, squeezing her as tightly as he could without hurting her, then kissing the top of her head.

“Welcome to Viken, Sophia,” Leah said.

Our mate turned her head and offered the Queen a small smile. “Yeah, well, it sucks so far,” she muttered. “And I thought New York was bad.”

Leah laughed. “I’m sure your mates will more than make it up to you.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Sophia, who blushed a pretty shade of pink. Confused, I tilted my head at our Queen, unsure if I’d understood her suggestive tone.

“Leah, behave yourself,” Lev commanded his mate, but the Queen threw back her head and laughed, the sound full of contagious happiness. Sophia’s smile was genuine now. Even Lev, our stern-faced King, grinned at his joyful little mate.

But when Gunnar stepped close, Sophia’s eyes widened and she pushed away, trying to escape Erik’s arms. When he refused to let her go, she turned away, hiding her face. “No. Not him. If you’re my mate, then don’t let him touch me. I…don’t trust him. You can’t trust him.”

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