A Satyr's Mate Ch. 05-06

CHAPTER FIVE

My First Time

Something had changed between us. It was subtle enough to go unnoticed by others, I thought, but undeniable just the same. I was beginning to feel comfortable around Dolphus in a way I never dreamed possible.

His hands were forever roaming freely over my bare flesh. It started with him insisting on bathing me at the hot spring. Then as he helped me along the treacherous trail, I noticed that his palm brushed against my swaying breasts many times. I thought it was by accident until I caught glimpse of the grin tugging at his lips. In his dwelling, he was even more obvious about it.

On some level, it felt wrong. No Sibian coupling was like this. And no male satyrs were fondling satyresses two weeks before mating season. But it was hard to pay attention to that reasoning.

When Dolphus' palms cupped my breasts, his fingers pinching and squeezing my nipples until they protruded, a stirring would begin inside me that made me forget all reason. All I could think about was how much I wanted more, needed more. Whether he could smell it or sense it on me, he always knew, too, and didn't pass up the opportunity to give me what I wanted.

Too many times per day to count, he would take me to that blissful place until I was shuddering in his arms, too weak to move. He appeared to be just as addicted to it as I was, even though he rarely experienced his own release.

I asked him about it, of course. I had no secrets and held nothing back from him. He explained that it took a great deal of energy out of him each time he released and he worried about what that meant. He was concerned that when it was time to mate, his seed would not be viable. So little was known about how these things worked. So few satyrs had ever ejaculated outside of breeding season so no one knew the potential consequence of it.

I questioned my own wantonness, but Dolphus wouldn't allow me to consider it anything but perfectly normal for a Baltian woman. According to what they knew of the Baltian race, they were very sexual by nature. I knew so little of my background and longed to ask my father questions that would fill in the blank spaces for me.

I thought about him a lot, my father. I wondered if he was still living free, having learned his lesson after losing his only daughter to Grachhus, or if he was a slave himself somewhere. Was he in the dark mines? Being chased through the forest and sodomized by ogres when caught? I shuddered at the thought of my beautiful, tall, dark-haired father being thrown to the ground and raped. He hadn't been the best caregiver, but he didn't deserve to be treated like an animal. In many ways, he'd done the best he could, considering he'd had to raise me on his own.

"What are you thinking about, little one?"

I blinked a couple of times to bring me back to the present. "My father."

"Do you miss him?"

"I ... Not really. I miss not knowing about my family history. I don't even know very much about how my parents met, or what my mother was like."

"Do you remember your mother at all?"

I shook my head. "She died giving birth to me."

Dolphus' body tensed. He stopped breathing altogether for a couple of seconds. I turned my attention toward him.

"What's the matter?"

Dolphus shook his head. "I'm sorry for your loss."

He'd been aware of her death, just not the circumstance behind it so I was surprised by his sudden concern. "It's okay. I've had my entire life to get over it. I just wish I could talk to her now. I have so many questions."

"I must go to Aeron and discuss business."

I turned to face Dolphus. He'd not mentioned leaving the den that day and I couldn't help but think that the decision to go was very sudden. Studying his face, I noticed that Dolphus' expression had turned utterly grim.

"I've been spending much time away from flock business."

"What is there to attend to? What sort of satyr business could there possibly be? It's not like you have stores, or written laws, or elections, or schools, or corrupt men who get rich off of other people's gambling weaknesses. You eat, you mate, you raise offspring. How complicated is that?"

"Quiet, Ashira. You are approaching the brink of insult. Clearly I've been spoiling you far too much."

I gasped at how much that statement stung. Apparently, I'd only imagined that he was enjoying our time together as much as I had been. For several silent moments, I simply stared at him with mouth agape and eyes wide in shock. A look of regret washed over his face but he made no effort to retract the statement. Instead, he simply left the domicile.

"What just happened?"

I spoke the words out loud to no one. Loomis was spending the day looking after his chosen partner, Haibu after a nasty misstep. I'd actually thought that Dolphus would take advantage of our being alone. We hadn't yet engaged in copulation, although Dolphus had promised we'd do so before breeding season, just two weeks away, and I was more than ready.

Heavy disappointment weighed on my shoulders. I allowed my knees to buckle from the weight of it until I was sitting on the floor. Had I offended him? I replayed my words and the voice in which they were spoken. My tone had been a condescending, I had to admit. I didn't mean it. Satyrs were simple, but intelligent. Much smarter than the average Sibian. And Dolphus...Dolphus was the most intelligent of them all.

Tears stung the corners of my eyes. Glancing around the empty domicile, I suddenly felt very lonely. I'd said those things to keep him from leaving. I was being selfish. He was right; I was spoiled. I'd come to rely on his presence, his feather kisses along my neck and shoulders, his soft caresses down my sides and along my hips. His constant warmth and affection. If he didn't want me to crave those things, then why did he make them so pleasurable? Why did he find it necessary to push me over the edge so many times a day if he got nothing out of it?

My own answers were ones I didn't want to hear. So that I would readily submit to being bred when the time came. To fulfill my purpose and become impregnated with his offspring.

It was so easy to forget why I was there in the first place. It wasn't because I'd chosen to be there. I was Dolphus' slave. He'd been very clear about my role and expectations.

I spent the remainder of the day pacing the den and the area just outside of it. Thunderstorms were brewing around our mountain range so I dared not stray any farther. When droplets of rain began to fall, I withdrew and climbed into bed, allowing boredom to lull me into a fitful sleep.

A loud clap of thunder awoke me. I must not have been asleep for very long because night had not fallen yet, though the sky was very dark. Glancing around the domicile, I realized that Dolphus had not yet returned.

My heart ached for him. It was the longest we'd been apart in over 5 days.

Rolling onto my stomach, I buried my nose in the downy bedding where he slept. His rich, woodsy scent filled my nostrils and made me long for him even more. How had I become so attached to this mercurial satyr? Before I could think up an answer, my body responded. A dull, aching throb took root deep within my core.

Mental images of his fingers parting my heated flesh and exploring me there sent lighting bolds straight to my center. The throbbing increased until it was unbearable.

I rolled onto my back and reached down between my thighs. My flesh was swollen and hot and wet. So much so that it was soaking my thighs and trickling onto the bedding. The first touch of my fingertips along my blooming slit made me lift my hips off the bed. It was so naughty, and yet felt so good at the same time. We'd been taught as children in school never to indulge ourselves in this way. It was strictly forbidden and the punishment for disobeying was more severe than for stealing.

But Sibiu was so far away. And Dolphus...Oh, dear Osmos...

Just the thought of Dolphus sent my hips to rocking wildly against my hand. I kicked the coverlet off me and splayed my thighs so that I could shove two fingers inside. It wasn't enough. With my free hand, I tugged and twisted my nipples like Dolphus so often did. Adding a third finger, I furiously pumped my palm against my now greedy opening. Three fingers still didn't approximate the thickness and length of Dolphus' digits. I needed more ... I needed him ... Inside me. Not just his fingers.

I was too lost in frustration to notice Dolphus' arrival. It wasn't until I withdrew my fingers in defeat, having not reached the heights that I sought, that I saw him standing at the foot of the bed.

I froze.

With the exception of my panting, I remained perfectly still for several long moments. Guilty thoughts littered my feeble mind. To have been caught so fully in the throes of self-indulgence like that was humiliating. I turned my face away from him and began to roll onto my side in shame.

"Don't move."

My body startled as if his spoken words had slapped me across the face. Tears threatened to fall down my cheeks. I couldn't help myself, I simply couldn't obey him. My mind was screaming for me to hide.

Before I could roll the rest of the way onto my side, he was on top of me, blocking me from curling away from him. I gasped in surprise. As he quickly rolled me onto my back, I searched his face for answers.

His cheeks were flushed and his jaw tight. It was a face I'd seen many times when he fought to restrain himself. I quickly glanced down between us. His member was fully erect, the bulbous head glistening with wetness.

"I should not do this now."

A look of alarm must've crossed my face. If he stopped at that point, I felt I might die. "Please, Dolphus..."

He growled and bared his teeth at me. I knew there were things we had to discuss. I owed him an apology for speaking out the way I did, forgetting my place, but at the moment, I truly needed him inside me. I would gladly accept any punishment he doled out if he could give me this one thing.

"I promise to be good, just please, please ... I need to feel you inside me."

A low growl emanated from deep in his chest and for a moment I thought he was going to deny me. Then he pressed my thighs to the bed as he positioned his cock at my entrance.

All time stood still. I held my breath as he paused to lock me in his gaze. He was giving me one last chance to change my mind. Only I wasn't going to change it. I wanted it more than I wanted anything in the world at that moment. I needed it more than my next breath.

He must've been satisfied with my resolve because a moment later, I felt the head of his cock parting my folds.

His cock was larger than his fingers. And surprisingly harder, though it had always felt somewhat pliable in my hands. As it forged its way slowly into my opening, I could feel my inner muscles stretching to accommodate. Sweat beaded from every pore in my body. It was just on the brink of being painful but I didn't want him to stop. Regardless of the burning sensation from having my insides stretched beyond capacity, I still needed him inside me. I was aching to be filled.

He was progressing agonizingly slow. Impatience won over my better judgment. "More. I need more."

Dolphus' lip curled as he lowered his mouth to nip my ear. As he bit down, his pelvis tilted to drive his shaft fully inside me. Stars littered my vision from both the pain of being nipped and speared, and the utter bliss of fulfillment. I realized what I'd been craving the past week. It was this. To be surrounded by him, his weight on top of me as he filled me from the inside.

My arms wrapped around his neck, my legs closing around his waist in the most intimate embrace. I whispered in his ear. "Yes, yes. This is what I crave."

His lips closed on my neck, his tongue snaking out to taste the sweat that had pooled there. His hips began to rock methodically. I felt every inch of his beautiful length gliding in and out of my yielding orifice. Each stroke less resistant than the previous. Each one less painful, until all I was experiencing was the miracle of it.

My insides coiled tighter with each stroke until I was panting and shaking beneath him, riding the edge of that beautiful release I'd grown addicted to getting. He sensed when I'd had enough and quickened his pace, catapulting me over the edge of release.

I screamed and clawed at his back even as my hips bucked beneath him. He mercilessly pounded into me for two more strokes before his cock exploded, spewing his hot fluid deep in my channel. I felt each pulsation as it rippled down his shaft, and without warning, the thought of what that meant nudged me right into another climactic wave. He was filling me with his seed. It may not be viable yet, but soon it would be.

Dolphus remained on top of me until our breathing returned to normal and his cock softened inside me. I hissed at the sting when his cock slithered from my opening. The discomfort had returned.

"You may be sore for a few days, little one."

His apologetic tone made my heart melt. "I don't mind."

He smiled as he stroked my cheek. "So brave."

Pushing himself onto his haunches, he spread my thighs to examine the area. I flushed with embarrassment, but it was far less severe than it would've been just a week earlier. I was growing accustomed to his intimate acts, however primal they felt. He engaged in them for my health and safety.

"You will heal in a couple of moons. Next time will not be so bad."

"I didn't think this time was bad."

"I was surprised by your climax. It prompted my own, despite my attempt to stop it."

For some reason, it hurt to think that he didn't want that to happen. "You didn't want to release inside me?"

Dolphus tilted his head in curiosity as he studied my wrinkled brow. "You are upset by this?"

I was upset. I had no idea why, though. It wasn't as if we were a mated pair, yet. I shrugged my shoulders, unable to answer him. I was suddenly so confused.

Dolphus frowned in obvious frustration over my sudden withdrawal from him. "We have things to settle between us."

I nodded and sighed. It was time to apologize for my behavior. I searched my memory for the apology I'd rehearsed in my head while he was away.

"I should not have left you so abruptly earlier. I was not upset about what you said. Your ignorance about flock business is my fault. I've been keeping you out of it so you will not worry yourself, but it is time that you knew."

I was shocked by his confession. I'd been kicking myself for how I acted when that wasn't at all the reason for his departure, apparently.

"There is a dangerous force lurking in this area."

"Where? Up here in the mountains?"

"Non, not exactly. Around Sibiu mostly, but they pose a threat to our kind."

"How? What is it?"

"It's a band of Sibian males."

"Outlaws?"

"Yes, but more organized than simply a group of rebels. Their numbers have been growing over the past few years."

"What do they want?"

Dolphus shook his head. "We don't know. We don't seem to be their primary focus except in these months leading up to harvest. They target our younger members, although they've been known to kill adults when caught by surprise."

Dolphus' cold gaze drifted to an empty space on the wall as if he were remembering something particularly painful for a moment. I knew in an instant what it must be. "Your parents were killed while out on a trail. By them?"

He nodded and sighed. "Yes. We think they came upon their camp by accident. No one knew of the possible threat back then."

"I'm so sorry, Dolphus."

Dolphus shook his head. "It was many moons ago."

"Have you spoken with the Sibian council about it?"

"Many times. They have been under attack, as well. Worst than we have."

"They have? How come I've never heard of it?"

I needed only to spot Dolphus' rueful expression to know the answer. It was the same reason I knew nothing about sex, or evolution, or Baltia, or Satyrs. They liked to keep their people ignorant.

"What is this band after?"

"I suspect that they seek power. We believe they are recruited, sometimes not willingly, into a training program. One of our scouts caught glimpse of exercises that looked eerily similar to our own guard training. They are well funded, clothed, fed, and trained. But we don't know by whom."

"Grachhus, I'd imagine."

"That is who we suspect, but we have no evidence to support that claim. At your auction, there was a Sibian buyer there who was a stranger to Sibiu."

"I saw him."

"He bought the largest slave of the lot."

"I remember. Slave number two."

Dolphus nodded. "But if it were Grachhus behind the band of rebels, why would he bother to auction the slave in the first place? He could easily have just sent the man off to the rebel army."

"Unless he's trying to throw off any suspicion."

"Yes, it would be clever. Do you think him capable? He appears to be such a dull human."

"I agree he appears stupid, but he is crafty. Devious. It would be just his game. Now we must figure out what he is planning to do so we can stop him."

"We?"

I blinked up at Dolphus in surprise. "What? I'm part of this flock now, aren't I? My life is in just as much danger as yours, right?"

Dolphus smiled and nodded. "I suppose so. I just thought..."

"What?"

"I thought ... I was afraid that you might take their side. Because they're human."

"Is that why you didn't tell me until now?"

Dolphus shrugged. "Partly. Also so you wouldn't worry unnecessarily."

"You're the worrier. And highly confused about how loyalty works for me."

"How so?"

"I am to be your mate. You are a part of this flock. Therefore, I am a part of this flock. The rest is meaningless."

"You will only become my mate when we successfully produce offspring. Many things can happen between now and then."

It was the first doubt I'd heard from Dolphus on the subject. I'd always assumed that it was a foregone conclusion. "Things are looking good so far. We've determined that our bodies work together."

"Very well, in fact."

My insides heated from his declaration.

"Non, little one. Not until you've healed."

I hated how in tune he was with my body. I couldn't hide even a twinge of arousal from him. "Okay. I'll try to be patient."

"I believe I've unleashed a devilish monster. Come, let's eat before I lose my patience and take you again."

********

CHAPTER SIX

The Secret

He'd opened up a new world for me, unlocked secrets I didn't know existed. I floated about from place to place with visions of our intimate encounters dancing in my thoughts. It was my new favorite obsession, and Dolphus was all too eager to indulge me whenever I chose, which was no less than twice daily.

We quickly discovered that he was not only capable of engaging in this Baltian behavior, it became less taxing for him to release. For me, I knew I could never grow tired of it, never have too much. I craved it. I craved Dolphus.

Mating season was upon us. I was unclear exactly how it was to commence. Dolphus wasn't specific about it, only that a particular scent filled the air, signaling the start by sending every satyr male into a frenzy. It was a dangerous time to be out and about, and as Dolphus had previously warned, I was to be relegated to the domicile.

But another attack on an adolescent satyr forced Dolphus to leave me alone to discuss matters with Aeron. The rebel army had obviously run out of food stores and was now hunting satyrs. They were growing more bold with each attack, coming closer to the flock. It indicated that they were more confident of their ability to take on an adult satyr, or that they were so desperate for food, the risk was worth the payoff. Either way, they were sneaky enough to claim one young satyr, and that was one too many for this dwindling flock.