Page 86 of The Billionaire Orc

“There are some who say the ceremony makes the hormones peak and a pregnancy more likely, but who knows. And that’s not what modern orcs necessarily want straight away, with both partners wanting to work and all. Oh, I forgot, another part of the ritual involves being pulled by your hair to his cave. Though not all orcs do it nowadays. You wear this over your head to stop it actually tugging at your hair.” Lena foraged in the wardrobe and came out with a strong, almost invisible net.

Shona shook her head in amused disbelief.

“It’s just a game, my dear. In the olden days I guess an orc may have pulled their woman around by her hair and the idea stuck. Orc humor, you know. We like to have a laugh. Now we all play along with the myth.” Lena cocked her head, smiling. “Would you like to take the costume with you, then maybe learn the moves and some of our orcish words?”

“Yes, I would love that, Lena. And could I take the cudgel, also?”

“Of course, my dear. It will be an honor to pass on the cudgel, as we women say. I’ll package it up, pretend I’m giving you some fruddel cake. Keep it a secret, eh? And then you can come back secretly, and Katrina and me will give you some lessons.”

“I’d really like that, thank you Lena.”

The rest of the evening was filled with merriment and stories around the fire. As they left, Lena slipped a package into Shona’s hands.

“What’s that?” Tor asked.

“Just some fruddel cake for later, my boy.” Lena grinned.

“Big cake,” he said.

“Well, there’s two of you to feed now, eh.”

Tor shook his head. “You’ll get used to her feeding us.” He grinned at Shona, who simply took the package with a sweet smile and a tiny wink to Lena.

In the cab, she laid her head against his shoulder. “It was so good meeting your family, and being introduced to orc traditions.”

“My parents love you already.”

“And I love them.”

“Do you think you’ll cope with our strange orcish customs?”

Shona clasped the package tightly in her lap and smiled to herself. “I think I’ll cope very well.”

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Tor slid out of bed, carefully extricating himself from Shona’s arm draped over his torso. He gazed down at her lovingly for a moment, her soft lips parted in sleep, her long lashes golden against her pale cheeks.

Angelic.

She was truly his mate. Except they hadn’t knotted since that very first night together, and the urge to thrust into her fully was becoming overpowering. He’d been determined to give her time to recover from her ordeal, so even when she’d begged him to knot her, he’d held back. But it had been three weeks since the kidnapping, and his need was growing more intense.

But today… Today they were returning to Orc Island. He hoped this would be the moment for them to mate-bond fully—or to use the old orcish word—Orcbind. His cock stood to attention just thinking about it, even though he knew it wouldn’t be a fully traditional affair. He hadn’t even mentioned the tradition to Shona incase she found the whole idea too weird.

She’d only just entered the world of orcs, after all.

With a soft huff, he grabbed his clothes and tiptoed from the room to dress. If she woke, they’d probably make love, and that would mess up his plans for the day.

He went and made them coffee and breakfast.

And then he gently woke her.

She smiled up at him, her eyes dancing with anticipation. “We’re going to Orc Island, aren’t we.”

“We are indeed, pet. And the boat will be waiting.”

“Then there’s no time to waste here, is there?”

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