Page 9 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

Fuck. She smelled so fucking?—

“Govek—”

Her call ended in a yelp as he yanked her into his arms again, forced her to his chest. He needed to get that fucking scent off her or he would lose the last miserable scrap of his sanity.

It was the worst over her mouth. Rogeth’s pungent odor lingered on her lips. His shaking increased as he lowered his head to her.

He couldn’t wait to give her a bath.

He slanted his mouth over hers and sucked at her lips, laved his tongue over her. He drank down Rogeth’s tainted, bitter musk and replaced it with his own.

It worked too blasted well. Miranda moaned against him and returned the kiss with gusto. She squirmed against his body as he pressed her into the tree. She must have thought he was trying to woo her, because she kept tempting his tongue into dueling. Distracting him from his goal of removing the scent from her flesh. It was on her cheeks too, down under her chin, near her neck.

Only when he broke away to lick across her cheek did she manage breathlessly, “What are you doing?”

“Marking,” he snarled, and fuck, this wasn’t the kind of mark he wanted. His body buzzed with need. He longed to drag his fangs across her neck and sink them into her flesh, brand her fragile skin with his bite. Force a mark upon her that could never be undone. The instinct was strong, vivid, alive.

Like it had been all those moons ago with Yerina.

He pushed the bitter memories from his mind and concentrated on Miranda. On kissing her tender lips. On making her tremble and squirm.

“Govek, hold on.” She splayed her fingers through his hair, turned her head away so she could speak. He laved his tongue over her cheek in response, and she let out a little whimper of pleasure that shot right through him. “Govek, wait. We need to get to the hall.”

The hall? Fuck that. He’d just escaped from his father’s clutches. He would not be going back.

“Govek, we need to head off Maythra before she tells everyone lies about what happened.”

Fury swarmed his mind until he felt like his limbs were buzzing. He pulled back to search her face. “What did they do to you?”

Her eyes went huge, but she didn’t hesitate. “They were trying to frame you. They wanted to get me back to the hall so you’d see me with them and attack. I think they thought this would force Karthoc to rescind his order to make you the chief.”

“No,” he snapped. “What did they do to you?”

Her brow furrowed with confusion until he reached up to touch her face. “They... they threw some kind of liquid on my face that made me feel dizzy and disoriented.”

“You smell of them, Miranda. They touched you.”

“They only touched me briefly to silence me. Just once on my face and arm.”

The confirmation only made it worse. He slunk back from her, his anger raging like an inferno.

“Govek, hold on.” She stepped closer.

“Go,” he rasped. The word felt like jagged glass tearing up his throat. He wrenched away from her so fast his head spun and he actually staggered. He went to his knees in the harsh icy dirt. The wet chill soaked into his pants and cooled his heated flesh. He needed to calm, calm?—

“I’m not safe. I’m not in control.”

“Govek—”

“Go!”

Her breath hitched.

Fuck, fuck! He’d scared her. He’d ruined this. She really would abandon him now.

But she didn’t. Instead, she came around to face him and leaned down close. She reached out to hold his shoulders firmly in her warm grasp.

Fuck, Rogeth’s scent on her face was still there, right under her chin. His eyes fixed to the spot.

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