Page 17 of The Orc's Bride

And he also didn’t want her to recoil from him like that.

Una’s eyes were wide with astonishment. But not fear. Urgan studied her briefly. Not long ago, she had been terrified of him. What had changed?

“Yes,” she said. “It almost night, and I tired, and… and this stupid that we ride in darkness.”

Urgan frowned. Hadn’t she understood what he had told her about the ragghit attack? Was she too dim to realize they were still in danger?

Or was she lying again?

His eyes narrowed.

“No more lies,” he said, baring his teeth at her.

She flinched. Now, she was afraid. Good, Urgan thought. Maybe she would tell him the truth.

“Why are you upset?” he asked again.

“You are orc,” she said, her body trembling now. “It… not normal. Not natural.”

She gave him a defiant look, even though her lower lip was trembling adorably, spoiling the effect. Urgan had an urge to press his finger against that lip and make it be still under his touch.

Dangerous, distracting thoughts.

Desiring her, that was one thing. Understandable, easy to cure. But this… this tender protective instinct? Towards a human almost-stranger who was lying to him? This was far too dangerous to allow.

And yet, right now claiming her for himself had become Urgan’s priority.

Somewhere along the way, Una had stopped being just a way out of courting Urzulah. Urgan realized he now wanted her just for her. She was a challenge and a puzzle, and her body drove him dangerously close to losing control.

She was fated to be his and he would stop at nothing until he claimed her for his mate.

He would unravel all her lies until she stood before him naked in body and soul.

“Are you afraid of being torn apart by my orc cock?” he asked, peering at her with amusement. He had heard his share of jokes and foolish stories about orc cocks so large they could rip females – or males – in half. But they were just that: jokes and stories.

The terror in her face, the way she froze, almost paralyzed with fear, made his amusement disappear. She really was afraid of that. Urgan frowned.

“Don’t you know orcs have mated with human women for decades?” he asked. “Those are happy unions. No one suffers. There is offspring, too. Our races are compatible to mate and breed.”

Una was chewing on the inside of her cheek, her pale lips twitching with the movement. Finally, she replied.

“I saw different.”

“What did you see?” Urgan pressed.

“Women broken and bleeding in streets. What you said… torn apart by orc… things.”

“Who?” he asked, meaning the rapist orcs who had broken the Imperator’s law.

“My mother,” she spat at him, her eyes suddenly blazing with vicious hatred. “Raped by orcs, bleeding and dying. Raped by Tokoma orcs when they conquer us.”

Urgan cursed under his breath. Of course, he should have expected it. The wilder tribes, those living on the fringes, not yet assimilated into the Empire… They still lived the way they had in their orc world.

Too slow to realize times had changed. Too stupid to see that humans weren’t just smart animals, but higher beasts. Just like orcs. And thus, should be respected.

The orc domination was fresh. Orcs had been in this world only for a hundred years, their ancestors having been sucked in through a rip in their own world. A rip which closed immediately, leaving the orcs with no other choice but to carve a place for themselves in the human realm.

Faced with such powerful enemies, humans succumbed easily. But it didn’t mean they should be disrespected and mistreated.

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