Page 28 of The Orc's Bride

Aha. Not so easy, after all. I would have to lie because the truth – that I had used him just to get a safe ride to the capital – wouldn’t cut it. Not after what he had said about hating being used.

So, a lie.

If I pulled this off, this would be the most successful lie I had ever told. I looked bravely into his eyes, squared my shoulders to look completely confident in my words, opened my mouth… and gulped.

I didn’t have to lie.

I could tell him the truth. I opened and closed my mouth and cleared my throat, thrown by the thoughts running through my head. By images, suddenly revealed, that I knew must have been already living in my mind for some time. Images of happiness. Of a family.

With him.

I could tell him the truth and it would be what he wanted to hear. So I did.

“I’d… like that,” I said. My voice sounded like surrender. “I… want to become your mate. But… I need some more time to be certain.”

He looked at me long and hard until he finally seemed satisfied. He stepped closer, trapping me between his large body and the tree behind me. He caught my waist and leaned down, his head closer and closer to my upturned face.

Our noses were almost touching. I couldn’t breathe.

Urgan looked into my eyes, trapping me with his quizzical gaze. I was intoxicated with the power of his attention. And dizzy. I was the only woman in the world, he was the only male, and we were spinning together, our body heat trapped between us.

He kissed me.

Urgan’s lips brushed mine, at first softly. Strange colorful lights were now flashing before my eyes. I opened my mouth wide to draw in a deep breath… and pulled Urgan’s breath inside.

His mouth moved against mine, and I couldn’t help but kiss him back. I wanted to taste more and more of him, hungrily drawing him closer, eager to run my tongue against his fangs and find out just how sharp they were.

The world bounced when Urgan grabbed my buttocks and lifted me. My back was pressed to the tree, my legs around his waist, my hands at the back of his head, grabbing him to me. Pressing him closer, wanting more…

Urgan snarled into my mouth, and after the snarl, his tongue followed. He tasted… not at all like I imagined an orc would taste. He tasted of caraway. Of the masculine musk I had already come to associate with him. Of power, arousal, and most of all, safety.

I did what I wanted then, darting my tongue inside his mouth, exploring, curious. His teeth, so large and pointed, were smooth. I softly ran the tip of my tongue under one fang, testing it. Sharp.

This discovery made heat pool in my lower belly. I was now squirming against Urgan, my whole body pulsing with need. I was on fire for an orc with a mouth full of fangs and I was loving it.

Urgan pressed me closer to him, kissing harder and demanding more of my lips. His fang pressed against my tongue and I felt a sharp pain. With a furious growl, he broke away.

“Offering me blood already?” he asked.

His voice was rough, and his face distorted in a grimace of primal passion. This was what I had always imagined orcs were: beasts, almost animals. Blood-crazed predators. Only, this wasn’t an image conjured by my mind. The beast was right in my face.

And I wanted him more than anything.

“We have to go,” Urgan said, lowering me to the ground.

He was putting a tremendous amount of effort into controlling himself. The fire in his eyes gradually burned down to cinders and his features relaxed slightly. But he still looked feral. And he was still very much desiring me, if his hard length was any indication.

“What does it mean… about the blood?” I asked haltingly.

My voice sounded harsh, and I was panting. I checked my hair, and it was a tangled mess. Oh gods.

“It’s a part of mating rituals,” Urgan said. “Exchanging blood. It’s not dangerous. It just means… trust.”

He summoned Brrthak and lifted me into the saddle. Calling to the other orcs to get ready, he mounted the horse, and I leaned against him, trying to keep my body relaxed, even though my mind was in turmoil.

Trust. Why did that word bother me the most of everything that had just happened? I should be much more bothered by having kissed an orc and enjoyed it. I should have been bothered by riding with him now, leaning against his hard body, and feeling protected.

But it was the way he had said “trust” that made me feel so upset.

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