Page 13 of The Orc's Bride

And he would possess her completely. She would give him everything. Her lies and her truth. Her pain and her pleasure. He would have it all.

Urgan took the reins, his arms forming a cage of muscle around Una to keep her safe, cocooned in him. He grunted at Brrthak and they were off, trotting slowly. His mount moved in a steady rhythm, rising and falling with every step, and Una’s body in front of Urgan moved with the rhythm, her bottom and back grinding against Urgan’s shaft.

He grinned, feeling it swell with desire. Let her feel what he had in store for her. As soon as she said yes to him, he would take her. Again and again until they were both too exhausted to continue. Until she slept in his arms, completely satisfied. And completely his.

And then, when she woke, he’d do it again.

Chapter 6

Una

We were riding slowly, the monster horse jerking beneath us. It wasn’t a smooth ride. If I survived this bumpy journey through the Wilds, I would be all sore.

But for now, it didn’t worry me. I had more pressing problems. One was literally pressing against my back. Hard and huge, it was a thing I refused to contemplate. I chose to ignore it and was doing fine, apart from getting an irrational urge to rub myself against it.

I was doomed.

My stupid body had gone completely mad. Why? I couldn’t imagine. Of course, I had heard stories of women who had fallen in love with orcs and mated with them. I had always suspected those women were feeble-minded or maybe even cursed…

And such cases were few and far between! In our village, there were no such unions.

Not willing ones, at least.

But that aside, how was it possible for me of all people to feel attracted to an orc? I hated orcs! I was plotting their downfall! This mad, unreasonable desire was muddling my brain. It was a complication, and one I couldn’t afford.

If he were at least stupid! Or vulgar in the manner of some orcs who belched and farted constantly, comparing whose farts smelled the worst. I would have been able to deal with this, then. I would have been able to dismiss it as a stupid bodily reaction. Nothing to do with feelings. Just body humors.

But no. He had to be intelligent. Civilized.

And a general!

I couldn’t help being impressed. He was the one who had conquered all those lands for the Imperator. He was the one whose name other orcs spoke with either admiration or fear. Usually both.

I had, of course, heard of Urgan the Bloodthirsty. During my lessons with the Tradesman, he told me about the Imperator’s rise to power. How he conquered almost all orc lands, how he grew his Empire. And about the orc who had been instrumental in it. But I would have never guessed my Urgan would be him!

And I was already calling him mine. Really, I was raving mad.

I looked at his large hands holding the reins in front of me. His dark green skin was scarred and rough. Two of his knuckles were misshapen, as if he had hit someone so hard they shattered and healed badly.

The body against my back, swaying, relaxed, in the saddle, was hard and chiseled with muscle. There wasn’t an idle bone in Urgan’s body. Everything about him, every bit of his physique, spoke of violence and hard work. Smart work, too.

He was a fast, efficient killing machine, and I was literally in his arms, pressed close to him. Enveloped in his warmth.

It made me feel safe.

Mad. I was definitely mad.

We had been riding for a few hours in silence, with only a short drinking break when we encountered a stream. Soon after setting out, we had veered away from the main track, which was a reasonably safe trade route that most travelers used. We were now riding along a narrow, partly overgrown path in the woods.

The forest around us was gloomy even though the evening was still an hour away. The thick canopies blocked almost all sunlight. In the gloom, a stifling silence reigned. Not a leaf moved in the wind. Not a fly buzzed.

It was as if all animals were sitting deep in their burrows, holding their breaths. Scared witless.

By us? Well, maybe. Not by me, but the small band of orcs was probably quite a threat to any animal that had some meat on its bones. But I’d never seen the world become completely frozen and silent because some orcs were passing nearby.

This was about something else.

I was about to ask Urgan where we were and why it was so quiet when he put his finger on my lips. The question stuck to my tongue. My mouth tingled.

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