Page 4 of The Orc's Bride

But maybe being ruled by the Imperator would improve things. I had heard he had made some laws protecting us, humans. The rules were simple: if we didn’t rebel or refuse when they asked for something, they wouldn’t use force against us.

Which was quite ironic. If we refused them something when they asked nicely, they had every right to take it from us by force. That law hardly changed anything.

Although it did result in fewer rapes, as I’d heard. Probably because orcs were incapable of asking nicely for a woman to spread her legs.

My skin prickled with a sudden fear. I straightened. An orc was looking at me.

Sitting at the top of the long table, he was larger than the others, his helmet with bigger horns, his bloody axe leaning against the bench next to him. There was an air of menace around him, of coiled power ready to strike. His green skin was a darker shade than the others’ and more scarred, especially around his hands.

And such large hands they were! I had a sudden vision of one of those hands closing around my waist, enveloping it completely in a powerful grip, squeezing the life out of me.

Shivers ran down my back, and I bit the inside of my cheek, tasting blood. Do not cower. Do not be afraid.

I forced myself to look boldly into his face, a face with a long, uneven scar running down his cheek. A face with a large, sharp jaw and thick, dark eyebrows. I looked past these formidable features and fixed my gaze on his eyes. I was insolent. Challenging.

I wasn’t prepared to be sucked right in.

His eyes were peculiar. Orcs usually had dark, beady eyes. His were silver, with vertical pupils. A bit like a cat’s. They looked like they would glow in the dark.

I was suddenly lost in those eyes. Like pools of mercury, they drew me in, capturing my entire attention, making my body go rigid with a strange longing I didn’t have a name for. Something alien and dark stirred inside me, filling my chest and belly with an exhilarating feeling of recognition.

My instincts were sounding bells of triumph, shouting confirmation. Of what? I did not know.

I was captivated.

But then I remembered that mercury was poisonous, and that those were an orc’s eyes. And there was nothing beautiful and entrancing about orcs. There couldn’t be. I closed my eyes, shook my head once, and looked at him again. My head was clearer now, although to keep it that way, I had to avoid looking into his eyes.

So I looked at his mouth.

His mouth, which was grinning, showing me a row of sharp, shockingly white fangs. I remembered as if through a daze that orcs rarely smiled. Usually, if they showed you their teeth, it meant a threat. They were threatening to bite you. To kill you.

Fangs bared in that grin, which was either a threat or an expression of amusement, the orc beckoned me closer.

Chapter 3

Urgan

When the girl gave him that haughty, angry look, Urgan almost licked his lips. There was fire behind her eyes, and plenty of fight. And he was always up for a challenge.

She was also afraid of him. A twitch of her eyelid, a suppressed flinch, betrayed her. But she strove to hide it and faced him despite her fear. That was interesting.

He watched her, appraising. Her lush lower lip jutted out rebelliously, and her eyebrows formed an angry frown. She had a pale complexion dusted with freckles, dark eyes, and hair so light it was almost white. It fell down her shoulders, enveloping her petite frame in a soft mantle.

Urgan felt an urge to wrap that hair around his fist and force her head back, watching the fire of rebellion appear in her eyes. He wanted to feel that tiny body writhe against his hold in barely concealed passion.

He chuckled, wondering if she would try to hide her desire the way she was hiding her fear. Something told him she would.

But he would know anyway. Nothing could hide from his keen sense of smell.

Urgan had never desired human women. They were frail, dainty. Fearful. And sometimes, if a large, heavy orc was too passionate, a human woman could become injured.

Urgan wasn’t interested in holding himself in check. When he mated, he mated hard. And he had no intention of breaking his lovers. All of this meant a human woman’s delicate body had never aroused him before.

But now, the exhilaration of recent bloodshed was still singing in his blood, making it flow faster, warming him up from within.

He blamed the excitement of victory for the way he was now reacting to the mere thought of holding the tiny female.

He would make her come with him. He didn’t have much time: as soon as he reached the Imperator’s capital, he would be officially informed that he should court Urzulah. He would have to obey. Or else turn against the Imperator.

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