Page 43 of The Widow and the Orcs

Ulfarrsqueezed her hand back, and then slowly brought it to his mouth, as his warm eyes held to hers. “Youare again too kind,Louisa,” he murmured, with a soft kiss to her skin. “Butwe already should not have any of this without you, ach?Weare most glad for what you have yet given us.”

Hisvoice rumbled into her belly, firing low and hot, andLouisa’sbrief glance toward the fireplace now foundHalthorr,Joan, andRagniall caught in what appeared to be… a dagger-throwing game?Butyes,Joanwas even reluctantly smiling as her dagger sank into the wooden panel above the fireplace, whileHalthorrloudly whooped beside her.

Itmeant they weren’t paying the slightest attention toUlfarrandLouisa, to howUlfarr’swarm mouth had begun gently kissing upLouisa’shand, to the sensitive skin of her wrist.Andoh,Louisaknew how this went, and her breath caught, her eyes snapped wide onUlfarr’sface — but yes, he was still doing it, still kissing higher, his breath inhaling as he skated his lips over her sleeve, up her arm, over the curve of her shoulder…

Louisagasped as his mouth met her bare neck, his lips so warm, so sweet, so alive.Andsomehow she’d already clutched him closer, her hands spreading against his solid back — and then she even drew him a little sideways, behind that nearby red curtain.Whereshe could still hearHalthorrandJoanandRagni, but they could no longer see this,Ulfarr’shungry face buried inLouisa’sthroat, kissing her, tasting her, his teeth gently scraping her skin, as her tingling hands stroked up and down his back.Feelingthe impossible breadth and strength of him, feeling him shudder as he eased closer, his body so big, so strong, quivering with need and longing…

Louisa’sown longing was hitching, surging, so strong she scarcely heardHalthorrcheerfully calling toward them, saying something about waiting outside.Butit meant they were alone down here, oh gods, it meantUlfarr’sbig hand could skim down over her arse, and she could arch back into his touch, his solid, steady certainty.Andeven skitter her hand over his own arse, too, feel the firm muscle of it, feel how it pressed his hips forward, grinding him into her belly.

Andnot just grinding him, but… that.Thatbulge in his trousers, which wasn’t soft in the slightest, and seemed to be growing, thickening, hardening, with every gasping breath.Expandinginto something impossibly, unthinkably large, something very akin to that stonerassjahe’d plunged inside her the night before, and oh, there was only more wild, desperate craving, firingLouisafrom the inside out.Sheneeded more, more, please…

“Ach, howsweet,” drawled a voice, thick with scorn and fury. “Nowyou learn to do this, now that you are well rid of me?”

Louisa’sheart kicked, her body flailing back, away, asUlfarrstaggered back, too.Butit was too much, too little, too late…

ItwasKillik.Standingthere watching them, with his dagger in his hand, and murder in his eyes.

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Louisastared atKillikfor a jangling, frozen moment, her hand clutched over her wildly pounding heart.

Killikwas here.He’dseen that.Andhe was even smiling, rigid and cold, as his eyes snapped and blazed with fury.

“Killik,”Ulfarrcroaked, and his eyes squeezed shut, his hand rubbing at his nose. “Didnot — scent you.”

“Ach,Isaw,”Killiksaid, and his voice might have almost been pleasant, if not for the rage still glittering in his eyes. “Ifyou had scented me, what should you instead have done?Leaptapart beforeIsaw you?Play-acted as though you should never do this, whilst your scents betrayed your falsehood?”

Hisvoice scraped upLouisa’sspine, cold and bitter, whileUlfarrflinched, his hand rubbing at his face. “Ishould not have — done it thus — without you, at all,” he said, hoarse, “hadIknown it would — vex you, thus.”

Louisa’sstomach twisted, not just atUlfarr’swords, his clearly stated regret at kissing her like that — but also at the horrible, palpable misery in his eyes, sagging down his shoulders.Lookinghurt, sad, wounded, and curseKillik, he was lurching closer toUlfarr, staring him in the eyes, as his dagger viciously whirled in his fingers.

“Ach, would you?” he drawled. “Justthe same as you would have told me you were fetching this woman today?Bringingherhere?Withouteven granting me awarningof this?”

Ulfarr’seyes closed, the pain spasming on his mouth, andKilliklaughed, his dagger spinning even faster in his hand. “Ach, itsopleases me when my dearest brother speaks false to me,” he crooned, and he even raised his hand toUlfarr’sface, stroking sweetly down his cheek. “Itbrings mesuchjoy when he takes my help, and my gifts, and my pleasure — and then turns about and offers me secrets and sneaking andlies!”

Hewas almost shouting by the end, spitting inUlfarr’sface, even as he kept caressing his cheek.WhileUlfarrbetrayed a jerky, visceral flinch, as sharp as ifKillikhad slapped him across the face.

Andgods damnKillik, it was like he was kicking a cowering dog — and before she’d even caught it,Louisalurched forward, and knockedKillik’sstroking hand away fromUlfarr’sface.

“Leavehim the hell alone, you prick,” she snarled. “He’san adult, and he’s damned well allowed to decide how he wants to spend a day, and who he wants to spend it with!Especiallywhen” — she hauled in a deep breath — “hedidcome to you first this morning!Andhe found you busy in bed fucking someone else!”

Hervoice echoed through the stone-walled room, and for an instant,Killik’staut body stilled, his eyes angling narrow towardUlfarr’sface.Butthen he spun towardLouisa, his teeth bared, his eyes shimmering with something like glee, or mockery, or… or hatred.

“Ach, and have you yet told him why he found me thus, woman?” he purred, his eyes glinting dangerously on hers. “Haveyou told him whose rule this was?Whoseselfish demand this was?Whowill no longer allow me to eventouchhim, let alone share his bed, soImust now seek relief elsewhere?”

No.No.Damnit, damnKillik, he hadn’t just thrown that out between them, not now, not like this.Butyes, yes, he had, his eyes blazing with triumph, with that same seething hatred.

Andeven asLouisarecoiled, the misery plummeting in her belly, her gaze snapped back to — toUlfarr.Towhere he again looked as though he’d been struck, his eyes wide and disbelieving onLouisa’sface.

“You… demanded this?” he asked her, the bewilderment scraping through his voice. “Youdid not wishKillikto touch me?Butonly today, you said — you told me you did not mind this.Yousaid you knewKillikwas my — we had a —”

Hisdismayed eyes darted towardKillik, whose mouth was now pressed into a thin, spiteful smile. “Ach, but she is a human,”Killikspat. “Andwe ken how humans hoard their secrets, do we not?Howthey speak their falsehoods so smoothly, whilst seeking to gain our trust, and bend us to their will!”

What?Louisa’smouth fell open, her head rapidly shaking, her hand clutching forUlfarr’scold, sweaty fingers — but no, no, he yanked his hand away, he was backing away from her, fromKillik, slightly stumbling over a fur rug behind him.Andhe looked so pale, so horrified, his eyes almost fearful onLouisa’sface, no, no, no —

“No, sweetheart,” she gulped, on a lurching, staggering step forward. “Iwasn’t —Ididn’t mean to —Ijust didn’t want to —”

Buther thoughts were scattering, scrambling, and her helpless eyes darted toward —Killik.Whojust kept smiling at her like that, cruel and malicious, as if he would gladly use that dagger, and slit her throat wide open, and laugh.

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