“What?”
“I know you abhor violence, but I couldn’t let the ogre live.” My heart aches. What must she think of me? This might be my only chance to explain, and I’m determined to make the most of it. “He was obsessed—not that I can blame him. He would never have stopped coming for you.”
She steps closer, the light of the glow stone brightening her features. A frown of confusion pinches her brow, and her words come slowly. “You think I’m upset because you killed him?”
I nod.
“No!” Olivia rushes forward and throws her arms around me, burying her face in my neck. Worry laces her voice. “I’m upset that you got hurt! I never want to see you like that again.”
I cradle my precious bride to me, pulling her onto my lap. Hope for the future—ourfuture—fills me anew.
“I promised you wooing, not bloodshed.”
She shakes her head, the tip of her small human nose rubbing back and forth on my neck. My bride doesn’t loosen her grip on me, and a possessive part of me revels in the feeling.
“It wasn’t like that.Youdidn’t start it, he did,” she says. “This world isn’t Earth. I was shocked by how different things are at first, but I’m getting used to it.”
“Used to it?” That doesn’t sound good. I want her to love Alarria almost as much as I need her to love me.
“It’s pretty great. There’s the forest and the pixies and Hurtle. And everyone in the village has been wonderful.”
My fingers tangle in her hair as I hold her closer. As glad as I am to hear these words, Olivia hasn’t said a thing aboutme. For all my warrior training and bravery in battle, I can’t force out the question I most want to ask.
“You said something really important, and then you passed out.” My moon bound pulls back and taps a finger to my chest. Her hazel eyes meet mine, filled with determination. “So I’m going to say this while we’re both awake, to be really clear.”
My grip flexes against her back, longing to pull her back to me. If this is the last time I’ll hold her, I want to make the most of it.
“I love you, Rovann.”
A wild joy fills me, expanding my chest with lightness and making my blood sing. She is right. She deserves to hear the words when I am hale and whole.
“My beautiful Olivia, you are the moon of my night sky, beaming light and beauty into my life.” My arms tighten. “I love you, too.”
Her smile stops my heart, her eyes gleaming with rich emotion.
I kiss her, eating at her mouth, starved for her touch. I lose myself in the pleasure of her, in the tease of her soft lips, in the dance of our tongues. My cock springs to heavy fullness, pressing against the furs blanketing my lap, aching to knot and claim my moon bound bride.
Her hands slide down my chest, pushing the furs out of her way. My bride’s hunger adds to my own, and I lift the bottom of her shirt, eager to remove it. A strip of fabric binds her chest, the same green as my skin, and I grin to see that color on her, even as I unwind it to bare her to me.
I palm one breast, rolling the nipple between my fingers until she pants and squirms.
Then her hands are on my stomach, a determined light filling her eyes. She slides back enough to free the furs trapped between us, and my greedy cock surges upward, into her grip.
A deep grunt tears from me, my hips jerking as she wraps both hands around me and pumps. Creamy fluid pours from the top, slicking her fingers until her movements become an intoxicating glide.
“God, it’s making me…” Olivia squirms on my lap, the aphrodisiac qualities of my orc seed going to work on her. “Why does it do that?”
“It’s to prepare you to take my large size.” The fluid will get her body ready for me. My hand teases the apex of her thighs, pressing the soft leather against her sensitive pearl and making her gasp.
She repays my attentions tenfold. My hips lift from the bed when she plays with my piercings, the sensation intense. My bride continues to milk my cock, and I gather the cream and rub it into her breasts until her berry-red nipples harden and beg for my mouth.
With a growl, I lift her, holding her high enough to suck on her breasts. The smell of my seed on her skin makes me wild, and I mark her with my tusks. “Mine,” I growl into her soft skin. “You’re mine.”
Then I lift her further until she stands on the bed, so I can peel the leather pants from her legs. The lush scent of her arousal makes my cock twitch. I want to feast on her, make her shatter on my tongue. But when I grab her hips and try to pull her to me, she drops to her knees, her thighs spread wide by the size of mine.
“I can’t wait any longer.” She grabs my length. “I need you Rovann.”
As she works me, I gather the milky fluid that spurts out until I have a handful to rub into the soft skin of her inner thighs. I collect more and slide my fingers through her folds, adding my wetness to hers.