Page 10 of Bound to the Orc Warlord

Oh! He can’t climb with me on his front. Barely daring to let go, I duck under his arm and slide around his side. As soon as I’m behind him, my arms and legs clamp tight again. I can’t help it.

He grunts and starts maneuvering down the tree, the muscles of his wide back moving with firm strength against my breasts, stomach, and thighs. Branches bat at my legs and arms, and I bury my face against the back of his neck to keep it from being hit, too.

The dragon shrieks, and the orc lands on a wide branch and spins in place. In a flash, a foot-long knife is in his hand, and he lashes at a clump of the red-beaked birds. They croak and scatterfor a few seconds before rejoining in an eerily synchronized formation no natural birds could make without hitting each other. It only adds to the feeling of wrongness.

He slashes again and again, moving as quickly as their small darting bodies, and catches one of them, slicing off a wing. All of the birds cry as one, the others flapping away from the injured bird as it tips sideways and starts to fall.

Then the knife disappears, and we’re moving again, the orc’s arms and legs a blur. We hurry down the trunk as if he suddenly weighs as little as me. He lets go and leaps from a good ten feet up, and I shriek. On some level, I may know I can fly, but it’s all too new, and my body yells at me that I’m falling.

His feet thump against the ground, and he tears my hands from his neck, thrusting me toward the tree. My heart gives a little skip as I realize that, even in the face of danger, he hasn’t forgotten I need something to hold on to in order to not float away. I cling to the rough bark, maneuvering around to the side so I can see into the clearing.

The injured bird lies on the ground, flapping its one wing and calling out in a high shriek. Within seconds, its movements slow. When it comes to a silent halt, it fades slowly from view, growing more and more transparent until nothing remains.

The entire flock of birds swarms into the clearing between us and the standing stone.

The unicorn bucks, front legs kicking, its gold and black horn skewering toward the sky. The dragon darts through the birds as well, scattering them further.

The black birds startle away, but immediately return. They fly closer and closer to one another, even more impossibly than before. Their wings touch, but instead of knocking each other from the air, they…

Holy shit! Theymerge.

A figure stands where they were, a shadowy black cloak flapping around a dark form that never quite settles. Blazing red eyes glare from a face, the surface of which ripples with the constant movement of something not quite feathers or skin.

The mouth opens to show dozens of glistening red teeth, pointed and sharp like beaks. The voice speaks with a chorus of notes, the tone icy and commanding.

The orc yells, and the unicorn charges toward him, twisting at the last second to present its side. He grabs the sword belt from its saddle and yanks the blade free. Brandishing it, he steps between me and the creature.

It creeps sideways enough to capture me with its evil red eyes and hisses something that makes ice crawl up my spine.

An angry growl from the orc jerks the creature’s attention back to him. The unicorn neighs, and the dragon snaps its wings wide from the top of the standing stone, looking ready to dive.

Tears prickle my eyes. After working beside Bruno and Tony and the others for months, all I’d been to them was a hassle to be disposed of so they could go to a nightclub. I’ve only been here a few hours. I don’t speak the language and don’t even know their names. Hell, with the way he scowls and growls, I don’t think the orc evenlikesme.

But all three of them put themselves in danger to defend me.

Moving in jerky, fast movements like a stop-motion film, the creature leaps towards me. The orc swings, his sword whistling through the air in a flash of silver that makes the dark figure stumble backward.

The unicorn slashes with its horn from the other side, and the dragon swoops over the creature’s head.

It crouches and hisses, then leaps into the air, breaking into a flock of black birds that arrow up into the air in a chorus of angry squawks.

The orc watches it go, his dark eyes continuing to scour the sky long after the evil birds have disappeared from view.

Finally satisfied, he sheaths his sword and turns to me. He mutters something, and I worry it’s orc for, “What the hell am I supposed to do with you?”

He strides forward, his huge hands spanning my ample waist as he pulls me from the tree.

I look up at him, wanting him to see me as something more than a burden. “Ashley.” I touch my chest. “My name’s Ashley.”

“Ashley.” He repeats it slowly, working to get it right, his fingers digging into my sides with little licks of fire.

I nod and tap his chest, the muscle deliciously firm.

“Dravarr,” he growls, rolling the final r sound. Then he looks skyward again, his expression hardening. He lifts me up onto the unicorn’s back and lets go.

I yelp and snatch at the edge of the leather saddle as my legs fly up behind me, my dress falling down around my body to flash my butt and pink panties once again.

CHAPTER SIX

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