Page 9 of Bound to the Orc Warlord

As if she’s carried an echo of me with her for her whole life. As if she’s made for me.

She wraps her arms and legs around me and clings, her breasts and stomach pressing into me with a softness that makes me ache to sink into her. Locks of her fiery orange hair float around us, tickling my ears, my cheeks in little flashes of sensation that sensitize my skin.

I lean forward—

“Are you going to remain in that tree?” Midnight calls up, laughter filling her voice.

“They’d better not,” the dragon says. “The sluagh might come back.”

“The what?” I growl and jerk around. Sluagh are some of the darkest of the Wild Fae, soul eaters ready to consume anyone and everyone.

“One already attacked her,” the young voice says. “I drove it off.”

As if his words called the creature into being, a high, raucous croak slices through the air.

My bride trembles and buries her face in my neck. She’s afraid instead of ready to do battle like a warrior would.

I frown. How could the goddess consider this human my perfect match?

Yet spots of blood cover her arms, disguised from easy view by all the little orange-brown dots that decorate her skin. She’s wounded. Rage fills me. How dare the sluagh touch her, harm her?

The entire flock calls out in a raucous chorus of harsh caws, demanding my bride as their feast.

“She ismine,” I snarl. It matters little that I questioned the suitability of the match only seconds ago. My moon bound bride is mine to protect.

CHAPTER FIVE

Ashley

Oh. My. God. I’msittingon his head! His head is up my skirt, and he can seeeverything.

I want to fly away again in mortification. No. That’s a lie. His hand tightens on my thigh, pressing my butt even closer to him. I shiver as little licks of fire run through me, and a million wild dreams blaze through my mind. I’ve only been with a few guys, and none of them had been that into going down. The thought of someonewantingto do that to me is so erotic I gasp.

His grip is inescapably strong as he pulls me down his body. I twist, and my hand clamps onto his shoulder—his seriously rock-hard shoulder—and tugs until I face him.

I wrap my arms and legs around him, feeling anchored for the first time since I flew from the stone.

He was handsome from far away.

Up close, he steals the breath from my lungs.

Pointed ears, green skin, tusks—it’s all so weird, and yet it fits him so perfectly I can’t imagine him looking any other way.

Dark eyes bore into mine, as rich as the night sky. Sharp cheekbones balance his strong jaw, and his black beard frames a firm mouth with lips that look ready for kissing.

I lick mine as he leans close, anticipation shivering through me—

The unicorn neighs, and the dragon cries out.

The orc answers, and a conversation ensues. And I can no longer deny that itisa conversation.

Then a horrible croaking call comes from overhead, shooting icicles of dread into my stomach. Those nasty birds are back.

I cling to the orc, and when he tries to push me away, I grip him even harder. But he’s so much stronger than me that he rips my arms from around his neck.

“No, please don’t leave me!” I cry out, terror making me frantic.

“Grovar laeck!” he growls, the sound full of frustrated anger, and pushes me around his side.

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