Page 96 of Bound to the Orc Renegade

He runs a hand down my back, the sword calluses on his fingers adding an extra texture to his caress. “Tired?”

“So tired.” Every muscle in my body aches from being thoroughly loved all night. I glance up at him. “But it’s the good kind of tired.”

“Only good?” His lips curl.

I squeeze him inside me, making us both gasp in an aftershock of pleasure. “You know you were amazing.” We’d done it all—slow and emotional, then fast and dirty, with him growling good girl until I saw stars.

His rich chuckle rolls through me.

God, how I love that sound.

“I know we talked about kids. We just had a lot of sex, and your knot seems to be…” How to say it?

Krivoth has no trouble. “My knot locks my seed inside you. Orcs are among the heartiest of the fae, yet even we do not procreate as easily as humans.”

“What if I want a little bit of time to learn my powers and have a few adventures before becoming a mother?”

“Then that is what the goddess will give you. We’re moon bound mates.” He touches the tattoo on his chest. “She personally blesses our union and will ensure our happiness.”

“And you’ll be okay with waiting?” I search his eyes. Children are clearly precious to orcs.

“I’d also like time. I want to shake off more of my father’s influence before becoming one.” A small line pinches his brow, and he stares into the distance.

The soft vulnerability on his face makes my heart ache for him. I hate that he still doubts himself, even if I understand that healing takes time.

“Hey.” I cup his cheek and bring his eyes back to me. “You’re gonna be a wonderful father and not a single thing like him.”

Krivoth takes my hand and presses a kiss to my palm. “Thank you.”

His knot releases, sending a flood of orc seed splashing out of me to bathe my inner thighs and his pelvis. He scoops up a handful of it and rubs it into one of my butt cheeks, then repeats the process with the other.

“What are you doing?”

“Making you smell like me.”

He keeps going, his large hand massaging the sore muscles of my back, my thighs. The orc seed soaks in, leaving my skin wonderfully soft and smelling of vanilla ice cream warming under the summer sun.

By the time he’s done, I’m the most pampered I’ve ever been, my entire body melting into the bed. He pulls the furs up over us and holds me close.

I fall asleep to the familiar rumble of his deep voice. “My beautiful, amazing bride.”

Two days later, King Aldronn gallops into the clearing around the cleaning stone with all of his guards, the unicorns they ride included.

This standing stone is the reason the orcs located Moon Blade Village where they did. Each of their villages stands near one of the “always on” magical stones. This one is like an industrial washing machine and toothpaste factory all rolled into one. It’ll clean clothes, it’ll make berries that clean teeth, and it makes the cleaning cloths, too.

The clearing’s also the largest open space in the whole forest, which is good, because a green dragon swoops down from the sky, huge wings snapping closed on a downdraft that gusts across the clearing. A tingle of magic pulses through the air, and it lands with a thump that’s not nearly large enough for its size, since it’s even bigger than the one we met before. A much smaller dragon the exact same shade of green lands in front. This must be Drake, Ashley’s friend, which means the big dragon is his mother.

The orc king dismounts, and only he comes forward, the rest of his party remaining at the edge of the clearing. He’s older than Krivoth, but still very fit, and he carries a sword with the ease of a fighter. If this were a video game, he’d have a big crown and lots of fancy clothes, but instead, he looks like any other orc, the only hint of royalty his dark-purple shirt. He tips his head to the dragon. “Sheevora the Magnificent, it’s a pleasure.”

“King Aldronn,” she says, her voice booming. “Other orcs, human witches, unicorns.”

“And me.” Mist saunters up to sit beside me. “The cat sith have joined this alliance as well.”

“Save us all.” Storm snorts. He stands with the other unicorns instead of with us, here to represent his herd.

“You have a problem with that?” Sheevora asks.

“No,” Storm says.

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