Page 18 of Valka

“No clothes!”

“I, no!”

Valka kept his eyes glued to hers as his fingers began unbuckling the belt he wore around his waist, keeping his furs up and shielding his body from sight. Only seconds later the furs fell to the ground at his feet. He didn’t look down. He knew what Delia saw. And he knew that Delia was now his female and should well know what to expect. The sooner she got used to him and his demands, the sooner there would be no crying.

“Ohhh,” Delia whispered, wide-eyed. Delia took a moment to let her eyes travel the body of the large green skinned Orc standing completely naked before her. From his wide, flat feet, up his muscular calves and thighs, to his tapered waist.

Her eyes widened noticeably at the appendage hanging between his legs — long, thick, deep dark green, with raised bumps running the length of it.

Valka snorted at her gaze lingering over certain parts of his anatomy, reminding her that he was watching her.

“Sorry,” she muttered, but even then couldn’t tear her gaze away from his body. Blinking her eyes quickly, she finally forced herself to look up and away from his hips and what inevitably awaited her there to his expansive chest and strong arms. Eventhe muscles and striations in his neck spoke of untold strength in what is usually one of the weakest parts of the body, but not for him. There was no part of him that indicated weakness. Lastly her eyes took in the square of his jaw, the fullness of his lips and his eyes, deep amber and chocolate colors swirling as they gave her the opportunity to look her fill. His black hair caught up in intricate braids was almost an ironic finish for such a primitive, scarred, beaten body. Until she looked closer and realized the braids were left hanging carelessly at their ends, the rows uneven and apparently placed to just keep the hair out of his way and nothing more.

When her gaze settled on his once more, he raised that single eyebrow again. “No. Clothes.”

Delia, remembering her own advice to the women she’d come to know over the course of their captivity, simply stood and began undressing as best she could with one arm. Some minutes later she was finally removing the long underwear she wore under her skirts, and tossing them on top of the rest of clothes she’d already let fall to the cave floor. She stood there, refusing to look up to meet his gaze again, not even as he approached. She watched his wide, flat feet come to a stop right in front of her, and then she heard his deep inhales as he scented her.

Valka let out a groan, but it didn’t sound aroused. It sounded, offensive.

Delia’s head lifted quickly and she glared at him. “What does that mean?” she demanded, horrifically embarrassed.

Valka waved his hand in front of his nose and his face skewed up as he squinted his eyes. “Delia stink.”

Delia’s expression became stony. “Delia was stuck on a ship in the hold with more than a dozen other women for I don’t even know how long. You’re lucky Delia’s skin didn’t peel off from the filth she was forced to sit in!” she snapped.

Valka grinned, reached out and picked her up under the arms like one would a dirty toddler, holding her out away from him as he headed in the direction of the back of his cave.

“I can walk!” she insisted.

Valka shook his head. “Delia slow!”

“How do you even know my name?” she asked.

Valka actually chuckled as he continued walking, but instead of arguing with him again, Delia watched with wonder as instead of setting her down at the back wall of the cave as she thought he’d do, he turned around one of the rougher edges of the cave wall and entered a slender walk-through, reminiscent of a hallway in a house that she hadn’t even been aware existed. It couldn’t be seen from the rest of the cave.

Delia noticed a shift in the air. It became warmer and more humid. Intrigued with the changes she was feeling as they moved deeper into the cave system, she dropped all pretense of irritation and watched curiously as he continued moving through the slender passage.

“Where are you taking me?” she finally asked.

“Shhh,” he said.

“Did you just shush me?” Delia demanded.

“Delia loud,” he grumbled.

“I am not loud!” Delia insisted, just as Valka ducked to step into another chamber with high ceilings. Her voice echoed as Valka straightened and still holding Delia out in front of him, approached a small pool of water. It was maybe nine feet across and twelve feet wide, and a warm mist hovered just over the top of it. He held her out over the water.

“Do not drop me in there! Is it even safe?” she demanded.

Valka grinned at her, and let go.

Delia came up sputtering. “I cannot believe you did that!”

“Delia stink,” he repeated.

He walked away from her, leaving her in the pool to soak.

Delia watched as he walked past the pool she was in and down several levels that each had their own pools — based on the steam lingering above them — to what she assumed was the final pool at the end of the chamber, resting lower than all the rest. The floor of this chamber was apparently staged in a terrace type of gradient that didn’t allow her to see it fully from where she floated in the thermal pool she was currently in. The steam was the only thing giving an indication that there were smaller pools further down.

---