Page 40 of The Orc's Promised Bride

A deep growl rumbled through Lothar’s chest, his arms tightening around her. She glanced up to see his eyes had turned completely black, but rather than being afraid, she felt safer. The rage in his expression wasn’t directed at her - it was for her, protecting her. His reaction validated everything she’d felt, everything she’d buried.

She drew in a shaky breath, drawing an odd sort of comfort from his anger.

“One night, I just… ran. Didn’t take anything but what I was wearing.” Her fingers curled against his chest. “Hitchhiked until I found a women’s shelter two states away.”

The memories of those first terrifying days of freedom flooded back - the constant fear of being found, jumping at shadows, sleeping with one eye open. “I changed my name, got my GED, found work. The shelter helped me get therapy, start healing.”

She shifted in his lap, letting his warmth anchor her to the present.

“I eventually got curious about the rest of my family.” Curiosity driven by loneliness, by the desire for some kind of connection. “It turned out that my grandmother - my dad’s mom who I barely remembered - had left me her farm when she died. The cult never knew about it.” A bitter laugh escaped her. “My mother had told me my father’s family wanted nothing to do with us. Another lie.”

The farm had become her sanctuary, a place where she could finally breathe. But even there, surrounded by the peace of nature, she couldn’t shake the shadows of her past.

“I learned to take care of myself, be independent. But trusting people…” She shook her head. “Every time someone got too close, I’d push them away. Build another wall.”

She traced her fingers along his jaw, and his eyes softened, the black shifting back to a deep, intense green.

“But I trust you, and I don’t want those memories to control me anymore.” Her voice came out stronger than she expected. “May I touch you?”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said hoarsely, but she felt his cock jerk against her.

A smile curved her lips as an unexpected happiness filled her. She hadn’t realized how much it would help to finally tell someone what had happened to her. She felt… lighter, as if the past were no longer weighing her down.

“May I?” she asked again as she gently trailed her fingers across the soft fabric straining to confine his cock.

“If that’s what you want.” He groaned as her hand slipped inside his waistband. “Fuck. Your touch feels so good.”

Heat flooded her body at the praise, but she kept her gaze fixed on him as she gently explored his cock, feeling the thick veins that swirled around the wide shaft. His skin was impossibly hot and silky, except for a rougher area at the base of his shaft and he groaned again when she ran her fingers over it.

“Is that a sensitive area?”

“It’s my knot,” he growled.

The idea of his already enormous cock expanding ever further sent a dizzying thrill of both terror and desire through her.

“Does that bother you?” he asked.

She managed to shake her head, her eyes still fixed on him, and he covered her hand with his own, pressing her palm against his length. Her hand was too small to circle the entire girth but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Keep going,” he growled as she stroked his shaft.

“Mmm. You feel so hot and thick and hard.”

“I want to claim every part of you,” he growled, and a shiver danced down her spine. “To mark you and claim you. To fuck you so thoroughly no one will ever be able to compare.”

“I don’t want anyone else,” she whispered, and his hips bucked beneath her.

“Show me how much you want me,” he commanded.

A little whimper escaped her as the ache between her thighs grew, the slick heat becoming almost unbearable. Her fingers tightened around his length, stroking faster, harder. His growls grew louder, his hips thrusting up into her hand.

“Fuck, yes. Just like that,” he purred.

His fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her head back, and then his mouth claimed hers. She whimpered at the possessiveness of his kiss, the raw need, and his hand tightened in her hair before he released her.

“Do you want me, my valai? Do you want my cock buried inside you?”

“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes, please.”

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