Page 21 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

Zephyr splashes into the river, and the nymphs give delighted cries, bounding through the water like a pack of aquatic puppies. They surround us, water-foam fingers trailing along the unicorn’s sides and over Wranth’s boots.

“Yes! Yes!” they sing, their voices high and light. “Dance with us!”

A laugh bubbles from me, and even though his arm remains rigid around me, holding me firmly, Wranth lets me lean over enough to reach out a hand.

The nymphs’ touches whirl over my skin in a tickle of sensation.

“That’s it,” Zephyr says, the skin of her sides twitching. “Go play with the human instead.”

“Unicorns don’t like to be tickled,” Wranth says, his voice low and close to my ear.

“How right you are,” she says, fording through the deepest part of the river. “Wholikesbeing tickled?”

“I do,” I say.

Wranth’s fingers flex on my stomach, and his voice becomes a heated promise that steals my breath. “I’ll remember you said that.”

CHAPTER TEN

Wranth

My bride’s husky laughter sweeps through me like a velvet caress. Oh, how I love the sound of her joy.

And the feel of her in my arms.

Keeping her above the water gives me the perfect excuse to hold her more tightly, to delight in the brush of her curls on my chin.

As Zephyr nears the bank and the river grows shallower, the nymphs leap ever higher to still reach Naomi’s hand. When the last one falls away with a glad cry for her to return, my moon bound sways to the side, her head swiveling to keep them in view, her eyes wide with delight.

Zephyr climbs out of the water, her hooves squelching in the rich mud of the riverbank as she brushes past a stand of cattails. They thrust long bladed leaves up to the sky, mixed with both theyoung flower heads of spring and the golden-brown “sausages” of early autumn. All of the warm seasons blur together in Alarria, most of the year given over to times of fruitful plenty.

Shadow sits waiting on dry ground at the edge of the trees, idly grooming himself.

“By the goddess, you certainly primp enough, cat,” the unicorn says.

“Time well spent, wouldn’t you say?” His green eyes glitter with mischief as he arches his back and stretches, making his smoky fur ripple. “After all, I look magnificent, no matter my form.”

My old friend humphs and marches into the trees. “I’d rather you spent your time finding my promised meadow.”

“Yes, cat sith,” I say. “Where is this meadow that I and my bride might test the limits of our entanglement?” A part of me likes that she cannot leave me behind, no matter where her powers take her. Yet another despairs of ever hunting again. How am I to feed her as I should if I cannot stalk and take down game?

“Yes, yes, patience.” Shadow marches past, the tip of his bushy tail flicking in agitation. “It’s just ahead.”

And for once, the feline fae speaks without embellishments, for we indeed emerge from the trees and into a wide grassy meadow not long after leaving the river behind.

“Thank the goddess.” Zephyr doesn’t wait for us to dismount before ripping up a mouthful of rich green grass dotted with buttercups and bluebells.

A pang goes through me. For all her typical grumpiness, this is true hunger. She’s run so hard these last days, and a lack of proper forage has been difficult on her.

“We’ll camp here tonight.” I slide from her back.

“There are hours of travel left in the day,” Shadow says.

I lift Naomi down. “We’ll put those hours to good use testing our entanglement.”

“Yes!” My moon bound nods up at me. “I need to figure this out.”

I remove the packs and saddle from Zephyr so that she may roam free and unburdened. Then I lean close to murmur, “Eat well, my friend. We will not move on until you are well fed.” I keep my voice quiet—she would not want me to expose her need to the feline fae. Although the cat sith are part of the alliance that includes orcs and unicorns, we do not yet know the heart of this Shadow.

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