Page 32 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

My bride shivers, a sweet tremble I feel everywhere we touch.

Goddess, I want her trembling around my cock!

Then she shakes her head and sits up straighter, pulling away from me a little. “I need to go home, even if I get snapped back here like before.”

“No.” Her words spark a primal possessiveness inside me, yet that’s not why I protest—or not the only reason. “If you open the door to your world and teleport there, you’ll burn out your magic and we’ll be stuck in this exact same situation again.”

“You’re right.” She throws out a hand palm up. “But what choice do I have?”

“Dragons,” Zephyr and Shadow say at exactly the same time.

“Actually, there’s something you should do before dragons.” I pull her a little closer as Zephyr leaps a downed log, my bride’s curls flying up to brush my chin. “You should return to Moon Blade Village, and we’ll get you one of the red crystals that will protect you from magical burnout.”

“The place with the tree cottages?” She twists to shoot me a dazzled look.

Naomi really likes the idea of the heart tree cottages, and I must admit I enjoyed my stay in one. For all of Elmswood Keep’s solid splendor, the castle isn’t cozy like a village cottage.

“Yes,” I growl. “That was Moon Blade Village.”

“That’s a great idea, only… I’m not sure how I got there the first time.” She shrugs. “I was trying to go home.”

“So you went to his home,” Shadow says. “Simple.”

“Simple?” I cock an eyebrow at him.

“You’re moon boundandtethered. The goddess has connected you tightly to one another.” The feline fae grins. “So when Naomi thought of home…”

“You went to Wranth’s home instead!” Zephyr finishes.

“But the village isn’t my home,” I say. “And we went to King Aldronn first.”

“You consider being with him your home,” Zephyr says. “Face it—we travel much of the year. We’re always on the move. The only constant is the king.”

“That’s what it means to be in the king’s guard,” I say. “That’s the point of the position—to be the strong sword arm by his side, protecting him.”

My old friend turns her head to spear me with one sharp blue eye. “Yet after spending only a couple of weeks in Moon Blade Village, you went there next. I find that telling.”

I rock backward as if she struck a physical blow, my knees tightening to keep my seat. Things I never dared hope for fill me with bittersweet longing. I could be like Sturrm—assigned to the village permanently.

I could have a cottage, a home.

And a family of my own to share it with.

If only my bride will stay.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Naomi

We fall silent as we ride, Shadow flickering in and out of sight as he runs through the trees at our side.

Conflicting emotions whirl inside me. Ineedto tell my parents I’m okay. I hate that they’re worrying.

But… this is the adventure of a lifetime, and from everything Wranth and the others have told me, I’m here to do something vitally important. I’ve never been important before. Oh, I’m no shrinking violet—I know I’m awesome. Yet it’s the normal kind of awesome.

Opening the doors of Faerie when no one else can? That’s freakingepic.

I don’t have to read about a kick-butt heroine doing something like that—I canbeher.

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