Page 46 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

Wranth grunts in pleasure, his hips jerking.

So I do it some more, my touch becoming bolder. “That feels good?” It isn’t really a question.

“Aftershocks,” he says.

The deep rasp of his voice makes me shiver with pleasure, too, my core clenching, remembering the feel of him inside me, filling me full.

I settle back onto his arm and meet his gaze. “What’s the knot for?”

“It will lock us together for many hours, holding my orc seed inside you, the better to make younglings. Fae, even Wild Fae as hearty as orcs, do not conceive easily.” His eyes go haunted. The next words emerge broken and rough, as if he has trouble forcing them out. “Every child is a gift.”

“What is it?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”

“Every child but me, that is.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I am the only true orc orphan in all of Alarria. No one knows who my parents are or where I come from.” Pain, old and deep, echoes within the hollow emptiness of his voice. “I have no family, no people, no home.”

“Oh, Wranth.” My heart aches for him, tears prickling my eyes. I throw my arms around him. “I’m so sorry. Are there a lot of orcs who live off on their own? Is there some way we could go and talk to them all once I get my power working? I’m sure someone must know something.” Sure, I want to get home. But this is important to him, vitally important. So I can be here longer if that’s what it takes to make this right.

“That’s just it,” he says. “In Alarria, every orc lives in a village or at the king’s castle, Elmswood Keep. There are no other orcs, and there were no unaccounted-for pregnancies ever, let alone the year I was born.”

I pull back enough to meet his troubled gaze. “Well, then, there’s only one answer. You’re from a different realm.”

“No one saw the Moon Goddess for several months before I was found, and I was a swaddled babe who couldn’t have been left for more than a few hours. She’s the only being who can bring anyone to Alarria, and her light is very bright and distinctive. You can see her for miles around.”

“You’re wrong,” I say.

He scowls so hard I have to fight to keep from smiling.

“The Moon Goddess isn’t the only one who can bring someone to Alarria.” I tap a finger to my chest. “I can!”

“You areveryspecial, my bride. There’s no one else with your power.”

“Maybe.” I give a one-shoulder shrug. “But the fact that I exist means maybe someone else with this power does, too.”

“If I’m not from Alarria…” His eyes go distant.

After a few moments of silence, I whisper, “Where could you be from?”

“The most likely realm is Avalon, which is home to orcs and elves and various other types of fae.”

“Avalon.” I press my hand over his heart and look him in the eyes. “I’ll take you to Avalon.”

I’ll do anything to erase this hurt from his life.

If I can get my magic to work.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Wranth

I hold my bride in my arms, our combined scents still lingering, even after the water. Nothing can ever remove her scent from me fully, or mine from her.

She ismine.

Even if this is all I ever have, for this magical moment in time, I have someone who’s mine.

---