Page 99 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

“Good,” I growl. “Because we’re going to be locked together all night this first time. The knot completes the mating bond.”

“All night, huh?” She pushes up to smile at me. Then her eyes go wide as she stares at my chest. “You have a moon on you!”

I glance down. A filigreed crescent moon tattoos my skin, right over my heart. “You should have one, too.”

Naomi lifts farther up, her fingers brushing over the smaller, solid crescent moon on her chest. “What does it mean?”

“They’re our moon bound mate marks. They mean the Moon Goddess blesses our union.”

“She damned well better!” My bride laughs. “After the tether and everything she put us through.”

“I wouldn’t change a single thing,” I say. “Because it brought me you.”

“Oh.” Her beautiful eyes go misty, and I crane down to kiss her.

She sighs and settles onto my chest again, and I pull the furs up over her to keep her warm. “So.” She props her chin on one fist to look up at me and draws little patterns on my shoulder with the fingertips of her other hand. “Am I really a queen?”

“You will always be my queen.”

My bride grins. “Okay, but for real. Am I a queen or a consort or simply your wife?”

“You are my bride, my wife, my queen.” I cup her cheek. “You are my everything.”

“Queen Naomi. I like the sound of that.” She touches her forehead and grins at me. “Do I get a crown? Not for every day, but for special occasions.”

“I will ask Tumbletoad if he rescued my mother’s, and if he did not, I will make you one.”

“Oh, I’d love to have your mother’s! We should try to find your father’s crown, too.”

“We will have to see. I am currently king of nothing,” I warn her. “There might not be anything to my kingdom other than one brownie and a half-destroyed house.”

“That’s not true! You have the most important thing of all.” She taps my shoulder. “You have you, and that’s all I need.”

“What you said about Avalon and having a kingdom… Do you want to live there?”

“No.” I can’t stand the thought of making Naomi live in that dark and frozen place. “I’ve finally realized that Alarria is my home. I couldn’t see it before, but now that I’ve spent time here, in Moon Blade Village.” My arms tighten around her. “And now that I have you, I want to stay in this village if you do.”

She draws more little circles on my shoulder, her lips pursed as she thinks. “I like Moon Blade Village, too, and I want to live here, but I might have to go back to Earth regularly.” Her eyes meet mine. “It might even be a daily thing. My parents depend on me, and…” She gives a one-shoulder shrug.

“And you are a dutiful daughter who loves her family,” I say. “I love that about you.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

“It’s funny.” She lets out a little puff of air. “I spent years dreaming of getting away from there, and as soon as I wound up here, all I could think about was getting back.”

“It’s a far different thing to leave home due to your own wishes versus having a goddess make the decision for you.”

“Only Ididmake the decision. I stood on Main Street and wished to become who I was meant to be. The goddess might have meddled like the biggest meddler to ever meddle, but she wasn’t wrong. She brought me to my magic.” My bride’s fingers brush over my cheek. “And she brought me to you.”

We fall silent for several moments until she wiggles, tugging on my knot again and sending a rush of pleasure through both of us.

Her rich throaty chuckle fills the room, and my bride beams up at me. “Besides, I think we’re still tethered, this time by your cock.”

Her words startle a laugh from me, and I let myself feel her joy. I wrap my arms around her and pull her close, this amazing woman, this gift. With Naomi’s love warming my heart, I will never be alone ever again.

My family, my home.

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