Page 38 of Guarded By the Orc

“Why are you all shiny?” I asked him, my voice hoarse from my screams.

“Me? No,you’rethe one who’s—” he cut himself off, glancing down at himself before saying, “Oh. Okay, well, we’rebothglowing then.”

My body was lax and spent under him, so I could barely muster the energy to lift my hand, but when I did, I saw the same thrumming golden light under my skin.

“What the hell is this?” I asked him. “Is this some kind of orc thing? I’m glowing because you came on me?”

He choked out a laugh. “Sorry to say that our cum doesn’t make people glow,” he murmured, turning us so I was snuggled against him. We werebothcovered in the copious amount of cum that he’d spurted, but neither of us were able to muster any energy to clean up.

“Did you do something witchy?” he asked with a yawn and I shrugged.

“Sometimes I do weird shit and I don’t even realize,” I responded with a sigh.

“I like your weird shit,” he murmured against my hair before a soft snore left him. My heart swelled with love at his words.

There was something to be said about a male who accepted you for who you were, no matter what came with it. I nuzzled my face against his chest, feeling tears gather in my eyes, but blinking them away.

Damn it all to hell. I think I love him.

CHAPTER 20

Rudgar

Iwatched my female read her spellbook as I rubbed her tiny feet. She was like a happy cat, curled against me and mewling as I dug my thumb into the dainty arch. When I ran a finger over it, she giggled, her foot kicking out instinctively.

I lifted it to press a kiss to it, and she smiled at me. “Kissing my feet already? You haven’t even been bad yet.” Her words were a mischievous purr and I nipped one of her small toes.

“If kissing your feet is how I’m going to be punished, then I’m going to have to be bad more often,” I said with a grin.

“As if you aren’t already bad enough,” she sniffed, sending a wink my way before burying herself in her book again.

She was certain there had to be a way to bypass the curse or at the very least, find a way to focus her powers.

“When I was a teenager, I would accidentally use my powers all the time,” she’d confided in me. “And I could do so much damage.” She’d shuddered as she’d spoken. “So my momdecided that she’d bind them until I was old enough and trained enough to control them.”

Nibbling her lower lip, she’d shrugged, wringing her hands. “I didn’t get the chance to finish my training before she was gone, though.”

The bleak expression on her face had made me hug her close, trying to soothe the pain that was still so strong inside her at the loss of her beloved mother. I knew there was nothing I could do, but I wanted to behead Veron—that smug fucker—and mount his head on a pike to gift to her. When I’d told her that, she’d looked at me with wide eyes and patted my hand as if to calm me down.

“I’ve got this, don’t worry. I’ll face him when I’m able to control my powers and he won’t stand a chance,” she’d assured me.

I wasn’t so sure that was true. While I was certain my female would be more powerful than the puny fucker was, I was also sure that he would use underhanded methods to win if they faced off against each other.

That male wouldn’t understand fair play if it hit him across the face—and I intended to.

“He’s going to try to trick you,” I told her in a low voice, but she nodded right away.

“I know. He’s aware that my powers are bound,” she huffed, her lip curling. “But this time they won’t be, and I know he’s going to try to trick me.”

“He’ll use different methods,” I told her, running my fingers over her tiny toes and making her wiggle them.

“Definitely,” she agreed with a nod. “And I’ll need your help with strategizing where everyone should be positioned.”

My chest swelled with pride as I realized that my female was trusting me with her safety. And not just her safety—which was a big enough deal—but with the safety of her entire coven.

I leaned over to press a kiss to her lips, her precious face fittingneatly between my tusks.

“Thank you,” I whispered against her mouth and she shook her head, dropping her spellbook to her lap to wrap her arms around my neck, pulling me close and pressing her forehead against mine, nuzzling our noses together.

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