“Do you know what’s about to happen?”

Actually, I did, thank you very much. Contrary to current evidence, I actuallydothink things through and research shit, and after that first night where he’d made me come on the couch, I read up on what to expect when we finally got this far.

“Orcs have an evolutionary adaptation that forces their female partner to orgasm as soon as they enter her,” I shared, a little smugly. “The monsterfucker groups on social media call it an Insta-O.”

Had I thought myself smug? The smirk that came to his mouth was practicallyscreamingsmug.

“I meant, Blossom…” He lowered himself until I could feel his cock probing my entrance, “that I’m about to make you mine. Here and now, we’re going to be joined in the oldest of ways.”

It was fitting. I smiled and shifted beneath him to clasp his thighs with my knees. “Yes, please.”

He was huge, bigger than my dildo, and as he slid into me, I felt stretched in the most delicious of ways. Each ridge caused a shudder to run through me, and when he was almost completely seated, Memnon froze.

Squirming beneath him, I frowned. “What?” I panted. “Please. Now?”

I knew I wasn’t making any sense, and from the way one corner of his lips twitched, he knew it.

“Ready, Blossom?”

Whimpering, I arched up toward him, and he took the hint. With a groan, he pushed all the way, andOh my God it was true.

Immediately, an orgasm burst over me, so much stronger than the earlier one. With a sort of keening wail, I grabbed onto Memnon as tightly as I could as he began to move.

Oh God, he moved!

I hadn’t even reached the apex of my pleasure when he began to move, and each thrust pushed and pulled those incredible ridges in and out of me. The sensations wrung my orgasm out longer and longer, until I was rocking my hips in desperation, riding the crest.

“Maya,” he gasped. “Dkaar.”

My pleasure was finally beginning to dip, and I could breathe properly. “Love you,” I gasped out, anchored in the certainty.

He froze, staring down at me, and I watched his eyes flare green for a moment before he jerked in my hold. The noise he made as he came, spilling inside me, wasn’t a roar, but a sort of intense grunt, coming from deep in his chest. I felt his warmth fill me, felt it leaking from inside me, but I didn’t drop his gaze.

After a long moment, he exhaled, and Ifelthim relax. If I hadn’t been watching him so intently, I would’ve missed the way the color of his eyes slowly faded from green to black. But eventually, he shifted, pulling his cock from me, and another flood of his cum spilled from me.

It should have felt disgusting and dirty.

It didn’t.

Yes, it was primal. Yes, it was barbaric. But it was how his people—howmypeople—had been joining for thousands of years. Surrounded by the glory of God—the gods of his ancestors and mine—and the natural world.

It feltright.

“Memnon,” I whispered, pulling him to me.

He rolled, pulling me with him, so we ended up curled up in the grass together. Summer was still a few months away, but the sun warmed us.

We laid there in silence for some time, and I thought he might have fallen asleep.Iwas becoming drowsy, listening to his steady heartbeat. But eventually he stirred, and I lifted my head to see him watching me intently.

He looked as if he was about to say something important, so I surged upward to kiss him. His expression eased, and I felt his lips curl beneath mine.

When I lifted my mouth from his, his smile was still there, although slight. “Mate,” he murmured, his large fingers brushing my hair away from my face. “Dkaar.”

“What does that mean?” I propped my chin on his chest. “You called me that before, and Giza called Harper that.”

His lips curled further. “Beloved, in the language of my mother.”

Beloved. It was better thanI love you. It was a promise. “Dkaar,” I whispered, wishingTatihad been able to teach memyancestral language so I could share it with Memnon. “How do I sayI love youin your language?”