Page 52 of X'nath

When I looked up at him, his pupils had dilated, and he remained silent, his gaze locked onto me. It was as if he was daring me to go further, watching my every move with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.

Biting my lip, I focused on the poultice, dipping my fingers and pressing it gently to his wound. My other hand cradled beneath his strong thigh, and despite my resolve, a surge of heat rushed through me. I felt it—the way his muscles flexed in the palm of my hand, the tension between us, the way our proximity seemed to heighten everything.

X’nath winced slightly as I applied more poultice, but it didn’t stop him from watching me. His gaze never wavered, and it was all I could do to keep my hands steady as I worked. The intimate silence between us felt heavier with each passing second, the closeness almost unbearable as the air crackled with electricity.

When I finished rebandaging him, I took a small step back, swallowing hard as I tried to ignore the fluttering in my chest. The moment lingered, stretched between us, and for a moment, I thought he might say something, do something—but instead, he just sat there, the intensity of his stare still weighing on me.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, his voice low.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As I turned to leave, his strong arms grabbed me. I fell against his chest, my eyes wide as I realized my hands were locked between us.

31

The Art of Unraveling

GRACIE

“X’na—”

He pressed his soft lips to mine, tentative at first, as if he was unsure of the practice, and then more boldly. The moment I gasped, he slipped his tongue into my mouth and dominated my mouth, leaving me light headed. X’nath took over my senses, everything around us disappeared.

In a moment of weakness, I accepted his advance and returned his kiss passionately, my hand sliding up to cradle his face, feeling the scruff of his stubble. He groaned and pulled back enough to let me lead the kiss.

The push and pull of his dominance and submission was intoxicating, making me fall under his spell.

He tasted of the berries he last ate, sweet, decadent. My body had a mind of its own as I began to rub myself against him, trying to fuse our two bodies together without actually doing the dirty act itself.

His lips traveled across my jaw, his hands roaming the swell of my breast, waiting for me to push him away.

Every time I told myself to, my mouth became dry, my nipples became hard with his touch. I wanted to cry, to understand why I was desperately trying to self sabotage myself when he had done nothing but prove his self control time and time again.

“Lak’osh…”

My body was in flames, I felt like I hadn’t been touched like this in a decade. I couldn’t speak, my body crying for him to relieve me from my never ending ache.

As if he could read my mind, he lifted me in his arms as he got to his feet, pulling off my boots as he carried me to his bed. The weight of his body on top of mine was a welcomed prison, my legs parting to accommodate his massive size.

As embarrassing as it was, the words slipped from my mouth like a confession I hadn’t planned on making, as if they had been weighing on my soul for far too long. “I can’t do this,” I whispered, my voice barely a breath.

The admission felt like sacrilege, a betrayal of everything I knew was right.

X’nath’s gaze hardened, his proximity sending flames of desire through my body. His lips hovered near my ear, his breath sending shivers down my spine. “And yet here you are,” he murmured, the words laced with a dark promise.

His calloused hands slipped beneath my top and pushed it up. I let out a sharp inhale when his hot mouth covered my nipple, his tongue teasing the tip in lazy circles before sucking.

I wasn’t a stranger to sex, but it had never felt like this, like I was about to internally combust if he didn’t fill me up. Whimpering, I grabbed his closest hand and brought it to my mouth, sucking his finger suggestively. There was a fire growing inside of me and I needed him to put it out quickly.

But X’nath had other plans. He trailed his tusks along the side of my waist as one hand gripped my jaw and the otherbegan prying my legs apart widely. I watched like a voyeur as he pressed his face against the covered apex of my legs, inhaling me deeply and groaning as if in pain.

“Tell me you want this, Gracie. Because there will be no turning back after this. I want to respect you, I want?—”

I pressed my foot on his shoulder, digging my toes into his flesh to get his attention. “I want you to fill my pussy with your big, orc cock, X’nath. Shut up and stop playing with me,” I growled.

The next groan that came out sounded more like a snarl as he ripped off my clothes as well as his own in a few quick movements. His hard body pressed against mine as his lips captured me again, more aggressively this time. I didn’t know if orcs knew the art of kissing, and if X’nath didn’t, he was a fast learner.

“You drive me crazy,” I whispered.

“The feeling’s mutual,” he chuckled as he stood up, grabbed my hips and pulled me to the edge of the bed with one jerk, splaying my hair behind me.

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