Page 83 of Bound to the Orc King

The other two fae break off their attack and dart for the door, Starfall cantering after them the entire way.

Then Aldronn’s racing toward me, his sword sheathed with a flick of his wrist, freeing his hands. He slides onto his knees and scoops me into his arms. “May.”

“I’m okay,” I say, but I cling to him, needing to feel he’s alright, needing his solid strength.

He presses hot kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, my nose, murmuring my name between each.

“I learned things about the dark fae,” I say, my teeth chattering as I start to feel the cold.

“Later,” he growls, kissing me with a ferocious intensity that curls my toes.

“Get a cave,” Starfall says from nearby, her tone amused.

When we pull apart, the unicorn nuzzles the side of my head, and I reach up to pat her cheek, holding her to me for a moment.

“Excellent idea.” Aldronn surges to his feet with me in his arms. “Which cave is ours?”

“That one.” Naomi points to an opening and shoots me a knowing smile. “It’s pretty special. I thought you might like it.”

“Thanks!” I give her an answering grin over Aldronn’s shoulder as he stalks away from them. “Don’t wait up!”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Naomi says as Wranth picks her up and starts for one of the other caves.

“Are you kidding me?” Starfall grumps. “The last thing I need is to hear all of you. I’m going to go and graze very,veryfar away.”

I chuckle, and Aldronn’s lips twitch as he ducks under the thick ice of the cave opening and carries me into an ice chamber lit by a single glow stone. It immediately feels warmer out of the wind, but this room is bare. The same golden glow shows in a smaller opening ahead.

He leans over to set me on my feet and nips the side of my neck with his tusks, sending shivers racing through me straight to my core. Impatient hands aim me at the opening. “Go.”

This is one order I’m more than happy to obey. I duck and hurry down a short tunnel that opens on an inner chamber. The air feels surprisingly warm on my face, heated by a small pool at the back, which has steam rising from it. Our bags sit against one of the walls, and furs are spread across the middle of the floor.

“It really is perfect!”

Aldronn straightens from the crouched position he used to get through the tunnel and gives a pleased grunt. “It’s about to get even better.”

“Hell yeah, it is.” I eye the furs.

Instead of immediately dropping me onto them like I want—I pout a little at that, not gonna lie—he walks over to the glow stone and strikes it, turning off the lights.

“What?” I say, immediately blinded. “You know I can’t see in the dark like you can, right?”

“Patience, my bride.” He wraps his arms around me from behind, his fingers lifting my chin until my head falls back against his chest.

Light flickers in the ceiling, a gorgeous neon green outlined with streaks of purple. It grows quickly, a rippling, moving swirl of colored brightness that makes the ice of the cave glow as if we’re inside a magical lantern.

“It’s so gorgeous,” I gasp. “What is it?”

“It’s the aurora. The ice overhead is clear enough for us to see it. It’s the best thing I’ve heard about the Northern Wastes—that the aurora shines every night.” He turns me around, stripping my cloak from me and tossing it aside along with his. “All the better to see you, my bride.”

Then his hands are on me, pulling at my clothes.

An answering need rises within me, all the adrenaline and worry for him turning into something sweeter but just as intense. I rip open the buckle on his sword belt, slowing only enough to make sure it has a soft landing on our cloaks before my hands return to the front of his leather pants.

I need him alive and on me and in me. I need to celebrate that we’ve made it through yet another shitty thing the universe threw at us.

That I still have him whole and with me, this man I’m falling for.

This man I think I already love.

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