Page 12 of Bred By the Orc
I should fight him. I should prove to him I was brave and strong and not afraid of the huge cock I could feel probing at my back.
“Sorchabreathe.”
How did he know my name? He had used it during the attack. John must have told him about me. The orc had said he was there forme, and John had called Roxanna and Effieextras. Now these monsters had two more prizes—
“Lass!”
Suddenly his arm tightened around me, pulling me back, squishing me against his chest. Impossibly, I could feel his strong heartbeat through the silk of my gown, and I stiffened, ready to fight him.
But he took a deep breath. “Breathe, Sorcha. It’ll be aright.”
His brogue washed over me. He sounded so different from the Tarbert men, but his voice was not…bad. If I disregarded the green of his arm, I would think ‘twas a human who held me. A human male who cradled me in his arms, trying to…to comfort me.
When he took another deep breath I felt it, and unconsciously mimicked him. When he exhaled, I did as well, and then ‘twas second nature to inhale in tandem with him.
“Good lass,” he murmured. “That is better.”
As my breathing slowed, I realized I was relaxing against him. I thought for a moment about struggling, fighting him. But I was tired and my heart could take no more. Mayhap Icould rest for a moment, a few hours at most, then go back to being strong.
“Sorcha,” he said again in that deliciously low voice I could feel reverberating through his chest and mine. “Ye’re safe. I give ye my word.”
Unconsciously, I shifted, nudging his cock. He didn’t make a sound, but I felt his soft hiss against the top of my head. I froze, but after a moment realized he wasn’t going to do anything… So I shifted again on purpose.
This time I scooted a bit sideways, so my weight rested atop his left thigh. His cock jumped, but again all he did was suck in a sharp breath.
It seemed…it seemed as if he was telling the truth. We were merely riding. He was not going to rape me here in the saddle, no matter how aroused he might be.
Slowly, I exhaled, and with my breath, even more of my tension left. I was scared and exhausted and hollow. Ishould notaccept his warmth, his comfort…but I didn’t think I could resist.
When I allowed the muscles of my neck to relax, the back of my head tipped against his chest, and neither of us moved away.
His arm shifted around me until he was supporting my back and torso, rather than just my waist, and his skin was so warm…I closed my eyes.
“Sleep, lass. I’ll keep ye safe.”
And the tears pricked behind my lids again. I wasn’t safe. Not with him. Not with the way my body was reacting to his.
“What do you want with me?” My whisper was ragged, harsh against the warm night. “What are you going to do with me?”
His arm tightened momentarily and I felt him hum low in his chest, so low I could nothearit. But all he said when he finally spoke was, “Ye’re no’ ready to hear that.”
The tears leaked from behind my lids.
‘Twas as if his words had doomed me. I tried once more, desperately. “You could return me to my father?”
“Nay, lass.” His other arm closed around me. “Ye’re mine now.”
Filled with hopelessness after that promise, I fellasleep.
Sorcha
To my surprise, I woke in the morning still in Drakolt’s arms, still atop the horse, and still in one piece.
There was a bite to the air around me the same way I expected back home, and although I didn’t recognize any of the landscape around me, ‘twas…familiar. Was the orcs’ home world a mirror of ours, then? The lochs and craggy landscape giving way to the sea in the west? But now we rode toward the rising sun, which would be the mainland back home.
But despite the chilly air, I was warm. It took me a moment to realize that sometime during the night, my captor had wrapped me in a piece of tartan bearing the same blue pattern as his kilt.
He had kept me safe.
