Page 10 of Running from the Orc
“Where did ye hide that?” I growled, moving closer, forcing her to back against the tree trunk again.
Her expression remained fierce, but fear flickered in her eyes again as she lifted the puny dagger between us. “I have my secrets.”
“Aye, ye do, Roxanna.”
With that, my hand lashed out, knocking the dagger from her fingers. I grabbed her wrist even as I snatched the fallingblade from the air. She struggled, but I pressed her back, pinning her between the tree and my body.
When she felt my hardness, she froze.
‘Twas dark here in the shadows, but I didn’t need my eyes to tell me what my body could sense. Her frantic heartbeat. Her fear-stained sweat. And below it all, when I flexed my hips, so my cock pressed into her belly…arousal.
I leaned closer, tipping my nose against her temple, and inhaled, low and slow.
“So do I, Roxanna,” I murmured. “So do I.”
I was a hunter, and I’d caught my prey.
Her pulse stuttered, and by Torvor, I swear I couldfeelit.
I wanted to taste her. MyKteerdemanded it. I leaned closer and brushed my lips against her temples. I tasted her sweat, her confusion…but it wasn’t enough.
My hips shifted away so I could lean down until our lips were a hairsbreadth apart. Hers were parted, her breaths coming in pants, her eyes wide. I flicked my tongue against my right tusk, then eased forward.
The kiss was soft. Undemanding. To my surprise, myKteerquieted immediately, an odd purr filling my chest in what I had to assume was contentment.
We did not move. I did not force my tongue between her lips or tuck them between my teeth and tug the way I wanted to. Instead, I stood still, allowing her to get used to the feel of me.
And after a long moment,Roxannawas the one to push upward, push against me. Not to get rid of me, but to claim me. I felt her pulse jump in her wrist beneath my fingertips, even as her lips parted and her tongue dragged across mine.
Aye.
I had not been wrong about her arousal.
But here and now, she was afraid. She was bleeding. And she was far from safe.
So I reined in myKteerand straightened, swallowing down the almost overwhelming urge to flip up my kilt and bend her over andtake herhere and now. I’d hunted her through the dark, and she wasmine.
Even if she didn’t know it.
So, I lifted her hand by her wrist until it sat between us and pressed the hilt of her small dagger back into her palm.
Her eyes widened in confusion, and I nodded.I have my secrets as well, my firebrand.
If she could hurt me with that wee weapon,then I deserved it.
Once I was certain she would not drop the blade, I nodded my approval. “Re-sheath yer claws, Roxanna.”
Still looking uncertain, she slid the small dagger into its hidden sheath, and I nodded again. Then I lowered my shoulder, wrapped my arm around her arse, and slung her over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she shrieked, beating at my back. “Put me down.”
I grinned against the darkness, ignoring my throbbing cock and the way my lips still tingled from her kiss. “I’m taking ye back to camp, firebrand, where I’ll tend yer wounds. Then I’ll tie ye to me so we can both get a good night’s sleep.”
“You cannot do that!” Her tiny fists hammered into the tight muscles of my back. “I will escape you!”
I was already moving through the forest toward the remains of our camp. “Then I will find you, my delicious prey.” Aye, delicious.
With that, I tipped my head back to the stars and laughed. Roxanna was by far the most important prey I’d hunted, and I would welcome her attempts at running if it meant I got to chase her.
