Page 41 of Orc's Claim
With a thick finger, he tips my chin up. Even though I’m five-eight, he towers over me.
“You lost faith in me,” he says, his voice sterner than usual as his eyes take me in, caressing every part of me without using his hands. He makes me feel as if I’m the most beautiful woman in the universe.
“I didn’t see where you’d gone when I left my table. I thought?—”
He lifts his chin. “You need to believe in me, female.”
I love when he calls me that, especially when he adds a slight growl to his voice. All possessive, like he’s telling me I’m his.
His eyes move over me. “Where is your knife?”
“You mean your grak’s knife? Owen took it. Technically, it was accepted in trade so it wasn’t mine to keep, but the colony’s. Next time I come out here, I’ll bring my shears.”
“You need a proper knife. I will get you one to fit your smaller hands.”
“Owen will notice. And he’ll take that one too.”
He growls.
“Are you mad at me? I don’t want to fight. I’m so sorry I?—”
His lips take mine, swallowing my words as he draws me into a fantasy I never want to leave.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LILY
“Put your boots on. It’s not safe here,” Ryko says after several minutes of kissing.
He’s tense. Constantly looking over his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I’ve placed both of us at risk,” he explains as we move at a brisk pace up a trail I don’t recognize.
“Are we running away?” I ask, trying not to let my voice falter. We haven’t discussed the idea of leaving our people. Ryko always speaks so highly of his people, even his king. I never imagined he’d want to leave them, whereas I don’t have any true connections in New Earth. I’d miss my cousins, even though I don’t get to see them often. I think my uncle’s keeping them away from me. He never really saw any worth in me, other than what I could do for him.
“Whatever it is, Ryko. I trust you,” I add instead of pushing for answers.
He slams to a halt. “Perhaps you should not.”
I’m so stunned, that my mouth drops open.
“Is that an invitation?” he quips as he traces my lips with a finger. “Or your way of saying you forgive me for what happened between us? I do not want you to do what you’re not ready for. Though mating would be useful.”
Useful? I’m not sure what he’s saying.
“If you’re talking about what we did last time we were in these woods, I loved…” I lower my voice. “sucking on you.” Heat rises in my cheeks. The words sound dirtier than the act itself. I take a deep breath. “Please, tell me why you’re so nervous.”
“Tense. Stressed. Not nervous.”
“I saw you speaking with your grak, at the edge of my sector.”
The backs of his fingers gloss over my cheek. “He refused my request to be with you. And he… vekk him, he wants you for himself, Lily.”
“What?” I say stunned. Then anger sweeps over me. The asshole is going to do anything he can to keep us apart. “He can’t have me.”
“He’s grak. He gets what he wants,” Ryko says with such finality that my stomach lurches.
