Page 70 of Orc's Claim
“Only if you wish it, my Lily. You are the creator of my love,” I attempt to apply the human words I’ve heard in Pen’Kesh before.
“You meanyou love me?” Brown eyes glow so bright, so full of hope.
The human concept of love is a strange one, but one I’m beginning to understand, because of Lily. “Yes, I love you. You are the center of my world, and nothing will keep me from you. This, I vow.”
“Oh, god, Ryko. I love you, too!” She throws her arms around me, and vekk but I want to lay her out and sink into her again, taking my time to worship every inch of her.
My arms wrap around her holding her tight, true fear shaking me as I imagine a world without my Lily.
“I’ve wanted to tell you for such a long time that I love you, but I wasn’t sure if you felt the same,” she says against my ear, in a whisper, as if her words, her soul are only for me.
They are.
“You doubted me, female?” I ask, flashing my tusks a second before I graze one along her neck.
She shivers in my arms, then nips at my ear playfully before whispering, “We’re not alone.”
I hold her face in my hands, the gravity of our exile hitting me full force. She didn’t hear what Sojek said. She doesn’t know…
“We will be alone for possibly many months, my Lily. My people have not disowned us, but we must keep our distance until my grak completes his plan. We are not permitted to go near any settlement, any market, anywhere we could be seen. We must disappear from all that we know until he sends someone to find us one day. I do not know how long that will be.”
A smile, perfect and strong, tugs at my soul as it grows until it reaches her eyes. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t care where we are or if we’re alone. All I need is you.”
Lily slips her arms around my back, molding her body to mine until no light—or darkness—separates us. I know, beyond any doubt, that I’ve found my destiny, here on Kovos… with my Lily. My flower. My mate… the missing part of my soul.
