Page 50 of Orc's Little Human
She stares at me for a long moment, and I can see her processing, believing, accepting. When she speaks again, her voice is barely audible.
"I love you too."
The words hit me like lightning, electric and transformative. I pull her against me, crushing her mouth beneath mine with all the desperate hunger that's been building since the moment I saw those bastards threatening what's mine.
She responds with equal intensity, her hands fisting in my hair, her body pressing against mine like she's trying to disappear into my skin. The kiss tastes like tears and blood and promises neither of us knows how to keep.
When we break apart, both breathing hard, her eyes are bright with something that has nothing to do with sorrow.
"Show me," she whispers against my lips. "Show me how much."
I don't need to be asked twice.
My hands find the ties of her tunic, working them loose with practiced efficiency. She helps, pulling the fabric over her head and tossing it aside. Moonlight turns her skin to silver, highlighting the brand on her collarbone—the mark that binds us, that makes her magic sing in harmony with mine.
She reaches for my own clothes with hands that shake slightly, whether from cold or nerves or need, I can't tell. Don't care. All that matters is the way she looks at me, like I'm something precious, something worth having.
My tunic joins hers on the ground. Her fingers trace the scars that map my chest and shoulders, each touch sending fire through my veins. When she reaches the ritual marks on my tusks, her thumb brushes over the raised lines with something like reverence.
"Beautiful," she murmurs, and the word makes something tight in my chest loosen.
I lift her easily, settling her across my lap so she can feel exactly what she does to me. Her breath hitches when she realizes, when she feels the hard length of me pressing against her through the thin fabric of her pants.
"Are you sure?" I ask, because even with desire clawing at my control, I need to hear her say it.
"Yes." No hesitation, no doubt. "Please."
I help her work her pants down her hips, my own following moments later. When she settles back against me, skin to skin, the contact sends electricity racing along my nerves.
She's perfect. Soft where I'm hard, smooth where I'm scarred. When I lift her slightly and position myself at her entrance, she's already wet and ready.
The first slow slide into her heat makes us both groan. She's tight, perfect, mine in every way that matters. I give her a moment to adjust before moving, letting her set the pace.
But she's impatient, rolling her hips in a way that drives rational thought from my mind. Soon I'm moving beneath her, matching her rhythm, watching her face in the moonlight as pleasure builds between us.
Every thrust sends power singing through my veins, stronger than it's ever been. The magic responds to our joining, to the connection that binds us deeper than flesh. Through our bond, I can feel her pleasure mixing with mine, doubling and redoubling until I can't tell where I end and she begins.
She comes first, her body clenching around me as she cries out my name. The sound, the feel of her release, sends me over the edge after her. I bury my face against her neck as my own climax tears through me, leaving me shaking and spent.
We stay like that for long moments afterward, her body still wrapped around mine, both of us breathing hard. The magic between us settles into something deeper than before, more permanent. Like something that was loose has finally locked into place.
"Do you feel that?" I ask against her throat.
She nods, still catching her breath. "Stronger. Like we're..." She trails off, searching for words.
"Bound," I finish. "Truly bound."
She pulls back to look at me, her eyes soft and wondering. "Is that what this is? A bond?"
"Magic seeks balance often. It seems like we find that in each other." I trace the mark on her collarbone, feeling the magic humming beneath her skin. "I think that's what we've made tonight."
She smiles, and it transforms her entire face. "Good. I like the sound of being bound to you."
I pull her closer, wrapping my arms around her as if I could absorb her into my very bones. Mine. Bound to me now in ways that go beyond choice or circumstance.
Let whatever enemies come. We'll face them together.
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