In that bittersweet moment, I can feel our company eager to get going. Even the delfass war-cats, who were slow to rouse after days of napping in the garden and eating some pretty decent cuts of meat, are feeling restless now that they are saddled and weighed down with their burdens. Cavek is the only one who seems reluctant. He sits on his borrowed delfass, watching as if looking for someone. Suddenly he brightens and I see Kate and Boukie pull up.
Kate runs up, out of breath. “Shit, sorry we’re late. I almost thought we were going to miss you. We can’t let you go without saying goodbye,” she says as she gives me a hug and then holds Boukie up for a sticky hug and kiss. As sad as I am to say goodbye, I feel a strange ache in my heart when I watch them approach Cavek.
Boukie cries as she clings to the male, and he seems reluctant to let her go. Kate sets a hand on his arm and whispers something low and he nods, his lips curving into a smile. She grins shyly, a strange expression for her. Another romance blossoming perhaps. Orgath looks on too and snorts.
“He should just take her and be done with it,” he says.
I elbow him sharply in the stomach which he doesn’t even acknowledge. “He’s courting her properly. Don’t be such an ass.”
He chuckles and kisses the top of my head.
“I thought you objected to them mating.”
I shrug. “I can’t exactly stop them.”
He hums in agreement and gives Ethiel his command to depart. I look over Orgath’s arm one last time until the house disappears from my sight as the cats pick their way along the still-dark roads, my kitten Oliver tucked in a small sling across my breasts, purring away in his sleep.
Soon enough we leave the roads to enter the park trails. The delfass stride through the tall grasses and thick brush, their tails high as they head into the Chugiak State Park. I can feel the shift of energy and see the glint of the portal as we approach it.
The first time, I left my world involuntarily when there was nothing but pain, ice, and snow; now I leave it in the growth of late spring with pale new leaves slowly unfolding under the sun. I squint at the flash of the portal’s light, looking forward to the rest of my life as The Orc Wife.
Epilogue
Orgath
A year and half later
Our daughter lies on the rug in front of the hearth of our private chambers, her pale gray belly warming in the yellow glow from the crackling fire. Winter is settling in quickly and I am relieved that she came long before the snows. Instead of a midwinter baby if my mate had been an orc herself, my daughter was born earlier with the last flush of summer, weeks before the busy autumn harvest began.
She looks very much like an orc—her size, the texture and color of her flesh, the shape of her face, and her long, pointed ears. The only tributes to human parentage are the shock of curly reddish-blond hair currently held in place with a tiny bow and the same brilliant blue eyes of her mother. All of the clan is enchanted with her, and neighboring clans have already been busy offering marital alliances with ours for when our daughter comes of age. Sammi naturally had a fit at the idea, and I have to agree with her.
Our daughter will be allowed what every other orc enjoys the privilege of: the opportunity to find her own bloodbond.
Sammi sits across my lap, engrossed in a letter from her mother.
“Jake and Ferli are doing well with the interspecies conferences they are holding in Ov’Ge. Apparently, they found ten other couples to travel the country with them. There have been plenty of demonstrations but no incidents.”
“Glad to hear they are entertained causing trouble there, rather than terrorizing our village.”
Sammi laughs merrily, a sound I will never tire of.
“Please, they weren’t that bad. Just a bit excitable, and a very cute couple. It was sweet seeing them together enjoying the village and surrounding area. Plus, it was Jake’s documentaries that really started the conversation going in Ov’Ge about our interrelationships as species.”
I grunt and tickle our daughter’s rounded belly. She opens her mouth wide in a gummy smile; the only protrusions from her jaw are the tiny spurs of juvenile tusks. I grin down at her and mash a bit of fruit between my fingers and slip it over her tongue while my mate is distracted.
“She is never going to nap on time if you keep feeding her sweet fruits,” Sammi comments without even looking up from the letter.
I laugh and pluck the piece of paper from her hands, drawing her up close to me as I growl and attack her neck with lustful kisses. Our daughter squeals from the pelt on the floor as Sammi giggles and struggles to get away.
“You great brute,” she laughs.
“You like it when I am a brute,” I say, licking the length of her neck and making her shiver and moan.
“Mmm. Yes, I certainly do. Maybe after Ferona goes to sleep we can pay a small visit to the Twilight Room and you can show me just how much of a brute you can be,” she purrs, making my cock surge with interest.
I moan and draw her closer to me. My body hungers in anticipation for tonight. Over the months, I have come to appreciate the fact that my wife can hold her own against orcish desires. In fact, she has turned my own games against me more than once. For all of her delicate human ways, my female certainly does have a taste for the Twilight Room.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed Sammi and Orgath’s story! If there is nothing I love as much as a good alien romance, it is a good monster romance, but I wanted this series to be quite distinct from my other writing. I wanted to play more with it. Next up is Kate, Boukie and Cavek in the Troll Bride!
S.J. Sanders
The Orc Wife Page 21
