by Pixie Unger
“Good?” I suggested.
They had a conversation in orcish. Whatever was being said, Mac didn’t seem to be all that convincing.
“Look,” I interrupted. “Are we in danger here?”
“No.” Mac was calm, but firm in his response.
“You told me that you checked for people with the scanner or whatever and that there wasn’t anyone here, right?”
“Yes. No one here,” Mac agreed.
“Could be traps,” the driver suggested.
I looked out at the farm yard. This place had been abandoned long before the orcs arrived. The worst that I could imagine would be risks of skunks or hantavirus from mice. But that did raise some concerns. “Tybalt knows not to pet any black-and-white-striped cats, right?”
They both stared at me, then Mac laughed. The driver did something and suddenly was on the orc equivalent of a speaker phone. The only part of the conversation I understood was “black-and-white-striped cats” and the sound of Iago laughing really hard. Shortly after that, Mac and I were allowed to join them.
From the smell, the farmhouse was definitely full of mice and feral cats. The glass in the windows was broken, but they had been boarded up and it didn’t seem like that much weather was getting in. There were boxes of old tools stacked on the stove. The whole place looked like an episode of hoarders where the cardboard had all rotted away years ago and the only prize you could get was Tetanus.
The guys were openly skeptical when I pointed out the stove, but they dutifully cleared a path to it and brought it out of the house. The stove pipe was missing, but when I explained what I was looking for, they went back in and found it. It was the state of the chimney that gave me pause.
“The stove is in great shape,” I announced. The sound of disgust that one of the drivers made had me add, “It’s really dirty, but there isn’t any rust and the enamel isn’t cracked or chipped. The pipe isn’t great, though. It’s rusty and it isn’t double walled. That part doesn’t look safe.” I realized I wasn’t sure if they understood how this worked. “We want to keep the fire in the fire box and not let it burn down the house.”
“Could be not real fire in the fire box,” Romeo suggested.
My brain shorted out a little. “If there’s fake fire, how will I cook on the stove?”
The other unnamed orc rolled his eyes. “Fake fire is still hot,” he explained. Then he growled out a string of orcish and there was another debate.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” I grumbled. “It isn’t fair that I explain to you, and then you talk so that I can’t understand.”
They stopped to stare at me, then Romeo, Mac, and Tybalt all looked at Iago, who had a pained look on his face.
“Orc fire is not something humans have. I’m not sure we can get...” he stopped to think for a moment. “...heat and light like the sun.”
“Solar power?” I suggested.
He considered this and nodded slowly.
“Tell me how this works,” Romeo demanded.
I showed him which part was actually the fire box and which was the oven. I talked about the warming drawer up by the chimney and how the stove top got hot, but you could remove parts of the top to make it even hotter. That sparked a sudden hunt for the lid lifter.
There was more discussion than I would have liked about whether we would even be bringing the stove back with us. I insisted, although I’m not entirely sure I needed to. The transport guys treated this project with barely concealed scorn, but my four helped load the thing. We brought the stove pipe too, even after Romeo said he would find a better way.
By the time we got home and unloaded the stove into the garage, I was filthy and exhausted. Romeo wanted to keep playing with the stove, but I just wanted a shower. I stood and watched him open and close the doors for a while as Mac and Tybalt headed out to the porta-showers.
After a moment, Iago tugged on my sleeve. “He will play with that all night. Easier to just let him.”
“It’s not that interesting,” I protested.
“I make bombs. Fire is interesting to me,” Romeo countered. “I will try to make sunpower for it.”
I was about to rub my face when I saw how dirty my hands were. “Definitely time to shower,” I mumbled.
When I turned to face the door to the house, I found that Iago had been standing in my blind spot. I jumped a little, but he didn’t react. I bet he had a lot of practice at not reacting to me being weird. I flashed him a smile. “Are you okay, Iago?”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Once again, I wondered what he must think of all of this.
“Come on,” I murmured, not really wanting to make a big announcement in front of Romeo. “You can wash my back.”
He just nodded solemnly.
Part of me wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to, but it occurred to me that was a really impolite thing to suggest in front of another orc. I waited until I had him alone in my room.
“You don’t have to,” I mumbled, not looking at him.
Iago snorted. “Erika told me something.”
That made my head snap up.
He smirked. “She said you want to be reassured like I do. I want you. Do you want me?”
Well, that was certainly blunt enough to have come from Erika. “Yes.”
His expression softened and for a moment, he looked almost shy. It wasn’t an expression I expected to see on such a big and hulking figure. I looked away and turned my back on him to start taking off my clothes. I felt ridiculous; I was about to be naked in the shower with him and I still felt shy.
I turned on the water and marveled again how it was instantly the perfect temperature. I looked over my shoulder to find a fully-dressed Iago watching me from the doorway. “You’re a bit overdressed for this,” I pointed out. “Are you going to stay, or do you need to be on your own?”
He cocked his head a little and asked, “Did you want to take my clothes off again?”
That made my breath catch in my throat. I hadn’t been thinking of that. “Would you like that?”
He smiled a little and nodded. As I peeled him out of dusty coveralls, he nuzzled my hair. “I like this.”
“Why? Shit. I’m curious, but that was a bit rude.”
He chuckled. “You look at me when you do.”
“I look at you all the time, Iago,” I contradicted.
I had no idea he had dimples, but when he smirked, there they were. “No, Mina. You look at my face. I like how you look at the rest of me.”
Well, that made me blush. He did have a very nice everything else. His body was the most human shaped of any of them— except for his foot, and some day I was really going to want to look at that. The visible mechanics were fascinating like an old fashioned skeleton watch. Right now, I was having to watch him step out of his pants and be a naked orc wearing socks.
“Those will have to come off too,” I pointed out, watching a muscle in his jaw jump. “Can I do that too?” I asked softly.
He was surprised by that, but nodded his agreement.
I dropped to my knees and pulled the one off his flesh leg first. Iago hesitated before shifting his weight to let me remove the other. I looked up to see him clenching his teeth and looking away from me. It was entirely too hard to resist, so I didn’t. I licked his cock as I stood up. That got his attention.
“Come on.” I smirked, as I took his hand. “I feel dirty. Time to shower.”
----
Iago wasn’t exactly much help washing my back since his hands were shaking. Mind you, I needed him to kneel so I could reach to wash his shoulders. I could feel the knots in his back muscles and tried to massage them a little as I went. But he wasn’t exactly giving me much feedback on the process.
“Am I hurting you?” I finally asked.
He just silently shook his head, no.
“You don’t have to let me do this, you know,” I reminded him.
“Feels good, but the g
rey won’t wash off.”
“What?”
“Humans aren’t grey unless they are dirty. Orcs are always grey. It won’t wash off and leave me pink underneath,” he explained, then added, “Not without hurting.”
That was appalling enough to make me squirm and take a step back. “I’m not trying to scrub off your skin!”
He looked up at me with sad eyes. “I know. You won’t hurt me.”
I crossed my arms under my tits and watched his eyes follow the movement. “So what’s with the wash off comment?”
He shrugged. “I’m not human, Mina.”
“I noticed, Iago,” I snarked back.
That made him smile. He stood up then. Towering over me, his cock was about level with my belly. I gave it a gentle stroke and watched his eyes roll back in his head. He blinked, then reached past me to turn off the water. He sighed and watched me.
“Why?”
That made me blink. “What?”
“You don’t have to. So, why?”
I looked up into worried eyes. “I don’t know how to answer that,” I admitted. “You’re kind to me. You listen. Even when you get frustrated with me, you never stop being patient. I like that.”
His face did something I didn’t understand and he raised his chin, easily looking over my head, to stare at the boring wall of the shower.
“You don’t have to either,” I pointed out. “But I'm wet and I’m getting cold.”
He still didn’t look at me, but he did wrap me in a towel. He hugged me to his chest and pressed his cheek to the top of my head. “I want you. But...”
He just stopped.
O ... kay. He was just way too uptight, and I felt like I needed to do something about that. So I made a joke. Not my best joke. “Well, I can tell you want me,” I teased, grinding against him a little. “That doesn’t mean you get to use my butt. Not on the first date.”
He just looked confused. Then, slowly, understanding dawned and he blushed. I grinned, and blushed too. Then I winked. “Come on. We can go sit on the bed and talk about this some more. Or we can get dressed and pretend this hasn’t happened. It’s up to you.”
He tilted my chin up and pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him. When I stopped, he took my hand and led me back to the bed. He sat and guided me so that I was standing between his legs. “Don’t do this because you feel sad for me.”
I blinked at that, then frowned. “You’re an idiot sometimes.”
He shook his head. “Not this time. I don’t look like—”
“Stop,” I interrupted. “I don’t look like an orc. You don’t look like a human. If you aren’t bothered by my shape, why do you think I would be bothered by yours?”
We just frowned at each other for long enough that I was about to give up on him and go get dressed. That’s when he finally answered.
“Tybalt is pretty. You didn’t claim him.”
“Tybalt is doing better, but he needs to grow up,” I countered. “He isn’t here. You are. You don’t have to be. I’m not stupid, just because your dick is pointing at me doesn’t mean you want this. So just say that. Don’t try to make this about me, I won’t get mad if you want to leave.”
“I don’t want to leave,” he whispered. His hands were shaking. “I can’t believe you want me to be here. This must be either a joke or a trap.”
I sat on his knee and put my head against his chest. “Do you think I would do that?”
“No?”
“That isn’t a confident answer,” I pointed out.
He gave a half grunt, half laugh. “I’m not a confident orc.”
“Yeah, well, that’s fair, but you’ve met Erika. I’m not a confident human, either.”
He shook his head. “You are wonderful. Better than Erika.”
I smiled a bit wryly. If I was Erika, I would have kicked his feet out from under him and been knocking boots months ago. “We really are both idiots, aren’t we?”
I didn’t even realize I was stroking his chest until he caught my hand and brought it to his lips. I wasn’t expecting him to suck my fingers, but it sent chills down my spine when he did.
“I don’t know how,” he admitted softly.
I didn’t laugh. It reminded me of Romeo, just happy to go along with what I needed but not sure what I was doing. About how he wanted to see. I wouldn’t have guessed that.
“What would you like, Iago?”
He looked at my window that faced the street without curtains. “I would like you in my room. I want to touch you.”
I nodded. He cuddled me to his chest and stood up with me still in his arms. He crossed the hall and set me on his bed before unwrapping the towel. I cleared my throat to make him stop.
“Can you close the door first?” I asked. He was surprised, but he did.
When he sat on the bed, he made sure he had eye contact when he asked, “Can I just touch you?”
“Yes. Can I touch you?”
He looked worried when he answered. “Not yet?”
“Alright.”
Iago was careful, but he was methodical as he ran his fingers over me. I hadn’t realized how much I had needed his touch until he started, then I never wanted him to stop.
“You are perfect,” he murmured.
I scoffed and was about to deny it when his fingers brushed against my side in a way that made me moan..
“You are,” he insisted as his fingers found the inside of my thighs.
“That’s nice,” I whispered.
“More?”
“Yeah.” I had barely gasped the word before he was running his fingers between my folds.
He looked into my eyes and watched my face so I got to see his expression as he licked his fingers. I think the last time I had that response to a flavour, chocolate was involved. His eyes rolled up and closed.
“You like that?” I whimpered, hoping that he was enjoying this as much as I was.
His eyes opened and his pupils were wider than they had been. “Will you let me taste?”
“I want to touch you too, you know,” I teased, stroking the back of his head.
“Do you?” he sounded surprised enough that I chuckled a little.
“Yeah, I do,” I assured him.
He looked at me, his eyes searching my face, then quickly ducked his head and stole a lick between my legs before he nodded. I tried to push him onto his back, but he resisted. I was surprised before I realized that despite the door being closed, he was still shielding me from the doorway with his back. Another piece of the Iago puzzle slotted into place: Don’t pay attention to his foot and just accept that he was always going to be in a protective position. I traced his collarbones and ran my hands down his chest. He whimpered a little when my fingers brushed his cock, then he carefully caught my wrist.
“Stop?” I asked.
He looked conflicted, then embarrassed.
“What?” I asked, really not wanting to stop.
“I know what I taste like. You taste better,” he mumbled. He must have seen my confusion because he sighed and added, “If you keep doing that, you will taste like me.”
I gasped, then covered my face with my hands to hide the blush as I giggled nervously.
“Stop?” he echoed.
I didn’t uncover my face, but I shook my head no. A moment later, I was shifted to the edge of the bed and my knees were hooked over his shoulders. He held eye contact from the moment that I looked at him, watching me intently as he ate me out.
I let my head fall back as my eyes drifted closed. I got lost in the sensations and my breath started coming in little gasps. “How are you all so good at that?”
He chuckled softly. “We all want to please you.”
That got me to pull away and prop myself up on my elbows. “Does that mean you’ve been talking about me?”
“Of course,” Iago seemed surprised that I was asking. “So we can get better.” Any reply I may have made was driven from my head as he went back to licking and eased
a thick finger into me. It was nice, if a bit haphazard. Until he turned his wrist and curled his finger. It was like a fire was building under my skin as he worked. Iago was a man of focus who never failed to surprise me. I just held on, running my hands over his closely shorn head; his hair felt like velvet against my palms.
When I came, I clenched hard and arched off the bed as it felt like every nerve in my body flashed white hot at once. My heart was thundering in my ears and Iago hadn’t stopped. I hadn’t even relaxed from the first one when a second wave crashed over me, ripping the air from my lungs and making me scramble away from him as Iago showed no signs of slowing.
That made him stop. He looked worried and shocked. “That was wrong?”
I flopped on my back and covered my face again as I laughed. “No. Not wrong. Too much.”
“Oh.”
I sat up a bit to look at him. He looked disappointed. “Oh?” I echoed in disbelief.
“I didn’t want— um— I didn’t know you would be done that fast.”
I flopped back and laughed until tears ran down my cheeks and ended up making my ears soggy. As I sat up, he was looking embarrassed and staring at the floor. I stopped laughing and turned his head to look at me.
“Iago,” I explained gently, “it’s funny because women— human women— say that about human men when the men finish too soon and the women don’t get to, um, enjoy themselves.”
That got me a skeptical frown.
“You still get a turn,” I assured him. “I just needed a moment.”
“Later?” he asked hopefully.
“Or now,” I offered.
His eyes searched my face again. “So soon?”
I snorted and coughed a little, but managed not to laugh. “Women are different from men.”
He growled and nodded before crawling up my body, caging me in with his arms and legs. Then rubbed his face against me. It was like being stropped by a cat. “Slow and careful,” he rumbled.
I reached between him and caught his cock, gently pumping it as I tried to wiggle into position. He gasped out a little whine that made me smile.
“Very slowly,” I agreed as I eased him past my folds.
He nodded, and squeezed his eyes tight shut. He was panting slightly through his nose as he inched his way into me. After a moment, he stopped and just trembled for a moment.
