“And what of my duties here?”
“You will still report here for the first half of the day. Your cottage is well fortified. If she stays indoors while you are gone, there will be little risk.”
I nod because that is true. Not even Garval with his superior size and strength is able to force entry into my cottage.
“And if she refuses?” I ask carefully.
Orgath frowns. “She will not have that option. This is part of the safety requirements. I had forewarned her that there would be an adjustment period in which she would have to do things our way. This is part of it as far as I am concerned.”
I incline my head in acceptance. I suspect that my Lynn will not be pleased by this arrangement, and yet I can’t help but feel strangely excited by it. Regardless of whether I can consummate our bond or not, I will have my mate exactly where she belongs. It satisfies the primal part of me that wants to growl and jealously protect her from any threat.
“Captain?” a voice intrudes.
My gaze snaps over to a young guard. “What is it?”
He hesitates for a moment, his gaze going back and forth between us as he summons his nerve to speak. I am impatient enough that I want to lash out at him, but I manage to restrain myself if just barely.
“You said to alert you if there was any portal activity from Ov’Ge…”
My heart slams against my ribs, my gaze narrowing on him as my entire focus draws in on him alone.
“And?” I demand, eager for word of my mate.
His mouth gapes open, but no sound comes out. My claws flex in irritation as I wait. I can see that it is making him even more nervous, but when he fails to say anything more, I growl loud enough to startle some sense into him.
“Whatever you have to say, hurry up and deliver it!”
He jerks at my sharp voice but nods in compliance. “Of course, Captain. My apologies. Someone has come through.” He hesitates. “A few someones, actually. Two humans and a pair of trolls.”
I try not to let my disappointment show. It must be another delivery for Sammi if trolls are transporting. I wave a hand. “Have them put everything in the larder. The staff will know how to sort it.”
He balks, fidgeting in place, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Is there anything else?” I demand as I lift up our delivery schedule to scrutinize it. The shipment seems to have come a bit early this time.
“Begging your pardon, Captain, but it doesn’t look like supplies,” he mumbles nervously. “The cart is full of wooden crates and the female seems insistent to continue on her way.”
My nostrils flare, my eyes snapping up at him once more as I lower the schedule. From the corner of my eye, I can see Orgath’s lips twitch with barely suppressed amusement. “A female?”
The guard nods again. “Yes. She said something about wanting to get her coffee stored quickly before the rain starts up and told me to fetch you by name.”
My heart leaps in my chest and I stride forward, my hand clasping the guard’s arm like a steel band. “Short blonde hair and blue eyes?” I demand, almost unable to believe it.
At the guard’s quick nod, I release him with a laugh and turn to Orgath.
“Permission to attend to my female, Chieftain?”
My cousin’s smile is indulgent as he reclines in his throne. “Get out of my keep, Captain,” he mutters good-naturedly. “And remember what I said.”
I tip my head in acknowledgment before turning once more to the waiting guard. With an impatient flick of my wrist, I wave him ahead of me.
“Come on then. Let’s see to her. Hurry, pick up your feet!” I bark when the male shuffles anxiously ahead.
He springs forward as if I’ve lit a fire under his ass, and I grunt, appeased by his sudden discovery of speed. Nothing will delay me from getting to my mate. It is some distance to my cottage yet, and I certainly don’t want her to get caught out in the rain that has been threatening all day. Nor her personal belongings for that matter, a good portion of which seems to be a coveted supply of coffee.
Striding at a quick, easy lope, I follow the guard through the keep and winding roads of the village until the landscape opens up to reveal the shimmering doorway of the portal. A cart sits off to the side with a pair of guards inspecting it thoroughly. A pair of trolls and a surprisingly large human male stand off to one side while the slim, familiar figure of a female berates the guards as she follows them around the cart.
Life returns to my heart and soul at that moment. I don’t even bother to wait for the guard as I hurry forward. It takes me but a moment to get to her side and a fraction less for her to turn enough to see me coming. Her eyes widen and spark with something that looks so much like pleasure that I want to both bellow with triumph and weep for the sheer joy of it.
Without breaking pace, I scoop her up into my arms, lifting her high as I whirl her around before clasping her close to my chest. Her breath tickles the small expanse of my chest bared at the top of my tunic as she softly laughs, and I can feel the rapid thud of her heart pressed up against me. Her softness is a blessed comfort to my hard warrior’s body. And everything is tense and hard with need, especially my cock that digs into her soft belly.
She smooths a hand over my arm. “I guess this means you missed me and are happy to see me?” she says softly, a teasing lilt in her voice.
“This means I’m more relieved than I have ever been in my life, seeing you here and having you in my arms,” I groan.
Her breath audibly catches on a sigh, and with great difficultly I slowly peel myself away from her so that I can look down at my sweet Lynn.
Her eyes are bright and glazed with surprise, even as happiness dances in their depths and her breathing rasps with an eagerness that pulses through my veins. I take her hand in mine, delighting in the soft warmth of it as I stroke my fingers over her delicate skin.
“Come,” I rasp.
She gives me a curious look. “Where are we going?”
“To borrow a cart and get Haith hitched so that I can take you home,” I growl, far sharper than I intended.
If I thought my ferocity would frighten her, then I underestimated my mate. Her smile widens, and she doesn’t even protest when I carry her back to the keep. I can’t set her down. Not yet. I’m not certain when I will be able to. As I pass through the halls, I catch Garval’s eye, but he smiles. He is happy for me, despite the fact that he will not have this.
I raise my own hand in return before hauling my mate away, my only thoughts on escaping the place to find a moment or two alone at last.
Chapter 18
Lynn
Bodi’s ferocity and the tense muscles rippling beneath me as he carries me through the keep are so arousing. I never once believed I would be turned on by a brute of a male. He’s not only proved me wrong but also seems to be tied to me, heart and soul. I can feel the faint links that have somehow forged between us. I don’t know when it happened, but two weeks without him made me shockingly aware of it, and now that I’m with him again and am able to touch and smell him… I just want to wrap myself up in his presence and never leave.
A quiver of need shoots through my belly, and I groan in protest when he suddenly sets me on my feet. There is the scent of warm straw, and the air has a cool bite to it as if we’re once again outside. A delfass moans, scenting our presence. Haith? We must be in the stable area behind the keep.
“Just for a moment,” Bodi whispers, and I’m not certain if he’s reassuring himself or me.
Stalking over to a nearby stall, Bodi murmurs something and a large black feline head pops over the side, Haith’s dark, velvety ears pricking. The delfass remains still, however, as Bodi opens the gate to the stall, murmuring something softly. The words are too quiet for me to pick up on, but Haith’s thick, fluffy tail swishes and he sedately allows Bodi to lead him out into the stable. He lightly bumps his head against Bodi’s back before taking the orc’s shoulder into his mouth. Chuckling, Bodi pushes th
e big head away as they turn toward a far corner of the stable where a carriage and several carts of different sizes are secured out of the elements.
Haith is hitched to one of the smaller carts with impressive speed, the delfass standing as patiently as ever despite the subtle twitch of his tail. Clear, feline eyes blink at me while Bodi inspects and tightens all the straps, and a fierce purr rumbles in his chest as I draw closer. To my delight, it amps up the moment I begin to rub my hand along his brow and behind his ear. He dips his head lower to receive more scritches. I know that I’m irrationally pleased by the small token of affection, but then I’ve always been a cat person.
From the soft carrier slung over my shoulder, I can hear a warning yowl emerge. Bodi glances up from where he tightens a strap on Haith’s harness, and a dark eyebrow arches as he seeks the source of the sound. The corners of his eyes crinkle, and he chuckles.
“This must be Casper. You did not tell me that you would be bringing such a beast into my home,” he teases.
“Please, he isn’t all that bad,” I object with a rueful look down at the bag when Casper’s yowl raises in volume. I shoot Bodi a curious look. “And who said anything about going to your home anyway?”
He shrugs and gives me an easy, lopsided grin. “Chieftain’s orders. You are new here and, given that there is a… connection between us, I have been placed in charge of seeing to your comfort and safety while your little cafe is built.”
I stare at him, askance.
“I don’t understand. Why can’t I just use the same cottage I’ve been using until then?”
“Because there is no one else out there and a lone female far from the clan can draw unexpected danger. It is better for all of us. And I get the opportunity to be your gracious host,” he adds with a smile. When I don’t respond right away, he cocks his head and gives me a feigned injured look. “Unless you have some objections that you might wish to discuss with Orgath? Perhaps to seek out another protector who might provide accommodations.”
As in, live with a stranger? Fuck no. If I’m going to be shacked up with anyone, it’s going to be the orc I want. Two weeks of having this need crawling through me to be near him again, there is no question in my mind which orc that would be.
I give a quick but firm shake of my head.
His smile widens. “Good. I don’t really enjoy telling you this, but you probably would have no choice in the matter if you had elected otherwise.” He leans forward so that his lips brush my neck, along with the faint press of his tusks. He draws in a deep, lustful breath. “I would not have allowed any other to have you,” he whispers.
I shiver at the intensity in his tone, desiring sparking deep within me. I’m barely able to breathe with the intimacy twining tighter between us until he slowly lifts his head again. Nostrils flaring, no doubt scenting the perfume of my arousal as my core turns to liquid heat, his eyes gleam with satisfaction.
“Besides, there have been some rumors of anti-human activity and I would trust no other with your protection. You will definitely be safest out in my cottage than anywhere else. I want nothing more than to be the one to protect you and pass every spare moment that I can with you by my side. It is the culmination of all my dreams.”
My lips part with a small gasp. Oh, wow.
“Now, let us go home,” he rumbles, his voice rich with promise.
Suddenly I’m plucked from the ground once more, swinging through the air before being deposited onto the bench at the front of the cart. Within seconds, Bodi is hauling himself up beside me and picking up the reins.
It takes surprisingly little time for my belongings and supplies to be transferred from the porter’s cart once we arrive on that side of the keep. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I brought only my most treasured and necessary belongings, and that four large males, three of them non-human, are able to work far more efficiently than I ever would have managed myself. Bodi growls a couple of times, jealously refusing to allow anyone else to handle the two crates that contain my most cherished possessions. The way his nostrils expand, and he breathes deep, as he carries them suggests that my scent is well soaked into my belongings within them.
His possessiveness over them is strange to me as a human, but, at the same time, is also bizarrely sweet knowing that his perceived claim on me seems to extend to anything of mine.
For their part, the porters appear all too happy to let him have it. The human among them, despite his burly size that almost puts him on par with the trolls, is noticeably at a disadvantage beside an orc. This isn’t lost on him either, and he’s the first back in the now empty cart, making himself comfortable on one of the smaller benches, eager to be gone from Obrul-tarin. The trolls tease him as they climb onto the steering bench. If their human co-worker says anything at all in reply, I don’t hear it because Bodi doesn’t waste any time. He’s back on the bench beside me and, with a sharp command, has Haith on the move once more.
We clear the grounds of the keep in mere minutes, and Bodi turns on an unfamiliar road that seems to circumvent the market. The bustling sounds of business can still be heard but the road that we take is peaceful and surprisingly charming, lined with numerous gated stone cottages. A few orcs are outside of their homes and watch us pass with inscrutable expressions. Although no one watches us with open hostility, it’s still a bit disconcerting since orcs aren’t terribly expressive.
Although some humans innately possess a resting bitch face, orcs, as a species, seem to have mastered it.
Bodi doesn’t seem to pay attention to the eyes watching us, so I endeavor to do the same. Leaning against the raised back of the bench, I resolve to enjoy the drive. What I do note, however, is that the village is a lot larger than I realized. I probably would have known sooner if I had been able to go with Kassie to Stronghold Hill. No doubt there would have been a good view of the entire village from that vantage point.
From the limited viewpoint of the visitors’ cottages that were placed conveniently near the square where the majority of the festival activities took place, there was little to give away the fact that Obrul-tarin easily rivals many of the average-sized towns back home. It was big enough that it took a surprising amount of time before we eventually emerge from it onto a cobbled road that stretches off into a landscape of small rocky hills and isolated areas dense with trees.
What I don’t see is any sign of a cottage.
I glance over at the male beside me. “Uh, Bodi. I thought we were going to your cottage.”
His eyebrows arch as he looks over at me, the corners of his mouth turning up. “Oh, we are. It is this way.”
Aghast, I gesture at the craggy ground, rife with jutting stones and tall grasses yellowing from the cool autumn weather. “Where?”
His chuckle inspires a curl of warmth in my chest.
“I never claimed to live in the village. I live in my father’s ancestral dwelling, just there by the family orchard and cider house.” He points to a cluster of trees in the distance. “Although the cider house has rooms for those who come and help with the harvest, the apple harvest is over so there won’t be anyone but you and I there.” His expression turns lecherous. “And no neighbors to overhear.”
I gape a little, a quiver of desire rushing through me like a bullet train.
“Okay,” I squeak, and then clear my throat, embarrassed at the sound that came out of me with that one word. I’m a mature woman, for fuck’s sake. “I guess you weren’t kidding at all about there not being any safer place for me. Although the whole ‘not having neighbors who might hear me scream’ thing can work against us too if someone with a hate-on for humans did manage to come across me out here.”
“Hate-on for humans…” he murmurs thoughtfully. Then he breaks out with a sudden smile and laughs again. “I do enjoy your human expressions, but yes, there are some potential pitfalls. It is unlikely that anyone will be looking out here for humans, so this will be the safest place in all of Obrul-tarin for you.
And you will be with me, which is even safer,” he adds happily.
He sounds so damned pleased with that last part that my heart melts a little more and I make a point to relax. He’s right. Even if there are some villagers prejudiced against humans, it has nothing to do with me directly. It’s not like I’m a target. I haven’t even been here long. The reminder of the footsteps following us through the keep tour comes to mind, but I brush it off. The keep is big and old, and there are plenty of people, humans and orcs alike who were wandering through.
I’m hardly anyone special. If anyone with an anti-human agenda was there, it was likely someone following the group itself at large, or perhaps even searching for Sammi. Now that is a more likely target.
Although passing days in an orchard doesn’t necessarily excite me since it brings back a lot of dreary memories with Andrew, it’s safe, and I will get to enjoy having the orc I’ve been dreaming about for many days all to myself. It’s time to make new memories in another orchard.
“Time for a new adventure, Casper,” I whisper down to the carrier at my side as the cart turns down a smaller road that forks off of the main route, heading directly for the trees.
Bodi’s smile widens as he calls out a command. My hands fly to the side, gripping the edge tight when the cart suddenly picks up speed as Haith whisks us forward. By leaps and bounds the ground begins to level out a bit as we travel down a gradual incline, the mass of trees getting bigger and bigger until we’re close enough that I can see a sprawling stone house, one side almost swallowed by ivy, tucked in at its edge. A sense of excitement and eager anticipation fills me the closer we come to it. It just maybe feels like destiny.
Like home.
How to Claim a Human Mate (Monstery Yours #6) Page 13
