Page 5 of The Orc's Rage

“Then finish,” he growled, his head leaned down surprisingly close to hers. His hot breath warmed her cold skin. “I will watch you.”

Cedar didn’t know if she had heard him right. “Watch me?”

The big orc released her arm and, when she turned to him, one of his tusks was raised high on his cheek in a smirk. He urged her forward, clearly unwilling to repeat himself.

She had no choice. Cedar did, luckily, have a little water inside her from not having gone all night, so when she peeled down her undergarments, she had something to give. The orc studied her closely, his arms crossed, and for a long time it wouldn’t flow under his watchful gaze. His eyes were dark and stony, but eventually, her bladder released. The orc didn’t even twitch as it poured out of her onto the grassy ground, but her own body was white-hot with humiliation.

When she was finished, Cedar moved to pull up her clothes again, but the orc barked a command: “No.” He stomped toward her and reflexively she stumbled back, tripping over her undergarments. He crouched down and tore them off of her. “None of these.”

“But I’ll freeze!” Cedar knew where they were headed. High above these hills sat the snowy peaks of the mountains the orcs called home, and if she had nothing to wear under her skirt...

“You will not. Neither will you leave again without my permission.”

He grabbed her around the waist again and hauled her up over his shoulder. Her hip was already bruised purple from the day before.

“Please,” she moaned. “Don’t carry me again.”

“I will today,” he answered. “As punishment for trying to escape. Next time, I will have you bound and then dragged along the ground. Remember you are mine now. You will never, ever leave.”

Finally, Cedar wondered if he was right, if she would truly be trapped as his bedwarmer, his slave, from now into eternity.

From one master to another. At least Lissa hadn’t had a cock. At least Lissa hadn’t carried her for days on end like a bag full of vegetables. At least Lissa had given her a cot on the floor from time to time.

Tears bit at the back of her eyes, but Cedar stiffened her lip. She wouldn’t give this beast the gratification.

3

Kargorr

After hours of fighting and clawing, the human woman at last went silent. She hung there limply from his shoulder like a dead animal he was hauling home. The quiet, he had to admit, disturbed him. Had she drained of fight so quickly? Perhaps she was not the right vessel for his orclings after all.

Or, perhaps, she was plotting her escape, an urge he hoped he had eliminated after her first attempt. When she made no further movement, remaining quiet, he rewarded her for calming down by carrying her across his chest, which was surely more comfortable. Yet she still didn’t speak, nor did she look in his eyes even when they paused midday to eat. This time, though, she took the food from him without objection and ate it sitting on the ground beside him.

At least Kargorr wouldn’t have to force food down her throat again.

If she was to make a good concubine, if she was to survive, he would need to at least attempt to bond with her. Should she only see him as another cruel master, she might try to slit her own throat the moment she was near enough to a knife.

“What is your name?” he asked as they climbed higher into the tree-covered mountains.

The human didn’t respond at first, and he checked that she hadn’t fallen asleep. She was staring into the distance.

“Woman?” he asked again, shaking her in his arms. Her eyelids finally blinked, and she raised her gaze up to his.

“Why do you care?”

“I need something to call you. I will not be shouting ‘woman’ when I need you.”

She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, and he saw that her skin was covered in raised bumps, and her lips had paled.

“Cedar,” she said at length, still looking anywhere besides his face.

“Of the tree?”

She just nodded.

“Cedar.” He rolled it over his tongue, considering. She did not ask for his name in return, but he gave it to her anyway. “I am Lord Kargorr.”

One of her eyes twitched. “Lord?”

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