Page 14 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

I did notice that he kept my fingers firmly in his, like he was afraid I was going to fight or run off again if given a chance. And… there was every chance that would happen.

I knew there were monsters roaming around in the trees—animals I obviously didn’t have any idea about—but I was pretty handy.

I could figure it out.

And the way Nash was looking at me told me he had thoughts in his mind other than just helping me find Rainn. It probably wasn’t his priority at all.

Which meant he wasn’t my priority.

No matter how much I could still feel the line of his body pressed against mine as he started dragging me through the trees and onto a path that I’d completely missed when I was running from the big ass cat that wanted to make me its dinner.

We walked for what felt like half an hour before I heard voices. They were all the same deep, rough tone that Nash spoke in. I could understand it because of the weird not-a-collar that definitely felt like a collar around my throat… but it still didn’t sound like any accent I’d ever heard.

Not that I heard a lot of accents.

The little drawl in my voice was about as fancy as I got. I’d moved to Destiny to live with relatives after my parents died, but the twang in my tone from my southern upbringing was still there, especially when I got excited.

Or frustrated.

Or horny.

Or… well, any kind of emotion.

“Where are we going?” I finally asked, my voice a little hushed. Nash just looked over at me, and the smile on his face was so damn… happy.

He looked happy.

“To my people. My group roams the lands—I want to introduce them to my mate.”

“I’m not your—”

“Nash.” A voice cut me off before Nash could, though I was sure he was going to. “Did you find out what caused the sound at the portal?” The orc who strolled up to us was tall—a little taller than me. Nash really was just a freak of nature with his height, it seemed. This one had his red hair pulled into a knot at the back of his head, and one of his tusks was broken. But…

No.

Everyone who milled around the area was an orc. We weren’t in a city, though it was kind of like one—the clearing was full of tents erected a few yards apart from each other, there were fences thrown together with enormous animals I didn’t recognize, the smell of cooking, and the sound of laughter.

“Yes, I found who came across the barrier. This is Kai.”

“Kai?” the other orc said, looking me over and stepping closer. The sound of a deep rumble made me jump. It took me a second to realize it was coming from beside me.

From Nash.

Who was growling at the orc in front of him—it apparently wasn’t very threatening, though, because the slow grin that spilled across his face looked…

Amused.

“Vex, let everyone know the human is off limits—no touching.” Nash’s voice was a deep, demanding rumble, and his fingers on me tightened before his arm slid around my waist. It made something in my stomach flip again, something in my chest feel…

Weird.

I could write it off as finally being in a situation where everyone was taller than me, but I knew that wasn’t it. Nash was the biggest motherfucker here, and I’d still gotten into a fight with him.

Maybe it was just the fact that in all my life, I’d never been the person who was being protected.

No one had ever been possessive of me—no one had ever tucked me under their arm and acted like I was…

What?

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