Page 19 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

And…

Fuck, it was almost painful to move. I had to force myself to take a few deep breaths before I managed to inch backward. While I did, I couldn’t tear my eyes off the sleeping orc, his brows knitting tighter together the further I went. Maybe he could feel me pulling at whatever weird, magical tether he’d put between us.

Which meant I had to move faster.

I had to go.

I had to—

A broken sound tore from my chest as I finally ripped my gaze from him and peeked my head outside the tent.

There was a patrol crossing back and forth, but they weren’t looking directly at us, probably because Nash was here and they thought he could handle me. I wasn’t sure where I was going to run, but I had to assume my instincts would lead me in the right direction.

I waited until the two orcs had rounded the corner and I slid out of the tent, skirting around the back and taking off at a jog.

It was really strange, but it was almost like I could feel Nash as I left him behind, and I knew if I didn’t run now… hard… fast…

He’d know. Or I’d think about it too much.

My mind tried to remind me that the last time I’d run, I hadn’t made it very far before he caught me.

I just had to run faster this time.

Which…. probably would have been a little easier if it wasn’t so dark. If I ever needed proof I was in a completely different world, the lack of lights would have been enough. I could see the stars so clearly it was almost distracting… but as soon as I stepped beneath the leafy canopy of the trees, I was sent into a near pitch-black sea.

My mantra ofrun run runwas instantly cut to walk, walk… walk and try not to trip on whatever I couldn’t see in front of me.

That and try not to get eaten by whatever predators were hidden in the shadows that definitely had better night vision than I did.

By the time I’d gone a few yards, my entire body was so wound with tension I felt like a light breeze could probably have scared the shit out of me, but I didn’t know what else to do… and I had to do something.

That didn’t stop me from muttering under my breath in frustration while I blindly stretched my hands out in front of me to try to stop myself from falling in the dark. “Stupid orcs… stupid fantasy world. This is karma for stealing that dildo, isn’t it? What god do I have to apologize to for fucking myself with it, because I will. I’ll—”

I let out a scream that was instantly cut off by the feel of a calloused palm sliding across my mouth—my body was jerked against something warm and hard, and for a second, I was pretty sure I was going to die.

This was it.

I’d found a worse monster, and it was going to kill me, and Nash would find me the next day gutted and dead and—

“What do you think you’re doing, Kai?”

Shit. The cold fury in Nash’s voice was nearly enough to make me think that I’d probably have been better off being found by a monster after all. It was worse, because his hand on my mouth meant I couldn’t answer, and when I tried to jerk away, his other arm wrapped around my chest in a viselike grip that made it hard to breathe.

We stood there in the shadow of the trees for a few breathless seconds, and when he finally slid his hand from my mouth, I wasn’t sure if I had the air to answer.

“I’m sorry, I—”

His mouth cut me off this time, and the low grunt that tore from my chest had nothing to do with the roughness of the kiss and everything to do with how his arms turned me until I was crushed against him.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Kissing wasn’t supposed to be like this. His mouth was a hot demand that stole away whatever excuse I was thinking about making for running—not just because he cut my words off, but because the taste of him left me completely unsure of why I’d tried to go anywhere to begin with.

In the darkness of the woods, when there was no way for me to see who I was touching—who was touchingme—it was somehow impossible to deny that my body liked this. That I wanted this. I wanted Nash’s arms wrapping tighter around me and holding me so close I was forced up on tiptoes. His tongue parting my lips and invading my mouth was the best thing I’d ever felt in my life.

I didn’t realize my arms were wrapping around him and I was pulling him closer instead of pushing him away, until he let out a low growl that reverberated where our mouths were connected and he pushed me back, slamming my shoulders against the rough bark of a tree.

---