Page 59 of Claimed By the Orc Lord

The second his warm fingers slipped into mine, I felt like I could breathe again. It was only a slight struggle to pull him up and to safety, and by the time I did, Koth was long gone.

I needed to track him down.

I needed to take off in the direction he’d gone.

Instead, I took Kai’s face gently in my hands and tilted his head up so I could meet his gaze.

“Little Mate, are you okay?”

Kai’s expression drifted over a spectrum of emotions. Anxiety, fear, a small pulse of misery, before it finally settled on relief. “I’m fine… I was…” It sounded like he couldn’t quite catch enough air in his lungs. “I was going to give Mol a message to take to the city, but we were attacked. I… fuck, I…”

I cut off whatever he was trying to say with my mouth against his, warm and hot and demanding. I didn’t know if he was trying to apologize, or to tell me he hadn’t been trying to run off at all—it didn’t matter. I didn’t care why he’d left, only that I’d found him, that he was here and whole andokay. My tongue slid between his lips, and licking into the taste of blood with the sweet undercurrent of his own flavor was nearly enough to send me over the edge.

It was nearly enough to make me forget we were exposed, in a place where Koth could easily come back while I was distracted to kill us both. I stood, dragging Kai with me as I did, our lips still connected.

His arms were tight around me, and I practically had to pry him off so I could step back.

“Areyouokay?” Kai’s fingers were already answering his own question, carefully searching along the cuts and bruises I’d gotten during my capture. When he was satisfied, he looked over my shoulder. “And where did that asshole go? I wasn’t through with him, I was—” His curses faded into a garbled mess of human language as I murmured the words to make the band fall from my upper arm. When he realized what I’d done, he trailed off… then he tilted his head back for me as I strapped it carefully around his neck and pressed my lips to the seams of it to say the words again.

“If I ever see this off your throat again, I may lose my mind.” I murmured the confession against his skin, and felt it when his heart started thundering against my lips.

“I love you, Nash. I don’t think I said it, and I don’t know if you really understand what it means… but fuck, I love you. I don’t even like fighting, but I’d totally wreck anyone for you.”

Kai lifted his head, and his blue eyes werewet. This time when I leaned in to kiss him, it was less fire, less demand.

It was all sweet want… adoration. It was the human word he used calledlove. The word I knew to meanmate…It meant we were fated to be together for all life, through death. Forever.

“I love you too, Kai. I would give the worlds for your safety, to have you at my side. I would give all and everything for your smile.”

The smile in question blossomed over his face now, and he leaned in closer, pressing his body flush against mine and making me forget for another moment that we were open and exposed in a place where there were dead orcs to our left and a fugitive rogue somewhere in the trees.

“I’ll give you anything you want. I—”

I cut him off with another swift kiss and took his hand in mine.

“Once we’re back at camp and I’ve sorted Koth’s escape, you can give me your tears of apology for running.” He opened his mouth to protest, but I kept on. “Your cries of pain when I spank you…” At that, he bit his lower lip, and the heat in his gaze was nearly scorching as I finished. “And your sweet, swollen stomach when I breed you.”

He stared at me for a brief second, then nodded once. Twice… and tugged me forward. “That… okay. I think I can do that. But, uh… you lead the way.” Kai looked up at me almost helplessly. “I’m pretty shit at directions, Nash. I think I’d be lost without you.”

From the expression on his face, I knew he meant more than just in the woods… and in truth, I knew my answer was the same.

I would be lost without him too.

Chapter twenty-three

Kai

A Few Days Later

“Canwegonow?”I was pretty sure Nash was going to throw me off a cliffagainif I asked him one more time, but when he came out of our tent, he had a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Yes, Little Mate. We can go, if only so you’ll stop asking.”

I knew he wasn’t exactly excited about the prospect of going to the city, but I was practically bouncing out of my skin. We’d had to wait for a few days while the healer’s magic took hold of our cuts and bruises, and Nash got in contact with his other brother.

Apparently he wasn’t just related to the Emperor—he was also related to the Emperor’s Assassin. As much as he wanted to chase Koth himself, he refused to go without me, and I refused to go anywhere until we found Rainn… though truthfully, I just wanted to make sure Nash was safe.

And instead of arguing, he’d sent a letter to hisotherbrother with information on where Koth had run, the portal he’d gone through… and he’d waited.

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