Page 26 of The Orc's Stolen Shepherdess

I tightened my grip on her hand and licked my lips. “But what if. . . what if the good comes, but you still feel horrors lurking around every bend? What if there’s constantly a storm on the horizon, waiting to swallow you whole?”

Her brows furrowed, and I fully expected her to tell me it would be fine. That I was here in these blissful woods now and no storms would ever reach this place.

And instead, she murmured, “There’s always going to be a storm, Caivid.”

An exhale escaped me, draining my lungs and emptying the tension from my body.

“It’s foolish to think that things will be wonderful forever.” She continued to stroke my hand. “But I can tell you one thing for certain: storms aren’t something to be feared. They are hard, sometimes brutal, but theyalwayspass, and we’re stronger for every one that we survive. The changes they bring are more often than not for the better.”

She looked into my eyes and it felt like the blue of them was coloring my soul. I couldn’t look away from her. “I wish I could believe that. Every deep change I’ve experienced in my life has been brutal and stark. I’ve never experienced a ‘wonderful’ storm before.”

Warmth cupped my neck. A gentle touch that pulled me lower. Into Susara’s arms.

Fades her hug felt like perfection. I didn’t wantto let her go.

“I’m sorry your life has been so hard, Caivid. But I promise, I’ll try to bring light into it.”

I felt myself sag against her as every bit of tension I had evaporated away. The perfect woods around us absorbed it and left me quaking. “You already have, Susara. Everything you do is light and all I want to do is bask in you.”

She pulled back slightly so she could look into my eyes and search my face.

She must have seen something there because a smile touched her lips and she murmured, “Will you let me show you what a wonderful storm feels like?”

What did she mean? It didn’t matter. I nodded helplessly.

And then she leaned in and kissed me, right on the lips. Her perfect mouth covered mine and her rosemary scent made me dazed, and my world flooded with a raging wave so strong I knew I’d never fear the storms again.

Chapter Eleven

Susara

Fades, he tastedso good.

I slanted my mouth over his a little more firmly and licked at the seam of his mouth. He sucked in a shocked breath.

Was I going too fast? I hadn’t meant to startle him. He’d just seemed so lost and out of place.

I wanted to give him a place.

Beside me.

His lips parted, and I drowned in the taste of him. Warm and spicy. His tongue touched mine almost tentatively. Funny, I would never have thought such a huge, powerful male would be hesitant about kissing, and it made me melt for him. His tusks pressed into my cheeks, caged around me as if holding me captive.

He bent lower to get better access and brought his arms around my hips. His grip was tight as he hoisted me up into his arms.

I let out a little yip of laughter at the shock of being picked up so easily. “Fades, you’restrong.”

“Want to be put down?” he asked, even as his grip tightened around me. One hand at my back, the other under my knees.

I cupped his cheeks and pulled him in again. “Don’t you dare.”

He chuckled, and I swallowed up the sound. I could feel his laughter like radiant heat pooling in my stomach, thrumming between my legs. I clenched my thighs together and resisted the urge to squirm as his tongue stroked against my own.

“Fades.” I cursed against his lips. “Where did you learn to kiss?”

“I’m followingyou,” he managed, breathing hard.

I grinned. I couldn’t help it. “I guess that’s your life now, isn’t it? You’ll follow me everywhere, every day.”

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