Page 27 of The Orc's Innocent Plaything

At the sensation, I shuddered, pressed forward…

And exploded.

He caught my cry in his mouth as I bucked against him, chasing my pleasure as it spasmed through my core.

‘Twas not the same as coming with something inside me, but I could admit that this was even better than last night. More intense. Because ofVartok.

After a long moment, I realized he was holding the back of my head, pressing my face against his chest as my hips jerked—the rhythm slowing as my climax faded—and murmuring words I couldn’t understand.

Suddenly self-conscious, I slowly lifted my head, and his hold moved to my back, where he stroked my spine in a comforting way. How could his touch be arousing one moment, and cozy the next? I peered up at him in confusion.

And then he smiled.

Not in victory, not mockingly…butproud. He was proud of me?

“Ye are perfect, pet,” he murmured, his gaze landing on my lips. “Ye did so well.”

Had he planned all this? Had he known it would happen, once he kissed me? Flushing, I dropped my gaze to his chest, and his low rumble might have been a chuckle.

“Dinnae be embarrassed on my account, lass.” He dropped a kiss on my temple. “I’m fooking proud of ye.”

“I—” I had to clear my throat. “I am a fast learner.”

As soon as I said the words, I knew they were wrong, but I didn’t know why.

All I knew was that Vartok stilled suddenly, then shifted backward, his hands falling to my hips and his tone too brittle.

“Aye, ye are. The best pupil I’ve had.”

I winced at the reminder that I wasn’t his first student in the arts of pleasure, and that’s all I was to him. After so long of being angry that he didn’t treat me as he treated the other women, I was now angry he saw me as just one of many.

Mayhap Iwasicy, as he’d accused.

“I have to go,” I mumbled, trying to slide forward, my orgasm a fading memory, although there was still a tenderness between my thighs.

“Aye, lass,” he sighed, helping to lift me down. But once I was steady on my feet, he didn’t release me. Instead, I could feel him staring at the top of my head when he rumbled, “I’ll see ye tomorrow night, then? There’s so much more I can teach ye.”

Was I ready for it?

“I…I will consider it. Thank you for tonight’s lesson.”

This time, when I fled, he let me go.

Vartok

“The raids are growing bolder!The news from the coast is concerning, Vartok.”

Auld Klorbkal waved his cane from the other side of the fire, his voice the volume of a male going deaf.

“Aye,” I grunted, knowing ‘twas easier to agree, and knowing enough of my clan was already asleep that I needed to keep the old bastard from yelling. “But what would ye have us do?”

Gruptor stood with his arms crossed, his usual scowl pulling his lips downward. “The Battleborn are fierce warriors. We cannae stand against them, and why should we? We are allied.”

“Nay,” Auld Klorbkal corrected hotly. “Clan Breakshield is their ally.”

“And we are allied with Breakshield,” I said with a sigh, lowering my elbows to my knees and clasping my hands as I stared into the communal fire at the middle of the Council Hall. “We willnae stand against their allies until they ask us to.”

“Wecannaestand against Battleborn!” Gruptor snarled. “There is a reason they’re kenned as the Sea Wolves! They never destroy, and they dinnaekill needlessly.”

---