Page 84 of Halfling
He lengthened his stride to catch her up, only slowing again when he was a pace behind. The scent wasn’t quite as strong now, but it was there, a humming sweetness that teased him and made his mouth water.
But…why?
Had she…seen him taking his own pleasure?
His heart lurched hard enough to make him stumble a step.
Had she seen him and taken her own pleasure?
But…that would mean…
His ears rang as he thought back to all the moments he’d caught this same scent. Never as strong, but it’d clung to her for days now. He’d let himself soak in it in that human bed, surrounding himself and indulging. So lost in his own desire, he hadn’t stopped to think what that sweet muskiness meant.
For days nowechoed in his head. She’d smelled this sweet fordays.
The realization couldn’t quite penetrate his shock. It scratched and nipped at him all through the morning as he followed silently behind Sorcha, eyes never straying from her.
Could it be for me?
The thought kicked at his chest harder than Silas or Kaldar ever had.
He watched in stunned silence as they approached a tall outcropping of rock. Sorcha made a considering noise, tilting her head to the side. After a moment, she set her pack and Darrah down to scramble up the rocks.
She picked her way across the craggy surface, Orek holding his breath and readying to jump if she needed him. But she made it to the edge without a problem, shielding her eyes with a hand as she looked out across the lake.
“It looks like we have to follow it west a little before it becomes a river again,” she noted.
When he said nothing, Sorcha turned to peer at him over her shoulder.
Whatever she saw, she held his gaze, lips parting on a soft breath.
Though his throat clenched with terror, he forced the words out. “Did you watch me in the lake?”
Her brows jumped, and color bloomed across her cheeks. On his next breath, Orek scented her, that deliciously thick sweetness saturating the air between them.
Slowly, she turned to face him. “Yes,” she said.
“And do you know what I thought of?”
His eyes fell to watch the pulse beating rapidly at her throat as she shook her head once.
“You,” he said, all his breath, all his hopes and desires rushing out of him with that one word. “It’s always you. All I ever think of, day and night, is you.”
“Orek…”
She came to him, climbing down onto a lower rock. It still put her taller than him, and he held perfectly still as he gazed up at her, waiting.
Instinct roared to grab her, claim her, explore that surprised, soft look she gave him, but he held himself still. When she reached down to put her hands on his shoulders, he only gripped her elbows rather than crush her to him like he wanted.
“You think of me?” she said, her lips hung just above his own.
“Always.”
Orek felt the rush of her exhale on his skin, and then her mouth fell on his.
His mind blanked.
His existence contracted to the warm press of her soft lips along his. Hunger clawed at his belly, and instinct had him opening his mouth to her, following the dance of her lips as they nipped and sucked. He swiped his tongue across her lip, tasting everything he’d hungered for.
