Page 15 of Orn and the Real Girl
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he murmured, taking a half step forward and reaching for me. I buried my face in his broad chest, squeezing back tears and soaking in the sweetness of his comfort. I loved the smell of him, the solidness, the warmth. There was something about him that soothed me on an almost primal level. His large hands rubbed my back while he continued to murmur soft, sweet things, and soon I was no longer in danger of breaking down into tears that I feared would never end once they started.
I kissed him softly and pulled away, digging into my pack for the reagents I’d need for the sheltering spell. It was a simple spell, but very handy: it would block out most of the bitter wind without trapping our fire’s smoke, and would shield said fire from being seen outside our little campsite. It felt like nothingin the face of all that Orn had done for me, but the big guy was absolutely beside himself with amazement.
“And you can justdothings like that? Like it’s nothing?” he asked for the third time, stepping from one side of the boundary line I’d drawn to the other to take in the full effect of the spell. “Sweet Delenaa, that’samazing, Sara.”
“Well, not justanytime. I need the right ingredients and enough energy to cast it.”
He nodded, considering. “You know, I’ve never asked it, but what is it about witches that scares people so, when mages are treated so fairly?” He settled behind me, long legs bracketing mine and strong arms pulling me into his big body. I snuggled into him, my gaze on the banked fire.
I sighed deeply, letting myself steep in warmth and comfort while my insides went cold and prickly. “It’s silly superstition and old biases,” I began. “Mages can channel aether—that’s magical energy, if you didn’t know—directly. It’s an ability you’re either born with or not. Witches are connected to aether, can sense it and use it, but not directly. We need to harness the aether found in nature, to extract it and coax it into doing what we want.”
Orn hummed thoughtfully. “That doesn’t sound so bad,” he rumbled, kissing me just under my ear. “What’s so frightening about that?”
“Well, it’s notjustthat,” I hedged, biting my lip. Orn’s kisses were starting to distract me, to heat up my body yet again. “Long ago, there was a sect of witches who turned to a side of magic that most of us refuse to touch. Dark magic…blood magic.” Orn’s lips stilled, but he didn’t move away. I chose to take that as a good sign. “It was a very few number of us, and it was generations ago at this point, but the fear remains. It probably doesn’t help that all witches are women, and that the rise of theOne God has meant that that fact condemns us almost as much as the witchery does.
“No modern witch has any interest in the dark side of magic, but the damage is done. And now—” My throat began to burn, feeling so tight I worried I wouldn’t be able to talk anymore. “My coven is myfamily, Orn,” I managed in a ragged whisper. “I never knew my birth family. If—if they’re gone—“
“Then I will go and fetch them from the beyond.” His large arms tightened around me, squeezing me close. “But even if the worst comes to pass, I swear to you, on all the gods, on my honor, on life itself: you will never again be alone. If nothing else, you’ll have me. I just hope that that’s acceptable to you.”
“You idiot,” I sobbed, turning in his arms to throw my arms around his neck and bury my face into his warm green skin. “It’s better than ‘acceptable’. It’s—it’s everything.” I pulled away just enough to meet his obsidian eyes. “Thank you, Orn. I…gods, I truly will never be able to repay you for everything you’ve done. You’re so…sogood.”
He tucked a loose curl behind my ear, smiling softly. “Now who’s being foolish? You are worth any price I might have to pay. I’ve been waiting for you my whole life, Sara. I just didn’t know it until you showed up on my doorstep.”
This time when we kissed, it was like swallowing fire and honey. His warmth, his scent, the sounds he made oh-so-softly when I touched him, wrapped around me and drenched me in their sweetness. His lips and tongue swept away my hesitations, my doubts, until there was only one bright, crystalline thing: Orn was mine, and I was his.
It wasn’t long after that that I found myself in his lap again, writhing and grinding into his big body like I was trying to start a fire with my pussy. Orn groaned low in his throat, his chest rumbling against my sensitive, aching breasts, heavy with arousal. There was far too much fabric between us. I peeled offmy layers in one clumsy go, baring myself to him. His hands came up to cup and knead my breasts, his callouses adding a delicious friction that had me aching and drenched. I reached between us, going for the ties of Orn’s leather pants, but his hand caught my wrist before I could reach them.
“I think if I come one more time today my cock’ll fall off, sweetheart,” he chuckled, redirecting my hand to his tunic laces. “But I have other ways of taking care of my mate.” He started, realizing what he’d said, his eyes widening as he making a choking sound.
I felt breathless, stunned by that one little word.Mate. It wasn’t a term to be throw around lightly, and for Orn to use it to refer to me…
Well, it certainly explained some things. As if it were illustrating the situation, I felt my wet hot need dribble out of my throbbing pussy to trail down my inner thigh. I took one breath, then two. And when I looked into his dark eyes all I felt was calm.
Alright, then. Guess I was an orc’s mate. “Yes,” I breathed, unable to pull any other word forward. “Yes,Orn.”
His panic ebbed, the wild need from before rekindling. “Yes?” he asked, his hands on my body stroking and caressing me once more.
I nodded, pressing myself against his body. “Yes.”
I tore at his shirt laces, baring his broad, hairy chest and soft stomach. My mouth watered at the sight of him, at the contrast between power and gentleness that colored everything about this surprising man. In the flickering firelight, I could just barely make it out when he blushed at my scrutiny. He reached for the ties of my own pants, undoing them quickly. He told me to stand, and I obeyed, letting him pull the thick pants down and off my legs. I shivered, chill air pebbling my skin and peaking my nipples even while the fire warmed my back. Orn frowned at myshiver, pulling me closer and rubbing warmth into my skin with his hands.
Without a word, he guided me to the bedroll and coaxed me onto my back, covering my naked body with the thick wool blanket—silky-soft because it was aerlanis wool—before slipping under it himself and slithering down my body. I shivered again, but this time in heady anticipation.
Once Orn’s face was aligned with my mound, most of his lower half was exposed to the elements, but since he’d left his pants and boots on he likely didn’t feel it. Tender kisses and nuzzles began to pepper my skin, his hot mouth worshipful as he tasted my thighs, my heavy lower belly, my mons. I found myself lifting my hips up into his gentle caresses, wanting more. But Orn would not give it, his touch staying soft and sweet and oh-so-maddening.
I whined, my hands slipping into his thick hair and trying to guide him to where I wanted him, where Ineededhim. Despite everything we’d already done together, I was still once again desperate for him.
I heard a throaty chuckle beneath the crackle and pop of the low-burning flames, big hands sliding under my ass to lift me and knead my flesh. I said nothing, his hot breath fanning over the sensitive skin of my pussy, the moisture that had pooled there turning the heat cool. Slowly, too slowly,maddeningly slowly, his mouth drifted to my throbbing clit, no amount of pulling or shoving from me making any sort of difference in his pace.
I should just tell him to hurry up and get to it, I thought, frustrated instead of satisfied now that his mouth was finally on me—because he was still going so slowly, so gently, when I wantedmore. But for some reason, I didn’t say anything—I let him tease me, let him keep me on the brink of insanity. I was curious about what he was planning, for one, but there was alsoan element of trust there. I may not have known who his parents were, or the name of wherever he’d been born, or even how old he was (gods, I hoped he was as adult as he looked), but I knew this was a good person who cared about me and seemed as concerned with making me feel good as some other people cared about breathing. He wouldn’t leave me aching and wanting.
And sure enough, he did not; one moment he was all light touches and softness, and the next two thick fingers were dipping into my entrance, carefully coating themselves in my essence, before plunging deep inside me. Like iron to a lodestone, they found that sweet something deep inside of me that made me feel like I was floating, rocking and stroking up into it.
I squeaked, going rigid for just a moment at the suddenness of Orn’s delicious invasion, before letting out a gasp and a moan as he finally,finally, began working me up properly.
His mouth on my clit grew firmer, the flat of his tongue moving in quick circles over the hood of that sensitive bud. I was already so wound up from his teasing that the few licks that had wound up on the exposed underside of my clit had been too much, and somehow the mad orcknew that.
AndI’msupposed to be the witch, I managed to think between the bursts of starlight lighting me up under Orn’s focused attention. I choked back a laugh, realizing that this man was literally fucking me stupid.Too much blood getting diverted from my brain,and at that thought I did giggle. I expected him to stop, to ask me what was so funny, but he just cocked a thick black brown and redoubled his efforts.
