Page 7 of The Orc's Captive Bride
Merchandise.
The word sat wrong in his gut. He’d escorted prisoners before, delivering captives to Lasseran’s dungeons to be subjected to the High King’s specific brand of cruelty.
This felt different.
Thea was still standing half behind him, her breathing quick and shallow. Her hand went to those strange glass circles perched on her nose and adjusted them with trembling fingers.
She looked at the soldiers and then looked up at him before taking a tiny step closer. Good. She was smart enough to recognize a threat when she saw one.
“Come.” He gestured towards his tent, but she didn’t move. She just stood there, wrapped in his tunic, staring up at him with those sharp grey eyes that seemed to see too much.
He tried again, pointing more emphatically. Go to the tent. Get away from the soldiers whose thoughts were written plainlyacross their leering faces. Instead she shook her head and said something in her incomprehensible language.
He felt the soldiers watching. waiting to see what he’d do.
Fine.
He grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her back over his shoulder again.
“Hey!”
The protest squeaked out of her as her fists pounded his back again, but with less conviction this time. More resignation than rage.
He carried her to his tent, ducked inside, and set her down on the pile of furs that served as his bedroll. She landed with an undignified thump, her eyes wide behind the glass circles.
He pointed at the furs, then pointed at her. “Stay.”
He was sure she understood, even though she crossed her arms and glared at him before starting one of her incomprehensible lectures.
He suppressed the urge to growl. Barely. Instead, he turned and left the tent before he did something stupid like try to continue an argument with someone who didn’t speak his language—or kiss her into silence.
CHAPTER THREE
Thea glared after Khorrek as he turned and left the tent.
He just… walked out and left her standing there mid-rant like she wasn’t even worth listening to.
Rude.
She stood in the sudden silence, her indignation warring with the more practical part of her brain that pointed out she was in way over her head.
What now?
She could try to run. The tent flap was open. Khorrek was outside, but if she was fast and quiet…
You’d last maybe five minutes before someone caught you. And then what? You think Khorrek would be gentle a second time?
She’d also been forced to consider her options while sprawled ignominiously over his shoulder. She could keep fighting—which was obviously pointless, given the difference in their sizes. She could scream—equally pointless, given that they were inthe middle of nowhere and the only people likely to hear were whoever Khorrek was taking her to anyway.
Or she could accept reality—she was trapped in an alien world with no shelter, no food, no water, and no survival skills. Even when she’d been at some remote dig site, there were always people there to take care of the practical details like shelter and food.
Her choices boiled down to going with Khorrek or dying alone on the plains. In the end, it wasn’t much of a choice, so she’d made the practical decision and stopped struggling. She’d let herself go limp over his shoulder, conserving her energy for whatever came next. And he’d… softened in response. He’d adjusted her position enough to ease the strain on her stomach and when she’d shivered he’d wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm.
His skin didn’t have the same texture as human skin, but it was warm, and smooth except for the ridged lines of his scars. There was something oddly comforting about his earthy scent and she’d almost relaxed before she came to her senses. She couldn’t trust him, even if he had been… protective when they arrived at the camp.
She’d had a brief flare of hope when they arrived at the camp and she’d seen other humans—men wearing leather armor and carrying weapons that looked disturbingly well-used. They might speak English. They might be able to help her. But then she’d seen their faces, and the way they looked at her sent a shiver of pure terror down her spine. When Khorrek stepped in front of her she’d been relieved—until he carried her into the tent and dumped her on the pile of surprisingly soft furs before leaving her alone in a space that smelled like him.
She took a deep breath and looked around.
