Page 12 of Agor the Merciless (Orc Mates #10)

Agor stopped. Her words made him flinch. This wasn’t the fear he’d seen in the other women’s eyes. This was anger.

He had walked the camp all night, crushing pine needles under his boots as the moon crossed the sky, preparing explanations he now couldn’t remember. Zoe hadn’t broken in his arms, under his weight, nor under the pressure of his demands. But the trust between them had.

Leah had cried on the first night, begging to go home.

Elena had strung him along for three days before she admitted she couldn’t do it.

Agor recognized when a woman couldn’t handle his needs.

But Zoe glared at him, her back straight even with her hands bound above her head.

In trying to keep her, he’d given her every reason to leave.

Zoe studied his face, and her open scrutiny made him hesitate. Eventually, he moved toward her, which caused her to push herself back against the wall. He knelt on the bed, and the furs sank under his weight. Without speaking, he reached for her wrists and untied the knots.

Blood rushed back into Zoe’s hands with a stinging pain.

She opened and closed her fists, taking it easy and slowly, leaning into the feeling of pins and needles that was so annoying.

Red welts circled her wrists where the rope had rubbed all night.

She didn’t take her eyes off the orc captain.

She watched as he got up and moved to the wooden trunk in the corner.

He lifted the heavy lid, and the hinges creaked.

From inside, he retrieved a small clay jar, the one he’d used the night before – their first nigh together.

A knot formed in Zoe’s stomach. As he returned to her on the bed, he dipped two fingers into the ointment.

“No.” Zoe pushed herself backward. “I don’t want it. Don’t you dare use that on me.”

His face was a mask of neutrality as he crawled toward her.

She was cornered. She couldn’t get away from him, and after a night of lying in the worst position, she didn’t trust herself running across the uneven floor without spraining an ankle.

He would catch her, anyway. He was that big and strong.

Plus, she didn’t want to run from him. She just wanted him to see that he could do better than… this.

“You don’t get to decide,” she said, eyeing his coated fingers. “Not after what you did.”

He said nothing and just kept coming. Her back hit the wall. He reached for her, jar in one hand, his other arm coming down across her chest and shoulders. She couldn’t move under his weight. She shoved against his chest, trying to twist free, but it was useless. Her wrists ached as she struggled.

“Get off me!” She dug her heels into the furs but couldn’t get any leverage. “I’m not your prisoner!”

“Stop fighting,” he said.

Zoe jerked against his arm, but it didn’t move. “Get that stuff away from me.”

Even as she protested, her body betrayed her.

The memory of the ointment’s effect sent a deep warmth through her.

He ignored her fussing and brought his coated fingers to her right wrist. His touch was gentle as he spread the medicine, slash aphrodisiac over the raw skin.

The coolness lasted only a moment before a deep heat spread through the area.

The red marks began to fade almost immediately.

“See? It heals,” he murmured, reaching for more.

“That’s not all it does.”

She tried to pull her arm away, but he held her as he worked the ointment into her left wrist. Her mouth said no, but a hum of anticipation started in her belly. When both wrists were coated, he gathered more of the mixture. Before she could react, he pushed up her shirt, exposing her bare skin.

“What are you…”

Zoe pushed harder against him, and he gave her enough space to turn around, so that now she was with her back to him.

On second thought, not a better position than the previous one.

At least before, she could see what he was doing.

She yelped when his palm pressed against her spine, spreading cream from her shoulders to her lower back in smooth strokes. His hand spanned nearly half her back.

“You’re not playing fair,” she said, her voice tight. She fought to hold on to her anger as her skin tingled under his touch. “Why would you…”

“I would never harm you.” He continued working the ointment into her skin, moving to her shoulders and again down her back. “This helps. I know you were in pain all night, and I’m sorry.”

“It makes me want to…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. Her body was already responding, leaning into his touch even as her mind resisted.

Agor shifted, moving down to her legs. She kicked at him, a half-hearted gesture that lacked conviction.

He caught her calf, his fingers massaging the ointment into her skin from ankle to knee.

She couldn’t stop him. A part of her didn’t want to.

Her skin warmed wherever the cursed salve touched.

The heat building inside her was undeniable and verging on too much already.

She struggled to stay sane as lust assaulted her.

It was magic, and a mere human couldn’t fight orc magic; her entire species had learned as much during the war.

“This isn’t fair,” she whispered.

Agor worked his way up her thighs, his hands relentless.

When he reached the top of her thighs, Zoe stopped struggling.

She didn’t want to, but at this point, her own body gave her no choice.

Her mind felt cloudy and high. Heat flooded her, spreading into her muscles and bones.

Her skin prickled, then burned. Her breath caught as wave after wave of desire washed over her.

It was pure, mindless need that took over every cell.

“No,” she gasped as her back arched, pushing into his touch.

Another pulse of heat moved through her, and the sensation pooled between her legs, an ache so intense that she whimpered.

She dug her hands into the pelts underneath, her head dropping onto the pillow.

She was on all fours, shaking and exposed.

She couldn’t fight it. The magic was too strong, overriding her mind.

Her fury at being controlled was still there, a distant thought at the back of her mind, but the surface of her awareness was consumed by a single, driving need.

“Please,” she whispered.

Her hips lifted from the furs, seeking him. She wanted to feel his length pressed against her.

“What’s happening to me?”

Agor’s hands reached around her body to spread the cream across her collarbone, down to her breasts.

“You know what you want,” he said in a low, husky voice.

“This is… the magic,” she said. “This isn’t me.”

“It is you.” His breath was warm in her ear. “The ointment doesn’t create desire. It uncovers it.”

She wanted to argue, but a fresh tremor of heat made her muscles go slack. A low sound of frustration and need escaped her throat. Her fingers curled into the furs. The pressure between her legs built with each heartbeat.

“Please...”

“Please what?”

She bit her lip, refusing to say more, even as she trembled.

“Tell me what you need.” His hand slid lower, over her stomach, stopping just short of where she ached. “Say it.”

“Please,” she repeated, hating the desperation in her own voice. “Touch me.”

“Where?” His fingers circled her navel.

“You know where.” Her hips pushed upward.

“Say it.” He nipped at her earlobe.

Her resistance vanished. “Between my legs. Please.”

That was all Agor needed. He gripped her shirt and tore it open. She gasped, her nipples hardening, her skin flushing.

“You’re mine,” he growled. “No matter how much you fight it.”

She was already on her stomach, and he pushed her down, so her hips were up in the air.

She didn’t resist. Her breath came in short pants as he yanked down her panties, leaving her naked.

He spread her thighs, pushed her shoulders down, and it struck her that it was as if she was a doll in his hands – a thought that pissed her off to no end, but could do nothing about given the circumstances.

“Look how ready you are for me,” he said, running a finger from her clit to her dripping pussy. “So wet.”

“It’s the cream,” she protested.

“It’s more than that.” He leaned over her, his voice low in her ear. “Your body knows who it belongs to.”

Her face burned against the pillow. Her mind recoiled at the indignity, but her body responded to his rough handling.

His mouth found the place where her neck met her shoulder.

He bit, hard enough to mark, and the sharp sensation went straight to her core.

His tongue soothed the spot, but there was no tenderness in it.

It was a gesture meant to push her deeper into the haze.

“Mmm,” she moaned. “Yes.”

His hand slid between her legs from behind, two thick fingers pushing inside her, stretching her. She cried out in relief.

“You’re soaked,” he growled.

She wanted to deny it, but his thumb found her clit and pressed hard, circling. Words dissolved into a moan she couldn’t hold back.

“Right there,” she gasped. “Don’t stop.”

He worked her with his fingers, his other hand gripping her hip hard enough to bruise. When she began to tighten around him, he withdrew.

“No,” she whimpered. “More...”

The blunt head of his cock pressed against her. He drove into her with a single, powerful thrust. The sudden stretch stung, but the ointment did help her get used to it quickly. Her mind fought him even as her body welcomed him, her inner walls clamping around his thickness.

“This is what you need,” he said, his voice strained as he began to move. “This is what you fought against.”

“Yes,” she admitted. “Yes.”

The rhythm was hard and fast. Each thrust jolted her forward. The sound of skin against skin echoed off the stone, punctuated by her breathless cries.

“Harder,” she demanded. “Please.”

She hated that he’d used magic against her, hated that her body responded. But underneath the anger was a truth she couldn’t escape: this raw, animal claiming was exactly what a part of her craved.

His pace increased. One hand snaked around to find her clit again, rubbing hard. She tried to hold back, to deny him the satisfaction, but the combined assault was too much.

“Don’t stop,” she begged. “I’m so close.”

Her orgasm came without warning, a deep contraction that seized her. She cried out, not even caring the other orcs could hear her.

He felt her come, her body gripping him. He allowed himself a few more thrusts before his own release followed, hot inside her, filling her to the brim. He waited until his balls were empty and all his seed was in her womb, where it belonged until she would fall heavy with his child.

Finally, he rolled away, and he couldn’t help but notice how she pulled away from him, curling within herself. Her reaction hurt. He didn’t know how to deal with it, so he just lay there, staring at the ceiling.

Zoe felt shaky and vulnerable. On the one hand, she wanted to press herself against his side and let him wrap her in his strong arms, but on the other hand…

she didn’t want him right now. She was mad at him, still, especially as the effects of the magic ointment were wearing off.

She wanted to wash herself but was too exhausted to even move.

Quite frankly, she realized she wanted to be alone.