Page 19

May

Aldronn’s command vibrates through me, heating my blood.

“Yes,” I hiss, plunging onto his cock. Then I remember I don’t like orders and remind him of it. “But not because you said so.”

He laughs, a dark chuckle that makes my toes curl. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

I’ll show him. Leaning forward, I plant both hands on his chest and start to really ride him. God, even with the knot, his dick’s at least six inches long and feels so damned good. And hitting against the hard, swollen lump at the base adds an extra sensation that sends spurts of delight shooting through me.

“Faster,” he commands, his fingers digging into my hips as he lifts me up and down. “Harder.”

I don’t even try to pretend I don’t like the orders this time, too caught by pleasure to protest. My heart races, and I pant, each breath smelling of pine and leather and sex.

His second dick rubs over my clit, vibrating hard. God, I’ve already come twice, and I’m about to again. Aldronn’s cock really is magic.

Not that I can ever let him know.

“I heard that,” he growls, flashing his sinful smirk.

Fucking telepathy!

“If it helps, you are exquisite and perfect and the best I’ve ever had.”

“Oh!” My core clenches tight as not only his words, but also the sincerity and devotion behind them, flow over me.

I slam down onto him one last time, grinding against his knot in a whimper of need. My orgasm crests over me in a series of waves, each ebb and flow drawn out for several transcendent moments.

Aldronn’s pleasure echoes back to me as he groans, his hips snapping up. Hot fluid gushes from me, splashing over my thighs and his.

I collapse forward onto his heaving chest, panting for breath.

His arms wrap around me, holding me close as we slowly calm.

Eventually, my thighs begin to twinge at being stretched so wide. I wiggle, slipping free of his cock to straighten my legs, shocked all over again to find him still hard.

Aldronn’s hand splays across my butt, pressing me firmly against him as I lie back down with my head on his shoulder.

“Still bossy,” I whisper against his pec, pressing a kiss to it and tasting salt and skin.

“You still love it.” His voice is a quiet rumble that vibrates through my chest.

He strokes a hand down my back over and over until I melt into a boneless puddle on his chest.

I give a happy squirm, settling more fully on him, and the wetness caught between us makes me ask, “Okay, so, magical contraceptives? Those are totally a thing in Faerie, right?” Please, let them be a thing.

“Quite the opposite,” he says. “All fae, even orcs, have far more difficulty conceiving than humans. It’s the reason we knot—to hold the seed in for hours, so it gets a chance to take root.”

“So, since you didn’t actually knot me…”

“There’s very little chance of you becoming with child.”

A relieved breath whooshes out of me.

He frowns. “As king and queen, we will be expected to produce an heir.”

“Yeah, well, no one said we had to make one immediately. We still have to work out this whole marriage thing first.”

“We are mates, fated to be,” he says. “I know it.”

“Is that a premonition?”

“No.” He touches his chest. “Even though we haven’t finalized our mate bond yet, I already feel you anchored in my heart.”

It’s a sweet dream—one I’d like to believe—but I’m not quite there yet. It’s a little much to jump to soul mates and kids before there’s even love.

“Do you disagree?” he asks. “Do you not want children?”

“No, I want kids. It’s not that,” I say. No way am I admitting I want to hear he loves me, so I stick to something less personal but still true. “It’s kind of hard to think about the future when this goddess chick won’t let me live the life I want until I do what she says.”

“I’ll find a way to fix this.” His hand flexes against my butt. “This I vow.”

“ We’ll find a way,” I say. “I’m the one the goddess yells at, after all.”

“We,” He agrees, his lips quirking.

“We are we, too!” a high voice cries out, blue dots of brightness swirling in front of the tent flaps. “And we want pizza!”

Laughter explodes from me as I bury my face in Aldronn’s shoulder, my body shaking with it as I suck in hiccupping breaths between bouts of chuckles.

“I suppose this means I should cook,” Aldronn says, his tone so comically dry I start laughing all over again.

When I finally catch my breath, he rolls onto his side, letting me slide gently down onto the furs. He sits up, then leans swiftly over to give me a quick kiss. “Thank you for sharing your joy. It means a great deal to me.”

My fingers trace over my lips as I watch him leave the tent. He’s surprised me yet again, showing a sweet side buried under all those layers of “kingliness.”

We sleep in, and our late breakfast the next morning is… weird. I haven’t had a lot of morning afters, but the ones I have had were all seriously awkward. This one’s not. No, what makes this one weird is how not -weird it feels.

Which is weird.

Even though it’s almost noon, when I request it, he makes me tea and the savory orc oatmeal. We eat sitting side by side, staring out at the waterfall. My heart skips every time Aldronn looks at me or his thigh brushes mine. A hint of his wicked smirk curls his lips, and he glances at me with knowing eyes.

God, I want to jump him again.

I brush my fingers casually over my crystal and strain, but my magic’s as erratic as ever, not working when I desperately want to know what he’s thinking.

He hands me a tooth cleaning berry, crunching into his own. Then his face changes, sliding from pleased to serious in the blink of an eye. Aldronn jumps up from his log seat, spinning toward the forest.

“What is it?” I leap to my feet.

“I had a flash of premonition. Someone comes.”

Oh, god. Did the ogre come back to life? That’s impossible, right? Even with magic?

I sag with relief when a white unicorn bursts through the trees, an orc on their back. He resembles Aldronn, with the same green skin and long black hair. But it’s more than that. There’s something about the angle of his eyes and the line of his jaw that’s familiar from looking at Aldronn for several days.

Starfall follows right on their heels, Naomi riding her. My friend’s dark curls frame her pretty, brown face. She wears orc clothes, the pink linen shirt and brown leather pants cut to fit her plump figure perfectly.

“May!” Naomi cries out at the exact same time I call her name. She dismounts, and we run toward each other.

My friend’s arms wrap around me as tightly as I hug her, and we do a little dance, shifting back and forth. Her curls tickle my nose, smelling of her favorite coconut conditioner, a scent that goes right to my hindbrain, speaking of home.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” I say, my throat tight with emotion.

“I couldn’t believe it when Starfall told us you were in Alarria.” She pulls back just enough to grin up at me. “And married to Aldronn!”

“You know him?” I ask. “I mean, of course you know him. But how well do you know him?” If anyone’s got the inside scoop, it’s Naomi.

“As for that, I’m married to his cousin.” She waves at the new orc, who stands with Aldronn, their forearms clasped. “Wranth!”

“ This is Wranth?” I gape. “Your husband?”

“Yep.” She pops the p, her brown eyes sparkling.

I slap the back of my hand to her shoulder. “This is why you wouldn’t tell me anything about him over the phone!”

“How could I?” She spreads her hands wide, palms up, gesturing toward the men. “Orcs, unicorns, Faerie. This definitely falls under the category of ‘you have to see it to believe it.’”

“True facts.” Then another thought strikes, and I whirl to face her. “Does Hannah have an orc husband, too?”

“No.” She gives a mischievous grin. “Or at least not yet.”

The men join us.

“This is Wranth.” Aldronn claps a hand to the other orc’s shoulder. “He used to be one of the best of my guard. Then he discovered he’s actually royalty and my cousin.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Wranth says, his voice and tone serious, even though this is a meeting of friends. “Naomi’s told me so much about you.”

His eyes flick to my friend, and his entire face softens, his mouth quirking up on the left in a little half smile.

Right then and there, I know I’m going to like him. Anyone who realizes how awesome Naomi is becomes automatically all right in my books.

“Well, she told me almost nothing about you,” I say, shooting her some side eye.

“I just told you why I couldn’t!”

I break into a grin. “Yeah, I’m just teasing.”

“This is Zephyr,” Wranth says, pointing to the new unicorn.

“You’re delighted, I’m sure,” she says, her alto as sardonic as Starfall at her driest.

Naomi says, “I’m going to go and get everyone else so that we can have an official meeting.”

“Wh—”

Before I can finish the first word of my question, my friend disappears.

“Fuck me!”

Aldronn says, “I told you she could far travel.”

“Hearing it is so not the same.” I reach out to pat at the empty air where Naomi stood. “That’s some seriously rad magic.”

“Then you’re going to love this,” an unfamiliar male voice says. A smile appears in midair, the rest of a huge cat slowly coming into view around it. He stands at least four feet tall, his large body covered in long black hair that turns silver on the tips. He looks smaller than a lion but bigger than a cheetah, which means he’s a hell of a lot of cat up close. I’d be worried if his green eyes didn’t sparkle with mischief. “Ta da!”

“Shadow.” Wranth scowls so hard his eyebrows touch. “Naomi wouldn’t like you scaring her friend.”

“I’m not scared.”

“How could she be? I’m very charming.” Shadow turns his wide grin on me, showing off an impossible number of teeth. “Human women especially thought so when I rode through your town naked in my other form.”

“Do what now?” I ask, at the same time as Aldronn growls, “Don’t you dare.”

The air shivers around Shadow, and a naked man stands in his place. His skin is light, but his hair’s the same black to silver ombre. His eyes are just as green as before, and his smile is still a little too big, showing off fangs. About six-and-a-half-feet tall, he’s well muscled and bigger than most humans, but a bit smaller than both of the orcs.

I look—I mean, how can I not?—and he’s got a nice dick, though there’s only one, and it doesn’t have a stud piercing like Aldronn has.

“You rode through Ferndale Falls like this?”

“Yep!” He pats Zephyr’s neck. “The unicorn and I put on quite a show.”

“You were the one showing off.” Zephyr bats him with her horn. “ I was busy saving our friends.”

“Hey, I saved them, too.” He winks at me and gestures to himself like a game show host showing off prizes. “I just looked extra fabulous doing it.”

A chuckle escapes me as I try to picture Shadow riding naked down Main Street in Ferndale Falls.

Before I know what’s happening, Aldronn pulls me backward, tucking me into his side.

Holy shit! Is he jealous?