Page 4

Chapter four

Nash

A nything .

He said he would do anything. A part of me was frustrated that he thought I’d hurt him. He was my mate, which meant he had to feel the connection too. Fated mates could sense the draw between them from the moment they met, even before they took the mating bite.

So if I could feel it—the line between us, the warmth when I looked at him, the overwhelming need to possess, to keep, to own— he had to feel something too.

So why did he think I would hurt him?

Logic, of course, said he was afraid because he was in an unknown world, he’d just been chased by a massive tandrax… and he probably didn’t know what I was.

Apparently, though, logic had no place when it came to the way my insides twisted and my hands itched to run along every inch of his sweaty skin, all warm and sun-kissed.

I wanted to touch him.

I wanted the anything he promised.

I wanted everything from him.

But… for the moment, I needed to provide him with a sense of safety and security, if only so he would calm himself enough to accept the inevitable truth that he was here, and that I was never going to let him leave.

He was still looking at me with bright blue eyes gone wide, confusion painted clearly across his features. Some small part of me wanted to stay here, to keep him in this clearing and sequestered away from the rest of the world. I wanted to learn every inch of his body, to learn everything about him.

A human.

My mate was a human.

I couldn’t have predicted it if I’d tried, but it didn’t matter. It could have been anyone—any gender, human, orc, elf. I would have known them anywhere, and I would do anything to keep them… and I knew the man in front of me, even if I knew nothing about him.

I knew he was mine .

“Come.” I stood, extending my hand down to him as I did. His head turned up as I moved, his neck craning. I thought of the other humans I knew, those who’d come through the barrier over my time patrolling. It wasn’t a frequent occurrence, but it happened often enough that I’d seen quite a few.

He was… larger than most.

It probably felt strange to him to be so small now, but the thought just made my body shiver in delight. I could lift him easily if I wanted. I could protect him, could keep him.

I could—

He slapped his palm against mine in a quick gesture and scrambled back a few steps before pushing to his feet.

“Uh, thanks, bro.” He lifted his thumb and offered me a weak grin. “For cutting me down. And saving me from that big… uhm… cat?”

His voice sounded warm, like sunshine on my skin. I could see the near panicked expression crossing his features, even though it was obvious he was trying to sound brave and bold.

It was hard to do when you had to turn your head up to meet someone’s eyes, apparently.

“Bro?” I said the word carefully, letting it roll over my tongue. I was used to many languages—I’d studied them to the point that Axum sometimes questioned the way I spoke because it all blended into my speech—but the word bro wasn’t something I was familiar with. The magic of the band that allowed the human to speak my language didn’t extend to strange slang.

“Yeah… bro. I mean… uh, well…” He glanced along the length of my body, his eyes catching for a second on my cock before jerking back up to meet my gaze again with cheeks stained pink. “It’s a term of… endearment?” he finally sputtered out before covering his face with a low groan. “Listen, I… Am I dead?”

My brows snapped together. “No.”

“Didn’t… hit my head too hard trying to get out of here? Am I in a coma?”

I looked him over. There was a bit of a red mark where he’d slapped into the barrier, but he seemed none the worse for wear. “No.”

“Am I… high?”

Another word I wasn’t quite familiar with… but he was on the ground now, so I felt confident answering.

“Not anymore.”

“Okay,” he finally threw his hands up with a frown. “I don’t get it. What’s going on? Why did you put a collar on me? Where am I? And what are you?”

Not who.

What.

I felt another streak of irritation that he wasn’t instantly asking me about the connection between us, but his eyes kept drawing helplessly along my body, so maybe he was simply hiding it.

“It’s not a collar—it lets you understand my language.” His eyes widened.

“Like magic? Okay… that’s cool.” His fingers brushed the material on his throat as he waited for me to continue.

“You are in Belzod, little human.”

“I’m not little—”

I cut him off as his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed.

“I am Nash, Orc Lord and brother to Emperor Axum Yagnatz. And you…” I stepped forward, crowding him until his shoulders slammed against a tree, cutting off his escape. “You have crossed the barrier between our worlds because you are my mate.” Then, in hopes that it would alleviate some of the tension obviously running through his body, I added on at the end. “Bro.”

Perhaps if I spoke in his endearments, he would understand me better.

The word made his mouth quirk, and the amused sound that spilled from his throat was almost breathy. He tilted his head to look up at me and pressed his lips together for a few seconds before giving up and laughing again.

“Orc?” He looked across my face, my chest, then brought one hand out and swiped his fingers across my arm. Just the touch sent a tingle of satisfaction through my body. I could imagine the feel of his hands all over me, but his words drew me out of my thoughts. “Yeah, that isn’t coming off, huh?”

“What isn’t?”

He prodded my skin one more time. “Green.”

Ah, that made sense. I raised my fingers in return, swiping one slowly along the sharp curve of his cheekbone. “No more than this red painting your cheeks would.”

The color in question deepened. He took a shaking breath and pushed away from the tree, dodging under my arm and spinning to face me again.

“Okay, say I believe I crossed some magical barrier… Sure, I guess it could happen… I’ve read enough books that I’m a believer or whatever. But you’ve got the rest of it wrong, Nash—”

“What’s your name?” I interrupted him again, and he barely missed a beat responding.

“Kai Cross. But listen, I didn’t come here to be your… shit, your anything really.” His eyes roamed across my body one more time and he shook his head like he was trying to rid himself of an unwanted thought. “My friend went missing, and I was just trying to find him. Little guy, about this tall.” He dropped his hand to his chin. “Dark hair, dark eyes. Probably squealing in delight that he’s here.”

Kai’s mouth lifted in an affectionate smile, and a low growl ripped from my chest before I could stop it. He actually jumped at the sound, looking behind his shoulder before he turned back to me with a scandalized expression.

“Friend? Is this a lover?” Another human—obviously with a mate on this side of the barrier as well. I would make him understand he belonged to me, I would…

Kai broke into laughter, shaking his head quickly. “No. God, no. I would never look at Rainn that way. First of all, he’s like my brother. And second, I’m straight .” He looked at me pointedly with the last word.

Straight.

Applied in human context, it meant…

“I don’t like guys?” he supplied. He looked me up and down one more time, his eyes lingering once again on my cock—just his gaze made it twitch in my breeches. “Definitely not into guys.”

“Into… guys?” I repeated slowly, and he frowned.

“Yeah. Like… men. You said you were someone’s brother, so…” His eyes drifted across my broad frame one more time and he shrugged helplessly. “Not to like… offend you or anything. And I’m flattered. Seriously, my friend Rainn would be all over you, so if you help me find him…”

“Kai,” I rumbled his name, loving the way it felt on my tongue. It brought him up short, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open slightly. I could see it—the way he felt the connection, even if he was trying to ignore it. “I do not want your friend Rainn, and I am not offended … because you’re wrong.” I stalked toward him again, and this time he didn’t retreat. I watched him take a deep breath and square his shoulders, his brows drawing together unhappily as I moved closer. “You are my mate. Your body knows it just as well as mine.” I brought my hand out again, slow enough that he could watch the motion, but he stayed in place as I carefully brushed my fingers through loose strands of his blond hair, running blunt nails along his scalp.

His pulse jumped in his throat, and the grin that pulled across my features probably spoke depths that I dared not utter aloud and risk truly scaring him off.

“You can’t just say I’m into you and make it true. One time with a stupid toy doesn’t count.” He muttered the last part beneath his breath, then let out another sigh of pleasure as my fingers stroked through his hair again.

“Toy?”

His eyes snapped open as I leaned in, like he realized what he was allowing himself to do. Kai slapped against my shoulders, trying to shove me back. I could feel the strength behind the motion, but my fingers just tightened in his hair. It tore a little sound from his chest, a low rumble that caught in his throat and transformed into a snort of annoyance.

“Let me go. I have to find Rainn.” It seemed like he had to work himself up to say it, but once he did, he latched onto the words and shoved against me again.

“I don’t think you understand me, Kai.” I crowded him, close enough I could see the way his pupils dilated at my proximity. “You’re my mate, and that means—” There was a flash of movement, and it took me a second to realize his fist had struck out, landing across my jaw.

He hit me .

The rush of desire that ripped through me at the strength behind it, the defiance in his eyes, was nearly overwhelming.

Yes, Kai Cross was my mate, and I was going to enjoy making sure he understood exactly what that meant.