Page 10 of Orc’s Promise (Knotty Monsters #3)

CHAPTER EIGHT

VERIG

“ I sn’t that convenient?” Tansey says, though there’s no true ire to her words. She sighs, her body showing signs of exhaustion.

I growl, upset that I haven’t considered the effect Baloq’s attack has had on her. I vow to the gods, if he ever comes near her again, I will kill him.

“Nothing about this situation is convenient, female,” I say as I wrap my hand around her upper arm and lead her toward camp.

“Where are you taking me?” she says with a tinge of panic in her voice.

“To the tunnels. You need rest. As do I.”

“To the women’s quarters? He’ll find me again. You said so yourself. And I’m not mating you or anyone else, Verig. There’s only one solution. Let me leave. Tonight.”

She’d never survive the journey, and I cannot let her go. Not only would I be disobeying my grak’s ruling, but my own selfish needs won’t allow it. The notion of letting her go turns my stomach almost as much as thinking about that horrific day we left Orcos.

“If you had your son, would you abandon this notion of leaving?”

“He doesn’t belong here. Neither of us does.”

“Then you must get used to the idea of never seeing him again,” I say, because I’m a sartog who doesn’t deserve her or any female. I’d rip out the throat of anyone who kept me from my youngling. And yet I don’t have that opportunity, or the chance to ever see Veeya again.

Tansey’s mouth opens, then snaps shut. “I should have known better. You’re like every other male. A bastard through and through.”

I spin her to face me. “Think of me how you wish, but that does not change your situation. You are never returning to the human colony. You’re here to stay. Now, where do you wish to sleep tonight? In the women’s quarters or with the one male who can protect you from Baloq?”

“I’m not sleeping in your bed,” she says, arms folded across her breasts. They are fleshier than those of an orc female. Shapely. Enticing.

“Eyes up here, Neld .” She points to her face.

As angry as she is, she’s still quite beautiful.

“The choice is yours, female. Sleep in my quarters or the women’s.”

“You won’t touch me?”

“Vekk, female, do you not see we are well-matched? You need me and I need you.”

I swallow hard at the admission that spilled from my mouth.

I’ve not needed a female. Ever. Not even Haaka.

We’d been matched as younglings by our parents.

A match that proved beneficial to both of us.

I thrived with her as a mate, and we formed a strong bond, but I never needed her. Not like I do Tansey .

“I need my son,” she says, her voice, expression, and body screaming at me with desperation.

“Tell me to get him for you, female, and I will do so.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I would claim him as my own. He’d be under my protection, my guidance.”

“Which is why he’s staying where he is.”

She does not trust me to keep her or a youngling safe. I haven’t proven myself. I failed to protect her from Baloq.

“If I stay in your quarters, do you promise not to touch me?” she asks, surprising me that she’s considering staying with me. At least she does not fear me.

“I will touch you, female, but only when you beg me to.”

“Good, because that’s never going to happen,” she says, barging into the entrance of Mount Racha.

I chuckle. She’s quite certain of herself.

The female doesn’t even know where my quarters are, and yet she’s charging through the tunnels.

I’ve worked with many stubborn warriors, found their weaknesses, and bent their will to mine.

Conquering her will take time, but I am a patient warrior, one who knows how to get what he wants.

And I want Tansey…

TANSEY

I don’t like being forced into anything. Though Verig didn’t precisely force me to stay in his quarters. He laid out the reality of the situation. Take my chances in the women’s quarters or with him.

I trust him over Baloq, which is the only reason I’m agreeing to sleep in his quarters. But I’m not giving in to him. The smug bastard thinks I’ll cave to his charm and good looks. No pun intended , I think, as I take in the low ceiling in this section of tunnels.

He’s taken the lead, so I focus my attention on his torso. All muscles. Power and beauty wrapped into one very fine package.

Speaking of packages, my eyes lower to his waist. It’s a good thing I can only see his ass right now.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m not here to get laid.

But there’s no law against admiring a gorgeous male.

We reach a dead end, with one lone door. “Yours are the only quarters in this tunnel?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“As Neld, I had first pick. My quarters are not large, but it’s quiet here. Isolated.”

That’s what I’m afraid of.

He pushes the massive wood door open, and I cannot make my feet move.

“Ves,” he says as he enters. The lights snap on.

“They have a voice command?” I ask, intrigued.

“Ves turns them on. Pash, off.”

“Good to know.” It is. No one told us that over in the women’s quarters. Phoebe and Poetry go disc to disc, tapping them each morning when we hear movement in the tunnels. It’s rather confusing down here, gaining a sense of day and night without a natural source of light.

Verig begins stripping off his weapons. He doesn’t look or speak to me, as if I’m not here. Him going through what I guess is his routine without coaxing me in or threatening me…it bolsters my sense of security.

“I don’t like being trapped,” I explain, though he didn’t ask. “Baloq locked me in.”

“Baloq failed to follow orders. Which is why he will be punished.”

“Not for attacking me?”

“He should be punished for that as well, but I do not know what our grak plans. Disobeying orders and lying are the more serious crimes. You were to have been housed with the other women the day our graka ordered it.” Green eyes finally turn to me.

“I questioned him that day to make sure he heard and understood the order, and he said you’d consented to remain in his quarters.

I’d never known him to lie. That was my mistake, not realizing how truly desperate some of our warriors are to have females. ”

“Only some?”

“Yes. Not all warriors here want a human female. Or any female.”

I glance at the bed. It’s only big enough for one. “Are you one of those warriors, Verig?”

“I do not need a female in my life.”

“And yet you said you want me.”

His chest puffs out. “I will have you, Tansey, but only when you are ready. All males have needs.”

I stare at the door and the long tunnel.

“We can leave the door open if you wish,” he adds, as if trying to put me at ease. He doesn’t know what I’m thinking, though. Weeks of Verig watching me from a distance, keeping tabs on me…It was all to protect me, exactly as Paloma said. I misjudged him. Verig doesn’t scare me. Baloq does.

“Not necessary,” I say as I ease the door shut and walk the perimeter of the room. It’s not as small as I would have guessed. In fact, there are two side chambers. I peer inside the first. “Ves,” I command. No light turns on.

“Those chambers don’t have light discs,” Verig explains as he hangs his scabbard and knife harness on pegs on the wall opposite the bed. A rather small bed, unlike Baloq’s. I shake my head, trying not to think of him or how he attacked me tonight.

“Why not?” I ask.

“We trade animals we trap for technology from the bantarans. I have no need for light discs in those chambers, as they are empty. My possessions are in here. I should surrender this chamber to a mated pair with younglings, but I prefer the quiet in this section. Though if we bring your son here, the size is warranted.”

“Hell, no. He’s staying where he is.” I run my hand over the wooden trunk while eyeing the weapons on the wall above. “You warriors don’t own much, do you? A bed, weapons, and a trunk.”

“A warrior only needs his weapons. If you visit one of the chambers with females and younglings, you will see more comforts.

“I haven’t seen many kids here at all.”

“Only a few younglings survived. There were hundreds. Many females, too. Most were…” When he stops talking, I swear I hear a strangled growl. “They were killed as we left Orcos. Their ships exploded.”

How horrific. I can’t imagine such a loss, even though I lived through the invasion of Earth. The Coalition forces killed millions and ravaged much of the planet. I guess orcs and humans have something in common after all. We came to Kovos to survive.

That’s when I notice a trail of blood on the floor…leading right to Verig. His hand is bleeding from a long cut across his palm. I was so wrapped up in my own insecurities that I didn’t notice he’s injured.

“Let me see,” I say as I take his hand in mine.

“It is merely a cut.”

“A deep one.”

“It will heal. I have salve and bandages in my trunk.”

“Unlock it and I’ll treat your hand.”

“There is no lock.”

I raise a brow at this. “Baloq locked his weapons inside his.”

“Baloq is a good warrior, but even good warriors can forget what it means to be orc.”

“And what does it mean to be orc? ”

Verig’s hand runs down my cheek gently. “There is a time for force and a time for pleasure. Baloq forgot this. You, female, and the other humans we took from New Earth are not the enemy. I want you, and I will have you, Tansey, but not by force.”

Verig’s gaze warms me, even as a breeze sifts through the cracks in the walls, cooling my skin.

“Force is the only way you’ll have me because I won’t submit.” I can’t, even though something about this male tempts me.

He grips me by my chin. Not hard, but enough to ensure I focus on him. “I am not Baloq. A male may not force a female.”

“But he can hound her, watch her, pursue her.”

“Yes,” he says, drawing out the word as his breath cascades over my throat. “A male will do whatever it takes to prove himself to a female.”

“Baloq kept me prisoner. How does that prove anything? As for the rest of you, no one here even noticed.”

“We thought he merely guarded you from other males. That is why no one approached.”

After arriving here, I felt Verig’s eyes on me constantly, but I never called out to him.

Never spoke up until he approached. I’m as much to blame as anyone.

I have a voice and I know how to use it.

It’s been years since I left Nash, and I still have to remind myself I’m in charge of me. No one else.

“You are safe with me, Tansey.”

I believe him.

I sift through the contents of his trunk, finding the items I need to clean and bandage his wound.

Orc bandages are thin strips of rawhide that are stiffer than cotton bandages.

In New Earth, we use synthetic bandages made from cloth we brought from Earth that we can clean, sterilize, and reuse.

Much of our cultures are similar, but different, with no one way being right.

“There,” I say as I tie the ends of the bandage. “I hope it’s not too tight. ”

“It is perfect, female,” he says as he backs away from me. As if he fears me .

He shuts the door and peels back the top layer of furs and waits.

“I’m not sleeping with you.”

“I will not touch you.”

Yeah, well, I’m not that trusting. Though the piles of furs on his bed—a real bed too, not a pallet three inches off the ground—call to me. Despite hating that the orcs kidnapped me and the others, I must admit their furs are the best blankets on the planet. Silky, soft, and warm.

My eyes drift to Verig again, along his strong jaw line, down the thickly corded neck, over his sculpted chest, to those massive thighs and the rather…um… large …loincloth between them. I wonder how silky and warm he is.

Not soft though. He’s definitely not soft. Not given how that leather cloth stretches tightly across his…man parts.

“I would go slowly with you. Since you are so tiny.”

I realize I’m staring at his crotch. My head whips up. He’s not grinning or laughing at me in the least, even though he caught me staring. He’s deadly serious about what he said, as if he needs me to believe him.

The thing is, I do.

He would go slowly, I’m rather sure of it, if nothing more because he said as much. I don’t want slow. Not with him. Fuck, he’s a temptation I’d like to give in to but can’t.

All males have needs . His words from earlier return.

Females have needs, too. “I’ll take the floor.”