Page 42 of Orc’s Promise (Knotty Monsters #3)

TANSEY

“ I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I say as I stand naked with nothing but a fur wrapped around me like a towel. We’re in the woods. Verig, me, four warriors, and one female orc who stands witness. There’s a stone platform here, with rope, and a long knife for the official claiming.

The risha. The ceremony that will bind us.

“No one will touch you. Except me,” he reassures me.

“I know, but still…sex, in the open, with people watching…” My voice trails off because I don’t know what to say. I want him, and this is part of his culture, his traditions. Mine now. I have to stop thinking purely like a human.

“It’s never been done before, but I found a female willing to witness.”

I’m not sure that makes this harder or easier, but he’s broken tradition to try to help me. I love him for that, but still, I don’t think I’ll be able to focus on anything other than the embarrassment.

“You are nervous,” he says.

“Yes!”

His eyes purse. “Why? Coupling is natural.”

“It’s just not something most humans do in public.”

“You said ‘most.’ Then some do have sex with others watching.”

“Some. Never me.” I try to convince myself this is nothing more than mindset. I know Verig won’t let anyone touch me, but still, this requires a vulnerability I’ve never known or imagined.

I take a deep breath and drop my fur. “Okay, let’s do this.”

The ridges on his brow rise. “My mate is eager to be claimed,” he says in Common, and then I hear one of the males translating to Orcan for the lone female orc. I’m sure I’ll never be able to look any of them in the eyes again, but I do feel more comfortable with a woman here.

“What do we do?”

“You look at me, and only me,” he says as he lifts me onto the flat-topped boulder.

“Yikes, that’s cold!” I say when my bare ass comes in contact with the stone.

He lifts me again, then places the fur I shed beneath me. “Better?”

“Yes.”

Next, he drops the fur around his waist, his expression serious, feral almost. My eyes dip to his cock. I swear it’s thicker, longer than usual.

Green eyes pierce me, sending a shiver through me. This male doesn’t intend to merely fuck. He’s going to ravage me without mercy.

And I can’t wait.

He lifts the rope and holds it before my eyes, waiting for my reaction.

The orcs don’t see human females as submissive, likely because orc females are as dominant as the males, so I don’t fully understand the reason for the rope.

There’s no backing out, though. If I want him, which I do with all of my being, then I must complete this ritual.

“I’ll submit to you. For today,” I say.

“You’ve never submitted to me, female,” he whispers in my ear as he gently pulls my arms behind my back and weaves the rope over and around upper and lower arms, but not my wrists.

The position pulls my shoulders together and arches my breasts outward.

As if I weren’t already completely naked and on display.

There’s no hiding what’s happening, what’s about to happen. Maybe that’s the point. A show so that none can deny our bond after he claims me before witnesses.

“If not submission, then what do you call this?” I hope talking will keep my mind off our audience.

“This is for your pleasure.” He tugs the rope once before returning to my front.

“How is keeping me from moving pleasurable?”

He flashes a tusk as he pushes my legs apart and stands between my thighs, his hard length fully erect and larger than ever.

“I don’t see how?—”

He drops to his knees and goes down on me, and I don’t mean a simple swipe of his tongue between my folds. He dives in, going wild with his tongue, licking every square inch of me, sucking on my clit and teasing my entrance.

I’m wholly unprepared for the orgasm that strikes. I throw my head back, chest out, and rock-hard nipples to the night sky as a scream of ecstasy rips from me.

When the waves subside, he’s already sucking on a breast and has two fingers inserted inside me. I arch my back, pressing myself to him, eager for more. The ropes keep me from touching him, even reaching for his cock, which makes me incredibly needy .

“Fuck me,” I demand, suddenly understanding the ropes. I’ve all but forgotten the orcs nearby. I only know I need Verig inside me, moving, pressing himself against me, completing me.

His cock teases my entrance. “Are you sure, female? Do you want me?”

“I want you, Verig. In every way possible. And not just today.”

“Female, this is risha. I’m to speak words of bonding to you.”

“Oh, my, did I violate some rule?” This ceremony is important to him. To me, too, but I can’t help teasing him a little.

“No, but by tradition, I am to commit to you.”

“Ah, well, then commit already, Warrior. It’s getting cold out here. And you’ve got my body overly excited. I need to fuck, and if not by you, then perhaps I’ll have to find another.”

Wrong. Thing. To. Say!

He picks me up, bends me over the fur-covered mantel, and slams his cock into me with such force I’m left breathless.

With each animalistic thrust, he barks out words in Orcan, words I do not understand. Then he switches to Common. “You are mine, female. Mine to protect. Mine to cherish. Mine to master. And mine to fuck.”

“Master?” I squeak out between hard thrusts. My body’s thrumming, ready to explode with a massive orgasm, but I’m not that far gone that I missed what he said.

“Yes. Master.” Verig slides his hands under me and lifts me. Together, he turns us, so I’m facing the witnesses, full frontal, with his cock still inside me from behind.

Five stoic faces focus on me, eyes settling on mine.

I’m not expecting Verig’s hand to play with my clit, causing me to arch further, but he does, relentlessly drawing an orgasm out of me until I no longer care who is watching as my body shudders and my walls clamp down on him.

His roar fills my ears as his cock pulses inside me. His tusk grazes over my bare neck, adding to the storm of sensations striking me .

My body climbs higher and higher again as he drags a tusk up my neck and grazes the shell of my ear. “Now, you may commit to me,” he whispers.

“What do I say?” I ask as the orgasm conquers me, leaving me boneless.

“Whatever is in your heart.”

“You are my master, as I am yours,” I say out loud, my head turned to him. I know there are others watching, listening, but what I say is for him. “You are my partner, my heart, and the male to whom I pledge my life, loyalty, and love. Just as I am yours to protect, you are mine to protect.”

When I see the flash of the knife in my peripheral vision, I clamp my eyes shut. He never told me what the knife was for, but I trust him. I just don’t like pain.

My arms suddenly spring free of their binding. Verig rubs my sore muscles and works his hands around to my breasts, playing with my nipples. When I try to lift off him, I realize he’s knotted me.

My eyes wander to the orcs. The ridges on one male and the female lift in confusion. Two other orcs remain stoic, and the fifth orc bares his tusks partially.

Slight panic moves through me. Verig has accepted me, but they haven’t. He needs their respect. Fuck, he’s earned it, but they’re using the fact that I’m human against him.

I’m standing upright, totally naked, my mate’s cock locked inside me from behind, but all fear and shame have disappeared, replaced with rage at these judgmental bastards.

“Give me the knife,” I demand of Verig, who slides it into my palm without question.

I slam the flat of the blade against my chest, accidentally nicking my breast in the process, but I don’t dare remove the blade. Let them see the blood and know I’m serious.

“I’m not honoring you,” I say as I stare them in their eyes one by one.

“I’m honoring my mate, our grak, and the orc nation.

I’m one of you now. You don’t have to like me, my son, or the fact that I’ve claimed Verig in risha.

But you will give us the respect we’re due, or you fail in your own pledge to our grak.

I will be watching, and I will not shy away from anyone who disrespects us. This, I vow.”

I reach back with the knife, handing it to Verig, who takes it as his cock slides out of me. I can move freely now, pick up my fur and cover myself, but fuck if that doesn’t feel like something a human would do and not an orc.

Instead, I turn to Verig, wholly dismissive of the orcs behind me. “Are we considered mated now? Did I miss anything? I want to make sure we did it right.”

He holds my face in his hands. “I think I should talk to our grak and suggest he make you neld. You have the spirit of an orc, the heart of a human, and the wisdom of the gods.”

“I have no desire to lead. I just want to be a mate and a mom. Find a task I’m good at here and contribute to the community.”

“We should discuss that,” Atox’s voice booms from behind a tree, startling me. Verig’s hand steadies me.

Atox approaches us, his usual scowl in place. I wonder if he observed the entire ceremony. And more importantly, why he hid when there was no need to.

“Grak,” Verig greets him formally. “I did not know you witnessed.”

“I do not need an invitation. I witnessed as your grak.”

Oh. Atox feels slighted. They haven’t exactly talked much since Atox relieved Verig of his position.

“I did not believe you wished to witness, Grak.”

“Verig, even if I were not your grak, I would have witnessed.”

“I’m honored,” my mate says.

“And I’m embarrassed,” I murmur as it sinks in that this wasn’t just their king who watched me fucking, but my best friend’s husband.

Verig’s arms circle my waist as he pulls me against him.

I suddenly feel as if I’m wearing armor, invincible and ready to conquer the world, all because he’s by my side.

“It was a strong risha,” Atox says, like he’s showing appreciation for a tasty meal someone cooked. “I bore witness to ensure none would question the validity of the risha. You’re too important to me, Neld. I will not have your word or position questioned.”

“Neld?” Verig asks, the surprise in his voice clear.

I hold my breath, because I want Verig to be reinstated. He deserves it, and what’s more, he’s damn good at what he does.

“I chose you as neld on Orcos for a reason. That reason never changed. You changed, Verig, when you lost your family. You needed to remember who we are. Who you are.”

I look at Verig, confused. “I thought losing your role as neld was because you defied orders and took Ethan.”

“I never would have defied orders if I hadn’t stopped believing in myself and my grak. I knew the consequences, but I stopped caring. I’d…given up.”

I suck in air. For an orc, any orc, to admit giving up…It’s not something I thought I’d ever hear.

“I am so grateful you brought Ethan here, but I never understood how…broken you were at the time. More than me. I couldn’t see a future without my son, and you…

you couldn’t see one without Haaka or Veeya.

” When I start to shiver from the cold, Verig drapes a fur around me. The other witnesses have left.

“Now I know I was missing more than Ethan. You, Verig. I need you as much as I need him.”

He leans his forehead against mine. “And I need you both.”

After a moment of breathing him in, I shift so I can see Atox, who waits patiently nearby. “What of Yanzu? Won’t he be mad that he’s no longer neld?”

“That is between me and Yanzu. I decide how each warrior serves me. Yanzu did as I needed at the time.” Atox says it like he never intended for Yanzu to remain neld .

The ridges on Verig’s head rise. “You knew he’d irritate me with petty tasks.”

“A test?” I ask.

“I hoped to anger Verig enough that I’d have my neld back. But it did not work because I could not give him what he lost on Orcos.”

“His family,” I say.

“He lost more than his mate and youngling, female,” Atox says. “He lost a part of himself. Now he’s found that. In you.”

“He’s not the only one,” I say, leaning into Verig for more than warmth. “This is a new start for Ethan and me, a chance at a real home. I just hope the rest of the orcs come to understand that we’re not the only ones who need to adapt.”

Atox dips his head slightly. “That is what you and my mate will work on. While my neld and I protect our people.” With a flash of his tusks, Atox disappears into the woods as seamlessly as he appeared.

Verig leans his chin against my head. “He’s right. You and Ethan have given me back my purpose. Thank you, mate, for not giving up on me as I gave up on myself.”

“I love you too, Verig.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Yeah, it is,” I tease.

He flashes his tusks. “I guess it is.” And with that, he throws me over his shoulder. “And now we will celebrate, like orcs!”

“I hate this position!”

“It’s only until I get you to our bed. Then I will use any position you like...”

I hope you enjoyed Tansey and Verig’s story.