Page 40

She sucks in a breath to protest, but I choose that moment to run my tongue over her wet lips, and she gasps instead, her hips rocking back on instinct.

I chuckle against her skin and lick her again, searching for the right spot.

When she whimpers, I want to crow with delight, but instead, I focus on her swollen pearl and flick my tongue over it.

Tessa wraps her warm palm around my shaft and gives me a good squeeze, even as a shiver runs through her. “I’m not coming first.”

“Oh?” I grin, though my knot swells under her touch. “You want to place a bet on that?”

A muffled sound that can only be a stifled moan has me redoubling my efforts, and Tessa’s hips buck before she answers.

“All right. What do I get?”

With the way she’s stroking my shaft, most of my rational thoughts have scattered, but one idea surfaces, something I’d kill for. “If you come first, we’re married for the rest of this trip, wherever it takes us. One room, one bed, every night.”

I give her a reprieve, letting her believe she has a chance to win. She doesn’t. With this much at stake, I’d hold off my climax indefinitely if I had to.

Her grip tightens around my cock, and my hips jerk up instinctively, pushing into her fist. Fuck . Maybe she does have the upper hand after all.

Her voice is more than a little smug as she counters my offer. “And if you come first, you’ll rub my back every night after riding, without expecting it to lead to anything else.”

I bite back a grin. If she thinks that’ll be a hardship, she’s wrong. The thought that she’s in pain from the last few days of travel doesn’t sit well with me. I’m itching to push her face-first into the thin mattress and knead out the kinks in her muscles.

“All right, we have a deal.”

It’s almost tempting to lose. To make her think she’s better at this so I can leverage my skills better in a different situation. It would be so easy, too—I’d just let go of my control and give myself over to the sensation of my mate stroking my cock like it’s her job.

But I need her close. It’s the one thing that will ensure her safety, no matter where we go, and that’s more important than all the images her request has put in my mind.

As Tessa runs her fingers down to my knot and squeezes, sending shockwaves of pleasure through me, I employ a new tactic of my own.

Reaching down, I palm her breast and find her nipple, pinching it at the same time I lick her pearl again.

I press harder, then suck the little bud between my lips, playing with it.

Her hips buck back, and she cries out, her pussy drenching my face.

I lick along the seam of her lips, then plunge my tongue inside her, delving deep.

“Arlon!” Her hand clenches around my cock. “You evil?—!”

I pinch her again, and she whimpers, riding my face as she chases her pleasure.

“That’s it,” I purr between licks. “Take it. Take everything from me.”

She tries to keep up the rhythm with her hand, but she’s losing the battle, her breaths coming in short, shallow pants.

My eyes roll back at the taste of her, and my cock swells, leaking precum onto my stomach.

If she were taller, if she could put her mouth on me, it would all be over in a second.

So perhaps I am evil, and I’m definitely not playing fair.

“You taste so fucking good.” My voice is a guttural growl now, and I feast on Tessa’s pussy like a starving man. “I knew you would.”

She smothers a cry against my skin. “More!”

I scrunch my eyes shut because the sight of her slick pussy and her bouncing ass is too much to bear. Already, I’m drowning in her scent, her taste. With her moans ringing in my ears, I’m lost, hurtling toward my climax too fast.

I take a risk and release her hip to reach down and palm both her tits, trusting that she’s too far gone to deny herself the pleasure.

Tessa’s hips buck as I pinch her nipples, hard, and she grinds down on me.

Her thighs tremble with tension, squeezing around my head, and I know she’s so fucking close.

I lick up her slit, then suck her pearl and don’t let up until she arches her back, bowing away from me.

I thrust my tongue deep into her pussy just in time to feel her inner muscles flutter as she comes.

Then I stroke her sensitive bud again and again, drawing out the aftershocks of her pleasure.

She collapses on top of me, spent and panting. “Ohh.”

I cup her breasts, then stroke her sides, her hips, her ass—soothing, grounding. “You all right?”

I don’t want to move her until she’s ready, but I ache to kiss her, to check that she’s well.

Tessa shifts forward and lifts herself off me, her hands bracing on my hips. She brushes her curls back and glances over her shoulder. “Are you all right? I, uh, might have gone overboard there for a moment.”

Her bare ass is still in my face, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. “You were perfect . I knew we’d be like this. Come here, love.”

I reach for her waist to lift her off me, but she twists away, and before I know it, she’s kneeling between my legs, grinning up at me.

“You’ve had your fun,” she announces, “now it’s my turn.”

My breath punches out of me at the sight. She quickly braids her hair to one side and lets it fall loose, then straddles my thighs like she means to keep me still. It won’t work, but I’d be a fool to move now, with my mate perched over me, gaze locked on my cock with unmistakable interest.

“Stop me if I do anything you don’t like,” she murmurs. “I haven’t done this yet.”

I push up on my elbows for a better view. “Never?”

She shakes her head. “No, but I want to learn. If it feels as good as what you did, I want to know.”

“Aye, it feels ama—aah!” I bite back a cry as Tessa wraps her hand around my cock and takes the head into her warm, slick mouth. “Fuck, love, give a man a warning next time.”

She pops off and peers up at me through her lashes. “Forgive me. Arlon, I’m going to put your dick in my mouth now. You’ve been warned.”

“Cheeky,” I breathe, just as she lowers her head again. “Oh, fuck, like that.”

I drop back onto the pillows, my head thrown back, as she picks up where she left off, teasing me to the edge of sanity. But I can’t stand not watching her. She’s so godsdamned beautiful, I have to see.

Her lips stretch wide around my girth, and she breathes through her nose as she bobs lower. The image burns into my mind, and my balls draw tight, my spine tingling with the need for release. She slides a hand to the base of my shaft, fingers curling around the thick knot that’s there just for her.

“You see what you do to me?” I growl as she pulls back and watches precum drip from the tip. “I’m fucking gone for you, Tessa.”

She gasps at my words, then leans in to lap at the creamy fluid. Her pink tongue flicks out, and my hips jerk up, utterly involuntarily. She laughs and braces her hand on my hip.

And that’s it—her laughing while she sucks my cock is the moment I fall in love with the woman the Fates chose for me. It’s not just about fucking. It never was. But this stolen morning moment will stay with me forever.

She glances up again, then takes me deep, until the tip bumps the back of her throat and her eyes water slightly.

My heart stutters, and I barely manage to grind out, “Coming!”

Her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t let go.

She takes the first hot pulse of my cum and swallows, then gasps and lets the rest spill across my chest as her hand keeps stroking me through it.

I wrap my hand around hers at my knot, showing her how hard to squeeze.

She mirrors the motion, and my hips jerk again as she wrings another rush of cum from me.

“Tessa…”

I collapse back, then draw her up beside me, careful not to smear the mess across us. I didn’t think I’d come that much after last night. But now I have all of her, the real thing, and I know I’ll never be able to let her go.

“Was that good?” she asks, though her smug expression says she already knows the answer.

I bring her chin up and kiss her, tasting myself on her tongue. “Can’t you tell from how much cum I gave you?”

She pinches my side. “Maybe you always come this much. How would I know? I’ve never been with another orc.”

“I’m honored to be your first,” I murmur, grinning down at her. “And hopefully your last, if I have anything to say about it.”

Tessa sighs and flops back against the pillows. “If we start every day like this, I won’t complain.”

The thought roots itself in my mind—waking up next to her every day for years, even decades to come. It’s the dream I’ve carried for so long, and now it’s turning into reality.

What’s also real is the outside world, and the knock at our door that interrupts our drowsy warmth.

“Breakfast ends in half an hour,” Mistress Maeve calls through the door. “If you want any, you’d best get down there now.”

She’s already moving on to the next door in the hallway, but her voice is enough to get us moving.

We wash, dress, and pack our things. In the small space, we keep brushing against each other, and by the time we’re ready to head downstairs, I’m half-hard again, and Tessa’s face is flushed, her braid already starting to unravel.

When I trap her against the door and kiss her thoroughly, she melts into me for a moment.

Then she bats my hands away with a grumble. “I’ve survived without tea for three days on the road, but if you think I won’t complain for the entire ride today if we miss it, you’re wrong.”

I release her with a sigh. “All right, then. Lead the way.”

In the taproom, we take the same table as last night, even though it’s less crowded now. I don’t know what Tessa is thinking, but for me, the narrow space is a perfect excuse to press my thigh against hers and drape my arm around her shoulders, for real this time.

She nestles in beside me with a sigh and shows no signs of wanting to pull away. Something settles in my gut, a peaceful sensation completely foreign to me. I have no name for it, not until she leans her head against my shoulder, completely at ease.

That’s when it hits me—this is contentment. The deep, sudden certainty that this moment is exactly as it should be. That everything will be all right, as long as we’re together.

I kiss the top of Tessa’s head and inhale her sweet, floral scent. From the way she’s tilting her face toward me, I know she’s doing the same, even if she doesn’t realize it yet.

She’s falling for me. And it’s not all about the fucking, either.

I want to shout and whoop with the joy of that realization but hold myself back. The worst thing I could do now is push her, to shove the proof of our bond in her face.

She needs to come to that conclusion on her own.

I’ve never been patient. But for this—for Tessa—I will be.