I avoid Steagor as much as I can in the following days. The very next morning, I find Mara and ask her for a room of my own, and she provides me with a small space on the outside wall of the Hill, so it has a window, which is perfect for my sewing. She asks me if everything’s all right between Steagor and me, her expression worried, and I insist that it is—I only need some room for my own projects.
But even though I led her to believe that I’ll only be working in my new room, I set up a sleeping pallet and steal one of Steagor’s pillows—one that smells like him. As much as I want to separate myself from him, I can’t give him up completely. And if I’m lucky, he’ll never know how crazy I’m being and assume the pillow just…disappeared. I create a cozy nest for myself and curl up there at night, missing my big orc with all my heart.
I can’t stay with him, though. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. I’m already so attached, and Steagor feels that misplaced sense of obligation to fulfill my father’s wishes. So when I see him on the other side of the great hall one morning, I only wave at him and duck into a corridor before he can wade through the crowd of his clansmen toward me.
Mara agrees to let me work on any mending and sewing projects the clan needs, and Dawn tells me all about her business creating underwear for ladies that can be used while we have our courses, which is a genius idea I immediately agree to help with. In the evenings, I tackle my personal project, the trousseau I’ll wear for some unknown man in the future, as much as my heart hurts at the thought of it.
I’m standing in front of the polished silver mirror I salvaged from one of the storage rooms in the bowels of the Hill, making alterations to the ribbon-trimmed nightgown I’d sewn for myself, when a loud knock on the door interrupts me.
“Come in,” I call. “It’s open.”
The door swings inward, and I glance over my shoulder to find Steagor on the threshold, his arms full of parcels. He steps inside—and freezes.
My heart pangs painfully at the sight of him. He’s so broad-shouldered and tall, the room seems smaller with him in it. His handsome features are for once not creased in a frown, because he’s staring at me, slack-jawed. His gaze tracks over my face, then dips to where the gown is held at my shoulders by dainty ribbons, to my breasts and lower.
My hands tremble as I set the pincushion on a chair, and I straighten slowly, as if he’s a beast whose attention I’m trying to escape. The way his eyes darken the longer he stares at me… I don’t know what to think of it, but my body does.
My body remembers every ounce of pleasure this orc has wrought from me.
Steagor launches into motion, but instead of coming toward me, he drops the parcels to the floor, turns around, and slams the door shut, sliding the bolt across.
“Are you mad?” he growls, facing me again. “You can’t leave your door unlocked when you’re dressed like that.”
I draw myself back in shock. “What? I thought orcs don’t care—”
“Anyone could walk in.” He prowls closer. “Any red-blooded male would—”
He stops himself and grinds the heels of his palms into his eyes, groaning.
“Any red-blooded male would what, Steagor?” I demand, my hands at my hips.
“They’d want…” he says, but he can’t seem to find the right words, and neither will he look at me.
And suddenly, I’ve had enough of this. “You know what? No male would dare touch me, if that’s what you’re implying, because you made it very clear you consider me your property, and they seem to be too afraid of you. You claimed me as if I was your toy, but you also discarded me like a child, so you don’t get to burst in here and make accusations!”
My chest heaving, I finally run out of steam, but I glower at him fiercely because this hurts, this anger wafting off him along with his delicious, mouthwatering scent.
“You’re the one who’s been avoiding me.” He drops his hands to his sides. His dark gaze bores into me, fierce in its intensity. “You left me.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I blink rapidly to chase them away. “Yes, because you made it clear I wasn’t who—or what—you were searching for!”
His jaw works, a muscle ticking there. “That’s not—”
“We’d only end up hurting each other,” I whisper, because it’s true. I’m hurting now, and I want it to stop.
In two steps, he’s in front of me, so close I feel the warmth radiating from his body. He raises one hand to cup my cheek and runs his thumb under my eye, swiping away my tears. “I never wanted to hurt you, sweet.”
I close my eyes. “I understand. But you need to let me go. I’m—I’m going to leave in the spring and marry someone else, like you wanted.”
His growl reverberates around the room, and I look up at him in surprise.
“Is that why you’re making this?” he snaps. “To wear it for another man?”
I lift my chin. “Yes.”
Steagor kisses me. His hard, uncompromising lips crash onto mine, and I gasp, clutching his shirt for support. He takes advantage of my shock and sweeps his hot tongue between my lips, slicking it sensuously against mine. I don’t respond at first, but he nips my bottom lip lightly with his sharp teeth, and the pleasure-pain shoots all the way down to my core, igniting the fire smoldering inside me.
I grip his shirt tighter and go on my tiptoes, chasing the kiss. Steagor rumbles in approval and simply picks me up, his palms supporting my ass. I wrap my arms around his neck first, then hike up my nightgown and close my legs around his waist, anything to get more contact, more pressure, more him.
“Poppy,” he rasps between fevered kisses. “Tell me to—”
“Don’t stop,” I growl. “Don’t you dare stop, Steagor.”
For good measure, I dig my fingers in his thick hair, fisting it and holding on, and he groans, leaning his head to the side. I nibble and kiss my way up his neck, licking his ear until he shudders. He pushes down the neckline of my gown and finds my nipples, sucking one into his mouth.
“Steagor!” I writhe in his arms.
He casts around and seems to notice my sleeping corner.
“Fuck,” he rasps. “Is this where you’ve been sleeping?”
“Yes,” I reply, wrestling with the laces of his shirt.
“You belong in my bed,” he says, but he kneels on my bedroll all the same.
I lick the hollow of his throat, closing my eyes at the outrageous taste of his skin. “Maybe you belong in mine.”
He lets out a hoarse chuckle, then unpeels my arms from around his neck and detaches me from himself. For a moment, I fear he’s about to stop this, but he takes the hem of my nightgown and drags it slowly up my body. He exposes my belly, my breasts, and finally pulls it over my head.
“Poppy.”
My name on his lips is almost reverent. I shiver under his heated gaze, my nipples pebbled into points, my pussy wet and aching. He’s still dressed, his shirt untied. I want to see all of him, too, but I don’t want to push him if he’s not comfortable with that. I only want him—whatever part of himself he’s willing to share.
“You’re so beautiful,” he purrs. “Come here.”
Before I can even move, he scoops me up and lays me on my back on the bedroll, settling his hard body between my thighs. I’m completely naked, and the feel of his hands on my skin is incomparable. Every rough swipe of his palm brings me higher, and I love that he’s not being gentle with me, like he knows I can take it.
He finds my pearl with his fingertips and pinches the slippery little bud, sending a rush of pleasure through my veins. I arch my hips up in clear invitation, and Steagor lowers himself down my body until his mouth is at my pussy, his strong hands parting my thighs farther.
“Please,” I beg him, “I’m ready.”
I want him to undo his pants and free that hard cock, because he must be just as eager to have me as I am to have him.
But he buries one long, blunt finger inside my clenching pussy, pushing it in without warning. “Not yet.”
I whimper and try to fuck his hand, without success. He licks my pearl, first with the flat of his tongue, then circling it with the tip, all the while pumping his fingers—first one, then two—inside me. My first climax hits me by surprise, shocking in its intensity, and I keen loudly, clutching on to his messy hair.
“More,” he snarls against my flesh and pushes a third finger into my needy core.
I gasp at the intrusion, then melt back into the sheets, sweat breaking out all over my body. “Steagor, I want—”
“I’ll give you everything you want, sweet,” he promises me between licks. “But I don’t want to hurt you.”
I crest another peak, and he has me pinch and flick my nipples while he pulls his hand from me and licks his fingers clean.
“On your knees,” he orders.
Trembling with anticipation, I kneel and face away from him. “Like this?”
Steagor places his palm between my shoulder blades, a hot brand on my skin. “On your elbows, too.”
I shiver but obey. He fits himself behind me, and with some tugs on his laces, finally frees his cock. But he doesn’t take his leather pants off, nor his shirt—and the contrast between us, the scrape of the leather against my naked thighs, is more delicious than I could have imagined.
“Steagor…”
I glance over my shoulder to find him staring down at my ass. His thick green cock juts up between us, leaking at the tip. I bite my lip, worried again how he’ll fit but determined to make it work. Steagor’s gaze is almost awed, his mouth open on a rough exhale. With both hands, he takes the globes of my ass and pushes me forward slightly, right where he wants me. Then he dips his fingers into my pussy and coats his length in my wetness, all the way down to his knot.
“I’ll go slow, sweet,” he promises me as he notches the fat head of his cock to my pussy. “But you’ll have to help me. I need you soft. Not tensing up.”
I take a shuddering breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth. “I can do that. Just—just please.”
Steagor pushes in, and my body accepts him. The stretching sensation has me closing my eyes, and I hang my head, powerless against the surge of heat inside me. I rock my hips back, and more of him slips in, teasing all the right spots in my pussy. The fit is tight, but I relish it—and the connection it builds between us.
“Fuck, you take me so well, Poppy,” he praises me, running his palms over my back, my ass, my thighs. “That’s the head, now be good and relax for me.”
I snap my eyes open. “Only the head?”
I’m stretched around the broad tip of his cock, and I’m not sure anymore that this will work. I swallow, trying not to clamp down around him, but it’s hard when he’s nudging right at that spot that has me seeing stars.
A dark chuckle sounds from behind me. “Aye. I have so much more to give you.”
He nudges forward, and more of his cock slides into me, stuffing me full. I cry out, my belly trembling with an impending climax.
“Steagor, help me,” I plead. “I need to come again.”
Immediately, he curls his big body over me, kisses my shoulder, and reaches around to my front to find my pearl. The movement pushes him even farther inside, and I whimper, unable to take any more. But he finds my slick button with his fingertips and rolls it, hard, and I shatter, pulsing pleasure shooting out from my core, into my body, into my limbs.
I cry out, nearly collapsing under Steagor, but he holds me up and mutters praise in my ear. I barely understand the words, but the cadence of his voice soothes some inner part of me I don’t understand, and the way he cradles me into his chest makes me feel so, so safe.
He fucks me with slow, deep thrusts, each one sinking more of his length inside me. I thought I was full earlier, but this is more than I ever could have imagined—he’s reaching parts of me I never knew I had, filling me up so well. The stretch would be painful if I wasn’t so wet, but he keeps teasing me, stroking my pearl, pinching my nipples. I’m on the edge again, trembling underneath him.
“You’ll take my knot,” he murmurs. “Won’t you, sweet?”
I arch my back, chasing more pleasure, because I want it all. “Yes!”
Steagor shudders behind me and thrusts into me harder, so deep the bulge of his knot bumps against my pussy.
“So eager,” he murmurs. “Perfect.”
His praise melts the last of my resistance. I dig my fingers into the covers, bracing myself, and when he rocks forward again, I push back, impaling myself on him. We both shout at the sensation, and Steagor’s movements grow faster, almost frantic. He grips my waist with both hands and pulls me back, lifting my knees off the floor, and it’s all I can do to hold on as tension coils tighter inside me.
“Poppy, you’re mine,” he snarls, the words nearly indistinguishable from his low growl.
He wraps one arm around me, raising my ass higher, and the change in the angle has me gasping for breath. He’s so deep, the sensations are all-consuming, each drag of his hard length through my pussy sending shivers of pleasure radiating from my core.
Then he finds my breast with his other hand and pinches the nipple, hard. My climax starts at the very center of my being and builds until my vision blacks out, and I open my mouth on a soundless scream. I clench around Steagor’s cock, and he roars, the first hot jet of his cum shooting in my pussy, so strong I can feel it.
Then my body relaxes, growing boneless, and Steagor nudges his knot into me. The thick bulge lodges in my pussy, and the added pressure sends me over another, shockingly intense peak. Steagor pumps his hips through his own climax, his tusks scraping over the sensitive skin of my neck as he kisses me roughly.
We still, only our harsh, choppy breathing marring the silence. My arms tremble, and I can barely keep my weight up, but Steagor still has his arm around my waist, supporting me so I don’t fall on my face. My damp skin sticks to his, and I want to roll around in his scent, coat myself in it and never wash it off.
Then I shake my head. What am I thinking?
Steagor seems to be similarly affected if his deep huffs on my neck are anything to go by. He trails soft kisses over my shoulders, his grip on me gentling. He lets my knees touch the bedding, and I take more of my weight on my arms, trembling with exhaustion.
“Stay still, sweet,” Steagor murmurs. “We’ll be locked together a while.”
I twist to look at him. “What?”
He runs his palm over my back, down to my ass, his expression relaxed. “My knot. You took it so well, Poppy, and now we’ll have to wait—”
“Oh, what?”
I rock my hips forward, trying to dislodge Steagor, but all that does is squeeze my muscles around the bulb of his knot, and we both shout at the exquisite pleasure that shoots out from our connection.
“Gods, Steagor!”
On instinct, I sway back, my body urging me to move, and he complies, rutting into me with shallow strokes, as much movement as the knot will allow. I come hard, shaking, and Steagor groans with his own release, filling me with more of his cum.
Panting, I brace myself on my elbows and put my forehead on the bed. My hair falls all around my face, hiding me for a moment.
“Don’t you think this is something you should have mentioned before we did this?” I mumble into the covers.
His gentle, reverent strokes stop. “I didn’t know…”
“That I didn’t know?” I supply, peering back at him through the mess of my hair.
He’s no longer relaxed, his face creased in a frown. “You-you don’t like it?”
“Of course I like it.” I scrunch up my eyes, heat rising in my cheeks despite what we just did. “You feel incredible inside me. But it would have been nice to know in advance.”
“Oh.” He resumes his slow hand movements. “I am sorry.”
He’s silent for a long while, petting me, though he leans in from time to time to press a kiss to my shoulder.
I chew on the inside of my cheek, looking back at him. “So we’ll be locked together for a while?”
He gives me a quick grin. “Aye.”
“And you can keep…going?” I press.
He takes my hips and gives me a short, powerful push, nudging at some spot deep inside me. His thick cock is as hard as before.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” My breath hitches at the sensation.
“We shouldn’t move if we want to dislodge,” he says, his voice a shade lower.
I wiggle my hips the tiniest bit. “And if we don’t?”
Steagor’s growl is the only warning I get before he wraps his arms around me and rolls to his back. My inner muscles clamp down on his cock, and I cry out, halfway to another climax. He stills with me lying on his chest, my legs on either side of his.
I’m exposed, and I can’t even brace myself to do anything about the building pressure in my pussy. Steagor has all the control—and easy access to my body.
“If you want, we can do this for hours,” he murmurs in my ear, then nips it with his teeth. “I’ll give you all my cum, and your tight little pussy will take it all, won’t it?”
“Yes,” I gasp, spreading my legs wider. “Now touch me.”
I feel more than hear his chuckle, but he doesn’t make me wait. He brings one hand to my pussy and touches the spot where we’re joined, then drags my slickness up to my pearl. He circles his blunt fingertips over it, and I gasp, rolling my hips as much as I can. With his other hand, he covers my breast and kneads and pinches the nipple until it feels like it’s connected to my core by a blazing, shimmering line of pleasure.
I shatter into a climax, my back arching off Steagor’s chest, and he roars, pumping his hips up into me while he pulls me down with each stroke. The sensations are so intense now that I’ve come several times that I collapse on his chest, crying.
“Hush, sweet,” Steagor murmurs between huffs of breath. He tips us to the side and curls around me, his cock still lodged deep in my pussy. “Rest now. You did so well. You’re perfect, little mate.”
