We sit by the fire for a while longer, and Ozork plays us several softer songs, sad and somber. I remember what he said about not finding his mate and wonder if this is how he expresses his grief over it. It doesn’t seem fair that the fates would deprive this kind male of his mate when he wants her so much.
I sniffle quietly, drying my tears on my sleeve before anyone can see. But of course, Vark notices my distress, comes to sit by me, and puts his strong arms around my shoulders. I lean against him, comfortable with his touch—even though the rest of the company can see.
After Ozork puts away his fiddle, I rise from my seat beside Wren and collect the tin bowls and spoons from where the orcs have set them on the ground. We didn’t use a stew pot tonight as we’d had roasted venison instead, so I can carry everything to the waterside easily.
But Vark stands, too, and takes the load from my hands. “I’ll help,” he announces.
Ritta sniggers, then goes back to sharpening her hunting knife. I send her a dirty look, but she just winks at me, and I can’t help but grin back. I wouldn’t say we’re friends yet, exactly, but I like her, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better.
The entire short trip to the stream, I’m aware of Vark’s presence behind me. He follows me through the darkness, made deeper by the clouds obscuring the moon. When I can’t see well anymore because the light of the cooking fire dims too much, I reach out for him. He’s there immediately, guiding me, his hand wrapped around mine.
At the water’s edge, he puts the dirty bowls on the sand by the stream. He backs me against a mossy boulder and cups my face with both hands. Then he kisses me deeply, a low groan working its way from his throat.
I cling to his shoulders and return every kiss, every lick. “We should wash the dishes,” I pant. “It’s—it’s my job…”
But I can’t finish the thought. His hands go to my ass, and he lifts me off the ground. I wrap my legs around his waist and grind my hips against the hardness behind his leather pants.
“I’ve wanted you all day,” he rumbles. “Now I know how good you taste, I can’t get enough. I need to be inside you.”
In the darkness, my eyesight is useless, so I close my eyes and let other sensations take over. The rasp of the stubble on Vark’s chin against my cheek, the warmth radiating from his body, the delicious, perfect scent of his skin.
“I want you, too,” I whisper. “But we’re outside. Where would we even…?”
Vark claims my mouth again and nips my lower lip, then soothes the sting with his tongue. “Do you trust me, Hazel?”
“Yes,” I answer immediately.
He sets me on my feet, and I reluctantly let go of his shoulders. Then he guides me to turn around and face the rocky wall behind me. He places my hands on the cold mossy surface so that I’m forced to lower my back.
The position has my ass moving back, and suddenly, I understand his intention.
“Oh,” I gasp as heat slams through me. “Um, yes, I think this will work.”
Vark’s chuckle seems muffled by the night. “Of course it will, pet. You only have to hold on.”
He pushes my coat and tunic up and reaches around me to undo the ties of my pants. He curls his body around mine and kisses the side of my neck, sending goosebumps over my skin. Then he hooks his fingers in my waistband and tugs my pants past my ass.
Vark sucks in a breath. “You look perfect.” He trails his palm down one ass cheek, then the other. “I wish you could see how beautiful you are.”
I glance over my shoulder into the darkness, feeling rather than seeing where he’s standing. “It’s unfair that I can’t see you.”
He hums, then his cloak rustles on the forest floor. “Would it help you if I told you what I’m doing?”
“It would,” I admit. “I’m feeling a little lost.”
“That’s not good,” he murmurs. Then his hot breath hits the back of my thigh as he adds, “I’m going to taste you now, Hazel.”
He nudges my pants lower, so they bunch at my ankles. I curl my fingers into the frosty moss, feeling the bite of ice on my palms. The sensation is at odds with the heat of Vark’s body, and I love it. It anchors me in reality while Vark shows me all my deepest fantasies.
His palms trail up my thighs, kindling fire in their wake. “I’m going to lick your pussy and make you come,” Vark says.
“Oh,” I say, “yes, please.”
He chuckles, and then his mouth is on me, his tongue licking up every bit of my wetness. He holds on to my thigh with one hand but uses the other to reach between my legs and up, until he touches my pearl. As he spears his tongue right into my pussy, he rolls his fingertips over my sensitive, already-slick bud, and I cry out, unable to hold back.
“Fuck,” I whisper. “What if they hear us at the camp?”
Vark licks me again and applies steady pressure to my pearl. “They will,” he rasps, “and they’ll know what beautiful sounds you make when you come.”
I want to protest that this is too scandalous, but Vark chooses that moment to increase his rhythm. He licks me so well, my legs tremble, and when he pinches my bud with two fingers, I come apart under his touch.
I do my best to muffle my shouts against the sleeve of my coat, my eyes screwed shut from the pleasure.
Vark licks me one last time, then stands behind me, his hand still covering my pussy. Almost lazily, he slips two fingers inside me, then another, sliding them in and out. I’m panting again, going up on my tiptoes to chase the sensations.
But he clicks his tongue in admonishment and stills my hips with his other hand, holding me in place. “Slowly, pet. I need to stretch you out. It’ll be a tighter fit in this position.”
“I don’t care,” I whine. “I need more.”
Vark curses softly, then removes his fingers and fumbles with his clothes. “I cannot deny you anything, Hazel. You know that.” He grasps my hip with one hand, and the thick, hot head of his cock nudges at my pussy. “But you must be sore from last night. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I roll my hips back to get him to enter me. “You won’t. I promise.”
He hisses. “I’m going to put my cock inside you now. And I’ll fuck you good and deep until you scream so loud, they’ll hear you for miles around.”
“Yes!” I cry, trembling. “I want all of that.”
He lets out a hoarse laugh. “That’s why I love you.”
I gasp, but before I can respond, he pushes forward, the length of his cock slipping over my lower lips, all the way to my pearl. He slicks himself in my juices, then presses his cockhead into me. I am sore from last night, but the burn only lasts a moment, replaced by shocking pleasure as he rubs over the sensitive spot in my pussy.
“Will you take all of me tonight?” Vark rasps, curling his body over me. “Will you take my knot, or are you worried about being locked together here in the wild?”
I think of those predators again, but nothing compares to the orc behind me. “I know you’ll protect me,” I whisper fiercely. “You won’t let me get hurt.”
“Hazel,” he groans, pressing more of his length into me.
I will my body to relax completely, my muscles to loosen enough to take him in. “I feel safe with you,” I admit, the words falling from my lips more easily now that I’ve started. “And I love how you treat me.”
His grip on my waist strengthens, and he fucks deeper inside me, his thick cock sliding home. I brace my hands on the boulder in front of me and rock back, taking more of him on the next thrust. We both cry out, and a tremor starts in my legs, rolling all through my body. I’m close again, and I want to take his knot. My entire body is a mess of feelings, threatening to boil over.
“When I’m with you,” I choke out, “I don’t feel like such a reject anymore.”
“Fuck!” Vark picks up the pace and slams inside me, nudging at the very end of me. “You were never a reject, Hazel. I accepted you as mine the moment I laid eyes on you.”
I sob now, my body shaking, my entire being hovering on the edge of a beautiful, sparkling climax.
Vark wraps both arms around me, his mouth at my neck. “I love you.”
I break, screaming with my release. My arms give way, but Vark’s there, supporting me like I knew he would. Waves of pleasure radiate from my pussy, all the way through to my fingertips and back.
Then Vark roars, and his knot slips into me, filling me so perfectly, I come again, or maybe it’s one long, wonderful climax that doesn’t stop. His cock jerks inside me, and I feel each jet of his hot cum coating my pussy, but we’re locked together, so it all stays inside. The connection between us throbs in time with my heartbeat—or maybe it’s both our heartbeats, synced as one.
Vark picks me up and cradles me into his arms as best he can with us attached, then sits with his back against the boulder and settles me into his lap. Every movement has me gasping for breath. His still-hard cock nudges at the oversensitive parts of me. He tugs my pants up as far as they can go, then wraps his wide cloak around us so our body heat gets trapped within.
But try as I might, I can’t relax in his arms. He’s so deep inside me, and I feel him tense beneath me every time I move even a fraction.
“Vark,” I whine.
He lets out a hoarse chuckle. “Something the matter, pet?”
I lean down and pinch his naked thigh, but all that does is strain the connection between us again. I moan, then rock back to sit deeper on his lap. Stars explode behind my closed eyelids.
“Do you want my help?” Vark mutters in my ear.
“Yes,” I admit.
Vark doesn’t waste a second. He takes my waist with both hands, grasping me firmly, and slams me down over his cock. The movement impales me so deeply, my ass is flush with his groin, and we both cry out at the sensation. I try to find leverage, to ride him to quicken his pace, but my orc has a different idea.
He hooks his arms under my knees and lifts my feet off the ground. I fall against his chest, and he renders me immobile, completely at his mercy. Then he rocks his hips up, the motions as deep as the knot lodged inside me will allow. I feel so exposed, so consumed, but instead of trying to squirm out of his grip, I lean my head back and close my eyes, letting him take control.
“Your pussy is so tight,” he rasps into my ear. He licks my lobe and drags his teeth over it, sending shivers down my body. “The gods knew we were built perfectly for each other.”
I raise my arms to wind them around his neck. “If you were any bigger, you’d rip me apart.”
He laughs, and the sound vibrates through me, sending me closer to another climax. I instinctively clench my inner muscles around him, and Vark growls, then picks up the pace, his hips moving furiously, each shallow thrust winding me tighter.
Then he roars, his cock kicking inside me, and the pulsing jets of his cum trigger my release, a blinding explosion of bliss that leaves me gasping in Vark’s arms.
He releases me slowly, as if he’s reluctant to let me go. He brushes back my hair and caresses my cheeks, then takes his time exploring all the parts of my body he can reach. He marvels at my hands, so much smaller than his, and rediscovers I’m ticklish when he slides his palm over my belly. I shiver from the cold, so he tucks me closer to him and wraps his strong arms protectively around me, his chin resting atop my head.
“Is your ass freezing?” I whisper, trailing my fingertips in the short, coarse hair on his thigh.
He rumbles out a laugh. “Aye. But I would keep sitting here for an eternity if I could do it with you in my arms.”
I twist my head and kiss the underside of his strong jaw. “You say the sweetest things.”
He hums, and I can tell he’s pleased. I’m almost tempted to test my theory, which is that Vark can come again and again as long as we’re locked together and his cock is hard, but we have to return to camp. So I remain still, shifting as little as possible, to allow his knot to subside.
He slips out of me, and we wash in the river, which is so cold my hands hurt when I dip them in the water. Then Vark washes the dinner bowls instead of me and escorts me back to camp. The orange glow of the fire filters through the copse of trees.
“We should talk about Wren,” he says thoughtfully.
I peer up at him, even though I can barely make out his outline. “You mean because she escaped from the camp?”
He hums. “Partly. But I’ve been talking with Ozork, and we have an idea about what might be going on.”
I frown, but he won’t say anything more until we’ve reached the camp. There, he puts the bowls away while I check on Wren, who is sleeping peacefully by the fire, right where I left her. Then he motions to Ozork, and the older orc joins us on the other side of the fire pit. Vark invites me to sit on a log that someone rolled to the fire, and I do so, extending my chilled hands toward the flames.
Ozork clears his throat. “Vark told me you adopted Wren after her mother died.”
The small twinge of worry that comes with someone discovering I didn’t give birth to her works itself into my gut, but I nod all the same. “Yes, my friend died, and I took over her care. She’s my daughter in all but blood, though.”
“I know that,” Ozork says, placating. “But I was wondering if you could tell us more about her parents.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Who were they?” he presses.
I think of my friend, of her blonde hair and blue eyes, so like Wren’s. “I didn’t know her father, but she takes after her mother in her looks.” The image of Aline’s face has faded over the years, and I realize with sorrow that I can no longer remember the exact shape of her smile. “We were like sisters. But she never told me who she’d been with. She’d gone out on a job for—for our employer and came back pregnant.”
I nearly name Timo, but I don’t want to speak his name here, or mention more about my previous life than I need to.
Vark and Ozork exchange a glance. I frown at them, unease trickling through me.
“Did she travel to the east, perhaps?” Ozork asks tentatively.
I sift through my memories. I hadn’t paid it any attention, but he could be right. Or maybe it’s that I’m trying to remember things that never actually happened.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know. What is this about?”
Vark clears his throat. “We think Wren might be part fae.”
