Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

GA'REK

W hat I told her is only half true.

She will be addicted to me, to these moments—but I'm already addicted to her.

Her soft sighs, the fragrance and taste of her delectable cunt. The way her body ripples around my cock.

The way her pretty blue eyes stare up at me in wonder and pleasure, the ruby red of her lips, swollen from giving me pleasure.

I hold her close, nuzzling the top of her head, and even that slightly sweaty musk of her just cements her grip on me even more.

She's still pulsing around me, and I keep coming, the flow of it making her riper, her body opening up even more to me. Piper makes tiny noises of pleasure, mewling like a kitten, as she comes again, this time more gently, her whole body shaking with exhaustion.

Finally, I pull away from her, this meeting of our bodies coming to an end, but my bliss—our bliss—only beginning.

My seed flows from her, and I hold her legs wide, watching it with a possessive mania that surprises me with its strength.

"Look how good you are, my cum spilling out of you." I run a finger through her sex, and she cries out as I stroke her precious bundle of nerves. Some primal part of me wants to shove all of it back inside her, to fill her up with it until she's thick with my child.

That's not me, though, and the thought jars me out of my post-sex haze.

"I should have asked you this before," I say in a hushed voice. "But are you, could you?—"

"I drink a contraceptive tea."

Relief and disappointment war within me, but she smiles up at me, sleepy-eyed and beautiful, and my warring thoughts finally wane.

"That's good," I make myself say.

She stretches out, her arms going long over her head, her mouth opening wide in a jaw-cracking yawn.

"Come," I tell her, scooping her up in my arms and holding her close.

"I think I've done that about as much as I can," she says, slightly weakly.

My dick bobs, still searching for her cunt. I could fuck her until the wee hours before daylight, could continue to make her come, but she will want to work in the morning.

I know that about her, and knowing it gives me great satisfaction. Even though fucking her until she can barely move sounds like a fantastic way to spend the night, her being too tired and mad at herself for it tomorrow isn't worth it.

Her smiles are worth it.

Besides, I'll have tomorrow night to look forward to.

"I'm going to take care of you, sweetling," I tell her.

It takes me no time to decide which room is hers, but I open the third door in the hallway and deposit her in the huge footed copper tub. The bathroom is painted an earthy grey-green that appeals to me, reminding me of the forest. It's fairly dark, but my orc sight means I see just as well in the dim light as I do in the day.

"Shall I light the candles for you, Piper?" I ask, fiddling with one of the brass knobs until hot water comes out.

We did not have anything like that in the Underhill, and it's a luxury I'm not sure I'll ever be fully used to.

Smiling, Piper utters a quiet word, and the sconces on the wall flare to light, then settle into a gentle flicker that dances along her skin.

She's peaceful, quiet, and totally amenable to me washing every inch of her pretty body. Cum still leaks from between her legs, and I'm loath to clean it up, but I don't want her to be uncomfortable, so I gently wash her there, too, rinsing out the rag several times to do so.

"Do you want children, Ga'Rek?" she asks me, her voice heavy with sleep.

I blink, surprised by the question.

"I don't know," I tell her honestly. "I've never had the opportunity to think that a family could be for me." My throat constricts, and I attempt to swallow around the knot forming there.

"I understand. I'm sorry; I don't mean to pry?—"

"You are not prying," I interrupt. "No, do not even think of apologizing."

She grows quiet, and I swipe the washcloth over the slope of her shoulders again. The bubbles from the vanilla-scented soap cling to her skin in a way that makes me envious of them.

"The orc mating urge is nothing to be trifled with—it's something I knew even as a child. Something my parents were able to teach me, if nothing else." I didn't expect the words to come out, didn't plan the admission in any way.

Water sloshes as her hand rises, her slim fingers wrapping around my wrist. "Ga'Rek."

Now that I'm talking now, though, now that I'm… feeling like this, like she's mine, I need to tell her; I need her to understand.

"My parents did not like each other. They were mated, yes, but their bodies chose each other. Their personalities were not… it was not good."

I fall silent, and she squeezes my wrist gently.

"We're not your parents, Ga'Rek. We were friends. We still are… but now, I suppose…" she trails off, her skin reddening on her chest, where her breasts bob at the surface of the soapy water.

"Now we're more, yes?" The question is low and dangerous, and that mating urge surfaces again, primal, feral, dangerous.

"We're more," she agrees quietly. "I choose you, too. And not just because," she clears her throat, half-turning in the tub to look at me. "Not just because of what we just did."

"You mean where you came so many times from my tongue and my cock you nearly blacked out?" I ask, arching an eyebrow mischievously. "That's what you mean, about what we just did?"

She blushes furiously, but lets out a small tinkle of a laugh. "Exactly. We are more than that, and if I pushed you faster than you wanted?—"

I cut off her words with a fierce kiss, her sigh of happiness replacing the anxious line of questioning.

"You did not push me at all. I have liked you since the moment I walked into your magical café. I wanted you the second you invited me to come work for you. I knew I cared about you deeply the morning you ran to Wren's house bawling, upset about the duchess's visit."

She kisses me then, a gentle brush of her lips against mine. "We will take this one day at a time. We aren't your parents. My mother told me the secret to relationships." Her lips curl in a smile, and she rubs the tip of her dainty nose against mine.

"You know the secret to relationships?" I ask, astonished. "That's quite the secret."

Her smile grows, and she crooks a finger at me. "Come closer and I'll tell it to you."

I lean forward, intrigued and pleased with my little kitchen witch.

I like what she whispers in my ear so much that I slide one hand under the water and part her folds, caressing her until she comes again.