Chapter 9

Cairo

I almost escaped unscathed.

Or rather, she almost did.

Friday night, the night after the beach trip, the night after I'd gone to her bake shop and smelled her arousal as she watched me, I did my best to avoid Meli. This "fake relationship" was supposed to be temporary—her family was leaving in the morning, and she'd have no more need for me.

So I did my best to remove myself from her space.

I waited until I thought she must be asleep and snuck into my bathroom. I planned on sleeping on the couch again, despite the cricks in my neck.

Not because I enjoyed it, but because the thought of another night sleeping next to her in that bed—no matter how big it was—was fucking impossible.

So I was just sneaking out of the bathroom when she rolled over. I froze, thinking she was asleep. But her voice wasn't sleepy at all.

"Cairo?"

"Go back to sleep, Cupcake," I rasped.

She pushed herself up on one elbow, holding the blanket to her, those glorious curls hanging over one shoulder. "I wasn't asleep. Please don't leave me again."

Her words were daggers right to my heart, and I was moving to the bed before I realized it. "What?" I barked.

"This is your bed. I'll leave if you don't want to share."

There was hurt in her voice, and I'd do anything to take that away. "Meli," I groaned, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I don't mind you taking the bed."

"I do," she whispered. "Please don't leave again. I promise not to attack you."

My sigh was defeated. But my heartrate increased as I swung my legs under the covers and rested my head on the pillows. I stacked my hands over my stomach and stared up at the ceiling, doing my best to ignore the throbbing in my cock.

Meli wasn't asleep.

I could tell. All your senses are attuned to your Mate. Giza had said that. But even without that boost, I'd be able to tell; her breathing pattern was too fast.

There's no way Melinda O'Donnell was my Mate.

I was just…under stress. Irritable. Angry. There was something else going on, and my body had chosen to manifest this way.

Right?

"Cairo?" came her whisper from the opposite side of the bed, seventeen miles away.

"Go to sleep."

"Cairo, I lied."

It had been a long time since I'd been involved in a physical confrontation—not since that year in government custody—but my instincts went on high alert. "About what?" I asked, my stomach muscles tightening so that I did an unintentional crunch. Not fun.

A pause, then she admitted, "About me not attacking you. Are you wearing anything?"

Am I—? "My shorts."

"I'm…I'm not wearing anything."

OoooOOOoooh fuck.

Immediately—immediately—an image of her naked, spread across my bed, popped into my mind. I didn't need to see it to know exactly what she'd look like; curvy and soft and oh so perfect.

Maybe I made some kind of noise, because suddenly she was rolling toward me. Before my brain had really caught up, Meli was pressed up against my arm, the blanket the only thing stopping me from feeling those glorious breasts.

This morning in the kitchen when she'd been wearing that sundress and the apron over it? I could've stared at those long legs and heavy tits for an hour.

But now? Now my mouth watered at the thought of touching them.

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Cupcake, you don't want to do this."

"Oh yes, I do."

"I'm your pretend boyfriend." That's all this was. I was just helping her.

"Yeah, well… You can still be my real lover."

I only had time to pull my hands out of the way as she rolled atop me. I'm not sure how it happened, especially with us tangled in the blanket. But one moment she was beside me, and the next she was straddling my stomach, her thighs pressing against my sides, looming over me.

And her pussy…oh gods, her pussy.

"Meli," I groaned, not sure if I was surrendering or warning her.

"Look, Cairo, I know this attraction isn't one-sided. I mean, I also know I'm not the world's most attractive woman, so it's probably just that you need to get your rocks off or whatever, and that's why you had that hard-on last night when I kissed you."

My hands had found her hips, and I was holding on as if I could keep her there forever. "I kissed you."

"Whatever." Meli squirmed against me, which spread her arousal across the hard panels of my stomach, and I nearly quit breathing. "The point is, I'm feeling like there's a lot of tension here between us, and I'm thinking there's one way we could get rid of it."

"You think, if we fuck once, it'll get rid of this tension?"

You're wrong, sweetheart. Once isn't going to be enough.

Maybe my crude words made her uncomfortable because I felt the exact moment Meli began to retreat. In the moonlight coming in from the windows, I could see her skin darkening, see her draw herself in, as if she wasn't worthy of the boldness she'd been showing earlier.

"I mean…I thought…A quick…"

"Oh, Cupcake," I breathed, dragging my hands up her bare skin, then back down to her thighs. "If we do this, it's not going to be quick." I saw her eyes open wide, saw her smile. I could also feel her pulse speeding up. "So I need to be certain. You want this?"

My hands had dragged back up again, and now rested under her breasts, the lower slopes caressing the tops of my hands. She whimpered softly and leaned forward, although I doubted she knew what she was doing.

"Yes."

"You want me, Meli? I'm not just a convenient cock for you?"

"Please," she whimpered. "Cairo, you're—" She rocked back again, spreading her essence across my stomach. "You."

Good enough. I slid my hands down to her hips again and lifted. At her noise of confusion, I said, "If we're doing this, we're not doing it like this."

When I rolled out of bed, I turned on my bedside lamp and she jerked back, reaching for the blankets.

"Oh no, little human," I growled, pulling them out of her grasp and tossing them aside. "I'm not letting you hide that bold nature behind darkness."

She'd been in the middle of trying to cover her tits with her forearms, but now she slowly relaxed, watching me hesitantly. I showed her what I wanted from her by shucking my shorts and standing there proudly in front of her.

My cock, now blessedly free of restraint, surged upward to point at my stomach, as if it could scent her juices spread there. Meli's gaze had fallen to it and now she stared, wide-eyed as I grabbed it and began to stroke.

"You like this?" I murmured, not sure if I was talking to her or myself.

The female I couldn't stop thinking about was currently spread across my bed, just as perfect as I'd imagined, asking me to fuck her.

No.

No, this wasn't a fuck.

This was a claiming.

After this, she'd be mine.

At least for a while.

I thought my size would've intimidated Meli, but no. Not her. As I watched, the little pulse point at the base of her throat began to throb, her lips parted, and her thighs…well, her thighs fell open.

And yes, of course my gaze went directly there.

My mouth was watering again.

"Meli," I rasped. "Last chance to turn around. If I climb on that bed with you, I'm going to taste you."

Her legs parted, and she reached for me. "Please."

It was all I needed.

I crawled atop the bed, hands on either side of her shoulders, bracing my weight. Her hands rose to touch my sides, her touch stroking me the way I'd stroked her, each lap coming tantalizingly close to where I wanted her touch most of all.

I lowered my lips to hers.

Meli

We're doing this!Are we really doing this? We're doing it!

My inner dialogue was waffling between panic and sheer joy. I felt as if every inch of my skin was on fire, it was so sensitive, and I was this close to wrapping myself around him, lifting my body off the bed, and impaling myself on that gorgeous cock.

It was even larger than my model, but like the dildo, was ridged. Just like his tongue.

Cairo's kisses moved to my jaw, then my throat. His tusk scraped against my skin, and I was surprised how fast that sent a bolt of need to my core. Like, wow. It was almost primitive, the way—

Oh.

I forgot what I was saying when his mouth closed around my nipple.

It wasn't delicate. It wasn't gentle.

But I discovered I liked how he treated me, as if I could take this. I could take him.

I could take him, and I could meet him.

"Cairo," I tried to whisper, but it came out garbled, so I showed him with my touch that I was enjoying his ministrations. I stroked him, and I managed some unintelligible—

"Oh my gawd, yes! Right there!"

Maybe not so unintelligible.

His large hand closed around my breast, squeezing. And the sensation of his claws releasing just enough to dimple my skin? Well, that did it for me the same way his tusks had. But when he brushed his thumb against my curls, there was no evidence of those claws.

My hips bucked, desperate to feel him.

One of his fingers dipped lower, and I realized I'd spread my legs for him while my fingers tightened in his hair. I was practically pushing him, not that I wasn't enjoying his mouth exactly where it was.

He was stroking me now, and I could feel how slick I was for him. I wanted his mouth there, the way Jess sometimes joked about. I wondered if his tusks would get in the way…

But when his mouth left my nipple, it wasn't to immediately latch on to my pussy. Instead, Cairo kissed my side. No, not my side, the sensitive skin beneath my breast. I hadn't realized that was an erogenous zone—maybe it wasn't with anyone else.

His fingers rested between my folds; not moving, just letting me get used to him. That absolutely should not be erotic, so why was I suddenly even hotter? Maybe it was his mouth, which had drifted to the top of my thigh, his tongue tracing the line between my hip and my legs.

I'd been with other guys before, and some hadn't even minded my stretch marks and curves. But Cairo was the first to take his time to explore my body. Even the not-good-enough parts.

He made me feel beautiful.

I realized I was petting him. That was really the only word for it; I was petting his head and shoulders because that was all I could reach.

And then—and then!—his mouth reached the inside of my thigh. Little kisses, all the way up to—Oh, yes. His breath caressed my wetness, and his fingers spread my folds…and he stopped.

I lifted my head to peer down my body at him. He was just lying there, looking at me—at the most intimate part of me.

"Cairo?" I prompted.

"Fucking gorgeous," he murmured before dropping another kiss on my thigh. No, not my thigh, the place right to the side of my lips.

Made me glad I'd thought to bring my razor and tidy things up down there.

"So beautiful." This time it was like a growl, and he licked me. Licked me! His tongue dragged along my folds, and I nearly sat up. Not because I was surprised—Lord knew that's what I'd been waiting for—but because it hotwired my brain. I went straight from preheated to kitchen fire.

Then he did it again.

His fingers worked back into me, pressing inside me, stretching me in a way the dildo hadn't. Yeah, they were smaller, but they were Cairo's, and that made them feel better.

And the whole time, he kept up his monologue. His dirty monologue.

He kept telling me how beautiful I was, in between licks, how perfect. How much he wanted me, and how I was going to be his.

I'm not sure if he knew he was doing it, but after a while, I started to believe him. My orgasm was building, and I wriggled beneath him, desperate.

Turns out the tusk thing just made the sensations even more incredible.

I think Cairo had three fingers in me when his teeth scraped against my clit, and I went absolutely bonkers. I yelped, then slapped my hand over my mouth even as I pushed my hips upward into his mouth.

Without stopping his rhythm, he reached up and pulled my elbow, nudging my hand away from my lips. "I want to hear you, Meli," he said against my wetness. "I need to."

So when he closed his mouth around my clit and sucked, and I exploded, I didn't muffle my voice.

"Cairo! Oh gawd, YES!" I screamed as I came, my inner muscles squeezing his fingers.

For his part, as soon as I began to come, he froze, allowing me to ride his face at my own pace, instead of pushing me into a brutal and punishing orgasm.

It was an absolutely perfect first experience with a man, and it was over all too soon.

As he pulled out from me, I was immediately struck by embarrassment. It was something I was used to; I could manage bold when I was horny, but as soon as it was over, I got all self-conscious about what I must've looked like or done and started to second guess myself.

But I didn't want this to be over. So when Cairo crawled up my body to lay at my side, I turned to him. "What about you?" I asked shyly.

His hand was absentmindedly stroking my hip. "What about me?" He wasn't meeting my eyes.

I reached for him. "You didn't—"

His hand caught mine. "I don't need to." Finally he looked at me, and I saw two things: 1) a thick sheen of moisture around his mouth, which sent embarrassment flooding through me, and 2) his eyes were green again.

"Meli," he said, as if he could feel my discomfort. "This was about you."

"I don't—" I lifted my chin. "What if I want more?"

Green eyes flickered between mine. "Do you, little human?"

God, he was going to make me say it, wasn't he? I took a deep breath, body still humming from my pleasure, and met his eyes. "Yes. That wasn't enough. I want you."

He moved before I could blink—rolling me over and looming over me. "Say it again, Meli," he demanded. "I'm not small."

Finally, a little grin. "I should hope not. I want you, Cairo."

His hand was between my legs again, stroking, the sensation more overwhelming because of the orgasm I'd already experienced. Everything felt swollen… and then he was settling between my legs, pulling me closer to the edge of the bed.

My butt rested on the edge of the mattress, and he stood between my legs, looking down at me as if I was a buffet, spread just for him.

His cock rested along my folds. He rocked forward and backward a few times, as if coating himself in my juices, holding my gaze.

Oh my Lord, had I thought a gorgeous orc eating me out was the hottest thing I'd ever experienced? Having a gorgeous orc stroke himself while looking right at me: that was the hottest thing in the world.

No, wait.

I changed my mind a moment later.

Because now I knew that the hottest thing in the world was to have that same gorgeous orc hold my gaze as he slowly slid into me.

We were both holding our breath; each little ridge of his cock stretched me further. I knew I would enjoy the hell out of those ridges, I just needed to get used to his size.

That's what he was doing; he was letting me get used to him. Letting me breathe, letting me acclimate.

And that was also pretty damn hot.

He cared about me, about my pleasure.

"Alright, Cupcake?" he murmured, watching me. A muscle in his jaw ticked, as if he was holding me in place, but he didn't move. "Is this okay?"

It took two tries to make my voice work. "More than okay."

I'd become used to him, my core stretched impossibly wide by his thickness. The dildo had helped.

Now I began to move under him, little rocking movements, to feel the sensation of him sliding in and out of me. He let me.

"That's it, sweetheart," he murmured, watching me. "Use me. Take what you need."

One of his hands dropped to my curls, and to my surprise, he pressed the heel of his palm against the top of my pussy. Where my clit was. He was giving me pressure, not soft caresses.

And holy crap, yes. Yes, that's what I needed.

My movements along his cock increased.

And still he watched me. His eyes were glowing again, but he didn't seem desperate; he was…content? Almost? And was it weird I was able to guess his mood so well?

"Cairo, I want—" I broke off with a gasp, because completely unexpectedly, I came again.

It was a smaller orgasm than last time, and definitely one which hadn't built. It just burst over me, locking my limbs in shock as my body rode another wave of pleasure.

His head tipped back, finally breaking eye contact with me. A sound like a satisfying groan came from his throat, as his tongue flicked out to caress his tusk.

That should not be as sexy as it is.

The spasms in my pussy had started to recede when he began to move.

"That's my good girl," he murmured. He pulled out just the slightest bit, that first ridge teasing my inside, which was still pulsing. "That's how you do it. You needed that, hmmm?"

"I don't—understand," I managed to gasp, my fingers slowly uncurling from the bedsheets I'd grabbed.

"You needed that—To take me—Makes you slicker." Each set of words was accompanied by a thrust, which made me gasp. "I can't fuck you unless you've come once already."

Oh my god, that's why he'd licked me. I moaned as his cock hit something deep inside me.

"Twice!" I gasped, eyes wide, determined to enjoy each moment of this. "Didn't expect…"

His lips curled. Lord, he was cute when he smiled!

"That's because you're my good girl, aren't you?"

Turns out I have a praise kink.

I mean, I didn't before; when I read it in romance, it had always sounded like something a master might say to a pet dog. But holy crap, then and there? Listening to my gorgeous orc fake boyfriend praise me like that?

Yeah, I suddenly got it.

He was plunging into me, each movement somehow deeper than the last, each thrust more wonderful. Originally, I'd thought when I said "I want more" it would just be to get him off. I thought I owed him after what he'd done.

But then I'd come again, on his cock, which had loosened me, made me able to take him.

And now? Now I could feel another orgasm building.

This sort of thing did not happen in real life.

Except…it was. It was happening. I was breathless, splayed out on a huge bed, being fucked by a gorgeous green monster who not only was sexy as hell, but had cared enough about me to make me ready for him. He'd cared for me.

That knowledge, even more so than the incredible ridges of his cock, sent me spiraling higher.

He was still murmuring praise. "So fucking perfect, sweetheart. You're doing such a good job."

I wanted more. I reached for him, and he leaned forward, bracing one arm against the mattress so I could twine my arms around his neck as he slammed into me.

"You feel that? You feel the way your body is milking me?" he whispered harshly. "You're so ready to come again, aren't you, Cupcake?"

Oh god, I really was.

He reached between us to brush his thumb against my clit again.

"Make me proud, sweetheart."

I came for a third time. All over his cock. I came with a gasp, arching up into him, wrapping my legs around his, holding him there. This orgasm seemed to go on and on, each of his thrusts prolonging it.

Cairo was still whispering to me, but I was lost, hopeless, beyond all hearing. Everything had turned to a bright white light, pulsing behind my eyelids and through each vein.

And then he stopped, grabbed me and pulled my hips closer, as he roared a word I didn't recognize.

I felt him come. This happens in books all the time, but I'd never experienced it. Now, though, I don't think I'd be unable to, not when an orc was deep inside me. Each pulse of his cock delivered another flood of liquid heat inside me until I wondered how I could take it all.

Wondered if he'd let me practice.

I wanted to do this again.

Oh god, how I wanted to do this again!

A sharp scent hit the air, a cinnamon-spice aroma that made my mouth water even as I gasped and writhed against him.

After, he rolled to one side, taking me with him. We were still attached, and I liked this. I wanted to stay like this for as long as he'd let me. It was as if his cock was anchoring me, keeping his seed inside me as long as possible.

It's not that I wanted a bunch of little orclings—Karnak called them kits—running around, but…I had to admit, this was pretty hot.

Maybe you have a breeding kink too.

Hm. Something to consider.

I realized my thoughts were drifting. My limbs felt heavy, my eyelids too. I was sticky and exhausted and utterly thrilled.

This had been…wow.

I wondered if Cairo remembered the things he'd said in the middle of sex. Not the praise, but the other words, the things he'd murmured under his breath I didn't fully understand, like "Mate" and "Heat" and rage need now pain yes now.

At least they were all in English.

Now he held me, silent, as he stroked my back. Maybe I imagined those things. I forced my eyes open long enough to see that the green glow was gone from his, and instead he looked…sad, almost? Not nearly as satiated as I was.

I tried to rouse myself, to offer another go, if he needed it.

But he kissed my temple. "Go to sleep, Meli."

And this time I decided to obey him.