Chapter 16

ATOX IM GRAK

My female shouts a string of words that I have no context to translate even with my language chip. I race through the tunnels, taking the turns perilously fast to get her to the privacy of my chamber where I can discipline her in private.

“Put me down. I hate when you carry me like this!”

“Which is why I do it.”

She stops pounding her tiny fists against me. Acceptance? No vekking way. This female is too stubborn.

The orcs I pass as I carry my female through the tunnels stare at me but say nothing. They will not interfere, but I begin to question myself and how I’ve let my control over one tiny female slip away from me.

I’m grak. No one tells me what to do, least of all my female.

When I reach my bedchamber, I set her down. “Strip.”

“No.”

The flaps at the top of her tunic already expose more of her flesh than I want in front of other males, but I will be obeyed. I place my knife where I stopped cutting yesterday. “Strip now, or I will cut this completely open and you will be left with no clothing as you wander the camp. And as you keep me company.”

She quickly pulls the tunic off and holds it in front of her, concealing what is mine. I tear the tunic from her hands and throw it on the floor.

She’s vekking beautiful, and yet I’ve never noticed this until now. I’ve seen her cunt and ass, and sucked on her teats, but seeing her fully naked like this arouses me instantly.

My cock presses against my loin cloth, pushing it upwards. I untie the strap until the leather falls away. Paloma’s eyes follow my movement as I run my hand over my fully engorged cock.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt me.” Her voice shakes.

“Why do you keep reminding me? I have an excellent memory.”

“Why am I naked?” she asks.

“Because I wish it.”

“And you’re the king here, so people do whatever you say?”

“A grak is more than a king. A grak is all-powerful, but he fights alongside his warriors. He will never ask another to do what he himself won’t. I am a warrior first, grak second, and a mate third.”

“I’m not your mate.”

My growl echoes through my chamber, making my female jump, but then she recovers herself and holds her head high and proud. She has a resilience that is so very orc, but still she does not concede that she belongs to me.

“When will you understand you are with orcs now, not humans?”

“I won’t be here long.”

“Get on the bed, mate.”

“Why?” she asks, lifting her chin higher.

I’ve had enough of her questions and insolence. I fling open my clothing trunk and remove the extra leather that I store there for when I need to repair my weapons harness.

“A grak is not to be questioned. He is to be obeyed. On the bed. Now.”

When she doesn’t listen, I pin her down, using my body. We’re both naked.

Feeling her soft flesh beneath me makes me harder than ever. I need to sink into her, claim her, make her mine, but I am not an animal who loses himself to lust. I tie her wrists and ankles to the corners of the bed. I have not decided what to do with her, other than to teach her I am in charge. That her body and her life belong to me.

Water leaks from her eyes, but she doesn’t look away. Tears, she called them. I’ve come to understand the function as a sign of fear and sadness. These tears remind me of an enemy thrusting his weaponless palms out in a request for honor.

This female will manipulate me if I’m not careful.

I lean forward and wipe the tears away from one cheek with the pad of my thumb. She turns her head away, unwilling to acknowledge my attempt to help her.

“I did not break my promise,” I growl as I storm from the chamber.

“Atox!” she yells when I’m halfway down the tunnel.

I left her tied up and in the dark, a dark she fears. Perhaps that will be her punishment.

Except using her fear against her is a tactic reserved for the enemy and she is not my enemy. Not unless my earlier thoughts, that the humans sent her to spy on me, are true.

No, I do not believe this. She’s shown no interest in anything among my people and settlement, except the desire to leave. And her people gave her to me as if they are happy to be rid of her. They did not appreciate her spirit as I do.

Each step I take becomes harder than the last, her continued pleas pulling at me, especially as I think of how she stands up to me, taking risks no other would dare. She is meant to be mine, but I am failing at training her.

Other orcs pass me, their faces unusually… blank. They hear my female yelling out my name. Before their very eyes, I am becoming Atox the Cruel, son of Narzik the Cruel.

I race back to my chamber and tap the disc until dim light fills the room. A wet blanket of tears covers my female’s face.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I’ll do whatever you say. Just don’t leave me like this. Anyone could...” She swallows hard.

“None would dare touch you,” I say. Useless words, as I’ve done nothing of what a grak, warrior, or mate should do to make a female feel safe.

From the beginning, I’ve vekked this up.

When I remove a knife from my harness, intending to cut the ties, her eyes widen.

“I don’t want your obedience out of fear, Paloma.”

“Then treat me like I matter.”

She matters. Very much. But she will not believe mere words.

“Start thinking like an orc. Which includes learning to obey me.”

“Give me a reason to, Atox,” her soft voice challenges.

While I like hearing my name on her lips, I growl. “You continue using my name without permission. Everything is defiance with you, female.” I glance at the knife in my hands, wondering if she truly believes I’d use it against her. I set the knife down on the bed. “Have I harmed you?”

“No, but this is mortifying. Leaving me naked and restrained like this.”

My eyes roam her body. Naked and tied down, with her sex on display and full teats awaiting my mouth and my hands, my female is a vision. “Mortifying? You make no sense, female. Explain.”

“I’m fully exposed!” Frustration colors her voice as she slams her head back against the bed and stares up at the ceiling rather than look at me.

I wipe another tear from her face and lay my palm against her cheek. Warm. Soft. Fragile.

She releases a breath, calming as I move my hand down her delicate neck. She is not sturdy, but she is mine to protect, even when she fights me.

As I lay my palm over her breast, the pace of her heart hastens. I glance up, seeking her eyes. A deep brown that shines even in the dim light. My eyes lock to hers as I cup that lush breast and circle the light brown peak with my thumb until it hardens.

Her breathing hitches as I run my hand down her ribs, then over her fleshy abdomen, and finally to her hips which are not bony like some of the human females I’ve seen. My female’s hips are rounder which will be easy to grip when fucking her from behind.

I suspect I will enjoy her softness much more than the dense muscles on a female orc. My cock turns uncomfortably hard as I imagine thrusting into her ass as well as her cunt.

As I explore her and my hand caresses the furry patch covering her sex, she says nothing, but watches me with wariness. She no longer fights the restraints, or me. It was the dark, then, not me, that she fears.

When my hands move over her inner thighs, a glorious scent fills my chamber. I run a finger through her folds, coating it in her slick. Slowly, I lick my finger. I’m rewarded for my patience when her flavor bursts on my tongue. Sweet and rich like soka honey.

I press my mouth to her cunt, letting my tongue explore every shapely curve. Though I miss her hands ripping at my hair, leaving her hands bound has advantages.

When I suck on her clit, she moans. I cut the ties around her ankles and throw her legs over my shoulders so I can taste her depths. Her hips bounce and she moans my name as my tongue enters her. In this, I will allow her to use my name, as she is losing herself to the pleasure I give her.

This female wants me, but I promised her a punishment. She will learn that I keep my word.

Her moans increase and she pulls on her hand restraints as her body flushes. Vekk, how I want to be inside her…

I pull away, setting her legs on the bed.

“What’s wrong? I was almost there,” she says.

“Which is why I stopped. This will be your punishment in the future. I will take you to the edge and leave you there until you learn to respect me.”

“At least untie me so I can… finish… without you.”

“No.”

“No? You’re going to leave me to squirm like this? Do you want me to beg?”

I grin, flashing my tusks at her.

“Fuck you, Atox.”

“If that is an offer, I accept, female. We can start now.”

“Get away from me!”

“Female, you confuse me. Do you wish my attention or not? I own you and control your release.”

“Since I confuse you, let me be very clear, Grak. I may be your captive, but you don’t own me and you never will.”

I throw myself onto the bed, hovering over her, my hands to either side of her head, my hard cock sliding between her slick folds. “Do you want to fuck or not? I will be happy to show you what an orc can do.”

“Untie my hands, orc, and see what I can do.”

Oh, she stokes a fire inside of me. My cock has never been so hard, and I’m tempted to take her, but she does not want me. If I free her now, she’ll continue to challenge me, and I do not trust myself around this female when she turns my cock to iron. The image of dominating over her and taking her hard plays in my head again and again. But I will not break my promise to protect her, even from me.

I slide down her body, licking every part of her as she swears at me. Her words fuel my determination to convince her that I am her destiny. Training her and breaking her exist on the same plane, separated by a fine line I do not wish to cross.

This female holds a power over me she does not yet realize she has… one I do not entirely understand.

When I reach her sweet cunt, I plant my mouth on the bundle of nerves and suck as I thrust three fingers into her. Seconds, that’s all it takes. Ripe with need, my female arches and screams my name as her walls clamp down on my fingers.

I push my cock against the edge of the bed to keep from spilling. I want nothing more than to drive into her sweet heat but she hasn’t accepted me yet.

I wonder if she ever will.

With my cock still uncomfortably hard, I rise and stand before her. “That is the last time I will give you the relief you seek, female, until you learn your place here.”

“And what place is that? You say you want me as a mate, but you treat me like a slave. You want me to bend to your will, but you don’t care about mine.”

I care. More than I should, especially about a human. But I have more than my female to be concerned about. I cannot afford to be seen as weak, by or because of her.

After I grab my loin cloth from the floor, I toss a knife close to one of her bound hands. “You want to be treated as an orc? Then free yourself.”

I storm off to the elimination chamber where I draw the leather curtain and work my cock, finding my release quickly despite the foul smells around me.

I am grak. I should not be tending to my own cock, especially in an elimination chamber. But I made a promise to my female, to never hurt her. I do not know how to help her accept that there is no escape. That she is mine.