Chapter 39

PALOMA

The movement and voices around me threaten to wake me from the most wonderful dream.

“Paloma?”

I don’t care who’s calling me. I won’t let anyone pull me away from Atox, not again. In my dream, he’s alive. He came for me, as I always knew he would. Out there in the real world, he’s dead. Which means I’m going to stay in here as long as I want, to enjoy my time with him while I can.

“Graka?”

That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. My mind’s playing tricks on me again, like when I feel Atox’s lips brushing mine. A person’s worst enemy is truly her own mind.

“Why isn’t she waking?” a gruff voice asks.

God, whoever that is sounds so much like Atox.

“She’s undernourished. The humans did not take proper care of her or your youngling.”

They wanted to kill our youngling, Atox. I wish you’d been there to hear that. Whatever you would have done to them would have been richly deserved.

“Then feed her,” that deep voice orders with an undercurrent of anger.

“I can’t feed her while she’s unconscious,” the female replies, her voice dripping with annoyance.

Inside, I giggle. When I figure a way out of this cell, I’ll go straight to Ossa. She’ll help us. I want my baby to get to know his or her aunt and cousins since I’ll likely never see my sisters again.

“Enough,” that gruff voice says. “Paloma, you will wake this instant or I will take you over my knees and smack that beautiful backside of yours.”

My eyes snap open so quickly the world spins around me. With my heart racing, I can barely hear above the pounding in my ears, but the faces leaning over me…

Green. Tusks. No smiles.

I’m home!

A big hand pushes two of the faces away, leaving one huge face, with long, sharp tusks I know all too well. I shiver seeing them, remembering how they dragged over my nipples as my male thrusted into me.

Atox!

I slam my eyes shut, my mind playing tricks on me.

“I think she’s conscious,” Ossa says.

“You will wake, female,” Atox orders.

“Is this real?” My voice squeaks from my throat being so parched.

Someone pulls me into a sitting position and presses a cup of water to my lips. Greedily, I drink until the cup is taken away.

“Not too fast,” Ossa says. “Atox brought you home. Open your eyes, Pawloma. We are family here. You are safe.”

Cautiously, I open my eyes. Bright green eyes peer at me. I seek the truth there before I voice the only question that matters.

“You said Atox br-brought me home. Is he really alive?” I lock my eyes to hers, afraid to seek the answer myself. If I find an empty cave, and no Atox, I won’t survive. My heart has already been broken once before. Decimated. I wanted to die that day I saw him killed. I would have if it weren’t for this little one growing inside me. His child. Our child.

Ossa steps away and in her place Atox appears. The face, tusks… everything I thought I’d imagined is real!

“You will eat,” Atox says, handing a big slab of meat on a plate to me. The thought of eating makes my stomach rebel and I lean over to throw up. Dry heaves. My stomach is empty.

“She may need food she’s more accustomed to, brother. Did you think to take any of the humans’ food at the same time you were taking their females?”

“What females?” I ask.

Ossa presses me back to the furs. “You, rest.” She turns to Atox who’s standing there looking confused. Distant, even.

“I’m sorry,” I say and start crying unexpectedly. Pregnancy hormones maybe, but this feels like more. “I didn’t mean all those things I said in Pen’Kesh. I didn’t want to leave you, but I had no choice.”

Atox literally picks Ossa up, pivots, and sets her down several feet away from the bed so no one stands between us. “Explain.”

“I told Camila I was pregnant even though I never planned to tell anyone before I had a chance to speak with you. Our father overheard our conversation. He held a knife against my belly and told me if I didn’t say and do as he instructed, he’d kill our baby, Atox. I couldn’t risk that. Please forgive me.”

“You’ve done nothing wrong, female. Do not lower yourself by begging for forgiveness.” He runs a hand down my cheek, even though his expression remains hard.

“You’re mad. That’s fine. I can work with mad,” I sputter like a fool. Then the tears return. I’m a mess, with so many emotions flooding me all at once. “I thought you were dead!” I try launching myself off the bed and into his arms but lose my balance.

Strong arms catch me and keep me from face-planting on the floor. My orc wraps his arms around me, enveloping me like a blanket.

When a whimper escapes me, his lips cover mine. The kiss is slow, passionate, and heals that which broke inside me the day I thought I witnessed his death. “I didn’t know you were alive,” I say, barely above a whisper.

A tusk brushes the outer shell of my ear. “Sojek helped me return here where Ossa healed my injuries. Every morning, I woke up and thought of nothing more than storming into the human colony and taking you back. But I thought you left me there to die because you no longer wanted me. That you’d finally chosen your people over me. A proper grak would have taken you back, no matter what, but I’d promised not to hurt you… and stealing you from your people, your family… that would have hurt you.”

“They forced me to go with them. I never wanted to leave you, even when I thought you were dead.”

“You mated a fool, Paloma.”

I take his face in my hands. “Don’t you dare say or even think that. You did what you thought was best for me. I love you all the more because of it.”

“Without you, I was dead, in here,” his fist pounds his chest. “Nothing could mend my heart. Only you. I love you, my little warrior, and I’ll never let anything separate us again.”

“Promise?” More tears run down my cheek.

Those striking green eyes of his answer me before he speaks. “I promise, female. You are mine!” he says with a roar that shakes Mount Racha before settling in my soul.

My tears disappear. I have my Atox once again, and this isn’t a dream. It’s real.

I’ve found my Prince Charming. He isn’t a prince. Or charming. Doesn’t smile much, but he accepts me, admires me, believes in me, wants me for me, and will fight for me—and our child—until the end of time. And if that isn’t love, I don’t care, because there’s nothing better in the universe than my orc… And he’s mine!

ATOX IM GRAK

“Everyone out,”I order. “I have a female to take care of.”

“I’m taking care of her just fine,” Ossa says, the snip in her voice making it clear she believes I’m calling her talents as a healer into question.

I lift my sister up and carry her out. She harrumphs and walks down the tunnels, but I know she understands. The others in the room, my niece and another female who often helps Ossa with healing, follow her.

“Atox?” Paloma calls from inside. “What’s wrong?”

I enter our chamber, shutting the door behind me. “I haven’t had you to myself for over a month. Ossa says your spirit and body are injured by your time away from me. I mean to correct that.” I pull the furs off her to discover she is already naked. Despite my hard cock, I won’t take her until she’s fully healed.

“Why are you frowning?” she asks.

“You’ve lost weight.”

“The benefit of not eating. Don’t you like me slimmer?”

“You are my graka, my queen, and I would worship you at any weight. But I do not like that you were starved.”

“They didn’t starve me. Not exactly. I didn’t trust the food. They wanted to get rid of our baby and I thought they might drug my food to do it. My sisters snuck me fruit and some meat when they could.”

I run my hands over her breasts and hips, learning the changes in her body. She’s still beautiful, and I realize my attraction extends beyond her lush curves and the softness of her skin. It’s the sparkle in her eyes and the fire in her spirit which awakened my soul all those months ago.

She moans as my hand curves over her mound. I’m tempted to slide a finger inside her.

“I want to make love to you, my sweet orc, but I’m so tired.”

“Sweet? This is not a word to describe an orc, or your grak.”

“But my mate, yes?”

A slight growl escapes me, to which she smiles. I still don’t fully understand this female, but I’ll enjoy learning more about her every day.

“I want to please you,” she adds.

“You do, very much.”

“You know what I mean. But I am tired. If you want to be intimate, I think you might have to do all the work.”

“An invitation I cannot refuse.”

I don’t remove my loin cloth. With my female spread out in front of me like a feast, tempting me, that thin piece of leather is my last line of defense. My body isn’t a patient one, but my female comes first. I will not risk her health more than I already have.

I was a fool, losing faith in her and in myself. I should have followed my instincts after being shot, chased after her and brought her back with me. I misread the situation in part because I’ve never believed I’ve had enough goodness in me for a female to truly love me. Paloma’s shown me how wrong I’ve been.

She’s my graka, my mate, my heart for as long as I live and beyond. We are tied to one another, even without this child she carries. Nothing and no one will ever separate us again. I won’t allow it.

“Spread your legs, female. I mean to taste every inch of you.”

My Paloma, the keeper of my heart and soul, spreads her legs. I place the flat of my tongue against her cunt and lick her slowly, savoring the taste. My ears listen to the music of her moans before my female comes around my tongue. My cock throbs, but my soul thrums, as does my female.

“You’ve changed, Atox.”

“I am the same male who last fucked you.”

Except I’m not. I have changed. I should go back and kill all the males in the human colony given how they treated my mate and youngling, but I won’t. I’m not the angry vengeful male who raised me. I’m more than my rage and hatred. Better than my father. Better because of my lovely mate who doesn’t realize how she’s made me a better male, a better orc. She’s taught me tolerance and more importantly, that I can be what my mate and people need.

“No, there’s something more to you now. You’re more patient. Tolerant.”

“Patient?” I question, flashing my tusks at her. My heart soars at seeing a shiver of pleasure move through her. “Yes, my female, I’m patient. But only until you’re healed. Then I will take you, over and over.”

“Promise?”

“Two promises in one day?”

“Yes,” she says with shining determination.

“You have my word. As your grak and your mate.”

I proceed to taste my female, reminding us both of what we have together… and what we nearly lost.

“You’re mine, Paloma. Forever.”

“And you’re mine,” she repeats, with a glint in her eyes that tells me what I’ve known since the first day I saw her.

This female, my queen, my little warrior Paloma, is more than the female who will save my people. She’s the female who will save me. She is and always will be my destiny and the keeper of my heart.