17. Kaila

Istill hadn’t gotten used to seeing him so . . . naked. So virile.

He exuded power and a sensuality I hadn’t found in any other male. I sensed I would never find it in someone again and that cut me deeply.

I’d always thought orcs were monsters. Now I knew they were people with deep feelings, incredible strength, and intelligence—at least Turren was.

I still wasn’t sure what might happen tonight, if anything. No, what I wanted to happen. Except that I was going to kiss him. I needed to feel his mouth on mine before it was too late. A real kiss, not the peck on the lips I’d given him last night.

At the riverbank, we hung our clean clothing over a low branch.

“I’ll swim downriver?” he said. “I’ll stay close enough you can call out if you have need.”

What if my need had nothing to do with danger?

“Thank you,” I said softly.

I kept thinking about the thrust of his fingers inside me, the way he’d placed his mouth between my legs and sucked. His tongue.

I’d had a taste, and my body wanted the full meal. But what about my mind and my heart? Stupid body parts couldn’t get in sync with each other.

He strode along the shore and when he was far enough away he must think I couldn’t see him, he started untying his loincloth.

I should pay attention to removing my own things, to getting into the water and bathing, but all I could do was stare.

I’d seen naked men before. I’d been intimate with a few. When I was with the two men back at the village, they’d made no effort to hide while they removed their clothing. And they, like many men I knew, were muscled from hard work. Few had the luxury of paying others to do things for them. They did it themselves and that made for a lean, well-muscled body, my own included.

But none of the men I’d seen came even close to the beauty of Turren’s form. He’d been sculpted by the very fates themselves, from his thick horns to his broad chest, to his narrow hips tapering down his legs. His arm . . . only added to his beauty. Did he know that?

He finished unwinding his loincloth and tossed it aside. He couldn’t be aware I watched or he’d . . . hide? Actually, I doubted Turren would ever be one to hide, though he wouldn’t flaunt himself.

He behaved naturally, bending forward to do something with his bare foot.

With his legs spread wide enough I could see between them, I gaped at the view of his balls and his massive cock. How did he fit that inside a woman? It would rip her apart.

Yet my body loosened. The low punch of warmth in my belly feathered down to pool between my legs, to make me wet as if Turren was with me, touching me like he had today. My body appeared more than willing to welcome that thick, long cock. It would relish the experience, shoving groans of pleasure up my throat while I clung to him, begged him for more.

He pivoted and strode down into the water, giving me another view of his cock. It hung loosely, not erect like it had been each morning when we slept together on a branch.

When he splashed into the water and groaned, my body spiraled. More wetness gushed between my legs. It was a simple sound one might make in pleasure. His groan hadn’t been sexual. He wasn’t making the sound because he was savoring my taste or the feel of my body responding to his touch.

“Undress,” I snarled to myself. “Get in the water.”

I mechanically removed my clothing, setting them aside to be washed after I’d finished. When I entered the river, I muffled my sigh of pleasure. I gave thanks that the chilly water cooled the heat building inside me. I washed and floated, allowing my body to drift with the current until I reached Turren. I wasn’t doing this to get close to him. I wanted to talk, to learn more about him.

“Would you ever want to live in one place at a time?” I asked, treading water to remain with him.

He dipped his legs down to do the same. “No.”

“That’s it, a simple no?” Why did I feel betrayed by his answer?

“I’m not an orc who can be tied down. If I stayed in one place, I’d have to shackle myself to a job. I wouldn’t be free.”

And that would be a true crime. I could see that now.

But how did a woman who craved stability build a bridge to a male who had wandering forged in his bones?