27. Kaila

Iwrung my hands and fretted.

“Listen to Reven,” I told my brother, gripping his fingers tight. “Do as he says. Don’t act too silly. And make sure you’re up in a tree before it gets dark.”

He’d remain here with Reven, and they’d leave first thing in the morning. Like when we walked, the shayde would travel all day and rest at night—and hunt, I was sure. Meanwhile, my brother and Reven would eat, bathe and drink in the river, and climb trees before it got dark, remaining there until morning.

Reven seemed mature enough for this journey, but by the fates, he was young himself. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I could—

“Mate.” Turren tugged me back away from my brother. “He’ll be fine. You’ll see him in a few days.”

“Yes, Kaila. Please.” Brunnen looked around at our friends who’d come to see us off on the vox. “This is going to be an amazing adventure for me.”

And that was the problem. I didn’t want him going on an adventure. He was only thirteen. He might . . .

I realized where my mind was going, that I was spiraling back into the person I was before I decided to let the fates help decide, to trust that our orc friends would not only keep us safe but also give us a life we’d relish.

“I love you,” Brunnen said, bursting into laughter before his voice lifted in pitch, mimicking me in a teasing way, only directing it toward my upcoming adventure. “Listen to Turren. Do as he says. Don’t act silly. Kiss him if you must, but please, please, please, don’t tell me too much about whatever other adventures you two get involved in.”

I sighed and sniffed, refusing to cry. “I love you too.”

He hugged me, speaking into my hair. “You’ve been the best sister a boy could ever have, but I’m growing up. Soon, I’ll be a man, and I’ll have my own life, live my own life.” He stepped back. “Maybe I’ll even find an orc female and kiss her.” When he winked, I knew he was only joking. He might wind up with an orc male. I’d noted him looking at both males and females back at the village.

I’d love him no matter who he loved in turn.

“Be safe.” He braced my shoulders, speaking to me like I was the child and he the substitute parent. “I’ll see you in a short time.”

Biting down hard on my lower lip, I nodded. I wasn’t going to cry.

“Time to go, my courageous mate,” Turren said in a low rumble.

I nodded and hugged Brunnen once more. Then I ran around hugging everyone who’d come to see us off. Dakur, Nia, Mavileen, and Pulost. Even Varalar had trekked up the hill to say goodbye.

“Alright, how do we do this?” I asked, striding over to Airest. The vox sniffed my hand delicately and nudged my chest in affection. He was huge, a giant dark green beast towering over me. And I was supposed to nonchalantly climb up onto his back and he’d . . . fly?

My knees shook, and my air came in short pants. My head was starting to spin, and I was beginning to believe I’d prefer to walk all the way to the mountains, even if they were on the other side of the desert.

Turren swept me up in his arms and with a quick leap, he landed on Airest’s spine, his legs straddling the beast’s back.

“Your inner thighs aren’t used to riding,” he said gently as he lowered me onto his lap, spreading my legs to go around him while I clung to his chest. “You’ll have to change positions often, and we’ll rest as much as we can.” He lowered his head to speak for my ears alone. “And, when we stop, I’ll be happy to rub ointment on your thighs and massage you wherever you’re sore.”

My spine tingled, and my breathing grew heavier. When I looked up at him, I marveled anew that he wanted me, that he loved me. He was the sweetest male I’d ever met, and I couldn’t imagine why all the orc females hadn’t tried to claim him.

“Does this massaging go both ways?” I asked coyly. “Because your thighs might get sore as well.”

He barked out a laugh. “The days of me being sore from riding a vox have long since passed, but you’re welcome to . . . massage me whenever you please, my precocious mate.”

I pouted. “I think I like being your courageous mate more than your precocious mate.”

He laughed again. “You’re my everything mate.”

Others handed up our belongings in packs, and Turren hooked the straps onto the spike jutting up from Airest’s spine where it met his neck.

“Goodbye,” Brunnen called out. “Have fun!”

Fun. Yes. This was supposed to be fun?

The beast shifted beneath us, and I wondered how we wouldn’t just . . . fall off and tumble through the sky. Smack on the ground or into the trees.

My heart started pattering again, and my belly kept surging up my throat. I swallowed it down along with my fear as best I could.

And if I clung Turren . . . Alright, if I shrieked and wrapped myself around him when Airest burst up into the sky, well . . . that only proved his point. I was a bit of everything. But for now, I was going to try my best to be his courageous mate.

Flying wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it would be. Yes, it was a bit scary being so far off the ground, but the world opened up for me, expanding to include a lush forest below, mountains far in the distance, and a dark sky overhead ripe with stars and a half moon.

I stopped clinging to Turren and relaxed, enjoying the soothing flap of Airest’s wings and the way my mate’s heart thudded beneath my ear.

We talked, sharing everything about each other. Our first conversations had been a battle of wits, but now it was nice to hear why he loved being the caedos of his clan and to share some good stories from my own childhood before my parents died.

Sometime during the night, I fell asleep in his arms to the soothing sweep of Airest’s wings. I woke when the vox landed and looked around, finding he’d settled in a small meadow with woods all around.

“Wake, my sleepy mate,” Turren said softly in my ear.

I stretched, leaning into his embrace. “I’m awake, my loving mate.”

His arms tightened around me. “Yes, I do love you.”

I turned to face him, linking my legs around him, and his pendant blazed.

“I believe it’s time for that to stop shining, don’t you?” I shielded my face and winced as if it irritated me.

“Yes, well . . .”

Ha. He wasn’t going to name it? I had no problem with that.

“I’m going to claim you, my lusty mate, and that’ll put a stop to it,” I boldly said.

His jaw dropped. What? He didn’t think I planned to climb all over him the moment I got a chance? We were finally alone. I loved my brother, but I wouldn’t want to be with Turren when my brother might overhear.

“Claim me?” He gulped.

I traced my fingertips across his jaw and down his chest. “Unless you’d like to wait.”

“No,” he croaked. “I’m done waiting.” As if he shed a skin, he shrugged off the surprised and uncertain orc and the bold, sexy one I adored took his place.

His arms tightened around me, holding me close as he leaped off his vox. He landed squarely on the ground and peered around, looking for threats.

“I need to take care of Airest but then, my luscious mate, you’re mine,” he growled.

I helped him rub down the vox while it purred and crooned, clearly loving the attention.

“Will he wait here while we . . .” I had no idea why I was suddenly shy. I wanted to be with him more than anything. It was a chance to deepen our love, to show each other with touches and sighs how much we meant to each other.

“He’ll go find something to eat,” Turren said, coming around Airest to take my hand. “I’ve got a surprise for you, something Pulost mentioned.”

“What is it?”

He took our bags from the ground where he’d placed them after taking them off his vox. “Let me show you. I think it’ll have more meaning then.”

Holding hands, we walked through the woods toward the river, eating fruit and nut bars from the village on the way. We sat on the bank and finished our meal, drinking water after.

“Let’s swim,” he said, rising.

“Is that the surprise? Because I’m not sure Pulost would bother to mention something like that.” The tease came through in my voice.

He grinned. “No, the surprise will come after that. Wash quickly, my tempting mate, and then I’ll show you.”

While I’d love to stroke him in the water, my curiosity had been sparked. I cleansed my teeth and took a quick dip in the river, drying after. Before I could dress, however, Turren came up behind me, wrapping his wet body around mine.

“No clothing, my delectable mate.”

I looked around. “It’s a lovely river.”

His laugh snorted out. “And you still believe this is the special place Pulost mentioned?”

I shrugged. “It is special.”

“Nowhere special enough for you.” His voice hollowed out. “I’m not sure such a place exists.”

I turned in his arms and stroked his chest, loving how my hands slipped due to the wetness. His cock thrust between us, big and vigorous and gorgeous.

“Do women ever lick a male’s cock?” I asked, my face coloring. Would he laugh?

“On occasion.”

My breath caught and all the possibilities swam through my mind, making my pulse roar and heat flow from my belly to between my legs. “I want to try it.”

“I will never tell you no, my audacious mate. Let me take you to the special place and then . . .” He took my hand and started walking along a trail beside the river.

“We’re going for a stroll naked?” The bottoms of my feet protested each rock and stick I stepped on, slowing my pace to a crawl.

“You’re too delicate for this.” He swept me up into his arms and continued striding.

“I suspect being too delicate is not a good thing.”

“It’s wonderful. Knowing you need me makes me feel strong and brave.”

“You’re both.” My voice cracked. “To me, you’re everything. I don’t believe I can find the words to tell you how much I adore you.”

“They’re in my heart, love. Every word, every feeling. There are no words that can describe how much I adore you, but I’ll spend every day of my life trying to find them. And then I’ll lay them in your delicate hands.” Pausing, he kissed me, his lips soft and light on my mouth. I loved how he could take charge of everything, how he sometimes made demands. But when he was sweet like this, my heart cracked wide open. Could I love him more than I did right now?

He lifted his head and strode along the path. “Pulost said he found this place a few years ago. He doesn’t believe anyone else knows of it. He hopes to bring Mavileen here one day, perhaps once the village is settled, and she has time to get away for a day or so.”

“It’s amazing that a woman is a mayor of a village, though since only women formed it, it makes sense. Women don’t really need men.”

“Not even for kisses?”

“That’s sexual. We’ll always need you for that. Even to have children.”

He sucked in a breath and watched my face as he picked his way along the path. “Do you want children?”

“I haven’t thought much about it.” Only once. An orcling . . . “I think so. Maybe. I’ve already raised a child in my brother. What about you?”

“I . . .” His gaze lifted from mine to the path, and it appeared rocky, needing his attention, but I still sensed there was something going on within him, something he hadn’t yet shared. “I adore orclings.”

“I take herbs I purchased from a woman in the village. I brought some with me. They keep me from having children.” I needed to spell that out for him. He shouldn’t get his hopes up that being together could result in a child.

“You’ve been with males.”

I didn’t sense any recrimination in his words. “Only two. I . . . it was alright. I can’t say it was wonderful.”

He snorted. “I’m a bold male.”

“You don’t say.”

“You’ll find endless pleasure in my arms.”

I suspected I would. “And yes, there’s that bold Turren once more.”

“I’ve only been with one person before. After my parents died, I was incredibly busy. I took over the role of caedos.”

“Surely even a caedos takes time to relax, to be with someone in that way.” I wasn’t jealous he’d been with another. Why would I be? What he did before we met was history.

“I met her when I traveled to the Ballelt Clan. Neither of us wanted to be together again after that.”

“Has she found her mate?” Alright, so perhaps I could feel a touch of jealousy.

“Not yet. It’s rare for the fates to show us our true mate, the one person we’ll adore until our dying day. Many wait for that, never being with another.”

It . . . might be awkward, but if we visited that clan, perhaps we’d be friends. My swallow went down hard, and unease settled into my bones. Tried to, that is. Turren and I were going to be together no matter what, and I wasn’t going to let something like this stand between us.

He kept walking and with each step, my unease fled. How could I be worried about anything when I loved him?

“We’re almost there,” he said.

“How are your toes doing?”

He frowned. “My toes?”

“You’re walking barefoot and there are rocks and sticks all over the path.”

He looked down. “I didn’t notice.”

“You’re tough in so many ways.”

The boyish smile he gave me made my heart stumble. It picked itself up and raced after that.

“Yes, I’m tough.”

I laughed, feeling carefree. “When are you going to put me down?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Ah, so it’s that kind of surprise?”

“Yes, that kind of surprise,” he said.

I closed my eyes, and he kept walking, finally coming to a stop.

“You can open them now,” he said softly.

I gasped. “This . . . is amazing. Are you sure the fates didn’t collect us and take us to another world? I can’t believe this place is hidden away in the forest.”

I blinked, letting the flood of colors wash over me. The meadow stretched out like a painting, though I’d only seen a few of those in my life. Flowers of every color swayed in the breeze in hues so bright, it was like they’d been plucked from a rainbow.

“Do you like it?” Turren stroked my spine, his deep voice rumbling through the quiet air. “It’s a garden. A beautiful garden just for you.”

I leaned into his side, my heart bursting with love. “You remembered.”

“I remember everything,” he rasped. “You like it?”

“I love it. How did it end up here?”

“Pulost doesn’t know. He believes someone planted the flowers long ago and they’ve thrived even without attention. Or nature did this for us. The fates work many wonders. I thought you’d like it since you enjoy gardening so much.”

My eyes stung. “It’s amazing. I don’t want to step on even one flower.”

He swept me up in his arms again. “Do you mind if I take you to the center? Pulost mentioned there’s a smooth carpet of green there. No flowers to crush.”

“Take me there, please,” I breathed, eager to see it all.

Turren was a large orc, at least a hand’s width taller than the orcs I’d met in the human village. And broader too. Yet he took delicate care as he walked through the meadow, gently brushing the flower stems to the side and placing his feet in a way that didn’t squish them.

As he moved, the magic of this place sunk into me. It was hard to imagine life like this pulsing so brilliantly within the depths of an orc forest. They were a race known more for their strength and ferocity than delicate beauty.

“Did Pulost give this place a name?” I asked.

He shook his head. “We can call it whatever we please, something that has meaning to only us.”

“Heart’s beginning?”

He kissed me. “I like that. This is the beginning for us, love.”

Walking a bit more, he arrived at the middle of the meadow, and I took in the perfect circle of purple vegetation with waxy leaves glistening in the light.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It’s also soft on my feet,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll like it. No sore toes or crushing the flowers. This vegetation is springy, see?” He lifted his foot and the plants sprung back up to fill in the space where his foot had been.

I suspected us lying on it might change it a bit, but I wasn’t as worried about making a mark on this perfect spot that would quickly return to the way it was before we got here.

“Put me down. I want to feel.”

He slowly released me, and I slid down his front, noting his erection hadn’t changed. I was going to taste it soon, but for now, it was time to feel it sinking deeply inside me.

“You’re so tiny. So fragile and delicate,” he said softly, holding my upper arms. “I don’t want to ever cause you pain.”

I shrugged. “Others have found a way to be together and we will too.”

“Mate,” he growled. He curled his body forward and tentatively placed his lips on mine.

I could kiss him forever. His lips were plump and full and so gentle. While his hands roamed my arms and back, he deepened the kiss.

I gasped, my mouth opening, and his tongue plundered, finding mine and stroking in a way that made everything inside me melt.

It was just him and I in this glorious place, the perfect spot for us to be together for the first time. Heart’s beginning. I’d call that forever.

And I’d give up the world to be with him now.

Pure feelings shot through me, feeding my need for him, making me tremble.

He lifted me, and I wrapped my legs around him, pushing forward to feel his hard chest rub my thighs and that spot between them.

He held my bottom, squeezing and releasing, while his other hand stroked across my jaw. It amazed me that this big, burly orc could be so gentle, that he could put all his feelings into each stroke of his fingers across my skin.

My heart pounded, racing so fast, I thought it would stop. I stroked his chest, unable to get enough of his endless smooth skin. His fingers caressed my cheeks and moved down my neck, sliding around to my back to press my body against his. My nipples pebbled as I rubbed them against him.

I smoothed my hands along his left arm, carefully touching his scars, and he froze, lifting his head, watching me.

“You’re beautiful,” I said.

“Males are never beautiful. We’re too full of hard edges and muscles.”

“You are. All of you.”

“I want to be beautiful if only in your eyes.”

I smiled. “You always will be.”

With his smoldering gaze locked on mine, he lowered me to the lavender carpet, following me down, his arms bracing on either side of me, his knee sliding up between my thighs.

I spread my legs and he groaned, kissing down my neck to my breasts.

His mouth was hot and insistent, sucking at my nipple, making it harden even further. He stroked the other, plucking at it, making me moan and writhe beneath him.

“Turren,” I cried out. “I need . . .”

“I’m here for you, mate. Always,” he murmured against my flesh. “You’re the brightest star in the sky, the deepest, clearest pool in the desert. And the sparkle of the rarest jewel deep within the caves of our mountains.”

He said the sweetest things. I wanted to grab onto them and hold them inside my heart forever.

His mouth left my breast, and he kissed across my belly. When he parted my legs and crawled between them, he looked up at me with so much love, so much lust, it made my heart break.

Nothing and no one would ever compare to this moment, to this time when Turren and I would first come together. I’d always treasure that he’d wanted this to be perfect for us, that he’d brought me to this special place solely because he knew how much it would mean to me. Flowers and pretty vegetation didn’t mean much to my love. He was a caedos, a male absorbed in the duties of his clan. Yet he was making sure I’d have a moment to cherish.

He slid his fingers across my slit, and his growl rang out. “So wet for me. Tell me what you like, how to drive you wild.”

“Touch me. Put your fingers inside me.”

He glided them through my folds and up to my clit, then back down again. Each time, he pushed his fingers deep inside me, almost pulsing them with me, only to tug them back out and stroke them across my clit.

I was a ball of fire shooting all the way to the sky. I couldn’t hold out for long, though I wanted to more than anything.

He plunged his fingers deeply, swirling them, curling them to stretch me.

And when I burst into flames, he caught me, holding me while bringing me back down to the gorgeous world around me.