7. Kaila

“Ineed to . . .” Cringing, I started walking toward the bushes.

Hefollowed.

“I won’t run,” I barked. “You don’t need to go with me.”

His lips twitching upward before smoothing, and he lifted his staff. “I’ll protect you, my fierce mate.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Fierce?”

I scowled. “I’m not your mate yet.”

“Yet.” His eyes sparkled, and my heart did a little dance.

I pressed my hand against my chest, hoping it would stop sashaying around. “I didn’t mean yet.”

“You said it.” He waved his spear toward the woods. “Let’s go, my soon-to-be-mate. You can take care of your needs, and I’ll stand guard.”

“I’m not letting you watch me pee.”

“Kaila,” Brunnen groaned, reminding me that he’d lost his patience with our squabbling already. “Please.”

I huffed at Turren. “You can come with me, but you have to keep your back turned toward me.”

He dipped his head forward. “I promise.”

With a roll of my eyes, I stepped into the forest and walked enough distance from Brunnen that he wouldn’t hear me taking care of my needs.

“Go back and protect my brother,” I hissed.

“I will once you’ve finished.” He frowned a second as if trying to find the right words, though I wasn’t sure why I thought that. “The longer you take,” his face cleared, “the longer he remains unprotected.”

I wanted to howl. Instead, I hitched up my skirt, squatted, and relieved myself, swiping a leave I plucked from a nearby bush across that area once I’d finished. After straightening my clothing, I hurried back to my brother who’d sat on the grass with his legs stretched out, still nibbling on the meal Turren gave him.

He stood when we approached and tipped his head back, peering at the tall trees around us. “Are you sure we need to sleep up there?”

Turren nodded. With a grunt that must be his way of voicing a command, he walked into the woods again, following a path for some distance while looking up at the canopy. We followed.

When he stopped, he waved to my brother. “Up.”

Brunnen basically galloped over to join him. If he had a tail, it would be wagging. Leave it to my brother to fall for Turren’s charms from the moment he met him. I, a bit savvier, had not.

“How do I get up there?” my brother asked.

“I’ll give you the initial boost and join you on the lowest branch. We’ll make our way higher together and then I’ll show you how mature orclings rest in the trees.”

“Orclings like me do this all the time?”

“Those who live in the forest. My clan made their home in the desert and mountains beyond many generations ago.”

“I’ve heard there are no trees in the desert,” I said, reluctantly joining them at the base of the tree. Would I have to climb as well?

“There are not, but we don’t need trees.” He boosted Brunnen and then leaped, joining my brother as he straightened and looked upward. In a short time, they’d disappeared from view, and I no longer heard them moving above.

I jumped when Turren landed on the ground beside me, his tusks flashing in the moonlight once more.

“Do you smile all the time?” I asked, my mouth tasting sour.

“An interesting question.”

“With you not giving me an answer.”

“I . . . I don’t speak a lot.”

“You seem to be talking enough for me.”

He smiled again. “I believe I’m able to find my words because you’re my lovely mate.”

I sighed, not wanting to go through that once more.

He nudged his head to the right, and I followed him through the woods. At least the beast we’d heard hadn’t come near. Would Turren truly be able to fight off a ferocious creature? Yes, he had a staff. An enormous frame coated with rippling muscles. Strong legs and thick thighs.

I dragged my gaze away from his ass shifting smoothly beneath his loincloth as he moved ahead of me.

He paused, and before I could think or utter a sound, his hands spanned my waist, and he tossed me over his shoulder.

I yelped and smacked my palms on his back as he sprung upward, landing squarely on a branch.

“Don’t wiggle,” he said, peering upward.

“Put me down.”

“Can you climb on your own?”

“Brunnen did.”

“Your brother took my guidance. What about you, my amazing mate?”

“What’s with all the descriptors?”

“As I said, around you, I’m finding my words.”

He made no sense.

“I can listen well enough,” I said.

He slid me much too slowly down his front and held me against his body while he gently placed my feet on the wide branch.

His cock pressed against me, and I gasped, trying to reel away. Before I could impact with the tree truck, he’d tugged me back into his arms.

“Take care, my gorgeous mate.”

“Unhand me.” I sounded like a ninety-year-old village virgin being accosted by a rogue while shopping in the market, but I couldn’t help it. This male unbalanced me in too many ways.

“If I let go, do you promise not to flail and hit your precious body against the tree?” he asked in much too reasonable a tone, as if he was speaking to an unruly toddler.

“Tell me how to do this.” I struggled not to sound like that toddler—or the old lady.

“Reach up. Grab the branch above. Use your feet to climb up onto the branch. Once there, repeat the step. Come. Do this. I’ll follow. I’ll also remain below you to catch you when you fall.”

“I’m not going to fall.” How hard could it be to climb a tree? Children in the village did it all the time.

Looking up, I spied a likely branch not far over my head and jumped, grateful when my arms locked around it, and I didn’t plunge onto my ass. With fierce concentration, I studied the bark on the tree and placed my toes in a thick area. I did the same with my other foot and crowed, though softly, when I was able to lift my body toward the branch.

My hands slipped, and I toppled backward.

Turren scooped me up in his arms. “Very good effort, my treasured mate.”

“Stop calling me stuff like that.”

“Mate?”

“You know. Gorgeous. Lovely. Amazing. Precious. Treasured.”

“But that’s what you are.” He tossed me up and my feet landed on the next highest branch. I grappled with the trunk to keep from falling as he joined me with one bound.

“How high are we climbing?” I’d keep trying, but I suspected my undignified way of obtaining the level he wanted for sleep wouldn’t come from my own efforts but his.

“Higher. Let’s try this.” With that infernal grin still holding true, he linked his fingers and nudged his head, indicating I should place my foot there.

This time, when he boosted me, I was able to flop on the branch on my belly and wrangle my legs around to straddle it. I looked down at him with a victorious sneer.

He’d lost his smile, replacing it with a smoldering gaze that was locked on my exposed legs.