Episode Thirty-Two The Smell of Affection

N adira

Did the power of that orgasm take away my ability to see? Everything is blurry. Oh. I'm crying. My heart is so full it's bursting. Maybe there are gods. Maybe they took pity on me for all the pain I've endured. They've given me not one but two males to care for me. Could that even be possible?

A sobering thought strikes me quick as lightning that is so chilling it feels like my blood has stopped pulsing through my veins. I stay still as a statue, afraid to move a muscle other than to breathe. What if the other orc comes back? What if my head isn't resting on the chest of the affectionate male who called me 'Dira? What if it's the brazen jerk from the rendezvous?

"What's wrong mate?" Dhar rolls on his side and lifts my chin so he can inspect me.

"I'm just tired," I lie. Damn. I promised myself I would be honest with my new mates. It wasn't much more than an hour ago I agreed to no secrets.

He grazes his soft lips along my jaw and says, "Orcs can smell emotions, 'Dira. I've learned the delicious scent of your passion and already decided I want to smell that at least once a day for the rest of my life. But now there's a burnt smell of… I don't know if it's sadness or fear or both."

That full feeling emanating from the center of my heart builds like a tidal wave again. Perhaps the orc I met at the meeting grounds is gone for good. I like this male so much better. I need to tell him the truth. I want to tell him the truth. It's a good way to begin a mating.

"I was afraid. I thought maybe you had just been nice for a moment to see if your cock would fit in my hole so you wouldn't have so far to walk back to the rendezvous if you broke our contract."

He doesn't say a word. Finally, my curiosity overrides my apprehension and I look at him. The big, green male is just gazing at me, waiting for me to not just look at him, but to see him.

Smart male. He's not bothering to use words, not trying to convince me with trickery. I was married to a politician. I certainly know how well people can lie.

But he can't fake this. The way his emerald eyes are looking at me with exquisite tenderness. The almost imperceptible smile that plays at the corners of his mouth. The way his body is calm and loose in a manner that speaks to more than sexual satisfaction. It tells me he's tranquil and happy to be in my arms.

"What do I smell like now?" I whisper, wondering if I'll like his answer.

"This is a new one for me," he says. "You'll have to educate me, though I smelled it on you and the monk as we walked here."

I just met this male. How is it I'm not only feeling fondness for him, but it's already growing deeper?

"Affection." I make certain my gaze doesn't flick from his for a second.

He nods. "I've never been on the receiving end of this before."

He takes another deep sniff, the way the males in my father's office used to pretend they could tell the difference between excellent and mediocre brandy.

Lifting my braid and using the tip of it to tickle my nipple, he says, "Give me more of it. I want to commit it to memory."

No one's shown affection to my big, sweet orc before? I snuggle closer and trail a finger along his high cheekbones and then rim the tip of his pointed, elf-like ear.

"Is that enough?" I ask sweetly.

"I'm not sure I've got it," he husks.

I draw my finger from the middle of his hairline down his forehead and along the surprisingly straight line of his nose.

"Surely you've got it now, right?"

He takes an exaggerated sniff.

"Still not sure."

Throwing an arm around his thick, green neck, I reach for his peach-colored lips and bestow on him the sweetest kiss imaginable. I'm not sure how this affects him, but it lights my body on fire.

"I think I've got it now, mate," he husks into my ear. "Just to make sure it sticks in my thick skull, mayhap we should see if I can remember it even when I'm inside you."

"Mmm. Good idea."

Maybe I should keep it a secret that the brash orc chieftain is perhaps one of the two sweetest males on the planet.