11. Khuldruk

11

KHULDRUK

K huldruk sat by the fire. The look on his mate’s face when she took him in kept playing over and over. He would give anything to erase the fear he found there. He had come here to find his mate and return home and help his people reclaim the ancient magic. He had found his mate without a doubt. Step one was done, but he hadn't thought it through. Even though she has some ancestry in the monster realm, this was her home. What was he thinking? How had he thought he would just be able to come here and claim his mate and take her back? Well, he had thought of orc bonds, the old tales of orc mates. His parents were the last mated couple to exist; many thought they were a thing of the past, but they weren't.

The look on her face before she fell lifeless in his arms was just playing on repeat. He should just go back to the monster realm, but he also knew he could not leave her. As soon as he met her, his entire world shifted. How had he not seen this coming? He couldn't survive without her, but he also couldn't live with himself if he let his people down.

He was finally pulled from his thought spiral by the opening of the tent flap. He turned to see Calli coming out of the tent, and he stood immediately, although he was at a loss. Part of him wanted to run to her and sweep her in his arms, but the other part remembered the look on her face. So, in the end, he just stood there like a big lump, staring at her.

"Hi," she said finally.

"Calli." He barely recognized his own voice. It had come out all rough and scratchy. He cleared his throat and looked away.

"I'm sorry," she said, barely above a whisper.

Sorry? "No, I’m the one who is sorry. I should not have come."

"Why would you say that?" she said, making her way over to him. He felt her close to him, but he couldn't bring himself to look at her. "Dru, please, look at me. I was just overwhelmed. This whole day has been a lot."

"I understand. If you’d like, I’ll walk you back to your campsite and leave you be," he said solemnly.

"No. I would not like that," she said firmly.

"I understand. I will grant you leave of me then.” He clasped his hands behind his back and gave a curt nod as he turned to leave.

"Stop." She reached up and turned his face to hers. "Don't go. I'm not scared of you, if that's what this is about."

"You're not? But you fainted at the sight of me?"

"It was everything. It wasn't just you. This whole day has been intense. Please, don't leave."

The panic in her voice gave him a little bit of hope. While it pained him to hear it, it did offer hope that maybe she felt part of the mating bond too. Maybe being separated from him would pain her as well.

The look on her face puzzled him. So much of her puzzled him. When he was an orc, he had so many more senses than he had in this human body. He would be able to scent her to know how she felt. He would know more about her reactions because he knew the way of orcs.

"What do you want from me? I will do anything you like," he said.

Her bottom lip was trapped between her teeth as she took him in. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. All the tension he had felt released the instant her arms circled him.

"I don't know what I want," she said as she laid her head on his chest. "I don't even know how to comprehend the last couple hours of my life...but I can't help thinking maybe this is all happening for a reason. I'm sure that doesn't make any sense to you, but with honesty and craziness of tonight, I just want to be close to you. I don't know why, but I just feel so connected to you."

His breath caught in his throat. She didn't know about the mating bond, but what she was describing was something similar to it. He wouldn’t tell her about that tonight because the poor thing had already been put through so much, but he was feeling much more hopeful than he was ten minutes ago.

She tensed in his arms. "Sorry. That probably sounds like I'm some stalker. I take it back. I'm just so –”

This time, he decided to stop her with a kiss. They seemed to communicate better this way anyway. As his lips met hers, he felt the bond sing like it never had before. It was almost as if they had become one; he could feel her magic in a way he hadn't before.

"Wow," she said in a gasp as she pulled back. "What was that?"

"That was magic."

"Where are you sleeping?" Calli asked with a timidness to her voice she hadn’t heard before.

"I have been sleeping in the woods near your home."

She cocked her to the side and looked up at him with a confused expression. "You have? I didn't know there were any sites open by me. I thought it was all fair people."

"I don't have a site."

"What do you mean?" She cocked her head.

"I’ve been sleeping in the woods."

"Like outside? No tent or anything?"

"No, my pet, I’m fine sleeping outside. Do people not sleep outside here?"

"Ummm...no. Not usually. You could…"

Dru waited for her to finish her statement, but the look on her face told him she didn't plan on finishing that thought, and that just wouldn't do.

"What is it?" he asked gently.

"I was just going to say. You could sleep with me if you wanted to... I know my van is small, and we’ll have to squeeze into my bed, but if you want... OH!" She glanced down between them at his hard cock pressing into her belly.

"I would love that, if you’re comfortable."

"I mean...it's a small bed. I can't promise how comfortable it’ll be," she said, looking up at him through her lashes.

He pulled her close and pressed into her. Even without his orc senses, he could smell how aroused she was. "I assure you, sleeping close to you will be no hardship," he said with a cocked eyebrow. Some of his self-assured nature was returning.

"Well, then," she said as she stepped back from him and held out her hand. "Would you like to go back to my place?" she asked with a smile and a wag of her eyebrows.

"Lead the way, my pet."

They walked hand-in-hand through the campsite, gravel crunching beneath their feet. He couldn't help but admire her. The moonlight shone on her brown hair and gave her skin a silvery glow. Even though parts of her were hidden well away from him, he couldn’t help but imagine what she would be like. She was soft and round and sturdy. Khuldruk liked that about her. Some of the humans he'd seen were so small, he wasn't sure if they would be able to handle an orc. While he had been trying to keep those thoughts at bay, she did seem to be just as keen to explore them as he was. Another glimmer of hope told him he had made the right decision.

As they walked up to her campsite, she stopped and smiled up at him. "And maybe with you sleeping here, the creep who's been leaving me things will stop."

"Who's bothering you?" he growled at her. And there was the possessive side of the mating bond kicking in.

"I don't know," she said as she opened the door to her camper. "There has just been weeds and a squirrel left on my step."

"Oh..." he said, looking at the ground.

"What is it?"

"That was me..."

"What?"

He was almost afraid to meet her gaze. He hadn’t meant to scare her. But then, she started to laugh, and he chanced a glance her way. Her head was thrown back in laughter, and she was captivating.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I was trying to woo you; to show you I could take care of you. Maybe it didn't translate into the human world," he said sheepishly.

She climbed into her camper and turned with a look to find his cock was hardening again. "Get in here," she said with a jerk of her head.

As he moved into the camper, the way it shifted under his weight was unsettling. There was a counter with a small refrigerator, a one-burner stove top, and a small sink. To his right was a small table with a bench seat and the driver's seat beyond that. To his left was a bed. That was it.

"I know it's not much, but you're more than welcome to stay here."

"I would like that very much."