14. Katar

While the only thing I wanted to do was lay Bailey in the grass and get on with the tasting, orc mating rituals had to be respected.

Out in her fenced backyard, I paused in the grass to look up. The stars overhead would witness this event much like the tiny glowing insects coating the cavern rooftops did back in the underground orc kingdom. To think that there was so much more to this world than the mysterious caverns far below, that up here, there were such vast heavens watching us, protecting us.

She hugged her arms around her chest.

"None of that," I said, taking her hands and squeezing them.

"We're naked."

"I'm very much enjoying the view." I slid my gaze down to her breasts, taking in her pink, puckered nipples, then traced my eyes across her lush belly to her thighs I ached to part. She had sunset-colored hair between her legs, another difference between orcs and humans since our only hair was on our heads. I wanted to touch it, find out if it was silky or some other texture. I'd part the strands and seek her clit, the wetness between her thighs I knew would be waiting.

"You've got a hard-on." Her attention was locked on my cock.

"Because I want you."

Her head tilted. "Do you want me because you like me or because I'm your orc mate? We haven't known each other long."

"You've made me laugh, made me feel incredibly protective, and you've given me a reason to build a new future."

"That really isn't answering my question."

"It's complicated."

She huffed. "That's what guys always say when you probe them about emotions." Her voice went gruff and growly. "It's complicated, babe."

"I'll never call you babe."

"Good thing. It's damn creepy."

"What about sweetheart?"

"Normally, I'd say it was creepy too, but when you use the nickname, it makes flames lick through me."

"A good sign." My smile dropped. I wanted to be serious. "We don't know each other well. You've pointed that out. Which is why we've given ourselves time to see where this goes. But I like you. Very much." I was already falling in love with her, as was the norm for an orc who'd met their fated one, but I sensed I'd spook her if I told her that. Maybe after a few days, she'd be open to the notion.

"I like you a lot," she said.

"Same, sweetheart. Same. That's why we're naked."

Her lips curled up. "Did someone mention tasting?"

With a groan, I tugged her flush against me. Kissing her now wasn't part of this orc mating tradition, but I couldn't help it.

I claimed her mouth, slanting mine across hers, pressing hard while stroking her lips with my tongue, demanding entrance. Demanding everything I craved, including her body, her heart, and her soul.

She gripped my arms tightly, and a moan worked its way up from her chest. Her lips parted, and I slid my tongue across hers, touching her everywhere.

Mozzie barked inside the house. We'd made him remain inside. But the sound made us burst apart, both of us grinning.

"Tasting," she said, tracing her fingertip across her lips. "We had to get naked to kiss?"

"No, sweetheart, we had to get naked to dance."

"Like . . . sway our hips to the lack of music?"

"I hear it, don't you?"

Her head tilted. "Just a cat howling at the moon a few houses down, cars out on the main road, and . . ." She frowned. "I guess I hear the tall grass in the field beyond my lawn swaying. The seed pods on the top are shifting together. Is that what you mean?"

I tightened my arms around her, determined not to let go. "Close your eyes."

Her eyelids fluttered before slipping down, her lashes brushing her cheeks. "Now what?"

"You put aside the cat, the cars, and even the seed pods and you listen."

We said nothing for a long while.

"What am I supposed to hear?" she asked, a touch of exasperation coming through in her voice.

"Can you hear the stars whispering? The orc kingdom, as you know, is located deep beneath the ground. We have no stars, no moon, no sun."

"Is it cold down there? Dark all the time?"

"Neither. The roofs of our caverns are covered with tiny insects that generate light. They find energy in the very air around them. They're our stars, and during what we call day, they blaze brightly. As their power fades and while they regenerate, their lights dim, and we call that night."

"It sounds incredible. Is it pretty?"

"As lovely as your stars, only different."

"But there's no music in that."

"Oh, there is. Keep listening. I can hear your stars whispering just as I hear the insects when I'm home."

"The bugs are probably rubbing their legs together or something like that."

"Listen."

She paused. "Maybe I hear something."

"You'll feel it in your bones, and it's music, the prettiest sound you'll ever hear. Even the moon creates its own tune. If you listen hard enough, you'll hear that too."

"It's more like a whoosh, not a true melody."

"It's a subtle sound we can dance to. Keep your eyes closed." I lifted her into my arms and swayed to the music I heard not just with my ears but in my heart. Only those falling in true love could hear it, and it blazed across my soul because I was with Bailey.

"I love being held by you. Love that you're swaying around my backyard. Love that we're naked."

"When you remove all the trappings of today, you can sink into the person you'd be no matter where and when you might live. You're not Bailey, the librarian—"

"Stuffy librarian who is proper and staid."

"Never that," I vowed. "That's not how I see you. You have magic in your soul. You just haven't learned how to let it out."

"How do I do that?" she groaned in frustration. "I think I hear the moon and the stars, but when I open my eyes, I'm sure I'll see that the sound I'm hearing is insects in the grass and maybe the swish of a rabbit hopping along a trail in the nearby woods."

"Close off the Bailey of now and listen to the one deep inside you."

I lowered her to her feet but held onto her hands, guiding her to move with the music swirling around us.

Wonder filled her pretty features. "I hear something. I feel something."

"Let it free. That's the Bailey you long to be."

"Ah," she sighed. "I feel it all." Her eyes opened, and the heat shining there made my lungs come to a halt.

Only when I was with this woman would I be able to breathe.

She gave me a sweet smile. "Now that we've danced, can we get to more of that tasting?"