8. Katar

"I'll stay with you tonight," I said. There was no way I'd be able to sleep at my hotel while she remained here alone except for her dog. And I doubted the hotel allowed pets.

Bailey shifted in my arms. "Oh, I couldn't ask you to do anything like that."

"It's not a bother at all. I want to help you, and this seems to be the only way I can do it." I glanced at the piece of furniture we sat on. "I can sleep here or on the floor."

"You're a big guy. Take my bed. It's a king. I . . ." She frowned.

"You what?"

Her face pinkened. So adorable. I wanted to kiss her cheeks. Feel the warmth there with my mouth. "I optimistically thought I'd someday share it with someone."

She was my mate. I wanted to behave like my ancestors. I'd track down the threat and eliminate it. Return to her and strip off our clothing. Beat my chest while roaring.

Then claim her body until she'd come so many times, she would only want me.

I doubted she'd want to share her bed with me, so I didn't offer. But the thought of being with her in that way or even just having the chance to hold her through the night made my cock shoot toward the sky. It shoved against my pants, wanting out.

Or inside her.

"Maybe one day," I said. "You'll share it with someone."

She blinked up at me through her glasses, and one look from her sultry eyes was all it took. I gently slid her glasses off and laid them on the table in front of the sofa. Then I stared into her eyes unimpeded, still marveling at the fact that she was my mate. Already, my heart was softening, opening to only this female. It wouldn't take much effort on her part to make me fall so hard and fast I wouldn't remember wanting anyone but her.

"You're staring at me," she whispered.

"Did you feel the wind?"

A frown took over her pretty face. "The doors are shut. The ceiling fan isn't running."

"It's gusty in here. You must agree."

The quirky smile she gave me sliced right through my chest, leaving me gasping. "Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit of wind. What should we do about that?"

I didn't need any further invitation. I slipped her glasses off and gently set them aside. Leaning close, I closed my eyes and drank in her sweet, spicy scent, savoring how it flamed through my veins, setting wherever it touched ablaze.

I kissed her. Plundered her mouth. Claimed her in the way of my people, in the way only an orc could do.

Her lips parted, and I delved inside, my tongue teasing across hers.

She moaned, clutching my shoulders, clinging as if the heat flaring through me had transmitted itself to her.

Shifting around, I laid her beneath me on the sofa, bracing my palms on either side of her shoulders while I continued kissing her.

I was already lost in this woman. I'd never find myself again unless I was with her. Part of this was the growing mate bond, but the rest was pure Bailey.

Heat flashed through me, making me feel as if I could conquer the world when all I really wanted to conquer was her.

It wouldn't take long before I'd need her so much it would consume me. Both of us if she was an orc. How did mate bonds act on a human?

Teasing my fingertips across her jaw, I moved my hand lower, sliding my knuckles across the silky flesh of her throat. As I stroked above her breasts, she moaned and latched onto my horns. She was so touchable, so responsive.

As her fingertips ran up and down my horns, shockwaves blasted to my cock, stiffening it further. Did she know that horns were erogenous zones, that a male could come if a female rubbed them enough?

Her ankles hooked on my ass, and she rocked her pelvis against my hard cock, each grind of her body shooting me higher into the sky. I was so lost in her; I didn't care if I ever found my way back. With her, I'd finally found a home.

I lifted my head and looked down at her. I took in her beauty, the way her pupils had contracted, the black disappearing from her eyes. The gold flecks had multiplied, and they blazed with the heat reflected in me.

Her hips stilled, but her fingers kept gliding along my horns.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to explode," I said.

"Doing what?"

"Grip my horns tighter. Rub them. And then you'll find out."

"I don't know much about orcs. I've never touched horns before."

"I'm eternally grateful to hear that."

Her head tilted, and she studied my face. "Are you saying my stroking them is turning you on?"

"I'm saying that you stroking them is going to make my cock blast against the inside of my pants."

"Oh." She sucked in the word. "That's . . . intriguing."

"Orcs have lots of cum."

"Lots of cum," she echoed. Then her fingers stilled, and her eyes widened. "Rubbing your horns is like rubbing your cock."

"In some ways."

I watched her thick swallow go down her throat.

"Do you want to come?" she asked.

I groaned. "What a tricky question."

A smile flitted across her lips that were plump and ripe from my kiss.

She tugged her hands away, though it appeared she did so reluctantly. "You probably don't want all that wetness inside your pants."

"I'd sacrifice my pants."

"If you're going to stay here, you'll need other clothing then." Her lips quivered, and her eyes gleamed with a hint of lust. "Then, if what you're wearing gets . . . wet, you'll have something else to change into. Because . . ."

"Because what?"

"Because I thoroughly enjoy stroking your horns."

Fuck. My sweet, prim librarian had a sultry side I hadn't expected.

A primal roar rose in my throat, but I bit it back.

"Are you suggesting that you might be interested in touching more than my horns?"

A full smile took over her face. "You did point out that it's windy."