A Thousand Glittering Lights

Chapter 14

Ellie leanedback in her ergonomic gaming chair, the glow of her three screens casting a shifting blue light over her skin.

She was sitting in her home office—and gaming room—which had always been her happy place. The place where she could live in worlds that were fast and bright and full of adventure, with a set of online friends she enjoyed supporting, competing, and joking with.

When she’d first come home after her accident, her whole body battered and aching, this was where she’d come. And she’d been immediately welcomed back with a flood of messages pouring through her open chats. But even the people she’d played with for years didn’t really know her. And she hadn’t wanted to bring her problems into a gaming chat any more than she wanted to take them in to work, so she’d kept the details to herself.

Since she’d woken up in hospital, the only time she’d felt truly, authentically connected was with Josh. And he was gone. It had been two days, and he still hadn’t come back.

She turned her focus back to Balrog’s Bridge, a next generation RPG set in a far darker Middle Earth than even Tolkien had imagined. Despite it being a Saturday, she’d spent several hours working, and then moved onto her current favorite game. It was what she needed; something twisty and creative, with an array of challenging side quests to keep her busy. To keep her mind occupied.

By the time she’d finished freeing an Uruk-hai rebel from the Witch King’s hold, it was midnight. She was exhausted but wired. High on the adventure and buzzing from too much adrenaline with no outlet.

And the quest she’d completed had teased her with the potential of an orc romance and then left her unfulfilled.

What if the rebel had been her character’s soul mate?

Yes. That would work. The orc would be grim and huge, the leader of the rebellion against the Witch King’s cruelty and avarice. Her female character would be a witch, her magic wild and dangerous, and utterly forbidden—only human men would be allowed magic. Not women. And not orcs. The witch and the orc, thrown into the dungeons to die, would meet by chance. And their first contact would be primal, their mating tattoos flaring to life as soon as their skin brushed.

Ellie grabbed a pen and started to write. The witch and the orc would hate and mistrust each other. But what if they had to flee the castle dungeons together? What if they had to travel, side by side, through dusty ravines crawling with the king’s neophytes and witchlings? Dangerous winged beasts would fill the air above. They would fight back-to-back. Sleep in caves. The orc would be powerful, dangerous, and sexy as all hell. The witch would be smart and sarcastic and just as lethal. Together, they would be explosive.

Damn. It was a pity there was no way to write this story into the game they were working on. But… maybe it was worth a whole new world. A new game. A world full of betrayal and lies and sexy orcs.

She chuckled to herself as she scrawled ideas onto the pad she kept on her desk. Just one cave. Just one bedroll. Sniping and banter as sharp as the swords and spells. And passion. So much passion.

Strong-Hold.That would be the name. Damn. She loved it already.

But it was late, and she should have gone to bed already, so she packed away her pen and stuck her notes to her whiteboard. Nissy had been asleep in her cave for some time already, and she didn’t stir as Ellie turned off the lights.

She made her way upstairs to her bedroom with her mind spinning. Glittering pictures and enticing storylines wove together to form the beginnings of a new world.

It was like coming back to life. Or the sun coming up after a long night. She’d driven beyond her road. She’d taken herself to the sea and walked on the sand. She’d felt the cold, salty water lapping against her toes. And now she was imagining again. Creating again. Seeing possibility in the world again. Seeing something more than work and survival.

Heat danced over her skin with the flush of excitement, and she longed to feel more of the cool night air drifting in through her open window. She dragged her T-shirt over her head, then slid her leggings off, dropping everything to the floor.

There was something empowering about standing naked and unashamed. Ellie moved to the massive mirror that leaned against the back wall. She’d rested it there, loving the idea of lying in bed, able to see the sky whichever way she turned—whether through the window or in the mirror’s wide reflection—and maybe she’d imagined sexier uses too. Uses for times like this, when she was wide awake and burning with ideas and stories.

She stood in front of her mirror, watching as her nipples pebbled in the teasing breeze, and she lifted her hands to cup her breasts, thumbs slowly circling the aching tips. She was the witch, magical and fierce.

Her orc rebel would stand behind her, his scarred hands drifting up her sides, over the curve of her hips, skimming her ribs. The tips of his claws would pinch her nipples, tugging them. His fangs would be sharp and lethal at her throat, scraping gently.

Her heated flush spread and deepened as her fingers followed the path of the orc’s big hands, down her abdomen, over the bones of her pelvis. She let the fantasy fill her. Rough hands on her skin, teeth on her shoulder, eyes meeting hers in the mirror, blue and intense.

Only now the orc had faded, and the eyes belonged to Josh. His hands petted her skin. His tongue laved her neck.

She slid her fingers over the soft curve of her stomach, letting one hand drift down, slide through the tight curls, farther. Her breathing grew shallow as she found the heated flesh and pressed a finger against the swelling nub of her clitoris before dipping lower, stroking deeper, gathering wetness.

She closed her eyes and let her head fall back, remembering Josh’s kisses. The glide of his tongue. The way he growled. His hard cock pressing against her, heavy and thick and not nearly close enough.

Her pulse thudded in her ears, her body tingling and aching. But she needed more. She reached for the vibrator in her drawer and dropped it on the bed with a bottle of lube.

And then the air changed.

Pressure grew. A tang of ozone and electricity raised the hairs along her arms, and she knew he was back. He was in her house.

“Josh?” Her voice was husky and full of need.

“I’m here,” he rumbled from the corridor just outside her bedroom.

She had a second to decide what to do. Whether to fling on a gown or throw herself under her covers. And maybe she should. Maybe she should protect herself from so much uncertainty. From a situation she had no control over, but which she was so thoroughly invested in. From the knowledge that she thought about him—wanted him, needed him—constantly. While he clearly wanted none of that.

But she did neither. She knew he would walk away if she told him to. And she knew she wasn’t going to.

She was coming back to life and taking charge of her own pleasure. She turned to face the doorway, straightened her spine, lifted her chin, and waited for him.

He came around the corner and stilled. His eyes tracked slowly over her curves, taking in her peaked nipples and flushed skin.

“Ellie?” His voice was gruff.

Her eyes flicked to the toy abandoned on the covers before returning to his, and she saw the moment he recognized what she’d planned. Recognized it, and was ensnared.

He stepped through her doorway, making his way across the floor, each step intentional. Confident. Drawing closer and closer as the air between them thickened.

His eyes stayed locked on hers, intense and focused as she’d known they would be. “Is there room for me?” he asked, hands lifted, ready but not yet touching.

“Yes,” she admitted. She kept her gaze steady on his. “I was thinking of you.”

“Were you?” He stood over her, tall and imposing, as one big hand brushed deliberately down her side before settling on her hip.

“Yes.” She licked her lips, one side of her mouth tugging up into a half-smile. “I was imagining you as an orc.”

He dipped his face into her neck, running his nose along her skin as if he was memorizing her scent, and she felt the huff of breath as he chuckled. “And what would an orc do, once he’d caught the…?”

“Warrior witch.”

He grunted, tugging her even closer. “Yes. His witchy warrior queen. What would he do with her?”

She slipped her fingers under the hem of his T-shirt to touch him, needing his skin. It was cool and firm. The muscles of his abdomen clenched and rippled as she skimmed her fingertips over the rough smattering of hairs leading to his chest and then dragged her nails lightly back down. She tilted her head further, offering more of her neck. “He would bite her.”

Josh’s teeth sank into her shoulder before she’d finished the sentence. Not too hard, but hard enough to hold her still as his tongue laved the flesh he’d captured. Hard enough to electrify her nerves all the way down to her core. She shuddered, her entire body inflamed as he released her shoulder to scrape his teeth along the tendon of her neck, up to capture her earlobe.

She pushed at his shirt, needing it gone, and he released her just long enough to tug it over his head, revealing his tanned chest lightly sprinkled with dark hair, and the heavy lines of ink covering his right bicep and over his shoulder. Then he immediately leaned closer, all the way into her space. Crowding her. Surrounding her. He cupped her face with his hands and took her mouth.

There was no teasing this time. No gentle introduction. They met each other with all the desire and need that had been growing between them. And then ramped it even higher in a wild dance of lips and tongues and give and take.

His chest hair rasped over her nipples with every movement, and she squirmed against him, pushing herself closer. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth as his fingers threaded into her hair, tugging lightly, positioning her perfectly for him to consume her.

She slid her hands to his zipper and tugged it down, opening his jeans, giving herself space to slip her thumbs into the top of his underwear, reveling in the smooth firmness of his skin and the fire growing between them. The way his cock swelled and hardened even further. God. She had never wanted someone with such ferocity before.

Josh released her mouth, whispering against her skin as he pressed open-mouth kisses down her chest. “I don’t think an orc would leave it there, would he? I think he’d need more to bite. More to claim.”

Her brain scrambled as he scraped his beard over her breast, a torturous brush over her skin, before sucking the tip into his mouth and tugging with his teeth. It was a live-wire connection straight to her pussy, and she moaned, arching her back. “Yes.” It came out on a moan. “He would take more.”

And Josh took it without hesitation.

He dropped one hand to her hip, holding her still as he licked a line between her breasts, his other hand reaching to tug and twist her dampened nipple.

She slid her fingers down to wrap around his solid length, squeezing with the rhythm of his scorching mouth, loving how he shuddered and groaned, his hips thrusting forward into her grip, demanding more.

His mouth closed over the other breast, lashing it with his tongue and teeth. Again and again. Building an inferno inside her and fanning the flames. God. She needed. She writhed against him, panting. “An orc would take it all.”

He left her breasts with one last teasing nip and straightened, her hand still locked around his length, his eyes almost black with desire. “You’re gorgeous, my warrior witch.” His voice was rough and strained. “I want to taste your skin. I want to suck your pussy into my mouth and torture you with my tongue.” His hand slid from her hip, gliding between them until his middle finger found her clit and slowly, softly, began to rub, creating a sparkling, tingling point of contact that drew all her awareness, all her desires. “Can I do that, Ellie?” He swallowed. “Even knowing—” He hesitated for a fraction of a second before continuing. “—how little I can promise?”

His words stung, but she’d known them going in. They didn’t change how much she needed him. Needed to feel him. She’d chosen this for herself.

Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for them. Maybe, if she looked hard enough, she could find it. And for now… she would take everything he could offer. She would live.

“Yes.” Her voice was husky. “Yes, to all of it.”

She leaned into him, letting him hold her up even as his fingers dipped lower, finding her wet core and spreading the cream he found, gliding it over her swollen, desperate flesh.

“Fuck, Ellie.” He rubbed slowly, watching her with glittering eyes as she heaved in a shaking breath. “I don’t deserve you. But I want you too fucking badly. I have to take you.” He slipped his hand away, and she groaned at the loss. But then he lifted her, carried her to the bed and laid her down. He dragged a pillow under her hips before coming to kneel between her legs.

He nuzzled into her, breathing deep, and her hands came down to his head, tangling in his hair. And then he licked her, just as he’d promised. A long, slow lick, through her slit, coming to rest briefly on her clit before moving away. He focused on kissing all the desperate parts of her before returning to circle that desperate nub. Moved away and came back.

His eyes lifted to watch her face, noting when she gasped, when she held her breath, when her fingers tightened in his hair, finding the rhythm that pulsed and spiraled through her. And then he did it again, over and over, pushing her higher.

Her legs were bent, her body open and offered to him, the pleasure rising through her until she was so close she could cry. And then he slipped two fingers inside her, unerringly finding her swollen front wall, and she exploded.

He held her close, whispering how gorgeous she was as she slowly came down. Then he met her eyes and grinned. “Let’s do that again.”

“You don’t have?—”

He growled and nipped her inner thigh, and she swallowed the rest, gladly. His lips found her clit once more, his tongue teasing, slowly stroking, building her pleasure. Using everything he’d learned until she could barely breathe.

Her hands fell back from his hair, and she gripped the sheets, drowning in sensation. And then she heard the buzzing of her vibrator, set to its lowest, rumbliest setting.

He pulled away for a moment, spreading lube over the vibrator before turning back to her.

“Oh God. Josh. I…” She forgot what she wanted to say as he guided the vibrator inside her, just to her entrance, and licked her clit once more.

His free hand came up to pluck her nipple, and she gasped. He was everywhere. His lips and tongue teased and circled, his fingers tugged and tortured, and the deep, powerful vibrations spread through her in heated waves.

“Are you ready, Ellie?” His mouth moved over her clit. “Can you take more?”

She lifted her hips, pushing closer, and he chuckled, sliding the vibrator deeper even as he returned his attention to her clit, tonguing her in tight circles. She was sweating now, the pleasure shuddering through her. All the blood in her body pooled in the places where he was touching her. Her hips pushed forward, taking more, every part of her rushing toward him, toward the paradise he offered. She whimpered, reaching for it.

“Ellie. God. That whimper. I’ve been dreaming of it. I’ve been needing it.” His lips closed around her clit, and he sucked. She shattered once more, keening as her body shuddered through the most intense orgasm she’d ever had.

Josh crawled forward to hold himself on his elbows over her. His bare chest pressed against hers, a comforting weight, and his skin smelled of heat and salt. “More?” he asked.

She lifted her head to kiss him, tasting herself, musky and sweet, before agreeing. “More. I want you inside me now.” She pointed to her bedside table. “Condoms are in there.”

He rolled off her to strip out of his jeans and then pulled out the sealed box, ripping off the plastic and pulling out a condom. He tore open the wrapper and rolled it on before crawling over her again. His heavy cock settled between her thighs, nudging at her entrance. “How are your ribs?” he asked, voice rough.

The ache had faded far into the background. “Fine.” She cupped his face with her hand, wrapped her legs around his hips, and dragged him closer. “Thank you.”

“Good.” He bit his lip, brow furrowed as he concentrated. And slid into her so steadily, so smoothly, that she could feel every inch of him joining her in one long, lush penetration. Their breaths heaved together, bodies slowly merging until eventually he was fully seated inside her. And even then he held himself tightly controlled, letting her get used to his length. Letting the need to move build.

Ellie was still tingling with the power of the orgasms she’d had, her body floating and languid, but the strength of his body over hers, the way he filled her, brought her back. She raised her head to lick his tortured lip. To tease and soothe it. The movement settled her body even closer to his, and she reveled in the connection.

Josh began to move, a sensuous retreat followed by an intoxicating return. She was soft and flushed and molten, awash in a sea of pleasure. He lifted his head to watch her, his eyes on hers, and she couldn’t look away, couldn’t break that primal connection. He saw her. And she saw him.

And then he pressed his pubic bone against her clit, and her pleasure started to spiral upward once more. Her body tightened, clasping around his, and she moaned, lifting her hips, trying to drive him even deeper.

“You’re so beautiful when you come, Ellie. I want to see it again.” Josh’s voice was hoarse, the skin on his back hot and sweat-slick as she smoothed her hands over him, needing to hold him. “You look like a forbidden feast. For me to lick and taste and devour.” He dipped his face into her neck and thrust harder, deeper, grinding against her clit with every motion, somehow finding that swollen, aching place inside her.

Her hands slid into his hair, holding him against her neck as she arched her back, hunger building once more. He circled his hips, sparking new currents through her feverish nerves. “And you sound… God. You sound like an erotic fantasy. You sound like I dreamed you.”

His pace picked up, and she met him thrust for thrust. His teeth were on her throat, his body locked with hers. He dragged his free hand along her arm to find her hand and thread his fingers through hers, and she gripped it tightly, clinging to him as he drove into her, as he took her all the way to the top.

“Are you going to come for me, Ellie? One more time? Are you going to take us over the edge?”

“Yes.” She panted the word. “I am.” She tightened her inner muscles, holding him deep inside her. He ground against her clit as she arched into him, his breath hot on her neck as he whispered her name, and she flew.

Incandescent pleasure flowed over her in wave after wave as she clung to him. He lost his steady rhythm to desperate thrusts, finding his own peak and exploding through it.

And then he collapsed over her as they both shuddered, holding each other through the aftershocks as they slowly found their breath and returned to earth once more.

He shifted to her side, pulling her with him, pressing soft kisses to her cheek and hair. And she held him long after, turning to rest her head against his chest where she could hear his heart beating. Taking her chance to trace the lines of ink up his arm, following the story they told. They were trees, she could see them now. A dense, impenetrable forest.

Perhaps it would be wiser to let him go. To stay clear of the forbidden woods and the dangers they held. To keep emotions out, as she’d promised.

But she didn’t. She couldn’t. Whatever hurt came later as a consequence, she’d take it.