CHAPTER 28
Zara
R eading with Rudgar was just as distracting as I thought it would be. And it didn’t help that his big, sexy orc body was in close proximity to a bed. While it was Tabitha’s bed, so I had to have a certain level of respect for it, the part of my brain that only saw how big and fuckable Rudgar was had me deep under its spell.
Male. Sexy. Touch.
Especially now that I knew how amazing it was to be touched by him. Fucked by him. Licking my lips, I trailed my gaze down him to where his cock was pushing out against his pants.
“What’re you thinking over there, Gul-ar?” he asked, his voice a rasp of throaty sound. My gaze flew to his, clashing with the bright blue that drew me like a moth to a flame.
“Things that are going to get me in trouble,” I said as I saw his lips curve in a confident smirk.
Damn him for being so fucking gorgeous and knowing it.
“Why don’t we focus for a little?” he asked, running his big fingers down my arm until he twined our hands together. I sank against him, allowing his strength to cradle me and his heat to surround me. “And then once Savla’s working on your wand, we can… take a break?”
The erotic promise of his words raced through me and I licked my lips, turning from him. I needed to focus—to remember that if I didn’t kill Veron, no one would be safe. My family, including Rudgar, would be at risk because of me.
I couldn’t have that. I had a plan and I had to focus if I was going to execute it. With one hand pressed against his chest, my nails sunk into his skin, but I shoved him away—not actually moving him, but trying my best.
“Get your sexy, tempting self away from me or I’ll never get this done,” I demanded and he grinned down at me.
My insides melted at that. The lines at the corners of his eyes, the softening of his gaze.
I love him so much.
But he was only going to distract me and I couldn’t have that.
“Shoo, shoo, shoo,” I told him, waving my fingers toward the door, and he dropped his face until he pressed a brief kiss against my lips. Nothing like the lustful foray I wanted, just a little peck.
Damn him.
Then he stood, sauntering out of Tabitha’s bedroom and flexing his arms and ass with poses as he went. I snorted out a laugh at his silliness, my love for him expanding inside of me like it had no limits.
And that’s what I’m scared of.
What if I fell so deeply in love with this male that I couldn’t see where I started and where he ended? And then I lost him? Or he lost me?
I couldn’t possibly be worth it. I hadn’t brought anything but trouble to my mother’s life and while I had to protect my coven, did I need to involve Rudgar? Emotion clogged my throat, but as if he realized what was going on in my head, he turned before he exited the bedroom, looking at me with a small smile.
“You’re everything perfect in this universe to me. Everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a mate and more. We’ll get out on the other side of this, Gul-ar, and then I’ll be able to show you that I’m worth the risk, I promise,” he whispered.
Those words hit me like an arrow to the heart.
Damn him, for real. How dare he get mushy with me when I want to protect him?
I had to give us the chance he was asking for. My mom always called me her brave girl. She would want me to live my life to the fullest and that was what I was going to do. In her honor and memory, I was going to take my chance with my male.
I’m going to be the best mate that he could ever hope for.
I flipped my hair over my shoulder, shimmying my shoulders as I remember his groans of pleasure when he was fucking me. I was already killing it as a mate in the sex department. Now I just needed to fill the rest of the requirements and I would be golden.
Next step, crushing date night.
I took a deep breath as I grasped at the hands of the two females at my sides—Tasia and Tabitha. We’d gathered in the living room of the main apartment after finishing all the research we could.
The protection spell, fortification spells and runes were laid out on the make-shift altar inside the circle. It was a coffee table, and I was almost certain that Rudgar wouldn’t appreciate the chalk marks and accidental scratches on the finish of the wood with crystals that had been made, but it was all for the cause.
Once we get this over with and he can be buried balls-deep inside me everyday, he’ll realize it’s worth it.
Grinning at the thought, I lifted our hands, taking a deep breath before I started a hum that was echoed around the circle. It was the warm up for our chants—something that my mother had taught me would be a good way to get the magick flowing through us as one before we began.
My heart ached at the realization that I would be fully leading a circle in a spell without my mother there. It was something that she’d mentioned wanting to see over and over again.
I pushed the melancholy to the back of my mind as the hum rose in pitch. Gabbi was out scribbling with the chalks on a corner of the floor and walls furthest away from us— just in case my magick went awry and sent shockwaves anywhere that it wasn’t being aimed.
One voice rose a little higher—beginning the chant. It was Hanna’s. Her voice was the most potent, and I’d always wondered if she had a hint of siren blood in her history.
She’d never let me get my grubby hands on a sample of her blood to have it tested and that might have been for the best. For all of their beauty, beings were wary of sirens because of their history with the old warring factions.
As her voice rose, sending chills down my spine and across my skin, though, I knew that there might be some fact to it. The power in her voice was clear, channeling us as we aimed our hands in unison toward the wood, laid out in the very center of the table. Right above the central rune.
I feel it .
The magick was pouring out of us—something that I hadn’t been able to achieve before. Wonder filled me as I realized that the wood was already working to focus my skills. I glanced up at Tabitha who was grinning at me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I sent a prayer of gratitude to the Goddess Mother before continuing. A purple glow started around the wood, increasing in intensity as the chanting and ritual reached its pinnacle. With a whisper of the spell in magick, the glow continued to grow as our voices did.
When the final words of the spell left us, the glow slowed and then disappeared altogether, but the potency remained. The wood carried an energy now that it hadn’t before. I released the hands I was probably squeezing too tight and reached out.
The moment my fingers touched the wood, I felt it. The energy of the protection spell was pure and potent, running through my body and down my spine.
“Oh wow, it definitely worked,” I squealed, spinning around in the circle so they could all touch the wood. Oohs and aahs sounded from all of them.
Beaming like a lunatic I did a tiny jig on the spot before saying, “Okay, I’ll get this across to Savla and then it’s date night with my male.”
“Ah the early stages,” Tasia said, shoving her elbow into my side. “Where it’s all sex, sex and more sex.”
“I’ll have you know,” I said primly, sticking my nose up into the air. “That it’s exactly like that.”
They all rolled their eyes but waved me off, settling themselves on the sofas with puffs of air. “Sorry for making you use all your energy on this,” I apologized, nibbling on my lower lip.
Tabitha waved me off. “You don’t have to worry about us,” she said. “We’ll take power boosters before we fight those bastards.”
I nodded, knowing that once I had the completed wand in my hand, I was going to work on the boosters myself. I would imbue them with my own power, ensuring it was compatible for each of them. That was the least I could do after they were willing to defend me against the bastards who’d taken me.
“Off with you,” Floria called, waving her hand in front of herself, slumped in her chair. “Your orc’s waiting.”
A mischievous grin crossed my face.
Yes, he is.
I dance-walked my way out of the apartment to the elevator, doing a spin as it moved up to Savla’s floor. I wiggled my way down the hall, waving at Enka who passed by me with a shake of his head and an indulgent smile.
With a final moonwalk to Savla’s door, my terrible voice now joining in my dancing with a high-pitched screech, I performed for him, brandishing the wand wood with a flourish and almost taking his eye out.
He grabbed it from me, huffing out an exasperated breath as he closed the door in my face. I rolled my eyes with a huff and a muttered, “No one around here appreciates raw talent,” before making my way back to the elevator.
I startled as it eased open and I saw Rudgar standing inside it, a grin playing on his thick, luscious lips while he had one hand nonchalantly in his pocket and the other holding his phone. “Hey,” I breathed, moving over to him and running my hands up his chest as he leaned down to press a kiss to my lips. “I was just coming to meet you,” I told him.
“I know,” he chuckled, showing me the screen where I could see us standing together on the floor with the doors closing behind us.
“Were you watching me?” I gasped, shaking my head. “Because I have to say, that’s pretty stalkery and hot at the same time. We’ll have to have a long, naked talk about your behavior.”
His laugh was low and sexy while he ran his big palms across my ass, tugging me against him so I was crushed to his front. “Oh, definitely. I intend to have a very long, naked talk with you.”
“Promises, promises,” I whispered, leaning forward to swipe my tongue into the hollow of his throat. He swallowed hard, groaning low in his throat.
“I’m trying to be good, Gul-ar. I want to woo you, not make you come twenty times with my tongue buried in your sweet pussy,” he whispered.
“Can we do both?” I gasped, as his fingers curved down to grip my pussy through the pants I was wearing.
Why didn’t I wear a skirt? Too little too late.
I moaned, my eyelids heavy with lust as he rocked his engorged cock against my soft belly.
Yep. This is how I want to die. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to be from being fucked to death by this orc.
“What did you plan?” I asked him, trying to distract us both, even though that was likely not going to happen. He moved us backward, his fingers still busy, until he could tap a button on the panel.
“I’m going to blow your mind,” he murmured, swiping his tongue over my ear, making me shiver.
“Done,” I gasped, my fingers digging into the flesh of his veiny forearm. “Now I want to suck your cock.”
He snorted out a laugh, shaking his head. “Today’s not about me, Gul-ar. It’s all for you.” He groaned as if that was his long-held dream. “I’m going to make sure you know how much you mean to me.”
“I get it,” I said, nodding and then reaching up to grip his tusks, yanking him down to me so I could crash my lips against his. “I totally understand. Now let’s go to your place and I can ride you.”
He spun me around so fast I yelped, forcing me to face the mirrored wall of the elevator. “No, you’re not going to seduce me into changing my plans, Gul-ar.”
I looked at our reflection in the mirror as he curled himself around me. He was so fucking big that I looked like a tiny gnat in comparison. And that was saying something , because I was tall and curvy as fuck. I took up a lot of space, and I didn’t care.
But looking at us now, I finally understood why he treated me like a porcelain doll most of the time. I felt the strength inside of him, and I knew he held back most of the time, but I didn’t want that. I wanted all of him unleashed on me.
I smirked, a plan forming in my mind as I nuzzled my head back against him, tucking myself into the crook of his neck.
“I love you,” I told him in a low voice. “So much.”
He stiffened, as if he wasn’t expecting that, but he ran his lips over my hair. “Are you being a good girl right now?” he asked, his voice incredulous.
“The best,” I told him with a smirk.
“I love you too,” he whispered, and cradled me closer, his cock pressed against my ass and back. “But I need you to behave so I can woo you.”
“You’ve already won me,” I giggled, unbuttoning my pants, taking his hand and sliding it inside.
His groan was the reward that I needed, even as his fingers made me moan. His other hand came up, cupping my jaw and slipping a finger inside my mouth at the same time he slid a finger inside my pussy.
I was sucking on it and shifting on my feet to get his finger deeper inside when the doors slid open. I gasped in outrage as he pulled both fingers free, sucking on the one covered in my cream before buttoning my pants closed in a quick moment.
A feat of strength that I usually took a few moments of laying flat and wiggling around on the bed to achieve. I glare at him.
“Hey, I was using those,” I admonish, but he dropped a quick kiss on my forehead and then led me out into the darkness of a floor I knew I’d never been inside of before. I was too turned on to register the temperature before, but now, I felt cool air gusting against us.
I sidled closer to him, but he took my hand into his and walked forward into the darkness.
Damn orcs and their night vision. I need to invest in some high-powered goggles.
“Why is it so cold?” I asked, pressing myself against him and absorbing the heat he exuded like a forge.
“I’m going to show you,” he said, pulling me in front of him before leaning close to my ear. “Close your eyes.”
“If this is some kinky shit—” I started, and he smacked my ass, making me yelp.
“Stop sassing me, brat. Close your eyes,” he demanded.
I did as I was told, but not before yanking his hand up to my face for a bite. The grunt he released told me he was amused by me but wouldn’t be swayed. He moved from behind me and I waited with as much patience as I could muster—which really wasn’t very much. I could hear the sound of things sliding and the brief hum of machinery as the temperature got even cooler.
By the time he was behind me again, I was vibrating in my skin.
“Open your eyes,” he murmured and I did, sucking in a shocked breath.
The view was spectacular. The sunset lay in front of us, a riot of oranges and purples, lying beyond the brilliant lights of the city.
Home. This is home now.
It was too gorgeous to look away, but I felt my mate come up behind me, wrapping me in the warmth of his arms as we watched the final minutes of the day. Feeling him behind me and the gorgeous view in front of me, I knew I was surrounded by everything I could ever need.
This is where I’m meant to be.