Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Riven
I waved goodbye to my mother and Sami, who had dropped me off under the portico, then let myself into the grand house through the front door. Usually I entered through the garage, and it felt strange to step into this mansion’s foyer, as if I were someone special.
Resisting the urge to call Hellooooo, I giggled to myself as I locked the door behind me and shrugged out of my light jacket. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that last spiked cider, but it had felt good to let myself go, especially after the nerve-wracking last few days as I’d tiptoed around Abydos.
Abydos. I wondered if he was home. Before I’d even crossed the foyer, I knew the answer. The house just felt right with him here, which was strange.
What I didn’t expect, though, was to find him sitting in the den, staring at me through the archway.
The lights had been dimmed, and I could see the stars through the picture windows that lined the wall behind him. He was sitting on the couch with one leg thrown across the other, one hand holding a glass on his knee. Watching me.
“Happy Halloween!” I blurted, then winced at my gawkiness and clutched my jacket to me.
He said nothing, didn’t move.
A little concerned now, I crept closer. “Abydos? Did you have a good time at the festival?” I’d seen him there. “I was really glad you went.”
Now he hummed and lifted the glass to his mouth, and I recognized the floral scent of the cheap penguin wine I’d been drinking that night in the kitchen. My brows rose as I stumbled toward him.
“Are you okay? You looked like you were enjoying yourself on Main Street.”
He lowered the glass. “You saw me?”
Was that an accusation? Was he angry?
Thinking only to reassure him, I sank down on the couch beside him, trying to share my enthusiasm. “I did—we did—but I didn’t know what the protocol was. I mean, you’re my boss, and your family was trick-or-treating, and I was with my family, and Tarkhan was distracted by a few spiked ciders—”
“I know Tark.” Abydos’s words seemed to come from the darkness, even though he was sitting right beside me. “It would take at least a dozen spiked ciders to get him drunk.”
I grinned. “Yes, fine, we were single-handedly keeping Meli’s Bake Shoppe in business.
Mom was helping to run the games the church was sponsoring to raise money for the women’s shelter, so we spent most of our time there.
I found out my sister Brooke is coming for Christmas, so we both went into planning mode.
I didn’t want to butt in on your time with your family—”
I stopped talking when his free hand moved to cover mine on the couch. In fact, I stopped talking so quickly I made a little sort of choking noise.
A moment passed, and then Abydos said, “I would have liked to have met your mother.”
“Really?” The word was wrenched from me before I could help myself. “I mean, um. She’s a human.”
“Is she? Huh.” I saw a flash of teeth. “I met plenty of humans tonight. I was civil to all of them.”
I felt myself grinning slightly. “You mean you didn’t scare the piss out of any of them?”
“You’re not scared of me.”
Since he seemed to be asking, I twisted my hand so our palms were touching, and I slowly eased my fingers between his. “No, I’m not,” I whispered, remembering that kiss—more than that kiss. “And none of the humans in Eastshore tried to hurt you, did they?”
His fingers tightened around mine. “Not all humans are like that, Riven. Haven’t you heard?”
Since those were my words, I began to giggle.
Or maybe it was the ciders. Or maybe because it was easier to feel this intimacy here in the darkness.
Whatever it was, my giggles turned to snorts as I tried to muffle them, then he made a little noise with his tongue, a little noise of surrender, and tugged on my hand.
In one motion, he’d uncrossed his legs, planted the wine at his side, and pulled me into his lap. Unlike the night I’d had cramps, this time I wasn’t going to lie passively as he pulled me around. I wanted this.
Yeah, it was probably the three spiked ciders.
Because I ended up not just in Abydos’s lap but straddling him.
Tonight, I’d worn a cute little skirt with one of my habitual T-shirts.
This one was orange and black, and that information absolutely does not matter, but what does is that my boots came up almost to my knees, and my skirt was a little above them, so when I straddled Abydos’s legs, the skirt sort of swooshed out of the way, and I realized there was nothing but air between my thighs and his.
My breath had whooshed out of me, my jacket had fallen to the floor, and my palms were pressed against his chest. Actually, one of his hands was holding one of mine there, and I could feel his heart hammering beneath my touch.
Its beat matched my own pulse, and I wondered if he was as nervous as I was.
“Abydos,” I breathed, wide-eyed, our noses inches apart as I knelt over him.
His hand left mine to settle with the other one on my waist. Holding me in place? All I knew was that I had no desire to leave him.
These last few days had been torture; avoiding him in shame at what I’d done to him in the kitchen. But now…he’d been the one to pull me to him. Did he want this?
Did he want this as much as I wanted this?
I’d spent days hiding from him, because every time I saw him—those wide shoulders, those delicious forearms, that strong jaw—I felt liquid heat pull in my core again. God, I wanted him.
He didn’t blink, and I could see that strange flicker of green in the center of his dark gaze. “Riven, I need you to know something.” As he spoke, his hands slid to my hips, his fingers tightening.
“Anything,” I whispered.
“Orc senses are highly advanced. I can smell everything.”
Um. “Is that why you like my cooking?”
He leaned forward, his nose at my temple and his unbroken tusk sliding softly along my cheek. “It’s why I like you.” I shuddered but didn’t pull away. “Riven, I can smell your arousal.”
Oh God. Oh God.
I rasped, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He nuzzled my hair, his fingertips massaging the top of my ass. “It’s been driving me mad since I felt you come.”
I was shaking. Literally shaking, and I wasn’t sure if it was embarrassment or anticipation or what. “I…Abydos, I…please.”
Surely he didn’t know what I was begging for any more than I did, but I felt his chuckle against my hair.
“My delicious little human, do you have any idea what I’ve been dreaming about since I kissed you?”
Before I could answer, he pulled my hips forward until I was flush against him, and oh God his erection was magnificent. He no longer wore the jacket and tie I’d seen him in downtown, but his cock strained against his trousers, making my mouth water.
I whimpered and rocked my hips forward as he groaned in response.
When our lips met, it was mutual, beautiful, each of us reaching for the other.
I mean, granted, we didn’t have far to go, but we groaned into each other’s mouths as we met.
His tongue was just as stimulating as I remembered, just as perfect, and I tried to match his teasing.
When I caught his lower lip between my teeth and pulled it into my mouth, he bucked beneath me, and I smiled.
His fingers slid under the hem of my T-shirt, and I stiffened for a moment, but they didn’t go any farther up. He held my waist, his fingertips against my skin, and I melted into him once more. My core was already flooded with desire—I knew my panties were soaked as I rocked against him.
His lips brushed mine again, and when he pulled back I saw a flicker of subtle humor in his dark eyes.
“Tell me, little human,” he rumbled, his tusk grazing my cheek, “trick…or treat?”
I made a show of pretending to think, dragging my lower lip between my teeth as if I could weigh the options. My pulse was already hammering, heat pooling between my thighs. “Mmm,” I whispered, my grin tilting sly. “Treat.”
His answering growl was sinful. “Then I’ll give you something none of your other lovers could.
” He lowered his mouth to my throat, his tusk tracing a line down my collarbone as his tongue followed—heat and danger and promise all at once.
The scrape of ivory—or were tusks made of bone?
—against sensitive skin had me shuddering, and then his tongue found the hollow of my throat. “That’s your treat.”
Had he marked me? My skin felt as if he had, branded me somehow with his touch. I gasped, and his answering growl vibrated through me as his wide tongue swept across my skin—ridged, teasing, deliberate—until I was whimpering, rocking against him.
Was this going to be a repeat of the other night? Where I just hump him until I got off, and sucks to be him?
No.
No, I didn’t want that.
I knew this wasn’t a long-term thing or whatever, I knew it wasn’t formal. This was just the two of us having a good time, but I wanted to be the one to take care of him. To bring him pleasure.
“Abydos,” I gasped, breaking the kiss and pulling away. My hands cupped his cheeks, my thumbs tracing circles along his jaw. “I want…”
He stared at me for a long while, then sighed and gave the command to the smart house system. “Stanley, lights forty percent.”
The overhead lights slowly grew in brightness, but not so bright I had to squint. I could see him better now, see his cautious expression.
Knowing that Abydos was uncertain about how to proceed made me feel bolder, and I stretched to kiss his brow. “I want you to be happy, Abydos.”
Instead of answering, he pulled my hips forward to cradle his cock again, and I had to grin, because I understood what he was saying.
But I wanted more. Remembering what Tarkhan had told me, I smiled teasingly, leaned forward…and drew my tongue along his unbroken right tusk. The way Abydos gasped and jerked sideways, eyes wide, told me it was sensitive. So why…
My thumb traced the scars along the left side of his mouth. “Why didn’t you cap this, Abydos? It hurts you, doesn’t it?”
His gaze was wary. “It does.”