Chapter 17
Thavros
Icould not take my eyes off her.
The dress was simple. But on Seraphina, it was a vision. Deep emerald green, cinched gently beneath her breasts, the fabric hugging her curves before flaring at her hips. She looked radiant, ethereal, painfully beautiful. And she was completely unaware of what she did to me.
I had always found her captivating. Even in stone, I’d been drawn to her. But now? Standing in my study, warm and soft and so very alive? I was utterly ruined.
She smiled at me, slightly uncertain, as if testing how she fit into this world in her new, fully awakened state.
And I, orc that I was, could barely form a sentence. The sight of her undid me.
When she leaned over the table to examine one of the open scrolls, her hair slipped over one shoulder, and I saw the delicate curve of her neck, leading into the shadowed dip between her breasts. My hands twitched. My body ached. And for the first time in my life, logic was nowhere to be found.
“Thavros?” she asked, peering up at me with that look that was always part mischief, part vulnerability. “Are you even listening?”
“No,” I said honestly. “Not even a little.”
She laughed, and Gods, I was a goner.
I crossed the space between us before I could second-guess myself. My hand found her waist, and I watched her breath hitch.
Then I kissed her.
There was nothing tentative this time. No slow build or testing of waters. Just a deep need, fierce and heady. Her lips parted beneath mine, her hands finding the front of my tunic, fisting the fabric as she pulled me closer.
I deepened the kiss and let my hand drift lower, sliding around the swell of her hip.
I lifted her, setting her on the desk before me as I pulled at the hem of her dress until I could feel her.
I let my hand trace from her calf up her leg.
Her skin was warm silk. A small moan escaped her mouth as she kissed me back.
Her legs widened slightly, and I took it as a sign.
Slowly, I trailed my hand to the apex of her thighs, giving her time to stop me.
When she didn’t, I found the heat between her thighs already slick and wanting, and I groaned against her mouth.
She gasped, but she didn’t stop me. She arched into my touch like her body had been waiting for mine.
And maybe it had.
Her fingers, small and warm, slid along my sides. They were tentative at first, then they grew bolder. When her palm grazed my chest, my breath caught. But when she reached lower, trailing down my stomach, I stilled.
She hesitated at the lacing of my pants, eyes flicking up to meet mine, searching for permission. I gave her a gentle nod.
Then her hand slipped beneath the waistband and wrapped around my hard length.
Her gasp was immediate.
“Oh, Gods,” she whispered. “It’s so… big.”
I gritted my teeth, every part of me pulsing with the effort not to push into her hand.
"You don’t have to do anything,” I said, voice thick with desire. “Not ever. Not unless you want to.”
She blinked up at me, pupils blown wide.
"I want to," she said softly, tentatively.
For a second, I couldn’t breathe. Not because of where her hand was, though that would’ve been enough, but because of the way she looked at me. Open. Wanting.
“I want to,” she said again, firmer this time.
Something in my chest cracked wide open. Not just lust, though Gods, that too, but with reverence. Gratitude.
She wanted me.
Not because of magic, prophecy, or some strange fate.
Because of who we were together.
I brushed her cheek with my knuckles, voice hoarse. “Then we’ll take our time. I’ll follow your lead.”
Her smile, though nervous, was beautiful. It was my undoing.
She squeaked as I tossed her over my shoulder easily, like a sack of grain. I was grinning now, fully overcome with orcish need and desire.
She laughed, breathless. “Thavros! Where are we going?"
I gave her ass a gentle smack. “We’re doing this right.”
“And ‘right’ means man-handling me like a proper orc?” she teased, giggling.
I grinned. “Exactly. You deserve nothing less.”
Somehow, I managed to wind us through the maze of halls.
I turned a corner and came to a couple of orcs.
One stopped in surprise because I almost ran him down.
The other gave me a grin of approval. Orcs were not shy about sex.
We did it often, some even did it out in the open.
We saw it as part of life. You needed to eat, you needed to breathe, you needed to fuck.
But as I rounded the corner of my chambers, it didn't feel quite that cut and dry. This was different; it felt like more. I opened the door and dropped Seraphina on the bed. She landed with a huff.
I turned to close the door, then I sat on the bed and pulled her body up to standing before me as I slowly started to undo the buttons on her dress. I kissed her lips, her jaw, her neck, her shoulders, and then I let the dress drop to the floor.
She started to pull again at my trousers. I guided her back to the bed as I stood and began to disrobe.
I didn’t rush.
She was stretched out on my bed like a vision from a half-remembered prayer, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, nearly trembling with anticipation.
And Gods help me, I wanted to savor every inch of her.
I lowered myself slowly between her legs, kissing a path down the soft swell of her belly, nuzzling the sensitive skin of her inner thigh as she gasped. Her fingers clutched at the blankets beneath her, breath already coming in shallow bursts.
“You’re sure?” I asked one last time, even as I mouthed gently at the crease of her hip.
Her answer was breathless, “Yes, Thavros. Please.”
And that was all I needed.
My tongue found her heat, soft and slick and perfect. The first sound she made, that broken moan of my name, nearly undid me. It was as if the Gods had given her to me; chants of mine echoed in my brain as I ached to claim her.
She arched up into my mouth, hands tangling in my hair, and I gave her everything. Every flick, every slow circle, every growled praise against her center until her thighs clenched around my head and she shattered. I tasted her release on my tongue, and my world was complete.
But I didn’t stop.
Not until she was gasping my name and trembling all over, body glowing like something sacred. It was as if her body were glowing, a faint golden light emanating from her.
Only then did I kiss my way back up her body, reverent and unhurried, until our foreheads met and her hands cupped my face like she wasn’t sure I was real.
“You’re glowing,” I whispered.
She raised her hand and looked at it. She was indeed glowing. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I’d heard those with Godling blood did this sometimes, but to see it with my own eyes was something else entirely.
Then her small hand found my bare chest and gave it a gentle shove.
I fell to my back as she stood up from the bed and then got onto her knees between my legs.
My cock was hard as stone, jutting in the air between us and already dripping.
Her eyebrows flew up in surprise as she took in the size of it right in front of her, but then a look of determination settled on her face.
It was quite possibly the cutest thing I'd ever seen.
Then she wrapped her soft, pale hand around me, and all thoughts were gone. It wasn’t the first time a woman’s hand had touched my cock, but it felt more intense than anything ever had before. I was left barely able to control myself as my cock pulsed in her grip and my knot swelled even bigger.
"What is this?" she asked, her other hand reaching out and holding my knot.
A groan sounded from deep in my chest at the feeling of both her hands on my shaft as a satisfied grin settled over her face. "That is a knot. It is only used between mates."
I would have to wait until there was more blood free to go to my brain later to examine the fact that this beautiful little creature had made my knot appear.
But right now, I could think of nothing but how I was aching to fill her, because when she lowered her mouth and licked a bit of precum from the fat head of my cock, there was no room for thoughts, only desperate want.
I watched as she stretched her mouth over my cock, sliding what inches she could into her mouth until I hit the back of her throat. I gripped the sheets, keeping my hips still, letting her learn my body at her own speed despite the intense urge to rut into her at an obscene pace.
"Is this good?" she asked after pulling back off of me, looking up at me with her big, hazel eyes.
"Yes, my sweet Seraphina, it is more than good," I croaked out in between frantic breaths.
She dropped her mouth back down my cock until it hit the back of her throat again, and I groaned, unable to resist moving my hips ever so slightly.
I could already feel my release building. I needed to stop her. I would surely choke her, but I couldn't seem to find the will to make her stop.
"Gods, your mouth feels–" She took the words from me as she closed her lips around the shaft and sucked.
"Seraphina, you must stop," I said on a shaky groan. "I am going to come."
She just looked up at me with that same look of determination, not backing off an inch, and I lost control.
I gripped the sheets as I gave over to the pleasure, ropes of my release hitting the back of her throat.
She swallowed, but there was too much. It seeped out of her mouth and down my cock, pooling on my stomach and around the base.
When I’m beginning to question how she is still able to breathe, she finally pops off, panting.
But my release was still coming, slowing down to spurts.
I covered her face with a few last pulses.
I pulled her to me and claimed her mouth, needing to feel her close. I would deal with the mess in a moment. Right now, I just needed to be near her. I needed to feel her soft body pressed against mine.
"Gods, you are perfect," I said reverently as I kissed the top of her head and smelled her hair, still scenting wild flowers and old books. Perfection.
She didn't have any words to say, but when she looked up at me, her eyes said it all. Her expression shone with adoration and fondness, and with other emotions I dare not name —not yet.
"Let me get you cleaned up," I said, finally finding the energy to get up.
I didn't go far. I got a cloth and brought it over, carefully cleaning my release from her chest, neck, and face before cleaning myself.
"Please come back to bed. I want you to hold me," she said.
I did not care for the hesitation in her voice. "Yes, of course, I just needed to clean you up. I want nothing more than to hold you."
I settled back in bed, and she immediately came over, laying her head on my chest as she stretched out next to me, tossing one leg over my own. I held her close as I kissed the top of her head again. Yes, another perfect moment with my mate.
I stilled.
That thought … Was she my mate? Could it be?
"Thavros? What is it?"
"Nothing, little flame," I said as I petted her head and kissed her forehead.
She settled back on my chest. "So... you have a knot..." She said tentatively.
A chuckle erupted from deep inside of me. "I do."
"It's... well... it's all quite large."
"It is."
"Have you ever... ummm ... well, what I'm wanting to ask is if ...."
"You want to know if it will fit?" I asked, trying to bite back the grin that wanted to spread across my face.
She looked up at me with a sheepish expression covering her face and nodded.
"With enough time, preparation, and practice, anything is possible."
She smiled but bit her lip and settled her head back on me.
"Thank you, Thavros," she said, barely above a whisper.
"What on earth are you thanking me for?" I asked as I rubbed her arm.
"Thank you for helping me last night, and really every other night we've been together."
I took a deep breath, trying to get control over my heart that was just about to shatter at her sweet words. "It is my deepest honor."
We both sat in a solemn moment of silence, honoring whatever was building between us.
Then she looked up at me with a wicked grin, which I loved just as much. "And thank you for the orgasm."
"That," I said as I pressed another soft kiss to her lips, "is my deepest pleasure. One I hope to do again. Very soon."