Chapter 18
KNOX
The velvet box sits open in my palm, and I am acutely aware that I have never been more terrified in my existence.
I have faced charging cavalry lines without flinching, negotiated hostile takeovers with rival clans who threatened to gut me where I stood, and stared down the combined disapproval of three ancient matriarchs whose collective age exceeds most human civilizations.
None of those experiences prepared me for the visceral terror of watching Cypress's face as she processes what I have just asked her.
The bonding bracer gleams in the soft office lighting, its solid gold surface inlaid with diamonds that trace the traditional Bloodaxe clan pattern—a stylized axe crossed with a quill, representing the merger of our martial heritage with our newfound dominion over the realm of commerce.
I commissioned it three weeks ago from the finest Orcish goldsmith in the city, a grizzled veteran of my grandmother's generation who nearly wept with joy when I explained that I intended to bond with a human woman who had proven herself worthy of our clan's highest honors.
The bracer is sized specifically for Cypress's delicate wrist, designed to sit just below her pulse point where she will feel its weight with every heartbeat, a constant reminder of the permanent claim I wish to place upon her brilliant, beautiful, impossibly brave heart.
She has not spoken. Her eyes are fixed on the bracer, wide and glistening with moisture, and her hands have come up to cover her mouth.
"In Orcish tradition, we do not use rings as humans do.
The bracer represents a bond that encompasses the entire person—their strength, their will, their capacity to stand beside their partner in all battles, whether fought with sword or spreadsheet.
I chose diamonds because they are the hardest substance known to both our peoples, representing a commitment that cannot be broken by any force.
And gold, because you are the most precious treasure I have ever claimed, worth more to me than all the wealth I have accumulated across three decades of financial conquest."
Cypress lowers her hands from her mouth, and I see that tears are streaming down her cheeks in silver tracks that catch the light.
"Knox. You ridiculous, wonderful, completely impossible man."
She launches herself at me with such force that I nearly topple backward despite my size, her arms wrapping around my neck and her body pressing against mine with desperate urgency.
I catch her automatically, my free arm closing around her waist while I struggle to keep the velvet box from tumbling to the floor, and then her mouth finds mine in a kiss that communicates everything her words have not yet managed to express.
She kisses me like I am oxygen and she has been drowning, like I am the answer to every question she has ever asked, like she has been waiting her entire life for this moment without knowing what she was waiting for.
"Yes," she gasps against my lips when we finally break apart, both of us breathing hard. "Yes, absolutely yes, a thousand times yes. Put that beautiful thing on my wrist immediately before I lose my mind entirely."
My hands are shaking as I extract the bracer from its velvet nest, and I have to pause and take several deep breaths to steady myself before attempting the delicate work of fastening it around her slender wrist. She holds her arm up to admire it, turning her wrist this way and that, and the sight of my clan's symbol permanently adorning her body sends a surge of possessive pride through my entire being that is almost overwhelming in its intensity.
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Almost as beautiful as you are, kneeling there looking like you thought I might actually say no."
"The possibility had occurred to me." I rise to my feet, closing the distance between us until she has to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact.
"You are a creature of extraordinary value, Cypress.
Any rational assessment would conclude that you could do far better than a battle-scarred Orc with poor impulse control and a tendency to resolve complex interpersonal conflicts by throwing people through furniture. "
She laughs, bright and joyful, and the sound fills the office like music.
"Any rational assessment would conclude that you are the most loyal, passionate, surprisingly gentle, devastatingly intelligent partner I could ever hope to find.
Also, watching you throw that corporate spy through the conference room window was genuinely one of the most attractive things I've ever witnessed, and I refuse to apologize for that. "
I growl low in my throat, a sound of pure masculine satisfaction, and pull her flush against my body so she can feel exactly how much her words affect me. "You are a bloodthirsty little creature beneath that professional exterior. I find this quality deeply appealing."
"I learned from the best." She rises on her toes to press a kiss to the underside of my jaw, her breath warm against my skin. "Now. The party is still going on outside, and I believe we have some very important celebrating of our own to do."
The click of the mechanism sounds impossibly loud in the sudden silence, and when I turn back to face her, Cypress is already working on the buttons of her blouse with fingers that tremble slightly with anticipation.
"Allow me." I close the distance between us in two long strides and bat her hands away gently, replacing them with my own much larger fingers.
"I have fantasized about unwrapping you in this office since the first moment I saw you sitting at that conference table, looking at me like I was simultaneously terrifying and slightly ridiculous. "
"You were both of those things." She shivers as I ease the silk fabric off her shoulders, revealing the delicate lace of her bra beneath.
"You broke down the door like some kind of financial Viking and then demanded to know who was responsible for the appalling state of the accounts receivable ledger.
I had never been so confused or so inappropriately attracted to anyone in my life. "
"The ledger truly was appalling. The previous administration had no respect for proper documentation protocols.
" I trace the line of her collarbone with one claw-tipped finger, watching goosebumps rise in its wake.
"But I confess that my attention was divided from the moment I laid eyes on you.
Something about the way you met my gaze without flinching, the intelligence burning in your eyes, the defiant set of your shoulders despite your obvious fear.
I knew immediately that you were different from every other human I had encountered in this realm of paper and coin. "
Her hands find my body, working at the buttons of my waistcoat with considerably more urgency than I am applying to her clothing. "Less talking about ledgers, more removing of these obscenely well-tailored garments. I want to feel your skin against mine."
I comply with her demand, shrugging out of my jacket and waistcoat while she attacks my shirt buttons with single-minded determination.
The fabric hits the floor in a pile that would make my tailor weep, but I cannot bring myself to care when Cypress's small, warm hands are finally splayed across my bare body, tracing the lines of muscle and the old battle scars with reverent fingers.
"You are so impossibly beautiful. Every time I see you like this, I still can't quite believe you're real."
I reach behind her and unfasten her bra with a dexterity that has improved dramatically since our first encounter, when I accidentally shredded the garment in my enthusiasm and had to endure an extremely pointed lecture about the cost of quality undergarments.
The lace falls away, and I cup her breasts in my palms, marveling as always at how perfectly they fit despite the vast difference in our sizes, how soft and warm her skin feels against my calloused hands.
"The desk," I growl, walking her backward until her thighs hit my giant mahogany workspace. "I want you spread across my desk like a feast, wearing nothing but that bracer and the knowledge that you belong to me completely."
She makes a sound that is half laugh, half moan as I lift her easily and set her on the polished surface, sweeping aside the neat stacks of financial documents with one arm.
Papers flutter to the floor like snow, and neither of us spares them a second glance as I step between her parted thighs and claim her mouth in a kiss that leaves no doubt about my intentions.
Her skirt rides up around her hips as I press closer, and I can feel her through the thin fabric of her underwear, a siren call that makes my control fray at the edges.
I want to devour her, to worship her, to mark her so thoroughly that she will feel my presence in every cell of her body for days afterward.
But I also want to savor this moment, to stretch it out until we are both trembling on madness, because she has just agreed to be mine forever and that knowledge deserves to be commemorated properly.
"Knox." My name on her lips is a prayer and a demand all at once. "Please. I need—"
"I know what you need, my valkyrie." I ease back just enough to remove the last barriers between us, handling her underwear with considerably more care than I've managed in some of our more frantic encounters.
"I know every sound you make, every shiver, every way your body tells me exactly what it craves.
And I am going to give you everything, because you have given me something infinitely more precious. "