Chapter 18 #2
When he was fully sheathed, he paused again, waiting. She met his gaze and the look in those golden eyes made her heart ache. Not just desire but awe, as if he couldn’t believe this was happening either.
The impossible stretch eased a little and she rolled her hips experimentally. Pleasure jolted through her.
Oh. Oh, that was good.
He groaned, his control visibly fraying.
“Move,” she demanded, and he did, a slow, deep rhythm that built a fire in her blood.
This. This is what all the fuss is about.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deeper, her hips rising to meet his thrusts. The world narrowed to this. To him. To the incredible sensations building within her.
His movements grew faster, harder, more urgent. His good hand tangled in her hair, his mouth finding hers again in a desperate, devouring kiss that left her breathless.
She could feel his control fracturing, his Beast rising to the surface, and she welcomed it. Welcomed him. All of him.
It was too much. Not enough. Everything. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Her breath came in gasps.
“Khorrek. I—”
The pleasure crested, broke, and she cried out, her body clenching around him. He roared and she had the brief confused impression that he was growing even larger before he pulled out and collapsed against her, his breath coming in harsh gasps.
Her mind was blissfully empty.
Well. That was even more educational.
She felt Khorrek shift, and start to pull away.
“Stay,” she said.
“I’m too heavy.”
“I don’t care.”
He settled beside her instead and pulled her against his chest. She fit perfectly in the curve of his body.
How is this possible? We’re completely different sizes.
But somehow it worked. He gently stroked her hair, and her heart clenched.
I love him.
The thought should have terrified her.
She’d known him less than two weeks. She’d been dragged into his world against her will. Should be focused on getting home, but instead she was lying in his arms feeling more right than she ever had in her own world.
I’m in so much trouble.
“We should leave,” he said quietly, and her contentment shattered. “What?”
“Leave the city. Tonight. Before Lasseran can stop us.” His hand tightened on her waist. “I can get us past the guards. We’ll go to Norhaven. King Ulric would give us sanctuary.”
“We can’t.”
“Thea—”
“I need to find an answer first. It’s the only way to stop Lasseran.”
“You heard what he’s planning. What he wants to do.”
“Exactly. Which is why I need to find the answer.” She turned in his arms to look up at him. “Think about it, Khorrek. What does Lasseran want more than anything?”
“Power. Control over the Beast Curse.”
“And what am I supposed to find for him?”
Understanding dawned in his eyes. “The origin of the Curse.”
“Which likely contains information about how it works. How to control it. Or how to break it entirely.”
“You think the books will tell you how to destroy the Curse?”
“I think whoever wrote it wanted that knowledge preserved. Hidden from people like Lasseran but available to someone who could use it properly.” She sat up, her academic excitement overriding her self-consciousness about being naked.
“The way the text is structured, the deliberate obscurity—it’s not just ancient language drift. It’s intentional encryption.”
He sat up as well, his expression thoughtful. “To protect dangerous knowledge.”
“Exactly. Someone knew this information was too important to destroy but too dangerous to make easily accessible.” She grabbed his hand. “If I can decode it, if I can find out how the Curse actually works…”
“We might be able to stop him.”
“We might be able to free everyone.”
The weight of it settled between them.
“It’s dangerous,” he said finally.
“Everything about this situation is dangerous.”
“If Lasseran suspects what you’re really looking for—”
“He won’t. Because I’m going to find exactly what he wants.” She smiled grimly. “And then use it against him.”
“You’re sure?”
“No. I’m terrified. But I’m also the only person in this world who can read that text.” She squeezed his hand. “And I won’t let him murder your brothers. Or turn all the orcs into mindless weapons. Or hurt anyone else ever again.”
Khorrek studied her, his golden eyes unreadable, then pulled her close and pressed his forehead to hers.
“You’re insane.”
“Probably.”
“And stubborn.”
“Definitely.”
“And I…” He paused, and swallowed hard. “I don’t deserve you.”
Her chest tightened. “You deserve so much more than what you’ve been given.”
“I don’t know how to do this. How to be… anything other than what I was.”
“Then we’ll figure it out together.”
She kissed him. A promise she had no idea if she could keep, but she’d try.
God help me, I’ll try.
They lay back down, tangled together under the blankets, but her mind was already racing. Going over the patterns she’d noticed and the way certain phrases were repeated. Encryption followed patterns—all languages did—and whoever wrote this was fluent in multiple ancient dialects.
“You’re thinking,” he murmured against her hair.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I can practically hear the gears turning.”
She smiled. “I might have an idea. About the text.”
“Tell me.”
So she explained her theory about the encryption and about the deliberate obscurity hiding a simpler message beneath.
He listened thoughtfully, asking surprisingly insightful questions, and the thought that Lasseran wasted that sharp intelligence and used it only for violence and obedience made her angry all over again.
“You should sleep,” he said eventually. “You’ll need your strength for tomorrow.”
“So should you.”
“I’ll keep watch.”
“Khorrek—”
“I can’t sleep. Not with…” He trailed off. “My mind won’t stop.”
She understood that. Assuming they made it through the next three days, they only had two weeks before Lasseran tried the Blood Moon ritual again. Two weeks to save everyone or lose everything.
“Then stay awake with me,” she said. “Tell me about your brothers.”
He immediately tensed. “Why?”
“Because I want to know. Because they matter to you, which means they matter to me.”
Silence stretched between them for a long moment before, haltingly, he began to speak. He told her about the training halls, the brutal conditioning, and the other orc children who’d survived alongside him.
He spoke about Throkar, who had been the strongest, but who’d protected the smaller ones when he could without being caught.
About Grazzik, who had a gift for strategy, and who’d figured out how to anticipate the trainers’ demands.
About Vorgath, who’d nearly died in the trials but had clawed his way back through sheer stubbornness.
And others. So many others. Some had died in training. Some had been sent on missions and never returned. But a dozen of them had become Lasseran’s personal guard.
And now he’s going to kill them.
Her hands clenched. “We have to stop him.”
“How? You said it yourself—you need time to decode the text. Time we don’t have.”
“Then I’ll work faster. I’ll figure it out.”
“Thea—”
“I will. I have to.”
Because the alternative was unthinkable. Lasseran sacrificing loyal soldiers, and taking control of the Beast Curse. Turning every orc in the Five Kingdoms into a mindless weapon.
And after that? What would stop him? Nothing. He’d be unstoppable. Immortal through dark magic. A god-king ruling through fear and blood.
No. I won’t let that happen.
“Get some rest,” he said quietly. “I’ll wake you before dawn.”
“You need sleep too.”
“I’ll sleep when this is over.”
She wanted to argue and insist that he take care of himself, but exhaustion pulled at her.
Just a few hours. Then I’ll get back to work.
She closed her eyes, and he gently stroked her hair. Despite everything—the danger, the fear, the impossible task ahead—she felt safe. How was that possible? She was in a foreign world, threatened by a monster in human skin, and racing against a deadline that would end in death.
But wrapped in Khorrek’s arms, she felt safe.
I’m definitely in trouble, she thought, but she was smiling as sleep claimed her.