Chapter 9 #2
However, in the sennight I’d been in Bloodfire Village, I’d learned that wealth wasn’t a parade the way ‘twas at Tarbert Keep. Everyone here shared what they had freely, and no one worried about showing off. While once I might have believed Kragorn still wore my father’s cloak to remind me of my status, I now wondered if he wore it simply because ‘twas warm.
What would happen in a few weeks, when the passage between our worlds opened again? I could not imagine my father going to war for me, but would he expect me back? Would my status as hostage be proven? Or did my father care so little for me he would risk my life in battle?
I didn’t want to go back to the human world.
I pressed closer to Kragorn, the realization making me shudder.
I didn’t want to return to my home, to my old life.
This life wasn’t what I’d dared to dream of when I was a little girl…
but I was content here. I could care for Kragorn the way I’d cared for my father, and mayhap find pleasure too.
And no human male would consider me less than sullied by my time in the orc’s world.
I would live out my life imprisoned by the harsh condemnation of humans, or as a human male’s plaything – likely prized only for whatever skills they thought I’d learned during my time as a captive of the orcs.
My heart lurched and flitterbys swirled in my stomach.
Glancing up at his strong jaw and the white scars that lined it, I felt my resolve strengthen. Aye, this was a good life for me, even if ‘twas as a prisoner for the rest of my days. I would pay my father’s debt, keep the village safe – and offer myself to Kragorn.
Which is why, when we reached the hot springs—an almost magical setting ringed with large boulders and even a small, roofed structure—and he said, “Take off yer clothes, Lillian,” I didn’t hesitate to obey him.
Still, once I stood, naked and shivering before him, shame crept over my face as I tried to shield my withered foot from his view. But Kragorn, who had stripped his kilt and cloak and boots without hesitation, merely clucked his tongue as he came toward me.
“Perfect,” he murmured as his hands found my waist. His gaze swept me from head to toes.
“Fooking perfect.”
Was he speaking of me? I gasped and clutched his shoulders as he lifted me…then he found the stone steps and we both sank into the warm water.
Another gasp at the sensation of being surrounded by such delightful heat.
My head and shoulders were cold—there were snow flurries falling softly, after all—but the rest of me was…
amazing. As a child, my sisters and I would have warm baths.
But since they had left, it didn’t seem fair to ask the servants for so much labor just for myself.
But this…this was something available to Kragorn every day?
He was watching me. “Good, aye?”
“Aye.” I sighed, allowing myself to sink deeper, until the water reached my chin.
Mayhap being Kragorn’s captive had more benefits than I’d considered.
He chuckled, then made a twirling motion with his finger.
“Turn about, lass.”
Obediently, I did as he directed then hummed with pleasure at the unexpected feel of his fingers in my hair.
He removed my hairpins and, after stacking them neatly on one of the boulders, he returned to unplait my hair.
Despite the warmth of the water, I shuddered at the near-orgasmic sensation of his fingers running through my hair.
My scalp tingled, and I swallowed another soft moan of pleasure as his fingertips dug gently into my head.
Kragorn was…caring for me?
The sensation of him rubbing shampoo in my hair left me wondering if I’d died and gone to the afterlife. If so, I must have been very well behaved.
“Isadora is a soap maker, I’ve learned,” he began, as he rubbed the suds through my dull locks. “I never expected my cousin Torvolk to find a Mate, but much happened when I was gone. Torvolk is the Bloodfire Ranger, but now that he’s Mated, he’ll no’ want to range so far and wide again.”
‘Twas not the first time Kragorn had started such a conversation with me, and rather than hesitating, I asked the question I knew he’d be willing to answer.
“What does a ranger do?”
As suspected, he didn’t mind my question.
“He is my—the chief’s—eyes and ears. He makes contact with the other clans, keeps us appraised on what we need to ken. Tip yer head to the side—och, good lass.”
I smiled, happy to do his bidding if it meant more of this delicious pampering. My skin prickled with awareness and pleasure.
“And your cousin—you did not think he would find a Mate?”
“I’d hoped he would, but the story of how he bought Isadora is a strange one. Ye heard it?”
I had, along with the stories of all the human women who were living here in the village.
Most of them had found an excuse to come to talk to me in the last sennight, and now I wondered at their motives.
Had my new friends been trying to reassure me?
‘Twas one more reason to value this life over my previous one.
Kragorn continued to speak of his family and I found myself smiling, my eyes closed and my head tipped back, answering him as necessary.
During the last few nights, since he’d been well enough to sit at the table for dinner, he’d discussed clan business with me. At first, I’d thought he was just speaking aloud to think through things, but I’d quickly learned that he genuinely wanted to hear my opinions.
Surprised, I’d offered what I could.
Now, he finished by saying, “And Vartok’s started this clan council in my absence, and I’m uncertain what to do about it.”
I frowned in thought. “Why did he do it?”
Kragorn sighed and dropped his hands to my shoulders as he leaned back against the stone wall of the pool.
“Because he hates leadership. I told ye our father died seven years ago, aye?”
“Aye.” Sensing he was done with my hair, I ducked under the surface of the hot spring, rubbing the suds from my hair. I emerged a few moments later and shoved the sodden strands from my face.
“You have been chief since then. But Vartok is your twin brother?”
“Aye, and ‘tis a good thing I was born first, because he doesnae want aught beyond his smithy and female company. Although I suppose now that he’s Mated to Myra, that will change. Hold on, Lillian, ye have…” His words trailed off, but I felt him gently brush something from my forehead. “There.”
When I again blinked water from my eyes, ‘twas to see him smiling at me.
“Vartok didnae want to lead the clan in my absence, so he brought together some of the elders, and some of the warriors and their wives, and all decisions have been made by committee.”
My brows rose.
“Warriors’ wives?”
Women were allowed a say in running the village?
“Of course.” He huffed and began to rub the shampoo in his own hair, his elbows nearly knocking into my head with their ferocity. “And I’ve met with the council—och, ye ken this, ye were there each time. They have good insights, and I’d be foolish to disband them—”
“Then do not,” I told him, moving to his side. “Here, duck down, I will wash your head.”
Kragorn sent me a lopsided grin. “Dinnae fash, I brought ye here to care for ye, Lillian.” He ducked quickly beneath the water and rinsed the suds from his hair before I could ask what he meant—or do more than wonder at the warm pulse that had settled between my thighs.
When he emerged, he took my hand and tugged me toward the larger pool, the covered one.
“Ye dinnae think I should disband the council?”
Did he really care for my opinion? Even with the evidence of the last sennight and his conversation with me now, I could scarcely wrap my head around it.
No one had ever asked for my opinion for aught than how to scrub a floor or how to care for a minor wound.
My value lay in not being late to pour my father’s ale, not in helping him plan clan policy.
My head spun, but I inhaled deeply to steady myself. Kragorn remained silent, his gaze quizzical as he awaited my reply. I considered carefully.
“If you trust them, why not keep their advice? Mayhap you, as chief, could have the final decision. But I was always taught we must respect our elders’ experience, and it sounds as if they are a varied enough group—”
My words were swallowed in a gasp as Kragorn grabbed my waist, lifting me just as the pool became too deep for me to touch the bottom.
I grasped his forearms, kicking my good foot to help keep myself afloat, although I needn’t have bothered.
He moved to the center of the protected pool, and I realized how very private such a place was, despite being out in nature.
“Ye are right, dkaar,” he murmured. When he smiled, one corner of his mouth was pulled by one of his healing scars, but I loved seeing it all the same. “Remind me to always listen to ye.”
“I—what?” I stammered, my hands slipping from his forearms in surprise.
“Ye’re brilliant, and I have just resolved to run all my problems past ye in the future. I cannae do this without ye.”
My jaw was slack in surprise as I stared up at him. Do what? I wanted to ask, but I was mesmerized by the way his good eye flared green. Verna had told me ‘twas a sign of an intense passion in orc males, and I wondered what Kragorn was thinking in that moment.
I reached up to brush my fingertips across his cheek, and I heard his swift inhale. Then I was flying through the air—or so it felt. My breasts slammed against his chest, his arms went around my back, and his mouth captured mine.
Aye. Aye!
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed him back with as much abandon as I could manage. I floated in the water, clinging to him, his cock pressing against my thighs, and my nipples pebbling despite the warmth between us, as his tongue plundered my mouth.
His fingers tugged at my hair and I tipped my head back obligingly, allowing his mouth to move across my jaw and down my throat. Between his kisses, he murmured to me, words I couldn’t understand, but loved, nonetheless.
“Aye,” I whispered, wriggling against him. Could he feel how wet I was, already? My core pulsed, nothing to do with the water around us and everything to do with Kragorn.
I wanted this.
I wanted him.
I wanted to be his.
My legs rose, wrapping around his waist. I strained closer, settling against him until I could feel the tip of his cock probing at my weeping, aching core.
Kragorn’s groan echoed from his chest.
I loved this.
Nay.
It came to me in a flash.
I didn’t just love his body and the way he made me feel. I loved the way he spoke to me as if I were an equal, as if I mattered. I loved the way he treated me, I loved the way he thanked me unthinkingly when I cared for him.
I loved…him.
“Lillian,” he groaned.
And I felt myself smiling as I gave him all of myself. I didn’t care if I was his captive. I didn’t care if I was a hostage against the safety of the village. I only cared that I was in Kragorn’s arms, and I wanted him more than my next breath.
“Aye, Kragorn! Aye!”