Or so she’d thought. But before she’d gotten halfway up the staircase, she’d been interrupted by — Alfred. Bounding up the stairs two at a time, and giving her a stunning, sheepish smile.
“Darling, wait,” he’d said, all tall handsome warmth. “Should you, perhaps, welcome a bit of company, for a while? Now that we’ve properly announced, I’m sure your mother will finally look the other way.”
He’d said that last part with a meaningful wink, and for the first time in perhaps years, Ella had almost felt grateful for her distant, dragonish mother, with all her fervent enforcement of Ella’s propriety. Because even the thought of Alfred touching her, after tonight, afterNatt, had sent a racing chill to Ella’s bones, and an unwilling surge of bile to her throat.
“Perhaps not tonight,” she’d replied, as smoothly as she’d been able. “I’m afraid it’sthattime, with my courses.”
She couldn’t quite believe she’d spoken of such shocking things aloud —again— but Alfred’s replying look of pure, unadulterated disgust had proven a highly apt closer on the entire disastrous evening. And once Ella had finally, finally been alone, she’d sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, until there’d been nothing left but emptiness.
She stared blankly at the ceiling as the hours slowly passed, as the sounds of gaiety below finally faded into silence. As the visions of Natt, the memories of Natt, kept rising and rising, trampling merciless and desperate through her thoughts.
Will you have me, lass. You have kept your maidenhead. You shall wed a foul piddling warmonger. You only care for these riches.
Never me.
But ofcourseit had never been Natt. There had never even been a choice. Not with Ella’s father, her mother, the fortune. Ella had always been expected to make a good marriage, to finally confirm her family’s good standing. She couldn’t love an orc. Especially one who had left her like that, and hadn’t even saidgoodbye.
And lying here alone in the bitter silence, Ella could finally, perhaps, face the truth of just how painful that had been. So strong that she’d spent all these years since trying and failing to shove Natt away, thrust him out of her mind, pretend he’d never existed. Pretend the orcs didn’t exist. Pretend not to pay any attention to talks of battles or threats or peace-treaties. Pretend that she’d never loved anorc, who’d hurt her more than any human before or since.
Gods, it was ridiculous, and gods, Ella just needed to get over it. She was engaged to an earl’s son. She was on the verge of gaining everything her family had ever wanted. It would be fine. It had to be.
She repeated that to herself as she lay there, enough that she perhaps almost believed it. Until — her eyes snapped open — she heard a sound.
A sound that didn’t belong. Close. Scraping just outside her window.
Ella lurched up in bed, the room whirling, her heart suddenly racing in her chest. Surely it was nothing. Just a branch, a bird, a figment of her fevered beleaguered brain —
But as she stared, something sharp and black slid under the sash — and then the sashmoved up. Slow, inexorable, her window was openingby itself, and Ella was losing her damned mind —
And she was, she had to be, because beyond the open window there was now a face, scarred and hideous and utterly terrifying. And as Ella’s mouth slowly opened to scream, a massive, hulking dark figure hurled itself through the window, rolled on the floor toward her, and rose up to clamp a huge hand over her mouth.
“Do not shout,” a voice hissed, close and hot and appallingly, abjectly horrifying. “Or your whole house shalldie.”
7
Do not shout. Or your whole house shall die.
Ella bit back the scream just in time, choking it desperately down her throat, but her body was already flailing, kicking, drowning her in the pure barrelling panic. She was being attacked, she might be taken, she mightdie, and her attacker was huge and muscled and breathtakingly strong, shoving her writhing body down hard into the bed, his black braid falling over his shoulder —
Wait.Wait. The clarity was suddenly, shockingly powerful, piercing through Ella’s entire being all at once — and she gaped at the huge familiar body above her, and dragged in the telltale musky scent with every thick, gasping breath.
It was —Natt.
Her body seemed to lose its fight all at once, sagging heavy into the soft bed beneath her, and she could feel Natt’s big body relaxing too, though his huge clawed hand was still clamped over her mouth.
“Good,” his low voice whispered, tickling close against her ear. “Shall you shout, if I release you?”
Ella shook her head under his hand, the movement desperate, compulsive — but he didn’t move the hand, and as she blinked up at his face over her, she could just make out the glint of his eyes in the faint moonlight. “If you do, woman,” he hissed, “I shall kill every human in this house but you.”
Gods. Ella couldn’t help a choked whimper against his hand, the fear jolting hard and wide — but her head gave another frantic nod, and after an instant’s stillness, that hand slowly, carefully lifted. And Ella could breathe again, and she dragged in deep, heaving gulps of air, her eyes wildly searching the shadowed face above her.
“What thehell,” she managed, in a whisper, “are youdoing,Natt?”
But there was only another moment’s stillness, the feel of that warm, heavy body shifting above her, settling itself close. And instead of speaking, that shadowed head lowered itself against her exposed neck, andsmelledher.
The truth of it, the twisting familiarity of it, seemed to catch at the still-spiralling terror, breaking it off sharp and sideways. And instead, there was only this, Natt’s huge muscled body pinning her to the soft bed, his warm scent filling her lungs, his bare chest hot and damp against her flimsy sleeping-shift.
His breath was still inhaling, filling his chest with the scent of her — andthat, oh gods, was the feel of his warm mouth, kissing soft against her neck. And then harder, giving way to his sliding tongue, his sharp teeth, scraping close against her skin.
