And as Ella’s trapped, trembling body stood there, exposed and staring and wanting, Natt curled over, crying out harsh and hoarse — and that huge, grey orc-prick in his hand sprayed out his pleasure. Spurting hot and sticky onto Ella’s bare skin in pulse after pulse, catching on her, marking her, coating her breasts and her belly and her thighs all over with more of him, leaving her sticky and dripping and utterly, shockingly obscene.
Natt’s eyes were held fast to the sight, almost as though he were dazed with it, drowning in it. And when his shaky hand beckoned Ella closer, she immediately went, standing between his spread legs — and then she choked out a low, betraying moan as his clawed hand came up, and deliberately spread his mess wide.
“Good lass,” he whispered, as he watched his hand do it again, again. “Look how filthy you are, dripping thus with my fresh seed. Does this please you?”
It was appalling, surely it was frightful and unladylike andwrong, but Ella’s head gave an ashamed little nod, all the same. And the sudden, sharp-toothed approval on Natt’s mouth made it almost entirely worth it — and even more so when he drew her sticky body close, and down onto his lap.
“You must hunger, lass,” he purred, and as Ella blinked, he drew over a large bowl that had been sitting on the table. And inside it was what looked to be a good quantity of dried meat and seeds, as well as a few actualapples.
“Eat,” Natt ordered, with a wave of his clawed hand toward it. “We must rebuild your strength.”
Ella meekly nodded, reaching for an apple, and taking a tentative bite. It tasted surprisingly good, crisp and juicy and sweet, and her next bite was far larger, earning another approving smile from Natt’s mouth. He’d grasped for an apple too, sinking his sharp claws deep into the shiny red skin, and as Ella watched, he bit off the entire top half, stem and all, with a single crunch of his sharp white teeth.
“Orcs,” Ella said, with an amused roll of her eyes, and in reply Natt tossed the rest of his apple in the air, and caught it in his teeth. And with two sharp snaps of his head it was gone, too, leaving only a drop of juice running down his chin.
“This pleases you,” he said, as he wiped his chin, and then reached for another apple, and took another deadly bite of it. “You are such a filthy lass, I ken you should not even balk if I were to take down a whole moose before you with only my claws, and have myself a feast.”
Ella made a face at him, but he only looked amused, and tossed the rest of his apple into his mouth. “Ach, you should whine and gripe,” he said, “but then, you should watch me do this, with your eager blue eyes. And should I then come to you covered with blood, and tell you to suck my prick, or bend over for me, you should not refuse. Should you?”
The hitch in Ella’s breath was a highly unfair betrayal of all her so-called decency, and she ducked her head away from him, her face flushing hot and mortified — but Natt only laughed, and nudged her half-eaten apple back to her mouth. “Eat,” he said. “There is much we must do today.”
He seemed quite chipper at the prospect, and Ella obediently ate the apple, and then the dried meat he handed over, and some seeds. It was all simple, bland food, entirely lacking when compared to the output of Ella’s pricey kitchen-staff, but it still tasted surprisingly good, and she again ate more than she’d eaten in one sitting in months, or perhaps years.
“Good,” Natt said, with an approving pat to her sticky, slightly-rounded belly, once she was too full to possibly eat any more. “Now come. Next we shall bathe.”
The thought was a truly wonderful one, if rather unnerving, due to the fact that surely the baths were elsewhere, and liable to be filled with other orcs, and Ella was stillnaked. But thankfully, once Natt had risen to his feet, he bent to grasp for their clothes, which had been strewn haphazardly on the floor.
“I shall grant you leave to wear these to the baths,” he said, as he tossed Ella’s shift and boots toward her. “But after that, you shall walk my mountain barefoot. And I shall have this foolish frockburnt.”
He spoke with a rather vindictive satisfaction, and instead of arguing, as she surely should have, Ella only pulled her shift on, and then made a face down toward it. It was probably unsalvageable anyway, and itsmelled, and also, it wasstickingto her.
“Come,” Natt said, once he was dressed again, with his sword at his side, and the lantern and pack in hand. “I shall take you around back, so you shall not yet meet my brothers.”
That was a blessing, Ella supposed, and she willingly followed Natt out of the room, and into a stone corridor. It was surprisingly broad and high, with the same flat grey stone on all sides, and it seemed to smoothly twist and curve up ahead, snaking off into pure, empty blackness.
But Natt’s steps were quick, unafraid, his hand on Ella’s tight and close, and he shot her a quick, assessing look over his shoulder. “Do not fear, lass,” he said firmly. “You are safe here with me.”
Ella nodded, though she leaned a little closer into him, all the same. “Can you tell me about it?” she asked, glancing uneasily ahead, toward the darkness. “As we go?”
Natt’s nod was decisive, immediate. And as he led Ella down the twisty corridor, turning off this way and that, he told her how the mountain was separated into five wings, one for each of the clans. The Ash-Kai held the uppermost part, and a section to the west, with the Skai and Bautul next beneath, with areas to the south and east. And the Ka-esh were furthest below, tunnelled deep under the earth, because they preferred the dark, and often wished to be left alone.
“And all this,” Natt said, as he drew Ella around yet another corner, waving at the occasional black opening in the stone wall, “is for the Grisk. We are between Ka-esh and Bautul, on the north side, with some rooms above ground, and some below. We are the largest of the five clans, and thus have the largest wing, also.”
“Is it all in use?” Ella asked, peering into another black opening in the stone wall. “This area seems fairly deserted, doesn’t it?”
“Ach, for now,” Natt said, flatter than before. “But with this new peace, we seek to fill it again, with our mates and sons. It is my dream, before my death” — his voice hesitated — “to see my sons, and those of my brothers, once again filling these empty rooms. And to see the sons of our sons running free and wild through these halls, and filling this mountain with joy.”
Oh. Something clenched at the words, deep in Ella’s belly, and she cast a sidelong glance at Natt’s sharp profile in the dim lamplight. “And do you think this new peace treaty will accomplish this, by then?”
“Mayhap,” came his answer. “But we are yet hunted and attacked under this peace, and powerful men yet plot to destroy us. Women yet run from us, and they fear, with cause” — he grimaced — “to mate with us, and bear our sons. Many orcs, and many Grisk, refuse to yet live in this mountain, or bring their women here, fearing what has befallen them and their mates before.”
Ella’s thoughts had flicked back to Natt’s father, to that awful, ongoing feud with the orcs’ previous captain. “Then what do you think will help?” she asked, quiet. “What do you plan to do?”
Natt did plan to do something, that much was clear, and his jaw flexed, his mouth gone tight and grim. “When I am Speaker,” he said, “I shall defend the safety of every orc, whether in or out of this mountain. I shall never allow a lone orc to be hunted, as I have been. And I shall work with my brothers across all five clans to make this mountain a better place for all women, and their sons.”
“How so?” Ella asked, genuinely curious, and Natt gave a jerky wave of his lantern toward the grey corridor all around. “We need light, and food humans will eat, and easy means for women to reach sun and open air,” he said. “We need our own rules and laws to protect women and our young, and we must enforce these with all speed and strength, even if this means casting a brother out. And we must offer women safety in bearing our sons. We must use our wisest orcs not only for drafting and mining and forging, but also inscience” — the word sounded careful on his tongue — “and medicine.”
Ella felt herself nodding, her eyes held to his face. “That seems like a worthy plan to me, Natt,” she said. “Have you spoken to your Captain of all this? Surely any wise leader would wish for such things?”
