His. Forever. And Rosa was nodding, shaking, fighting to control this, her arching back, her shivering body. Desperately needing to show him, prove to him, spread herself wider, take him deeper, welcome every smarting strike of that warm, familiar hand. Speaking so firmly, so fundamentally, of his regard, his affection —forever, he’d said — even as he roughly grasped her stinging arse-cheek, and yanked it further open, apart.
And that was his other hand, gripping at the other side, fully exposing the last of Rosa’s hidden places to the room, to his taking. And of course he should, he had every right to use her however he wished, she was a good pet, a worthy mate, and she wanted this, all of this, so primal and powerful she was on the edge of weeping —
“Yes, my lord,” she choked out, through her dragging breaths. “Forever. Please.”
And John was saying it back, with one more slap of that hand, gentler this time. With the equally gentle settling of his huge, dripping-wet cockhead to that vulnerable pucker of skin. As he slowly, gently, mercilessly bore down, splitting her open upon him, cleaving her in two, filling her with sheer power and need andlove.
The thought recoiled and rebelled, even as it kept rising, kept sinking, until it was locked, trapped, all the way. Pulsing and flexing, straining and squeezing, her lord caught with her, within her, his pet, his mate, his librarian, hislove.
The next slap of his hand trembled, skittered, shouting just as loud as that strength buried inside her, and Rosa cried out, brutalized, broken by an orc. An orc who’d bared her, marked her, claimed her as his own. An orc who was ravishing her, commanding her, flaying her raw on the altar of his rule —
Her release flared, flashed, exploded. Consuming her with stark screaming ecstasy, with her whole self exposed and bared andowned— and flooded, suddenly, with burst after burst of sheer, swarming euphoria, as her lord sprayed himself out again and again. Filling her with his essence, his promise, his truth. Forever. Safe.Home.
Rosa drifted in that truth, lost in the sparkling, glittering, impossibly peaceful wonder of it. In the sound of her mate’s heaving breaths behind her, in the aftershocks that seemed to be running through them both at once, lingering bursts of pleasure beneath their joined skin.
And then John collapsed against her, heavy and hot and sweaty, his chest pressed to her bare back. And his face was here, close beside hers, his eyes blinking hard, his lips parted, his cheeks flushed redder than Rosa had ever seen them.
“Are you well,” he whispered, breathless, into her ear. “Did I truly frighten you. Or harm you.”
It was impossible to find coherent words, in this moment, so Rosa only shook her head, quick, forceful. And then revelled in the answering shudder of that warm body against her, the added weight of its unspoken relief on her skin.
“Clever,foolishlittle pet,” he murmured, so soft, into the curve of her neck. “You ought never to bite your orc, lest youwishto hurl him into a frenzy, before all his kin.”
Wait. Rosa’s floating, contented brain had completely forgotten about the orcs — oh gods, the medics,watching— but when her head jerked up, her eyes frantically searching, they were gone. Vanished. As if they’d never been there at all.
“I sent them away,” John said, with a low chuckle. “You did not even notice, ach? Too lost in your squalling and flailing, I ken.”
Rosa attempted an elbow up toward him, but failed miserably, to which John carefully drew her loose hair back from her neck, and pressed a soft, warm kiss against her marked skin. “Ach, this pleased me,” he whispered. “You are a worthy pet, my little rose, and a brave, clever woman. I could never have thought” — she could hear his swallow — “you could be this. For anorc.”
There was a twinge of that familiar bitterness in his voice, and Rosa fought to focus on it, to find words in the swirling miasma of sheer, satedhappiness. “Foryou, John-Ka,” she breathed. “You. Orc. Scholar. Leader. Lord. Rightful Priest of Orc Mountain. Best fuck in the realm. And” — she hauled in a breath — “raging, deviousreprobate.You.”
The stillness echoed for an instant, ringing through his form above her — and then settled again, into another unbearably soft kiss of those warm lips against her neck. Speaking again, as loud as a shout, without speaking at all.
Rosa didn’t know how long they stayed there together, the world spinning and swaying with impossible contentment — but she blinked fully awake at the feel of him finally pulling out of her, away. And then deftly mopping up the mess, before drawing her back to seated again.
“You must hunger,” he said, his eyes not quite meeting hers in the guttering lamplight. “Mayhap I shall take you to bed, and fetch you some supper?”
His face was still unaccountably, adorably flushed, his shaky hand rubbing at his mouth, and Rosa’s own mouth was already giving him a slow smile, brimming with warmth and affection. “Iamhungry,” she confessed. “But instead of bed, maybe we could go to the library? And read together, for a while?”
The warmth surged higher at John’s jerky answering nod, and even higher as he silently dressed her again, braided her hair, and then snatched her still-tingly body up onto his hip. And then carried her through the corridors, stroking gently at her neck — until he suddenly reeled back a step, as an orc sprinted straight down the corridor toward them.
“John!” the orc called, and Rosa realized it was Baldr, his eyes wide with urgency. “The captain needs you, now. They’ve finally agreed to meet.”
They. Themen, he had to mean, and the snap of tension all through John’s form confirmed it, his mouth gone thin and grim. “Ach,” he said. “Grant me one moment, brother.”
With that, he spun and sprinted down the corridor, Baldr close at his heels, until they burst into the library. Tristan was already there, turning around to blink toward them, and John strode over to place Rosa in her usual chair, his fingers gently, regretfully, angling up her face.
“You stay here and read with Tristan, little pet,” he said. “I shall return as soon as we are done.”
Rosa’s heart was thumping with unaccountable irregularity, and she grasped for his hand, held it close. “Can’t I come with you? Please?”
She didn’t miss the shadow that crossed John’s gaze, or the swift glance he shot Baldr over his shoulder. “Not this time,” he said. “But I shall tell you all that we learn. Ach?”
He followed that with a hard, fervent kiss, his lips hungry and hot on hers, and when he drew away Rosa felt herself nodding, her body relaxing, her mouth tilting up. “Then good luck, John-Ka,” she murmured. “See you soon.”
He smiled back, small but true, and gave her cheek a firm little pat before turning and striding off, leaving Rosa to smile hazily at his retreating back, at the lovely taut curve of his arse. And when she finally blinked, glancing belatedly at Tristan, he was watching her with quiet, unmistakable approval.
“You and John-Ka have settled matters between you, ach?” he asked, and at Rosa’s answering nod, he smiled, slow and stunning. “It pleases me to witness this, Rosa-Ka. My brother has wished for a mate for so long.”
