But Simon scoffed at her, loud and obnoxious, his mouth leering, his eyes fierce. “Should you no wish forshamefulbutt of mockery,” he sneered, “you stretch it open as I command, and learn to suck my prick deep inside it!”
Godscursethis bastard, this odious revoltinglech, and Maria rubbed her hands against her burning cheeks, and fought down the rising, almost unbearable urge to start shouting, to punch and kick at him, to run over and rip that contract to shreds —
But no. No. Shewouldn’t. Her freedom. Herrevenge. And she was committed to this now, she’d done the deed with this vile vulgarbeast…
“I made youoffer,” Simon’s deep voice said, the words thudding into Maria’s belly, into her hands somehow now clutching tight against it. “I spoke truth to you again and again. Should you no truly wish for this, you ought to show yourselfrational human being, and speakno!”
A rational human being. Maria badly flinched, because those were her own words, being thrown back in her face by a hateful sneering orc. And surely shehadbeen irrational when she’d agreed to this, hysterical, and what was she supposed to do now, what was left, beyond this almost overwhelming urge to scream, to rage, to fall to her knees, to beg and plead for his mercy —
“You choose,” continued Simon’s voice, dark, inexorable. “You wish to run, we still send you away safe. You wish to stay, youhonourme. You come, and show yourself to my kin, and thus keep our ways, and earn my trust. As yousworeto do!”
And in the chaos, the cracking deep inside Maria’s chest, there was finally only… defeat.
No.No. She would not care what this horrible orc said, or what he did next. He could mock her, and flaunt her, and humiliate her, and do whatever the hell he wished. And Maria sure as hell wasn’t giving this asshole the satisfaction of giving up. She wasnotgoing to run, because she did. Not. Care.
She was getting her revenge, and her freedom. There was no other path. No other way.
Nothing else mattered.
So she made her head lift, made herself face those glittering orc eyes. Made herself face the humiliation, the shame, thedefeat.
For now.
“Very well,” she said, her voice a whisper. “I’ll come.”
11
Simon marched Maria down the corridor in silence, the single candle clutched in his clawed hand. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, his steps soundless on the stone floor, and his hulking body was still entirely bared, his massive muscles rolling and rippling with every smooth step.
And only a few moments ago, Maria might have been tempted to let her gaze wander, to see what this movement did to that still-dangling beast at his groin. But instead, she could only seem to glare down at the floor, desperately fighting to ignore the painful heat in her cheeks, the sweat prickling down her bare back, the furious gallop of her heartbeat.
She would do this, for revenge. He was just an orc. She didn’t care what he did. Shedidn’t.
“You are sure of this,” came Simon’s voice, quiet, unexpected. “You aresureyou no rather run.”
Good gods, not this again, and the rebellion flared in Maria’s chest with raging, vehement force. “Yes, I’m sure!” she hissed toward the floor. “I told you I would do it, and Iwill!”
There was a harsh huff of breath beside her, a movement that might have been his hand rubbing at his face. “Then I take you now to our Skai common-room,” he said, voice flatter than before. “This is where my kin most oft meet. It is where we rest, and speak together, and fuck.”
Maria didn’t lift her head, or make any acknowledgement of this, but somewhere, distant and blunted in her brain, there was the wild, nonsensical urge to laugh. To say,Of course you have a whole room dedicated to fucking, of course your kin would be the ones to fulfill every horrible tale about this horrible mountain —
“We Skai no oft dress here,” Simon’s flat voice continued. “To dress is to hide. To show weakness. To make shame of joy, and betray those who grant this joy to you.”
It was an explanation, Maria’s distant thoughts realized, or perhaps a warning — but before she could fully prepare for what that might mean, Simon’s huge hand gripped at her bare shoulder, and steered her toward one of the openings in the stone wall. One that seemed to have a mass of noise emanating from it, noise that suggested…
This. Dissipation. Depravity.Debauchery.
And while Maria should have been far beyond shock at this point, she still felt suddenly struck to the floor, her eyes seized on the sight before them. On the room full of huge, naked, sweaty orcs, thrusting and writhing against one another. Slapping and touching, groaning and grunting, using hands and mouths and —and—
“Ach, my kin,” cut in Simon’s voice, deep and powerful — and in an instant, it was like the room had hollowed, snapping into silence. Into every fornicating orc’s head turning at once, and staring toward them. Toward —Maria.
Her knees wavered beneath her, her body staggering sideways — but Simon had somehow edged behind her, circling his arm around her waist, holding her steady.Displayingher, for this room full of strange, staring, deeply debauched orcs.
It didn’t matter, Maria’s brain silently shouted, itdidn’t, she’d agreed to this, she’dwantedthis — but the shame still kept flooding her from the inside out, threatening to escape in wails or curses or wild ugly weeping. While Simon’s immovable arm kept her firmly upright, her cheeks flaming, her body trembling, as these equally awful orcs looked their fill, andjudged.
And theywerejudging, Maria realized, as another staggering surge of shame crashed against her. Their dark eyes lingering on her face, her full breasts, the still-sticky mess on her thighs. Many of them were openly leering, licking their lips, while others frowned or sneered or smirked. The only orc whose face showed no expression at all was —Drafli, who’d shoved away the unfamiliar orc kneeling before him, in favour of leaning against the nearest wall, arms folded, his eyes narrow on Simon’s face.
And while Maria’s scattered, screaming brain should have been disgusted by Drafli’s nakedness, or the fact that the kneeling orc was now coughing, spitting white liquid onto the floor — instead she seemed strangely, bizarrely caught in the way Drafli was looking at Simon behind her. His face harsh, blank, devoid of expression, except for… thepity.
