Simon’s fingers widened against her back, his eyes flicking toward hers. “I shall wish to bare you,” he said, his voice very even. “I shall wish to show myself a proud and strong Enforcer, and flaunt all you have learnt for me. With your mouth, and your womb.”
Maria’s panic leapt with alarming force, but she thrust it down again, drew in another dragging breath. “Right,” she managed. “Um, multiple times, then?”
And gods, it felt like her skin was crawling, like her body wanted to leap clean out of it — and Simon’s glance toward her held longer this time, perhaps seeing more than she might have wished. “Mayhap no,” he said slowly. “Mayhap I shall only fill you once, this first time.”
Thisfirsttime. But it was a concession, surely, Simon’s brow furrowing as he studied her, and Maria rapidly nodded, so hard her neck hurt. “Right,” she said. “Right. Thanks.”
He nodded too, still watchful, oddly intent. “You need no fear this,” he said, quiet. “I shall be in this with you, ach? Even if I show myself as wilful Enforcer, I shall no allow any other to touch you, or speak ill of you. I shall keep you safe.”
That did help, somewhat, and Maria felt her breaths coming deeper, her heartbeat slightly slowing — at least, until Simon guided her around one more corner, and through the door. That door. Into the room of wild, ragingdebauchery.
It seemed almost worse than last time, with perhaps twenty or thirty strange orcs inside. Caressing and grasping and writhing together, wielding swollen, hungry flesh against hands and mouths and bent-over arses. And across the room, Maria caught sight of a fully naked Drafli, sprawled on a fur-covered bench, while an unfamiliar orc worked over his groin — and there, not far away, wasUlfarr. Bending another orc double before him, driving in again and again, even as his lazy eyes flicked to Maria, and held there.
Shit. Maria’s already-dragging feet had halted entirely, and now there were more heads turning, more eyes settling on her face. Some surprised, some curious, some disbelieving.
And Ulfarr, perhaps, looked the most disbelieving of all. His gaze flicking between Maria and Simon, his eyes rapidly narrowing, his mouth twisting with distaste.
He was — jealous. And, surely,furious.
And it was that, more than anything, that set Maria walking again, her own eyes darting for the safety of Simon’s face. Simon’s face, which abruptly looked different than it had before. Not so intent, not so watchful, but almost… cool. Relaxed. Indifferent.
He drew Maria to a stop in the middle of the room, encircled by a ring of cavorting, watching orcs. And close behind her was what appeared to be a table, covered with furs — but before she could quite follow that, she felt Simon’s hand on her chin, tilting it up, making her look at him.
“You wish for me, ach, woman?” he asked, his voice just as cool as his eyes — but there, faint beneath, was that same glimmering intensity. He meant this. He was truly asking, as he always did. And again, it was somehow enough to calm Maria’s racing heart, to slow her breaths into something manageable again.
She’d sworn to do this. To honour him. To help him seek a new way, and prove that humans could be trusted. And she surely wouldn’t back down now, not with all these orcs watching. Not with that truth in Simon’s eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered, the word somehow ringing through the rapidly quieting room. “You know I do, Simon.”
He nodded, curt, relieved,approving. And then his hand reached to tug purposefully on Maria’s baggy tunic, the silent order flaring across his eyes.
And yes, yes, she’d expected this — but even so, her hands still shook as she drew the tunic off, and let it drop to the floor. Exposing herself for a room full of watching orcs, feeling their eyes sweep close and proprietary over her bare breasts, her belly, her thighs. Making her suddenly, shockingly grateful for the still-present loincloth, which still covered her groin, at least, if nothing else.
Simon’s eyes were sweeping over her, too, lingering on her peaked brown nipples, on her flushed-hot face. And as she watched, he smoothly shucked his own trousers, displaying everything beneath. Those powerful thighs, those heavy bollocks, the soft hanging heft above them…
And wait, he wasn’t hard this time — he wasn’t? — and Maria’s uncertain glance up at his face found his brows raised, his eyes challenging, his mouthsmirkingat her.
“You truly wish for me, woman,” he said, “you shall kneel, and make me ready for you.”
Oh.Oh.
From somewhere far away, Maria heard laughter, loud and shrill — and then, even louder, Simon’s bark of a reply, in deep growling black-tongue. Shutting the laughter back to silence, but his eyes were still on hers, waiting, taunting,mocking.
Kneel, and make me ready for you.
Maria’s ears were ringing, a distant ache churning in her gut, while visions of her husband flashed across her thoughts — but she still somehow nodded,nodded, and dropped to her knees on the hard floor before Simon. Blinking blankly up toward him, towardthat, dangling thick and soft before her, and gods what was she supposed to do, they hadn’t done it like this before, what the hell did he want —
“Suckle,” came Simon’s order, low, his hand tilting her face up, his eyes glittering — and yes, yes, Maria could do that. And she somehow,somehowfound the will to lean forward, to breathe in that familiar rich scent — and then, with one last little lurch, she kissed him.
He leapt against her mouth, powerful and immediate, and that was something, please — so Maria did it again, lips pressing light, her tongue tentatively seeking against the silken, heated skin. And again he pressed back, kissed back, rapidly swelling against her. Almost as if his smoothly rising head was searching for her lips, finding them with astonishing ease, slipping its way between…
And once he started sliding in, he didn’t stop. Filling her slow, deliberate, breath by breath, opening her wide around him, until he was nestled hot and dripping against her throat. Holding himself there, while she desperately sought to swallow, fighting to ignore the sounds and foreign words from the watching orcs that surely meant approval.
Simon’s hand flicked against her chin again — good gods, he wasn’t otherwise eventouchingher — and when she blinked frantically up at him, he only raised his eyebrows, a silent order, a challenge. Saying, all too clearly, that he’d taught her what he liked. That he wanted to flaunt her.
And yes, Maria could do this, shewantedthis — and she reflexively nodded, damn near choking herself upon his heft. And then she reached both her hands up, grasping and caressing him, giving herself the angle and leverage to drag her mouth back down the full length of him. Until she was licking and lavishing at his smooth seeping head, suckling his fiery sweetness straight from the source.
But Simon didn’t grunt his approval this time, didn’t even twitch. Just stared down at her, cool and insolent, as she again sank him inside, sucking hard, drinking deep. And when a nearby orc said something — good gods, when had one come soclose— Simon actually chuckled, and replied in rolling black-tongue, his voice not even slightly faltering as Maria ground him into her throat.
