Dathor sighed. “Well, that is the way he’s always been, after all, Aerhril.” Dathor went to her and tugged her to her feet. He examined her, hands running briskly all over her body, and she could tell he was looking for anything amiss.
She had to fight not to smile at him.
“He cannot rescue you, not if it risks his own reputation or his own safety. He’s… well, it is odd that you ever preferred him to me.”
She looked up at him, stunned, because she never had.
He raised his eyebrows.
Oh, she saw what he wished from her. “I prefer him toyounow,” she said. “Now, you are simply horrible. Now, you terrorize me.”
“But you’re mine, little fair elf,” Dathor said, pulling her in close and dragging his tongue over her cheek. “And he doesn’t want you anymore.”
“All right, you don’t have to dothat,” blustered Elrion, getting to his feet.
Dathor shrugged at him.
“With your… tongue. That’s disgusting.”
Dathor laughed. “I think it’s probably a good thing you never married this one, after all, Aerhril. I doubt he has it in him to bring a woman to her peak.”
Elrion’s nostrils flared. “Listen, I know why you are here. I know of your orc army, and I have sent news—”
“Oh, that letter?” said Dathor. “Yes, I had to intercept that.” He produced it from his inside jacket pocket, and she had not known he was bringing it. He waved it in Elrion’s face.
Elrion sat back down heavily. He was quiet.
Dathor tucked the letter away. “As it happens, I have need of you, Elrion. I was hoping we could come to an agreement of sorts. I promise not to strangle her to death while I’m using her if you do as I say. But I see you would let her die to save your own skin. I should never have expected anything different.”
Elrion shook his head again, back and forth, but he was silent.
There was a knock on the door. “Tea service, sir?” said the voice from without.
“Do not come in.” Elrion’s voice suddenly had some fire to it. He got to his feet and strode over to take Aerhril’s hand. He tugged on her and Dathor let go. Elrion tucked her behind him. “How about this agreement, orc? You leave her here and stop forcing yourself on her. Agree to that, and I will agree to listen to what your ‘need’ is.”
Dathor smirked. “Give her up? Oh, I don’t think so. You haven’t had her sweet little lips wrapped around the base ofyourcock, clearly.”
Elrion made a choked noise in the back of his throat.
Aerhril was hotly embarrassed. Why must he be so graphic?
Dathor continued, “But then, Nathre told me that men often ogled her. I wonder if she meant you.”
Elrion drew himself up. “How dare you? Nathre was a young girl, like a daughter to me—”
“She was older than Aerhril was at the time, and you were certainly going to fuckher.”
“The marriage was not about such base things. It was about mutual respect, and about getting her free of that horrible Foxglove Peak.”
“So, you weren’t going to fuck her after you married her?” said Dathor. “If I leave her with you now, is it going to be a requirement that she fuck you? Because I’m very possessive of her. I can’t let anyone else do that, you see?”
“You are the most disgusting wretch of a fiend—”
“She stays with me.” And Dathor reached around with his long arms and his big hands and snatched her away and pulled her in against him, and she could not contain a gasp at their closeness. He caught her gaze and gave her half a smile before he turned it into a sneer when he looked at Elrion again. “I can’t imagine you’d care, what am I thinking? You wanted her free of Foxglove Peak, you say, but you just left her there, with Celedin, and you saw what he was like with her. And the steward, you interacted enough with my uncle to understand how he treated her as well. You never cared about her.”
“I could not marry her after she had been corrupted by the likes of you,” said Elrion.
“Well, it wasn’t really common knowledge,” said Dathor. “I supposeyouwould have known, but you just said you weren’t even going to fuck her, so—”
