AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER5
ROSA
So much for putting up a brave front in front of the King.
It had started out well enough. I stood my ground and stated my case. I had nothing to hide. This was all a huge mistake, and all I wanted right then was to get back on the path and pointed toward home.
I didn’t belong here with these bloodthirsty, godless savages. They’d trapped me. Strung me up from the trees. Captured me.
But they’d also given me a place to rest, out of the cold and the dark and the weather. They’d treated my wounds with a mysterious salve even we didn’t have access to.
And now I was standing before the King of the Orcs, and I wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
I could feel his eyes crawling over my body, and it made my knees wobble. My heart raced and my breath caught in my throat. Orcs were nothing but heartless murderers. At least, that's what all the stories said.
My fists clenched, fingernails digging into my palms. Mother had raised me better than this. I wasn’t some slab of meat to be handed out at his whim. I was a woman, with my own will, my own mind.
Yet even as I thought that, I couldn't stop the way my body reacted to his presence. His musk hung heavy in the air, a spicy, earthy odor that filled my nostrils and made my mouth water. I swallowed hard, trying to clear my head.
This was an orc. A brutish, murderous, savage orc. He could -- and probably would -- snap me in half like a twig.
...So why did that send a strange jolt of shameful excitement between my legs?
I clenched my fists and stood my ground. I could will away this feeling. I could. I had to.
Then he advanced on me further, until we were only inches apart and I could feel the heat radiating off of his huge, powerful body. Up close I could see each scar of battle. Each carefully honed muscle. His eyes bored into mine, daring me to make the next move. To defy him again.
I couldn't have even if I wanted to. My breath caught in my throat. My body froze of its own accord, and I was stuck there, deer in the headlights, easy prey...
He leaned in, so close I could feel his hot breath against my neck. An involuntary tremor snaked down my spine. Up close, I could see the mean points of his tusks. The hard planes of his jaw. The almost feral glint in his eye.
"Not so bold anymore, are we?"
He had me right where he wanted me now. All thought of fight or flight fled away in an instant, replaced with a longing I didn't have words for.
"You smell delicious," he murmured, right next to my ear. "I could just eat...you...up."
I shuddered out a breath even as another rush of blood surged downward. "P-please," I whispered, and I didn't even know what I was begging for anymore.
"Rosa." He said my name like a prayer, the smooth syllables roughened by his accent. "You are quite the conundrum, aren't you?" One huge hand wove through my hair, clenching when he reached the scalp. "Normally we'd kill any intruders without a second thought. But I have a better idea of what to do with you..." His low chuckle spread through my veins like honey.
We were doing this. We were really doing this. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.
Then, just like that, he backed off. The menacing, hypnotic aura slowly faded, and he settled back onto his throne with a knowing smile like some colossal, terrifying predator.
What I didn't expect was the sense of emptiness after he drew away, like I was just on the cusp of unlocking something and denied it at the last minute...
A part of me screamed it was safer that way, but another part yelled at me how I didn't want to be safe. I wanted to know what I was missing.
"So," he said, leaning back as if nothing at all had happened. "You'll do as I ask? We have a deal?"
I opened my mouth to protest. I knew I was playing with fire at this point, but part of me wanted to keep pushing. To see how far I could go. "I said nothing of the sort, Your Majesty." The last words dripped with sarcasm, and my lips turned upward when I saw his shocked expression.
"You didn't have to," Agonak said, again with that maddening smile. "Your body told me everything I need to know just now." Without skipping a beat, he looked past me and barked out a command.
Another orc joined him almost immediately, clapping a hand to his chest and bowing his head to the King. “You called?”
Agonak tilted his head toward me. “This one. Take her up to my quarters. See that she is fed and dressed.”
“My lord?” His voice wavered, unsure. “Wouldn’t the cells be a better—?”
“You have your orders, Krom.” Agonak growled, startling even me. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Yes sir!” He roughly grabbed my arm and led me out of the throne room, but not before I caught one last glance from the King.
One that promised retribution.
