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He was leaving the room, naked and gloriously tall, his cock still shining with our release. There were scratches on his back, although I knew they wouldn't last long. They were my marks, just as the little bruises from his claws and tusks scattered over my skin were his marks, and they filled me with a sense of pride. He paused at the threshold, and I shut my eyes again before he turned and caught me staring.
There was another long stretch of quiet, a soft shuffle, and then a moment later, I heard the click of a door shutting.
My eyes opened and I held my breath, waiting for another sound within the cottage that never came. Was I imagining the whiff of fresh air floating closer? My stomach turned and I sat up with a groan, my muscles weak and sore, the room spinning briefly and then settling again.
The cottage was quiet, and now that I was sitting up I could see the sun was starting to set, the woods outside taking on an orangey glow.
It was the end of the fifth day. Khell had left.
Without a goodbye? I grit my teeth and bowed my head, swallowing the wounded sound that wanted to rise up from the gentle tearing in my chest.
No, he'd left after spending almost a full twenty-four hours in bed with me. After a glorious kiss. Five days that had changed how I viewed myself, viewed sex.
How else were we meant to say goodbye?
I sucked in a deep breath, but the wound in my chest wouldn't heal so easily. Fair enough. I rose up from the bed on wobbling legs at the same moment that the cuffs around my wrist beeped and then released, falling to the bed.
Time's up.
CHAPTER 17
Khell'ar
Sunny was meant to have two hours in the cottage alone before she left. I only gave her one, unable to tear myself away any sooner. Even then, I remained in the woods, watching.
Sunny left barely twenty minutes after me. Hidden in the trees, I could smell her from yards away. She hadn't bathed, her skin was still coated in our release. Neither had I, too reluctant to lose her scent, but I'd expected her to want to clean up. Her hair was tangled, lips chapped, eyes hollow—
No, you're exaggerating now.
My claws bit into my own palms, my muscles so tense they burned as I planted my heels into the branch of the tree I perched on and resisted the urge to leap down to the ground and chase after my mate, throw her up into my arms and carry her…
Where?
Home.
I huffed gently and frowned down at where Sunny fidgeted in front of the cottage. A moment later, headlights appeared through the trees, illuminating her for a moment, casting her in shadow the next. She was tired, and while she'd been smiling and loose when I’d left her, the curve of her lips was tipped down now.
My heart hammered, and my body screamed silently at being held back from its rightful duty—caring for the woman below. Caring for my mate. I waited for Sunny to slide into the backseat of the sedan that arrived for her, then threw myself in the opposite direction before I could break the unspoken promise I'd made her—to let her go.
For now.
You don't know how you'll even find her again.
Which was true, but an orc would find his way to his mate. It was our nature, our imperative. If I told any of my orcish friends about letting Sunny walk away, they would punch me in the face and rightfully call me a fool. But Sunny wasn't an orc. And a sex work session wasn't the place to form a mating bond.
Astraeya would be so smug.
My own SUV was parked in the small lot up the hill, the only vehicle plugged into the electric station. The arrival of all-electric utility vehicles was the advent of orcs taking to the road en masse, treating our nature goddess as she deserved while enjoying the luxury of leg room, even at our size. The hood was dusted with fallen leaves and marked with pollen, and I brushed the mess away, ignoring the way my hand shook.
The interior was cold, the silence inside ringing in my ears—silence where Sunny's breaths should've been, her sighs and whimpers and laughter. I shook myself and started the car, pulling out and heading the back way down the hill.
Checkout was quick at MSA. Sunny would have a few exit questions in person and then a longer survey to fill out in her email. Still, if I allowed myself to bump into her in the halls, I would probably grab her with both hands—and my tusks too, for good measure—and take off running. I kept my foot off the accelerator pedal for most of the drive, giving her plenty of time to leave before I arrived and hating every second.
Astraeya was frowning at her tablet as I arrived at her office door.
"Pair of storm clouds, you two," she murmured, not bothering to look up.
I opened my mouth to ask about Sunny and then shut it again, swallowing hard and letting my claws dig just a bit deeper into my hands. "I have to turn in my resignation. Immediately."
