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Something unreadable flickered in his eyes in response, but he dropped his hand and nodded. “You should not be disturbed, and if anyone dares, rest assured that I will know and deal with them,” he rumbled, a dark look coming over his face that both thrilled her and made her miss his softer side.
Fortunately, it was not enough to awaken her lust again. It seemed that would be impossible now that she was fixated on being alone in the tent while fae wandered around outside.
“Sure,” she said with a forced cheer. “I won’t move from this spot. The orcs are cooking tonight, right? You did say that was something to look forward to. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips, but he nodded again. “You will eat well tonight. Perhaps better than you ever have, I would wager.”
“I don’t know about ever… It would be hard to beat a large everything pizza with extra cheese,” she teased, though she swallowed back a longing sigh. She would commit murder for a pizza.
He grinned then, a chuckle rumbling from him. “Fair enough, little human. But perhaps better than you’ve had in some time. The orcs are fair hunters, second only perhaps to trolls.”
“Naturally,” she replied drolly, delighted when he chuckled again. If the blistering heat between them was pleasurable, the easy camaraderie that was beginning between them also felt good. “I’ll look forward to it then.”
He treated her to one last smile before turning away and dipping out of the tent. His footsteps retreated, and MaryAnne had to resist the desire to call him back to her. It was strange how strongly she hated being separated from him. The unease trembled through her the moment he left the tent. She would have perhaps been tempted to chase after him if her limbs weren’t weighed down with fear of plunging into the dark alone, never mind what would await her at the galley tent.
Backing against the bed, she dropped down on it and kicked off her boots to pull her legs up with her. She hated being alone. She’d endured it as she followed the carnival, but she’d become accustomed to Raskyuil’s company far too fast, and his absence reminded her of that. All the warmth and safety that his presence brought disappeared the moment he was gone.
Her teeth worried at her bottom lip, and she wrapped one of his blankets around her, pulling up the edge over her mouth and nose so that she could breathe in his scent. It offered a little comfort so that she didn’t tremble with fear, but her muscles tightened at every sound and every instance of passing footsteps to the point that she nearly jumped from the bed in terror when Raskyuil burst back into the tent with a tray piled high with food and a broad grin on his face.
She could have laughed with relief as her anxiety fled rapidly. Or perhaps cried. Maybe both.
His smile faded and he approached cautiously, his body hunching down into a bizarre crouch that couldn’t be comfortable for him, especially not carrying the tray.
“MaryAnne?”
The tender way he rumbled her name made her want to cry even more, but she gave him an unsteady smile, not wanting to freak him out. What if he decided this whole Ha’shena thing was a mistake or not worth the trouble of having a nervous, weepy human and just abandoned her? The thought was terrifying, even more so that she hadn’t realized how suddenly she had become dependent on him. A stranger and a monster both.
“I’m okay,” she rushed to assure him, her hands brushing over her face. “I’m much better now that you’re back. I guess I was a little more frightened than I thought I would be.”
His answering smile was filled with such pleasure that it was like basking in the sun on a lazy afternoon. She wanted more of that. She could soak it in forever.
She licked her lips, wondering absently what his lips would taste like, and forced herself to focus on the food. Her eyes immediately widened. The tray was laden with not only slabs of meat cooked with fragrant spices, but also some sort of spicy boiled eggs, stewed vegetables, and what looked like a small pot of gravy. And all of it smelled so good! Her mouth watered as he lowered the feast onto the bed beside her and settled on the other end across from her.
She wrapped herself in the simple pleasure of the food and the warmth of the troll’s presence as they sat together and ate. They didn’t talk much, but that was okay—the silence was comfortable rather than strained. She was enjoying their closeness and the deep rumble of his amusement when he laughed at how eagerly she stuffed her mouth with bites so much smaller than his own.
How would she feel if he suddenly reached for her? The question stirred a tingle of interest within her, and her eyes followed him as their meal ended and he shifted the tray from the bed. A tremble of excitement continued to fill her when he stepped out to give her privacy to bathe with a soft cloth that he handed her, and it only heightened while she pretended not watch discreetly from the corner of her eye as she kept her body angled away when he did the same.
She waited for it with bated breath, both frightened of his attention and wanting it desperately. Surely he would reach for her when he joined her in the bed. Her pussy gave a little pulse of interest as he walked toward her, his chest muscles rippling as he leaned over… and grabbed a pillow and one of the blankets before settling on the ground.
She stared at him in surprise, and even a little disappointment, as he wrapped the thick blanket around himself and stretched out on the ground beside the bed.
He was sleeping… there? He wasn’t going to try to even lie beside her? She wasn’t sure if she should be disappointed, relieved, or insulted. Her mouth dipping into a confused frown, she followed suit, pulling the remaining blanket around her as she lay on the bed.
Curling up on her side, her frown intensified into an annoyed scowl. Why wasn’t he trying to touch her, and why did she crave it so badly?
ChapterTwenty-Three
The wind stirred among the trees as Raskyuil prowled through the carnival. Everything within him protested walking through the carnival grounds more than they needed to, not when she was so vulnerable. He wanted nothing more than to keep her in his tent with him until he had a chance to claim her.
Being out with her like this was dangerous, but he understood his mate’s insistence that they walk the grounds again. There was a small chance of coming across some evidence of the younglings, and so he agreed to this foolishness even though his instincts screamed at him otherwise. At least MaryAnne kept close to him as they walked rather than wandering away or allowing herself to be separated from him by any significant amount of distance. That helped soothe the restless beast growing more frantic within him the longer he went without fulfilling Ha’shena.
He only prayed that it would be resolved quickly. Last night nearly drove him to madness lying so close to her and breathing in her heady scent. Every breath of it had gone straight to his cock, making it swell against the tight confines of his trousers. It was a hellish torture that the goddess was visiting on him, one made even worse by the fact that with her body cleaned, her scent was richer and deeper. His eyes had practically rolled back, his body shuddering as he worked to contain his hungry growl when he scented it. He had been surprised by the strength with which it had affected him.
How it wasstillaffecting him. Although she smelled slightly different this morning, the intensity of it cooled. He thanked the blessed immortals for sparing him from walking through the carnival with his cock straining to burst free. But he was certain that his balls were nigh ready to burst. He didn’t know how much restraint he would have when the time finally came. She needed to be ready in every way for him.
His cock twitched, and his mouth twisted in a grimace. He had slowly become accustomed to living in a constant half-aroused state since coming across his mate, but it was even more potent when they were together. He growled quietly to himself, the tips of his ears flicking. There was a special kind of madness that came with Ha’shena unfulfilled. The need was eating at his mind, trying to distract him from her purpose—their purpose. He couldn’t even properly scent the younglings when his senses were focused on her like male crocotta circling a female in heat.
Like so many times during the day, his gaze strayed to her, and he noted that though she kept pace at his side, her dark eyes darted around warily but with increasing interest as she took in the sights and sounds of the carnival. The scent of her fear had been waning, but he wasn’t sure if that was because she was truly conquering it or simply becoming numb to it. He hoped for the former.
