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In matings like ours, where our pendants chose, the woman fell in love with her male quickly. The male’s heart followed, though I’d always believed he loved her for who she was, not solely because he desired her and vice versa. The pendant might choose, but the hearts made the final decision.
I liked Rhoslyn, and the tightness settling into my chest told me this liking could very easily tip into love.
Would that be a bad thing?
My mother had loved my father, and she was nearly broken when he set her aside to mate with another.
My situation was different. I’d watch and see where this went.
We passed a large building housing one of the many metalworking shops and paused to look through the large window on the front. This section of town was far enough from the water that the dresalods didn’t reach.
“See?” I said loudly to project my voice above the bangs and shrieks of metal work echoing around us. “This is where we make the sheets we attach to the sides of our buildings.”
Even outside the big open warehouse, the air was thick with a metallic scent—a tangy blend of hot iron and smoky coal that hung heavily in my nostrils. It tickled at the back of my throat.
Orcs struck hammers rhythmically, each filling the air with vibrations bouncing off worn stone walls and the exposed wooden beams above them.
Heat from roaring furnaces filtered through the glass, and flames flickered from the open doors of the enormous burners. Veins of white-hot fire bathed in blazing orange and pulsating yellow drew the eye. Molten globules cascaded toward sodden floors—their incandescent glow illuminating taut muscles flexing under orcs' firm grips on burning rods. As they worked, sparks danced around them. Sweat glistened on their brawny torsos covered only with sturdy leather aprons.
“It’s amazing,” Rhoslyn breathed, and since I could barely hear her, I took her hand and led her past the front of the building, continuing down the side road that looped around this part of the city and slowly approached my building.
We reached my house and went inside.
Rhoslyn put her clothing away inside the bureau, and I hovered near the door, admiring how she moved. She stroked the folded clothing a number of times before sighing and sliding the drawer shut.
She shot me a shy smile. “You said you have work to do this afternoon? I could make you something to eat first if you’d like. You bought a lot of food, and unless you’d like me to use some of the older food, I could make something with the new.”
When she sashayed closer to me, stopping in front of me, her gaze traveled down my front. My cock, naturally, sprang to attention.
She didn’t have to do anything but look at me to spark my mating fire. It roared through my veins, insisting I must soon claim her. My pendant followed, glowing brightly.
“I know what I’d like to eat.” I bumped away from the wall and stalked right up to her.
She backed toward the bed, her gaze smoldering. “Oh you do, do you?”
“Very much so.”
When I tumbled her down onto the bed and loomed over her, she cupped my shoulders and her lips parted.
I slowly bunched up her skirts, watching her face. I traced my fingers up her leg, and her thighs parted.
Fire roared through me, and there was nothing and no one that would keep me from satisfying my mate.
As a sigh of desire slipped from her throat, I claimed her mouth with my own.
Chapter20
Rhoslyn
He kissed down my neck and tugged up my blouse, his fingertips tracing across my breasts.
“I thought you had work to do this afternoon,” I said in a breathy voice. “That you didn’t wish to waste time puttering around with me.”
“I always have time for you, mate.”
I’d like to think his words meant his feelings for me were deepening, but he’d made it clear they wouldn’t for some time.
I’d be foolish to fall in love with my orc husband if he’d never feel the same.
