Orc’s Forbidden Claim (Red Planet Dragons of Tajss #33)

14. Saylor

14

SAYLOR

I awake with a start. My heart is racing, and my breath catches in my throat. Wren tightens her grip on my arm as I quickly look around. Sleep fogs my brain. I don’t know what woke me up, but I have a definitive sense of danger that is very present and very real.

The two lanterns cast their dim light, illuminating the shadowy forms of our Urr’ki captors. Two of them are lying on the ground sleeping. Two are at the edge of the light watching behind us, barely visible. The last is behind Wren and me, watching the path forward.

Nothing seems to be wrong. The Urr’ki aren’t reacting or waking up those who are asleep. What is it? Something. Wren takes a sharp inhale, pulling my attention to her. She grimaces and then her mouth moves. Count, she mouths.

Frowning, I look around and count our captors. Then I count them again. One is missing. I count a third time to make sure, but it doesn’t change. I look at Wren with a questioning look. She shrugs and shakes her head.

Is this a good thing for us? A bad thing? Where did the other one go? Perhaps he’s relieving himself?

Something rattles down the tunnel we came from, it sounds like a pebble bouncing off the stone. The two Urr’ki there look at each other. One of them calls down the tunnel in their language, but there is no answer. He looks at the other one, shrugs, and then walks into the dark to investigate. I watch and wait. Some sense that I can’t put my finger on makes me think this is it. The thing that startled me awake is happening.

“Urgh, ugh,” the strangled sound drifts down the tunnel towards us.

The Urr’ki leap to action. The two who were asleep are on their feet and drawing weapons. The one left at that part of the tunnel looks over his shoulder as he backpedals towards the others. I see now that he is the one who talked to us last night after he saved Wren from being kicked.

The two that woke join the others in a huddle, speaking in the Urr’kilanguage. I’m fairly sure that those two are the other three who have been nice. The ones who don’t seem to be all in on treating us like animals.

The huddle breaks up and four of them march ahead. The other one moves towards us, barking something at the other one. They close ranks on either side of us with their weapons drawn.

All of us stare at the dark tunnel that the others have disappeared into. I don’t know if the Urr’ki can see what’s happening better than I can, but I can’t tell anything. There aren’t even dancing shadows, it’s just inky black.

Then someone yells. It sounds like a pain. It only lasts a few seconds before there is a strangling sound followed by silence. My heart is pounding. What is happening?

I’m all too familiar with the sounds of battle. Something that I never would have thought possible on the ship. It was unimaginable that I would ever be so used to the sounds of fighting that it is instantly recognizable. Yet here we are, and it absolutely is.

Not only the sounds of battle but worse, the sounds of pain. And dying. It doesn’t last long. In the darkness of the tunnel, there is no way for me to tell who or what is dying, but there is no mistaking that that’s what happened.

Who? Is it good? Bad?

The shadows seem to stir, coalescing into huge, hulking shapes that are approaching. My stomach clenches tight and I grab onto Wren. We cling to one another as we wait in anxious anticipation. Is it the Urr’ki? Is it some monster that calls the under-mountain home? Or… could it be… Khiara?

So suddenly it startles both of us, causing us to yelp, a shape charges out of the dark into the lantern light. It’s huge. I can’t process what I’m seeing for a moment or two. All I see is how big and terrifying this creature is. It seems to fill the entire tunnel. Then it roars. The sound is deafening, echoing off the walls.

Wren and I move away as quickly as we can but then we come up against the two Urr’ki who were behind us but are rushing forward to meet the new threat. The one Urr’ki closest to the oncoming monster raises his weapon but then he is lifted into the air and flies back toward us. He lands a foot in front of us, lying in a still heap.

The monster roars again. Trembling I press back into the Urr’ki who are trying to get past us. Wren should be coming with me, but she has stopped. She pulls her arm free of my clinging grasp and takes a step forward.

“Sek?” she asks.

Once again, I feel like I’m thinking in slow motion. I hear what she says, but it doesn’t make sense. The word doesn’t add up to a concept, it’s a sound, a noise, and all I can think is, what is she doing going forward? That’s the way to danger and she needs to get back here with me, ready to run.

The monstrous creature roars again but my eyes are drawn to another shape that steps around it and into the light. I recognize him instantly. Khiara looks around, and then our eyes meet. The fire burning in his sears into my soul, laying his claim on me and I welcome it. His gaze shifts to the two Urr’ki on either side of me. His lips curl back into a sneer as he growls.

The two Urr’ki captors step ahead, but they don’t raise their weapons, instead, they hold out their empty hands. Khiara looks from one of them to the other. He says something in their language and one of them answers.

This is the moment I realize that the other shape is Wren’s mate, Sek’su. The Zmaj steps up next to Khiara, closing his wings which is why he looked so massive and as if he filled the entire tunnel. The three Urr’ki, Khiara, and my two now former captors, continue to talk then the captors move back, lowering their heads.

“What’s happening?” I ask.

“Sek!” Wren screeches, running into his arms.

He scoops her into his arms and encloses the two of them in his wings. Khiara takes a step towards me, slow, deliberate, his eyes boring into mine.

“Saylor,” he says, his voice deep and guttural which makes my pussy tingle with pent-up desire. Trembling I step towards him. “My dragoste.”

That word. He’s explained it the best he can in Zmaj, the only tongue we share, and there is such a resonating power in it. I forget my former captors. I forget everyone around us but him. He and I are all that matter. My dragoste. The one my heart wants. The one I need. The one who completes me.

It feels like gravity. I cannot resist him. I’m pulled into him. We come closer and closer and it’s happening simultaneously in slow motion as well as in a rush. As his arms wrap around me, I rise onto my toes and his lips lay claim to mine. Or I lay claim to his. One way or another it’s a mutual claiming. And it’s not enough.

I grab his hair, tugging and pulling as our tongues find each other and wrestle for who will be dominate. His hands roam over my back, onto my ass, and I groan into the kiss. More. I need so much more.

Adrenaline is fueling desire. Relief at being rescued heightens need and want. He slides one hand off my ass, over my hip, and onto my belly, all while our lips never part. He slides his hand inside my pants and all I can do is moan.

His hand passes down, moving over my pubic hair and pelvis until his fingers are pressing onto the lips of my pussy. He pushes and pierces, penetrating deep and hard. My knees are water. If not for his other hand hooked under my ass I’d fall to the ground. His finger curls inside and I gasp, breaking our kiss.

He works that finger back and forth. Curling in and up, pressing hard on the inside. A sensation I’ve never felt before is building. It’s more than an orgasm. It feels the same, yet more, and somehow different.

Involuntarily, on instinct, I buck my hips into him. Pushing his curling finger deeper and rubbing my clit onto the palm of his hand. He works that finger inside me furiously. An orgasm is building faster than I ever would have thought possible. And it feels like the biggest thing I’ve ever experienced.

I’m moaning and groaning, and he grunts in time with the motions of his hand and fingers. I feel his erection, swollen and barely contained by his pants, digging into my lower belly. All I want is for him to bury that inside of me. I’m only dimly aware that we’re being watched but I can’t be bothered to care. This feels too good. Let them watch. I need this.

The orgasm breaks free and takes over both my body and my thoughts. I convulse and cry out my pleasure all while he holds me tight, carrying me through it with simple, easy caring. When it passes at last the first hints of embarrassment come but they are outside the afterglow of how good he made me feel.

He slides his hand out of my pants and the musky scent of sex fills the air between us. I hate to admit how it makes my mouth water and makes me want more but now is far from the time or place. We hold onto each other and as the aftershocks of orgasm pass over I suddenly start crying.

I don’t mean to, but this is the first moment I’ve felt relief. I’m rescued. He’s here. He really is. He came for me. I knew he would, but then I didn’t know if he would find me, or at least find me in time. He holds me, arms locked tight around my waist and keeping me lifted off the floor.

A grunting clearing of the throat from behind brings reality crashing back in. We’re not alone and I just put on one hell of a show for my former captors. A flush burns its way over my chest and onto my cheeks. Khiara growls and then sets me on my feet. He takes a step ahead while holding one arm protectively across me.

Three Urr’ki stand together, watching him. On some unspoken signal, they drop their weapons and raise their hands to show empty palms.