Summoning the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #2)

Chapter Seventeen

Rok

I didn’t allow myself to sleep the entire night. I was too afraid I was in a dream and I would wake up to find myself back in my lonely cave.

I spent the night snuggled with my female instead. After I’d ensured that she’d come three more times against my tongue, she’d been a sleepy mess in my arms. I’d followed my nose to the scent of fruit in a bowl in the cooking area and I’d fed her bits of them, watching her gaze up at me with languorous eyes in my arms.

She was my most precious possession, and I was learning to care for her in this new land. I’d get better at it. I had to, if I had any hope of keeping her.

Lying next to someone held its own form of intimacy as well. The females I’d been with before had invited me to their beds and kicked me out right after the deed was done.

Not my mate.

She’d curled into my arms like a sleepy matagot that had snuck into a cave for warmth. I stroked her hair—running my fingers through her silken tresses—and touched her delicate skin. I’d found a knife in the kitchen area and trimmed my claws, but I needed some stone to blunt the sharp edges before I could touch her properly.

I never wanted to hurt her, even accidentally. I spent hours curled around her and she’d tucked her luscious ass against my cock. It was sublime. Every second was one I wanted to relive and cherish.

But other than having her with me, I wasn’t sure about this new world that she lived in. I might not have been able to sleep anyway, even if I’d tried. There were noises from everywhere—loud and jarring—when I was used to only the soothing sound of nocturnal animals.

The many entry areas of her living space didn’t have the same safety as a cave either. An enemy could enter from anywhere. There were clear barriers everywhere, but they seemed brittle and easily breakable. How did she live here by herself? A female on her own?

I knew we were high up. In fact, I hadn’t been able to fathom how high up we were from the ground when I’d peered out of the clear barriers, but I couldn’t imagine that would deter anyone who had the relevant tools.

I nuzzled against Becca’s hair, taking a hit of her scent and soothing myself. I’d have to ask Dristan so many questions when I saw him. How he’d outfitted his own home in order to protect his mate.

I just need to learn. We can be safe and happy here. I’ll take care of her and she’ll never leave me.

I ran my tusks over her, covering her with my scent, my hands filled with her delectable breasts. This was how I wanted to spend every night. With my mate in my arms after I’d sated her lust.

I swiped my tongue over her ear and she released a little giggle, making me smile. The sun was peeking in through the windows. It was our time to rise.

She peeked her eyes open, her mouth stretching wide with an adorable yawn and my heart melted into a puddle. She turned to look up at me and a smile stretched her lips.

She murmured words in her language and I cursed myself for not knowing it. It sounded intimate and sweet. As if she was thanking me for our first night together.

“Every night from now on, Becca,” I told her in response.

She stretched, arching her back, her ass pressing against my aching cock and her breasts shifting in my hands. I closed my eyes to savor the feel of her.

My mate.

She pointed at a tiny box with blinking glyphs, murmuring more words before turning to me again, lifting her mouth for a kiss.

Gods, yes. This little female is accepting me.

I gave her my lips, but she pulled away and snuggled against me again. My brow furrowed as I realized she was going back to sleep. I glanced at the sky outside of the window again, confused.

But… the sun is rising. Why wouldn’t she start her day?

With a grin, I realized that I’d thrown off her schedule by exhausting her with orgasms. Preening, I begrudgingly untangled myself from her, smiling down at her tiny form in the soft bed. It was truly something magical. My own bed was piled high with pelts, but I’d never been able to achieve anything like that texture.

I moved from our bed chamber to the cooking area again, not sure what my female would eat for breakfast. There was more fruit in the little basket on the stone in the center of the room, but she needed something to sustain her for the day. That wouldn’t be enough.

If she had any cured meats, I would be able to make something worthy of her, but I didn’t hold much hope. She was such a tiny thing, hunting might not be one of her better skills. That was probably why there was so much fruit.

Sniffing, I followed the scents of food to a box against the wall. It was sealed, and I tilted my head at it, until I saw the seal around the edges. There were handles along the middle and when I gave them a gentle tug, they swung open with ease.

My eyes went wide at the scents and sights that bombarded me along with a gust of cold air.

Ingenious.

My female had stored food . So much food that I was sure we could feast for at least a week. She was much smaller than me, so she’d perhaps rationed it away for months.

Sniffing at the packaging she covered the food in, I scrunched my nose. There were other scents along with the food. Things that didn’t smell natural . I lifted a package of what looked like slices of meat, but I had no idea what kind it was.

There was something being added to the food in this land, and I wondered if it was to keep the food from going bad. I snorted out a laugh. How silly, when you could just catch more.

Still, I sniffed and picked at meats and vegetables until I had enough to feed myself and my female. I put everything on the large stone with the fruit, knowing I would be adding some of that for her in case it was what she preferred, and I closed the cold box.

I opened more of the little doors around the room, but none of them were cold the way the box was. I found stoneware there instead, but unlike anything I knew. Everything was delicate and breakable—as proven when I broke a flat bowl in half just by picking it up.

I held one more out in front of me with only my fingertips, taking it to the food. With care, I put it down without breaking it and heaved a sigh of relief. I picked the best bits of the food for my female onto it, snagging the pieces that weren’t so good for myself. I was famished, having had no meat the night before.

I scowled, not familiar with the taste of what I was eating and the extra things that were added to them. I would have to hunt and forage for my female so that she would be able to put on enough weight to carry my younglings.

I would ask Dristan and Rudgar about the nearest hunting area. It would irk me to be separated from Becca for any long period of time, but I’d have to create my own hoard of cured meat for her if I had any hope of having anything palatable.

Grunting with annoyance, I lifted the delicate stoneware into one palm, balancing the food and taking it to Becca. My gaze softened as I took in her sleeping form. She’d spread herself over my side of the bed, snuggling into the coverings.

She loves my scent just as much as I adore hers.

The punch to my gut had me baring my fangs.

No one will ever take her from me.

Nostrils flared and trying to calm myself, I lowered the food to the wooden stand next to the bed. I stroked her hair and she gave a little moan, murmuring words and turning toward me.

“Wake up, my mate,” I murmured, and her eyes blinked open. She gave me another one of her smiles, her eyes going to the food. Her eyebrows swung up and her gaze swung back to me.

She sat up, the coverings dropping from her perfect breasts and I growled with approval. She looked down at them, gasped and then snagged the white coverings once more. I growled again, but this time with annoyance.

After our night together, I thought she would be comfortable showing herself to me.

Maybe all she needed was time. I understood that. This mating might be moving fast for her. I had no idea how matings happened on this plane.

I offered her the plate of food and she tilted her head at it, a small smile spreading across her face.

She’s magnificent in her beauty.

When she plucked something off the plate in thanks, I growled low. I took it from her instead, making her jerk in shock. I held it to her lips and watched as they parted in surprise. I offered it to her and she leaned forward, nibbling at it with those tiny, useless teeth that probably couldn’t bite into a warthog if she tried.

I smoothed her lips with my thumb as she chewed and then picked another morsel from the plate. With care, I fed her again and again, stopping only long enough to press gentle kisses to her lips.

When she was full, pressing her small hand to her stomach and shaking her head, I ate the rest of the food. She eyed me with tenderness, but the white covering was still clutched to her chest.

I couldn’t fault her though. Our mating was new and it would take time for us to become accustomed to each other. She hadn’t even seen me naked yet.

Tilting my head to the side, I put the plate aside and started to strip for her. Her eyes widened—in what I could only assume to be utmost rapture and anticipation—as I tugged the leather straps off my body. I’d already cleaned and put away my weapons after she’d fallen asleep.

She made little noises as her gaze dragged over my form and I knew that I flexed my muscles a little more than I needed to. I reached down to release the ties of my pants and she held her hands out with an exclamation that I didn’t understand.

For some reason, I don’t think she’s telling me to keep going.