Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Uh…what?” I gave him a blank look.
“I should have jerked off—so I could take the edge off—before you came. That would have helped me to have more self-control,” he explained. “As it is, I’m right on the edge and I don’t fucking trust myself! You’re too damn tempting with your gorgeous ripe tits and your soft curves rubbing against me…” He shook his head. “Don’t be offended, okay? I just don’t want to hurt you.”
“Well…” I thought of the boulder he’d told me he’d moved and how strong he was and nodded. “Okay, I appreciate you trying to be careful with me.”
“I would never want to hurt you,” Tark rumbled. His eyes went dark. “That’s another reason I left my Tribe.”
“What—because they like to hurt women?” I asked, frowning.
“You could say that.” He sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. “The males of my Tribe don’t court a woman before they take her for a wife or a bed partner—they just fucking kidnap her. And then when they take her…well, let’s just say they aren’t gentle. I can’t tell you the number of nights I lay awake when I was younger, listening to the people in the huts around mine and hearing women crying out, begging to be set free, to be…” He broke off, shaking his head. “I never wanted that. It’s fucking barbaric and wrong. So I left. But not until I set all the women who wanted to go free. That’s why they kicked me out—I let all of their victims go.”
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured, feeling chastened. “That must have been really hard for you to deal with.”
“It was,” he said shortly. “I just…don’t want to hurt you that way—I don’t want to be like the other males in my Tribe.” He cupped my cheek and stroked it with his thumb. “I want to be sweet to you, Babygirl. I want to make you feel good but we have to take things slow.”
“I understand,” I said, nodding. “But really—I’m not afraid.”
“You’re not? Well, you ought to be—I’m twice your size,” he said grimly. “Besides, you don’t strike me as someone who’s had much experience.”
“I’ve had lovers before—two of them,” I said, lifting my chin defiantly.
“Oh, two of them, huh? Well aren’t you a woman of the world?” he said dryly. “Look, I don’t care how many lovers you’ve had, I’m assuming they were both human—right?”
“Well, yes. A far as I know,” I admitted.
“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “Well let me tell you, Babygirl—being with a human is a lot different than being with an Orc. We have…different equipment.”
“Really?” My eyes went wide. “Like what kind of equipment? Can I see it?”
Tark frowned.
“Eager, aren’t you?”
“Oh, well…” I began blushing at once. What must he think of me? “I didn’t mean—”
“Hey—it’s okay.” He stroked my cheek again. “Don’t be embarrassed, baby. It’s okay to be curious. Just…not now. Not yet, all right? I want to get to know you first. This…what I’m feeling between us—and I think you feel it too—is special. Too special to rush.”
I felt my heart swelling at his words and the soft way he was looking at me.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I…I guess you’re right.”
“I know I’m right,” he rumbled. “So for now, let’s keep things above the belt. Okay?”
I nodded reluctantly.
“Okay.”
“And now I’d better check the cabbage steaks,” he told him. “If I don’t they’re going to get mushy.”
7
HARMONY
Hidden Hollow had come into my life at just the right time. As my work grew more difficult and degrading, I began looking forward to my visits there more and more. I started taking lessons with Madam Healer, who seemed eager to teach me anything I wanted to learn. But even better, Tark and I saw each other regularly—almost every night—and things progressed until I felt I could confidently call him my boyfriend.
The only thing was, we hadn’t slept together yet. Not that I’m super eager to hop into bed with a new guy—on the contrary, I’m usually really careful about that kind of thing. After the debacle in high school, it took me years to trust again and let myself have sex with another guy. But he was the one who got drunk and couldn’t finish, as I think I mentioned before. And we broke up right after, so that was the end of that.
I had admitted my sexual history—or lack thereof—to Tark in a round-about way and he seemed to think it was my way of asking him to go slow. But after our first few dates, I didn’t want to slow things down anymore—I wanted to speed them up! Every time I was with the big Orc, my body was primed and ready to go. Just smelling his warm, woodsy scent seemed to flip a switch in me that made my nipples hard and my pussy wet with sexual need.