“This one is whelping. Human bodies are delicate. Better to wait,” she announces gruffly with a nod in my direction. “Congratulations,” she growls before stalking away again to retake her seat.
I stare after her, my mouth hanging open. His mother stares back at me, stunned before she grins and claps her hands.
“Our line is strong,” she boasts. “Orgath, my sister’s son, got orclings on his mate quickly and has many progeny, and now my son only has his mate a few days and has already managed to sire young. Our family will be blessed with many orclings!”
The clan cheers and I lean toward Bodi. “I hope she isn’t expecting us to just crank them out because I’m kinda good with just one or two.”
He laughs and hugs me gently against him, his warmth surrounding me. Several males come by to slap him on the back, and several couples offer their congratulations as the evening wears on. Still, the feasting continues all around us, leaving us in our own little world.
Eventually, tables are pushed to the sides and drums are brought out along with a few other instruments I don’t recognize, but before long everyone is dancing steps that I can’t hope to follow. That doesn’t stop Bodi from dragging me out among them, his body moving with mine as he attempts to teach me the dance until we’re clinging to each other with laughter.
It’s in that moment, pressed up against him, that he ducks his head and inhales, a low rumble rising through him that sparks my own arousal. I grind against him, subtly unable to resist, lust burning through me.
His breath his hot on my skin as his voice rasps near my ear. “I can’t wait until we get home to have you. Follow me now, lanara.”
I silently nod and allow myself to be drawn down a dark path by my mate. The light wanes the farther we get from the torches, and the roar of the celebration dims. He doesn’t go so far that I’m blind, but he somehow finds a bench and lowers me upon it. His fingers hot on my skin, he slowly strips me, his hands stroking every inch of exposed skin. Only once I’m naked does he undress too, and I can see the large shadow of his cock bobbing as it is freed from his pants.
I lick my lips as my arousal surges higher, and Bodi growls deep in his chest. That sound pierces right through me, and it feels as if we’re being swept up in a single tide of energy. He stands before me, not moving an inch, and his hands beckon me.
“If you wish this mating, you need to take it, my Lynn,” he growls.
I lick my lips. “Sit down then, Bodi.”
He complies, his ass hitting the bench with a solid sound that makes me wince with sympathy. That had to sting, even though he doesn’t make even the smallest sound of complaint. His glowing eyes are focused entirely on me, tracking my every movement as I walk nearer and slowly sink down in front of his knees.
“Finally, I get my turn,” I tease before swiping my tongue up the thick length of his shaft.
Bodi inhales sharply, the growling sound picking up as he clenches his hands at his side. He’s struggling to let me remain in charge. I wonder if I can break that control.
I take the tip in my mouth, my tongue swirling playfully around his piercing before sucking him deep. I play like this, tormenting him, releasing him every so often to leisurely lick along his length until the tip beads with precum and his breath stutters out of his lungs. He endures it well, but I hear the loud, grinding scrape of his claws against the wood of the bench that makes me smile around the flesh sucked into my mouth.
I give the pierced head one last flick of my tongue before I allow his cock to pop out of my mouth, my tongue teasing the slit until my mate snarls with desperation. When I finally rise up from my knees, his eyes are overbright with need. My lips tip into a smile.
“Still with me?”
His nod is jerky, and his large body trembles in front of me.
“I need you, lanara, my Lynn, to ease this fire in my blood,” he rasps.
“I do too,” I admit as I climb up into his lap, my knees settling onto the bench on either side of him.
I feel his big hands come up behind me, supporting my ass, but he does nothing more as I reach between us to position his cock against my super slick opening and press down. A shiver runs up my spine as I continue to lower myself until he’s completely sheathed. He shudders, and then I begin to rock, taking my pleasure and giving to him as I stroke my hands through his hair and grip the coarse strands. He growls beneath me, his hips moving involuntarily with me until the tightening within me unfurls with a powerful snap. I cry out and drop against his chest, my limbs quivering as my channel pulses, squeezing his sex with hard pulls. Bodi growls, and his hands beneath squeezing my ass and then gripping my bottom, pumping me up and down along his length so I can ride out my orgasm until I’m panting and gasping into his chest.
I don’t expect it at all when he suddenly withdraws and flips me on the wide bench. My feet braced on the ground on either side, I hold my body up with my elbows curled beneath me against the wood. I can feel the furrows that Bodi’s claws dug, and it excites me further, but no more so than the feel of his large body curling over mine, pressing his chest along my back. His cock brushes my folds for a moment before he’s diving in with one deep thrust that makes us both cry out.
He rocks against me, his cock plunging in and out of me as his hips hit my ass with every thrust. I dig my fingernails into the bench and cry out, feeling something strange rising within me, something more powerful than any orgasm I’ve ever experienced. It’s like a living thing spinning between us, tightening incrementally as our bodies slam together. I feel something hot and wet streak down my ass, brushed on by his fingertips, and an intense heat like I’ve never known spears through me. Whatever Bodi put on me I know he also put on himself because he moans loudly, his hips twitching as his thrusts quicken in a desperate rut that has me whimpering beneath him, begging for more.
My breath feels like it’s about to seize within my lungs, my body swaying to meet his brutal rut. Bodi’s growl thickens as he grinds deeper, his rhythm going all to hell. His cock swells and stiffens as his pace picks up in a wild crescendo of need that sends us both off the edge.
My cry of ecstasy is completely unfettered but soon drowned out by his roar as his seed spurts deep into me with every savage thrust. His arms drag me up off the bench so he can grind deeper, triggering another orgasm while his cock continues to twitch and release against the mouth of my womb. Apparent from the remnants of the orgasm rippling through me, I’m surprised when I feel a warm connection between us, drawing us together, merging us together so I can feel his presence resting right under my skin.
“My bloodbonded mate,” he whispers, his voice choked with emotion and awe. “I knew it.”
He cuddles me close, and I smile, snuggling into him. I should probably be embarrassed. There’s some part of me that acknowledges that. Half the clan probably heard us fucking in the labyrinth. Hell, someone might have even seen us. But as I recline in my mate’s arms, his cock slowly slipping from my body, I decide that I just don’t give a fuck.
I’ve found my happily ever after, have a baby on the way and a mate who adores me, and didn’t have to give up my coffee. Life can’t get any better than this.
Chapter 27
Bodi
I enter the cell, glaring at the male shackled there. He returns my stare, hatred in his eyes as he watches me approach. I do not speak at first; my rage is still very great. Despite spending a week with my mate at our cottage, enjoying newly mated bliss, I can’t forget that this male had tried to end her life. He nearly succeeded in extinguishing that bright spark and taking her away from me.
There is no being I could possibly hate more than this male.
“Are you here to kill me then?” he snarls. “Get it over with if you are.”
I stop in front of him and take his measure. A fanatic, eager to give his life for his cause. I don’t need to have any special insights to see the signs.
“Oh, I will be, but first you will talk,” I assure him.
His gaze turns wary. “Of what?”
“I want to know why you tried to kill my mate. Was it because she spurned you?” I inquire softly.
He lets out a disdainful bark of laughter that surprises me, though I don’t show it. Lynn will never realize that as the captain of the guard, I have many terrible responsibilities that require me to be in complete control and sometimes do horrendous things. I may wear a smiling face, but I have honed my lethal instinct in a way that would make my father and grandfather proud. But only for protecting my clan. Nothing more. Yet this is one such thing that I do not want her ever to know of.
“I had no interest in touching your mate,” he growls, his smile sharp with loathing. “I merely tried to lure her from you to complete what was necessary. Their kind should not be here, should not be mingling and polluting our cultures with their ways, and they should not be diluting our bloodlines.”
“I see,” I murmur. “And did your fellow Bright Bloods assist you in this? Was such a task so difficult that you required assistance?”
His face darkens. “Of course not. They refused to help. When we heard that Orgath was hunting us out, they fled the clan’s territory, afraid of being caught. Only I had the courage to stay because this is my clan and I wished to defend it.”
“And you failed,” I say, drawing out my blade at my side.
He grunts unhappily. “Perhaps I did, but I am only one. Not everyone will fail in seeing the humans expunged from our world.”
I glance over to a corner where Orgath waits in the shadows. He nods his head.
“Then it seems we must send a message,” I murmur.
Whirling, my blade slices through the air, neatly severing the muscles in his neck. His eyes widen and he gasps, gurgling on the blood spilling from his mouth and throat. Dispassionately, I look him in the eye as I walk closer, my hand knotting in his hair as I yank his head back, spilling even more blood from the wound.
“You will not walk Ov’Gorg again to be a threat to my mate or any of the mates to this clan,” I promise, and then let his head go to watch the life drain from him and the light extinguish from his eyes.
Pulling a cloth from my bag, I wipe down my blade and return it to its sheath as I turn and walk back to Orgath.
“We will have to alert the clans and neighboring territories. There’s no telling where the Bright Bloods fled,” I whisper.
My cousin nods solemnly. “We will. Now leave, Bodi. Return to your mate. I appreciate you seeing to this, but you are not supposed to be here.”
I stiffen in protest.
“I had to assure my mate’s safety,” I growl.
“And this is why I permitted it. It has been done. Now go home,” he chides.
I grunt in acknowledgment and leave. He is right. I’m so eager to return to my female. I know she is busy with Garval at our cottage, making plans for their café they’ve decided to name The Spiced Pumpkin. I’m not so secretly delighted. My mate is happy, and my brother is as well, having just terminated his position with the guard.
Life seems to be moving in the right direction finally, and I can’t wait to once more hold my bloodbonded mate in my arms.
Epilogue
One year later
Lynn
I rub my hand over my belly. My little one has been growing quick as of late, almost as quick as my business. The Spiced Pumpkin is a success, more than I had expected it would be. It’s almost too much to handle alone, even with Bodi baking in the kitchen. I really need help, especially with the little monster coming. It seems that I’m destined to go the entire typical fourteen-month pregnancy, and I’m just dying.
At least I know my best friend will listen to my bitching and moaning. She doesn’t know I’m pregnant yet, and I feel a bit bad that I’ve kept this secret from her. After the birth of her baby, things have been hard for her, and it just felt wrong to share that bit of my happiness too soon while she was still healing. I need to tell her soon, though, because this baby will be here this winter. At very least, I’m hoping she’ll visit. I want her here if possible.
Shifting my weight uncomfortably, I drag the magic mirror over to me and activate it with the spell code for Kassie’s mirror. It takes it a moment to connect cross-portal, but when it does, I can’t help but to smile at the sight of my friend’s face… but my smile drops when I note how stressed she looks. It doesn’t take me long to pry about how things have been going with getting support from Jason—may twenty mawu chew on his ass—but I’m surprised when she agrees to take me up on the same offer I’ve made so many times over the last year.
“Oh, gods, I’m so glad!” I laugh. “I was just worrying that I was going to have to bribe someone to work for me. I swear I scare off potential staff.”
To my delight, Kassie laughs, her posture visibly relaxing. I take a huge gulp of the coffee beside me and grin.
“Don’t exaggerate. We both know you’re fine once you have those first couple of cups in your system,” she teases.
“Ah, but it’s getting them to stick around that long.” I sigh. Somehow, I actually made one of the juvenile orclings cry before she stormed out of the café. “Actually, I’m glad this came up because I’ve been needing to hire someone. The team is great, and Garval is a godssend in the kitchen, but I need more help.”
“Garval,” she says, her nose wrinkling slightly.
I wave a hand, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. I honestly don’t even know if she remembers meeting Bodi’s brother. “Nothing like that. I mean he can cook just fine, but he complains whenever I drag him away from what he would rather be doing. He’s my baker, confectioner, and maker of sublime pastries that I swear have made me gain ten pounds this month alone.”
“I didn’t know orcs did that,” she murmurs, her eyes widening.
I grin at her stunned reaction. “Oh, this one does, and he was a lucky find! I almost thought I was going to have to send some of his relatives off to find and kidnap a baker for me. Of course, now he says he’s being wasted whenever I ask him to roast a ham or fry eggs… and truthfully, he’s right.”
“Admitting a male is right…” she hums, her smile taunting as she reminds me of some of the arguments that I got into with Bodi back in the day.
Naturally, I give her a dirty look and flip her the bird, and she bursts into laughter.
“Okay, so tell me then why it’s such a godssend, and not just to get your baker orc off your back,” she teases.
My grin widens. Time to spill the beans. For the first time, I’m excited to see what her reaction will be. “I’m going to need someone with a firm head on her shoulders there to run things when I go on maternity leave in the winter.”
Her draw drops, and she gapes at me for two whole seconds before an excited squeal escapes her.
“You sly devil,” she laughs. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrug, still beaming. I don’t want to tell her why so I go with a not-quite lie that would have been the truth if not for the fact that everyone in the village sees me on a regular basis. It’s actually one of the reasons I haven’t told anyone in my family yet. “We were keeping it between us… you know, just in case. I’m not exactly twenty…”
“As if women in their forties aren’t having babies,” she scoffs.
“Well, just one for us. I’ve been cleared in good health by the healers here, but I think that will be perfect.”
“I’m really happy for you,” she says sincerely, and I feel like blubbering like a baby at the honest love and happiness I see in her eyes.
I blink my eyes a bit to keep the tears at bay, and my smile widens. “Anyway, enough about the monster growing under my belt. When are you coming?”
“Probably a couple of weeks,” she replies, her expression bright with excitement.
“I’m going to hold you to that!” I laugh.
When the mirror finally goes dark some time later, I can truly feel fully satisfied as I lean back in my chair. Kassie wil
l be coming soon. I’ve missed her so much. I’ve become close friends with Erra and her brood, and even gotten to know Sammi, but no one can replace Kassie.
I’m still grinning when Bodi walks in behind me, his arms swooping around me in a loving embrace. His lips brush my cheek and drop down to my neck where he breathes me in.
“Did you have a good day, lanara?” he murmurs.
I nod and pat his arm. “Tiring, but very good.”
Leaning back against him, I tell him about my conversation with Kassie. My mate’s brow shoots up at the news that she finally accepted my invitation. He had been ready to kill something when I had finally told him how Jason treated Kassie and had threatened to go to Ov’Gorg with Garval to sort the matter out until I stopped him. The last thing people needed was to be afraid of raging orcs invading human cities—even if it was for a good cause. I reminded him that anything Kassie did had to be her decision, and that was the only thing that kept him from informing his brother.
“It will be perfect,” he rumbles happily. “Put the two of them together and they will work things out. She will be mated and happy before the autumn is out.”
“You are so sure of that, are you?” I tease, running my fingers through his hair.
He nods. “He’s an Ironclaw. He will get his female, protect her, and devote himself to her happiness. She will never realize what hit her.”
I hum doubtfully. “Not to burst your bubble, my love, but Garval is pretty shy. Do you really think he’ll approach her?”
“With a little direction, yes,” Bodi drawls, making me laugh. “I am quite knowledgeable in this area.”
“Uh-huh… I seem to recall me wanting to slap your smile off of your face more than a few times.”
“But I still won my mate,” he purrs, rubbing his nose against the side of my neck.
How to Claim a Human Mate (Monstery Yours #6) Page 20