Page 85 of The Savage Vow
“You don’t have to.” Nargol didn’t want her thanks. She had all the payment she would ever need by Orlena loving her. She covered Orlena’s hand with hers. “But you never should have been in danger in the first place. I should have?—”
“You didn’t know. I didn’t know. Yambul fooled the both of us. I have always thought him to be a grouchy old orc who had little respect for me as a human. I never would have thoughthe was involved in something as crazy as this,” Orlena said. She pushed up and brushed her hair from her face.
Nargol couldn’t help but stare at her. In the morning sunshine rays, she was the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen.
“You love me,” Nargol blurted out.
Orlena’s lips lifted into a soft smile. She glanced down shyly.
“You heard me,” she whispered.
“Was I not supposed to?” Nargol tipped her chin upward so she could see her eyes.
“Yes. I wanted you to know, if we should die?—”
“We will not,” Nargol said immediately. She was going to do everything in her power to ensure her mate would be able to do all of the things she had dreamed about.
“I understand that going to see Cardu is dangerous. Maybe more so than what we’ve just survived, but I wanted to let you know my true feelings. I’ve known for a while. I just didn’t know it,” she admitted.
Emotions swelled so suddenly and violently inside Nargol that it stole her breath. She drew Orlena into a fierce kiss where she poured all of her feelings into it. Her mate may not be an orc who would feel the pull from a mating bond, but that didn’t matter.
She loved Nargol.
Orlena’s arms wrapped around Nargol’s neck as she returned the kiss with the same heated passion.
When they finally parted, Nargol rested her forehead against Orlena’s.
“I love you, too, mate,” Nargol whispered.
Orlena’s small hand came to rest on her cheek. Just in that moment, she wished they could stay hidden there forever, but unfortunately, they could not.
She drew back. “We must move.”
It would be dangerous to take Orlena with her, but it would be more dangerous to leave her. At this moment, there was no one Nargol trusted. Makhel was gone, but hopefully she would return soon with the army.
That could be days away.
Nargol didn’t have days.
She quickly repacked her bag and led Orlena outside into the cool morning air. Mist clung to the blades of grass that surrounded the large trees. Torch grazed a short distance away. He lifted his massive head and glanced their way, then returned to his morning meal.
“Come. We can wash up before we leave.” Nargol took Orlena’s hand and led her toward the small creek that was nearby.
“Is there any way you can call for backup before we go to the clan leader?” Orlena asked.
“Backup is already on the way. We just don’t have time,” Nargol said.
They reached the creek. The water ran clear over smooth stones. Nargol knelt and splashed water over her face, scrubbing away dried blood and dirt. Orlena joined her and washed her hands.
It wasn’t much, but at least it was something.
“This Rujin, he will take over Aghon?” Orlena asked.
Nargol took a towel out of her bag and quickly dried her face and hands. She then passed it to Orlena.
“He will decimate everything in his path,” Nargol said. The old stories came to mind. Fires, blackened valleys flickering. The exhale. The humiliation her people had faced. “We were nearly destroyed once. My ancestors wandered for generations because of troll conquest. We cannot return to that.”
“He must be stopped then,” Orlena said, so matter-of-factly. She turned back to the water and continued washing the dirt and grime from her exposed skin.
