Page 12 of Finding Her Luck
"No. That's awful. I can't."
He moved viper fast. One of his big hands grabbed her knee and pulled her flat to her back. Then he rolled her into his lap, pulled the blanket away, baring her bottom to everyone in the cave. A startled yelp escaped her, then a cry of alarm. He was going to spank her again?
His hand came down hard on her butt and then low on her thighs. She was already sore, but he was merciless. Slap. Slap. Slap. Sharp, measured and loud. Tears beaded in her eyes-she was crying again, feeling lost and defeated.
"Next time you count. Get thirty. Corrin, obey."
He pulled her up with a hand on her neck, a rag doll, nothing compared to all his strength and power. With fisted hands she pushed away from him, touching the soft hide-like skin over the rock pads of muscle. He shook her. "Understand? Corrin, obey."
"Yes. I understand," she said.
He sat her down, pressed the bladder to her lips. She tried to take a small sip, but he squeezed in another big gulp of the noxious stuff. From texture to taste, it was disgusting. Nothing could wipe away the taste and texture of it. The stuff sat on her tongue and grew hair.
His finger touched her lips, brushed across them, back and forth. The intensity of his gaze burned. No one ever looked at her like that, fascinated, starved all at once.
The barely-there touch created a sweep of pleasant, nervous tingles moving down her chin, under her jaw. It would be so easy for him to break her. Everything about the Orki spoke of strength, power, and skill. The small group of them had decimated the outlander mercenaries in minutes. This dark one alone took out most of them.
Corrin's eyes met his when, too late she realized that the blanket had fallen away. In the flickering torches of the cave, she sat there, exposed, her breasts plump between her arms, peaked nipples pointing right at the inhuman creature in front of her. His finger stopped at the base of her throat, over her pulse. Could he feel her heartbeat there? She couldn't imagine what he thought, what his senses were telling him as he watched her.
A puff of breath escaped her mouth. She said nothing, but as if she'd given permission, that hand was moving again, tracing down further, following the curve of her breast.
Corrin made a noise in her throat, a whimper of protest, horror, fear. It definitely was not a sound of interest or pleasure. She was sure of it. Sure, she didn't want his vile hands on her. Sure, his gentleness was a mind trickery after experiencing his brutality.
This messed up, insane situation troubled her thoughts and upset her body. Made her crazy. She didn't know what she was thinking. Before that finger reached her nipple, before his touch could deepen, or cover the bruises the mercenary had left, she caught up the blanket and lay down on her side, closing her eyes in a sudden desperate need to sleep.
Saying some words in his own language, she felt him move away.
She bunched blankets and furs around her. The place in the cave where they sat had a slight shallow indent, much bigger than herself, where other bodies had rested. Provisioned as it was, the spot must be a regular stopping place. She turned away from Orki voices behind her, facing the wall, shutting them all out.
She had no idea what to do next. How was she going to save herself, help the other girls? What had happened back at her village?
With every raider dead, the threat to them was gone, but her sisters would have no idea what had happened to her. Would anyone know that she and the others had been taken by the Orki?
That the peace had been broken?
She puzzled through the questions, unable to quiet her mind. Her body still hurt, though the discomfort was dull now. Two mouthfuls of that nasty drink warming her gut like summer berry wine. Unanswered questions rolled in her head as the tranquil, fuzzy, relaxed feeling traveled like syrup through her limbs, dragging her into sleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
SEX NOISES
Corrin woke when someone moved her, putting her on top of a bumpy, heated mattress. So warm. The smell of it was wonderful. Pressing her nose in it and inhaling deep of the wild musk, she tried to get comfortable around the odd lumps. The cover felt like butter-soft leather, although the hard stuffing beneath felt unfamiliar. Not downy bird feathers, reed, or hay. Rest interrupted by the change, she squirmed and shifted until the bed created a vibrating noise that went right through every nerve of her body.
Relaxed from the drink forced on her earlier, the heated bed, subtle vibrations, and relaxing noise, combined to create a liberated, easy-sweet desire.
Before her moon courses started, Corrin often felt an itchy, needy ache between her thighs, coupled with a heaviness in her breasts and sensitivity to her skin. Nanny told her it was the fertile time of her cycle. That swollen, hungry feeling invaded her senses as she lay on that rumbling, delicious smelling bed.
The timing was all wrong. She'd just had her cycle a week or so ago. Keeping her eyes shut, she twisted on the new bed, trying to find a comfortable position. Warmer and with more give than the fur padded ground of the cave, it was nice but oddly shaped. And she wanted something. A pulse throbbed between her legs.
Sometimes pressure between her thighs was enough to find sleep. That should work. Usually, she could bunch up her covers or put a pillow there, stopping the nagging feeling. Fighting with the bumpy bed beneath her, Corrin sighed in wonder when the bottom half of it split open.
Scooting down, she straddled one side of the split and pressed down in relief. This had the added benefit of a smoother place to rest her head. It was still uneven, but the valley between the bumps vertically was not as deep an indentation. Petting the ridges, pressing her hips downward, she drifted back into a deeper unconsciousness.
When she woke again, it was to the sounds of moans.
The torches were out. The fire in the pit burned low, flickering over the hulking shapes of two Orki sitting up, awake. They looked to be bent over a game of dice. Others in the cave, along the walls, were asleep. Several of the war beasts snored softly.
The feminine moan came again, raising the hair on the back of Corrin's neck and reddening her face at the same time. Sex sounds. Awareness dawned at the same time she realized her scandalized position on top of the dark-skinned Orki.
