Page 4 of Healed By the Orc

“No, stop,” she mumbled, dazed and with all kinds of husky uncertainty. She didn’t want me to stop, not really, her body was inflamed for me. My mother had taught me better than to push at such moments, and no was no. With great reluctance, I raised my head and appraised her sexy, tousled look and the flushed pink of her mouth.

“Food first, huh?” I suggested when her expression went from pleasure to dismay in the next instant. I could not allow that kind of self-recrimination, so I set out to distract her as thoroughly as I could and to make her laugh as often as possible while I was at it.

Chapter 5

Hannah

Blade was right, the water wasn’t cold and, though tinted an odd hint of lavender, it tasted completely normal. Fresh, clean, if a bit lukewarm. I hadn’t risked more than taking off my boots for a dip of my toes in the stream, but Blade had stripped out of his leather pants as casually as could be before he’d waded in to hip height.

Beneath the canopy of the trees, and right next to the warm stream of water, the temperatures were much warmer. I’d left my thick leather coat and sweater on the saddle of his hovercycle so they wouldn’t get wet, and it felt good to unwind for a second. The warmth felt good; it relaxed me, and tension seemed to flow out through my feet to be swept away on the gentle purple stream.

Currently, I was staring at his muscled bare back and admiring the artwork that decorated his green skin. If I were being truthful, I was also sneaking glances at the sexy curve of his rear, covered only in a pair of snug black boxer briefs. I couldn’t believe I’d really ended up transported to some other world, and that something as mundane as boxer briefs were the exact same.

If I somehow managed to go back to earth, I was going to give the kind lady of the B&B a piece of my mind. Sending unsuspecting guests up the hill to make a wish at the stones was dangerous business if it ended with them trapped in this other world. Did she know that would happen to me? It had seemed so much like she was just trying to add a bit of mystique to a kind attempt at cheering me up.

“Like what you see?” Blade drawled suddenly, and I realized he’d caught me staring at his ass, even though my thoughts had spun in different directions. He waggled his brows cheekily and shook his butt as if he was trying to tempt me. When laughter unexpectedly bubbled from my throat, his grin grew satisfied. Oh, this guy liked to make me laugh, did he? I liked that, I liked that a lot.

“I do,” I said boldly, “Even if green is unusual. It’s very becoming on you.” I smiled even more, the feeling spreading warmly through my chest. Blade guffawed in response, slapping his thigh in the water and probably scaring away all those fish he was supposedly trying to catch.

“Yeah? You think green looks good on me? I’m very partial to brown curls, I’ve discovered.” He waded through the water to where I stood, his gaze growing heated as he let his eyes slide over the brown curls in question. I didn’t recall any of my previous boyfriends ever looking at me that way, so sweet, so admiring. I felt like I was floating.

The splash of water caught me completely by surprise, the droplets flinging through the air from his well-placed strike and hitting me square in the face. It dripped down my chest, onto my t-shirt, and as I drew a shocked gasp, both of us stared as the water made the white fabric transparent. “Oh, I should do that again,” Blade said eagerly. “That looks gorgeous.”

I dodged the next splash of water with an outraged shriek and kicked up a wave of my own that he stoically took in the face. “That all you got?” he teased. More laughter ripped from my chest, shocking me with how light I felt each time that happened. Forgetting about how I should keep my distance, how I was sick and should rest instead of play, I dove after him, intent on dunking him.

We tussled in the water, my pants and shirt soaked to the skin, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t had this much fun in years and didn’t want the moment to end. My cheeks ached from my smile, my heart raced, and soon my lungs burned, but that didn’t stop me. Then Blade swept me in his arms, his erection pressing like a brand against my belly. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, and he covered my mouth with his for a fiery kiss.

I would have loved every second of that too, if not for my inability to gain control of my rapid breathing. Ah, dang it, I was hyperventilating now and the pain in my chest was developing into a cough I couldn’t control. He pulled back, noticing something was wrong, and I spun in his arms as the cough racked my chest painfully. If I hacked up any blood, I couldn’t see it; the drops swept away by the cleansing water. It felt like I had though, because I could taste it on my tongue.

“Hannah, what’s happening, my sweet lass? Are you ill?” Blade demanded, but he sounded far away, my ears roaring. “Here, try this.” I was hustled forward, my head between my knees, a bag held in front of my face. I snatched it up and eagerly breathed into it and slowly, very slowly, my breathing eased up.

Only when I felt like the world was no longer spinning wildly around me did I lift my head. He had lifted me straight out of the water and onto his bike; I hadn’t even noticed that. His arms were around me, one on my knee to hold me in place, the other around my back, his fingers gently cupping the back of my neck. He had no idea how close his question came to the truth, and still, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. I didn’t want his pity. Mostly, I didn’t want to make him sad.

Chapter 6

Blade

I pushed. That’s what I always did, much to my brother Rover’s frustration sometimes. Secretly, I knew exactly when to do it and when to hold back; I’d learned to read him like the back of my hand at an early age. With Hannah, it was just as easy to read what she wanted, what she needed. Now was not the time to press her for answers, and I was starting to think I already knew what she was hiding, anyway. That made it easier to be patient.

My saddlebags held plenty of supplies and I gave her the time she needed to pull herself back together by turning for them to pull out dry clothing. I’d smelled the blood in the air, a fine mist of it drifting away on the stream’s current when she’d had her coughing fit. It was my priority to get her into warm things again and then to the safe house I had in mind for us to spend the night. She’d be comfortable there, and maybe I could convince her to finally talk to me.

“Here, put this on,” I said briskly and pushed a thick pair of pants into her hands along with one of my long-sleeved shirts. She shot me a suspicious look that morphed into faint amusement, her pale cheeks gaining a hint of pink. I turned around with a grin. “Fine, I won’t look.” But she could look at me all she wanted. I stripped out of my underwear with brisk moves, hoping that it was her gaze I could feel on my ass. It was very tempting to turn and give her a bit of a show; my cock rising eagerly at the thought. That wasn’t helped by the sound of her rustling clothes, I was instantly picturing her naked.

Then another sound caught my attention: a sudden silence fell over the forest, but leaves rustled in the distance. The sound was out of sync with the wind and could only mean one thing. I yanked on my pants and boots in a hurry, then ignored my tempting human’s indignant squeak when I assisted her in pulling her coat back on. “We’re about to have company,” I warned her.

Hannah was still damp everywhere, and I’d glimpsed the soft globes of her breasts just before she’d yanked the shirt down. Her body was chilled to my touch when I bent down to slip her feet into her sturdy boots. No time for the laces, but I made sure her feet would be warm when we went up into the air again. “More of those flying things?” she asked with a frantic look over her shoulder. As soon as I dropped her foot, she was already climbing onto my hover bike and I was struck with just how lovely a sight she made.

“No, worse,” I said. I tried out a reassuring smile, but I couldn’t quite muster one. The sounds were getting closer and my bike would make noise; they’d hear us take off. There was no other option, but I did not like it much.

I snatched a blanket from my bags and tucked it around her shoulders, then settled behind her on the saddle. My thigh pressed against the holster with my ax. I’d use that if it came down to it. “The Overlords and their guards,” I told her. My body would have to keep her warm and shield her from them should they try to take extreme measures. I did not think they would. They usually liked to make a spectacle of the humans they caught, but one never knew.

My bike revved loudly as I flicked on the engine and took us up into the air. It startled a flock of purple and pink birds to our left, sending them winging wildly into the air and cawing loudly in anger. I muffled a laugh at the sight of several of them keeping up for a short while and giving us indignant glares.

“You are crazy,” Hannah accused me, but her eyes sparkled with laughter. That only lasted until she glanced down and saw who was chasing us. They’d leave me alone if I abandoned her, but that was never going to happen, and they’d leave her alone when she agreed to be my mate. All I needed was to stall for more time while I wooed her. “Who are they?” she whispered, “They look like minotaurs.”

“Because they are,” I agreed. “The Minotaur are our overlords. They rule the planet.” I said it lightly, but I saw her eyes sharpen. She sensed the underlying discontent I felt with the situation. It wasn’t right that we orcs made up most of the population but had no voice when it came to ruling the planet and making the laws. It was one of those things that Rover and I thoroughly agreed on, but he was the politician, not me, and he had decided there was nothing we could do.

“The overlords have recently installed a new scanning system,” I recalled out loud. Rover had talked about it, but I’d ignored the information because I couldn’t see why it pertained to me. Past me was an idiot, and I vowed I wouldn’t be so lackadaisical about new intel in the future. “I think they might be able to differentiate species now. Which is bad news.”