I shrug. I’m not even sure, it’s been so long since I’ve had the means to take stock.
“But how? How is it possible that you are here?”
I glance around at the room. “An old tunnel, probably built for ending a siege but never finished during the old wars. It ends here, in the cellar. I thought… But I didn’t hold out much hope.” I shake my head, aware that I’m not making much sense, trying to order my thoughts. “My men told me they’d found it, and I dug the rest of the way. By hand.”
“Then…is the curse broken?”
The thought makes my heart surge. Perhaps she’s right. Perhaps entering the castle this way is enough to end Odette’s spell. Clutching her close, I take a step towards the door, stepping through out of the cellar and into the castle stairway, going upward, then grit my teeth and pull back.
“No,” I grunt, shaking my head and almost collapsing under the weight of the pain. But one thing I’ll never do is drop her. “No. I’m trapped still.”
She cinches her brow with worry as I lower her to the floor, breathing heavily against the burning in my limbs.
But instead of saying a thing, she reaches out and touches my arm, laying back, staring into my face. She licks her lips, nodding, and after a moment, says, “But here we can be together.”
I swipe my hand down my chest, my heartbeat hammering as her scent ravages my senses. Since rising into a full orc, everything feels raw. I imagine her laying in her bed night after night, spread wide, touching her breasts with one hand as her other hand strokes lower, making her moan out my name.
I wonder if she’s wet enough for her fingers to make sloppy, naughty sounds. I lick my lips, thinking of what her wanting tastes like. How my long, thick orc tongue would fit inside her, preparing her for what comes next. Something a small, human female would struggle to contain.
It’s something I didn’t know before I took the form of this monster; her pleasure is what will allow my own. With each of her orgasms, mine will build. First with my fingers, I will do every debauched thing to her I’ve dreamed of as her cheeks flush and her eyes fall back.
So many nights imaging, but now, here, together, the want is a perilous beast, rising up and refusing to lose any other opportunity to claim our mate.
I don’t realize I’m growling until Calliope reaches out and cups my cheek. Her hand is warm on my rough skin, small but demanding.
“Are you okay? Are you in pain?”
“Yes,” I bark out, thinking of spreading her thighs, sticking my face into the apex and ripping her second orgasm from her in preparation for our mating. “I am in pain. I’ve been in pain since the day we met, but this…this is worse. I cannot control it.”
“Control what?” Her voice trembles, her pupils dilate, her temperature rises. I can sense it all, but there’s more.
I take a long sniff of the air and my thickness aches and throbs, leaking sticky and hot into the leather of my sheath.
“Mate. My need…” I grit out, mouthwatering as her fingers spread on my cheek, snapping my control. “You. Are. My. Mate.”
The throbbing between my legs drowns out all other thoughts. I watch her suck in a breath, thinking of what I’ve said, and I give her a moment to catch up.
It doesn’t take long, she is on her feet, her hand sweeping lower over my heart. With a gentle push, she settles me on a stack of linens against the wall and I reach up and cup her ass through the layers of her dress, easing her down.
“I can’t believe you are here.” Her chest rises and falls, and I imagine what her nipples look like. Peaked and hard, I’m sure, as she settles on my lap, sliding upward until her skirts are around her hips, the bare creamy flesh of her thighs visible.
I’m barely holding on when her hips curl and twist against the iron rod aching under the leather of my pants. She presses herself down in such a way, white flashes spark behind my lids and my balls pulse, hot and desperate, being so close to the apex of heaven I’ve dreamed about for so long.
“Will you kiss me?” She leans in, her eyelids fluttering as she continues to move and grind on top of me.
The thin thread of control I had unravels. To the gods I pray.
I need her. I need her for all time.
“You are mine. I will kiss you. I will—” I start to growl, running my hand up her back, tangling it in the waves of her red hair, dragging her mouth to mine. Her lips open under my attack and her tongue meets mine in battle.