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“Ursallis went for a swim, the call of the ocean too loud for him to ignore anymore after two years on land. He never heard Daemon coming and we found him pinned to a tree outside the community with his throat slit and a letter addressed to Nox.” Dree says, circling his arms around me and Nox both, whispering the end of the story into my ear. “Nox went back to the water, staying there for months before coming back home. He told me that he fought his mother and brother and cursed his mother. In a few years, she would be nothing more than seafoam, the more she pushed for power, the faster her body would deteriorate. It was a wicked spell, but it cost him everything. The curse on his voice was worsened, he can never have his voice back, cursed to only be heard for his power, when no one could speak back to him. A life of silence, stuck living life in the background when he was born to rule.”
I clutch Nox tighter to my body, wishing there was a way to break his curse. Wishing I could give him his voice back. Not because I need it, but because I don’t want him to think he is less than. I don’t want his only reason to deny the mate bond to be because he thinks he is broken.
As the three of us hold each other, my back and chest start to burn. At first, I didn’t notice it, but soon, it felt so hot, I was sure my skin was melting off. Dree calls out, removing his arms from around us and staring down at his chest. Nox starts slapping his back from over his shoulder, his face contorted in pain, but the sound unable to escape his lips. My magic flares, pouring out of my body and circling the three of us, Dree’s dark green and Nox’s blue magic surging to join mine in the elaborate dance. Black and Red magic surges forward as well, all five of them circling, twisting and tying themselves together.
A boom sounds from the space and Nox sinks into the water, his face still contorted in pain and his eyes drooping closed. I gasp, panic rushing through my body as I dive down to get him. I know that he can’t drown in the water, he is a siren still shifted with gills, but I saw the creatures in this lagoon and I’m worried one of them may kill him if we leave him in here. I don’t even notice that I’m having no trouble breathing until my hands latch under his arms and I start dragging him back to the surface. Wrapping my arm around his chest, I hold Nox to my body and reach my other hand up to my neck, right behind my jaw. There are three gills there. Shock fills my mind and I quickly reach around to the other side and feel more there as well.
Looking at Nox, I shake my head, deciding to deal with it after I get him out of the water and we figure out what the fuck just happened. Dree meets me about halfway to the surface and helps me get Nox out of the water. The three of us fall onto the sand, me and Dree breathing heavily, coughing and holding our chest. I close my eyes, laying on my back next to Nox, who is breathing slow steady breaths beside me. Dree drapes his arm over my chest, and soon, he is sleeping just as peacefully as Nox is. The twins and Glavior rush out of the tree, each of them skidding to a stop as they take in the scene. The twins look around for danger and Glavior stares at my chest, then his eyes dart to Dree’s chest and his scowl deepens. Grumbling, he tells the twins to start setting up camp then turns and stomps back into the woods.
I’m so over his attitude. Slowly, I pull Dree’s arms off of me and storm into the trees behind Glavior, not even bothering to get dressed before confronting the huffy Orc. It's time we settle whatever is going on with him because if he keeps being a dick, then I’m going to end up killing him!
Chapter 16
I follow the sound of Glavior stomping through the woods to the clearing where the pit is. Glavior snatches a few fallen trees off the ground and lines them up over the opening in the ground, then he uses his claw to cut a piece of bark off another tree, then flipped it to the smooth side and wrote something on it. He threw the hand made sign onto the group of trees covering the pit then stomped around the clearing, grumbling and cursing.
“Glavior.” I call out to him. I’m not sure what I expected of him, but it wasn’t for him to growl and flip me off over his shoulder.
“Go away, Little Pixie. I don’t want to talk to you.”
His voice is deep and growly, filled with anger that I just don’t understand.
“Too fucking bad!” I shout, walking closer.
Glavior looks over his shoulder and stomps away from me. We play a small game of chase, where I try to move closer to him and he stomps off in the opposite direction. Eventually, I get tired of chasing him around so I do the only thing I can think to do. Dree said Orcs respond to dominance from females, so I try it. I don’t exactly know what he means by ‘dominance’ but I figure I’m great at being a bitch, so I go with that.
“Stop.” I demand, keeping my voice firm but not really loud.
I’m amazed that Glavior actually freezes on the spot. I take a step closer to him, testing to see if he would move away again, but he doesn’t do anything. Moving until I’m right behind him. I tilt my head, watching as his shoulders move up and down with each harsh breath. I can see the cloud of air circling his head, probably from his nostrils as he pants.
“Turn.” I command again, curious about what he will do.
Glavior about faces, turning so I can see his face, judge his reactions. His pupils are wide, almost taking up all of the bright green. His skin is flushed dark blue and I was right about the panting breaths causing smoke to puff from his nose. Spittle flies off his clenched teeth and his tusks almost look like they are quivering. His hands are balled into fits and not even the tight leather pants he is wearing can hide his large erection.
“Kneel.” I point to the ground, wanting his face down level with mine so we can talk without me having to break my neck to look at him the whole time.
Glavior groans deep in his chest and his pants grow tighter. His eyes stay locked on mine and blood drips from his palms as he squeezes his fist tighter. I think his breath freezes in his chest as he watches me walk closer and falls to his knees, doing nothing to lessen the impact. The ground shakes under his weight, and I smirk at him. I step so close, I can feel his breath tickling my face.
“Glavior, we’re going to have an honest conversation. Maybe, if you’re good, I’ll give you something. Understood?”
“Yes.” He grunts out, his eyes never leaving mine. I’d say he still sounds pissed, but I honestly think his hard dick may be hurting him. Maybe I should have him undo his pants to relieve the tension.
Okay, so maybe I wanna see his dick, sue me.
“Why have you been a grumpy ass?”
“I’m always a grumpy ass.” He smarts back at me.
“Don’t be a smart ass, tell me honest answers or I’ll kick your fucking ass, Big Orc!”
I roll my eyes, pointing a finger in his face and growling in my chest. My growl doesn’t sound at all impressive compared to the guys, but it gets my point across regardless. Glavior’s eyes drop to the ground between my feet and for the first time, I think I fully understand what Dree meant when he said Orc men are submissive to their women. He didn’t mean that the men let the women make the decision, he meant that they are truly submissives, sexually and otherwise. Glavior wants a mate that can take charge in life and in the bedroom, craves the freedom of letting go of control and the ability to trust a woman to still give him pleasure, even if he doesn’t seek it for himself.
I’ve said before that I’m not a dominant woman in the bedroom, but looking at Glavior now, head bowed, on his knees and shoulders relaxed, I think I could learn to be. I sure as fuck am not opposed to the idea of calling the shots, or telling him exactly what he can do. I won’t lie and say the thought of tying this giant man up and having my way with him isn’t appealing. Something about knowing I could take this man that is easily twice my size, maybe even three times bigger than I am, and making him do whatever I want, makes me feel so much better about making him my mate. Glavior, as he is now, would never ask me to give up pieces of myself to please him. He wouldn’t try to hold me back or demand things of me that I can’t give.
“Look at me, Glavior.”
Slowly, Glavior lifts his face and looks back into my eyes. I stare into his beautiful green eyes, reading all the emotions he refuses to show on his face. I see his longing, his sadness and his hurt. I have no idea why he is feeling like this, but I know that he is. I know that I’ve done something to hurt him, and now I need to know how to fix it.
“Tell me the truth. Why are you upset with me? What did I do wrong?”
