"Your ribs?—"
"Don't hurt. Falla." She stops moving, her hands framing my face to make me look at her. "I trust you not to hurt me. You're the only person I trust with this."
The words hit harder than any physical blow. Trust. From someone who has every reason not to give it, especially not to an orc male.
I kiss her with everything I can't put into words—reverence and want and the promise to prove that trust isn't misplaced.She responds with equal intensity, her fingers working at the ties of my shirt until it falls open.
We make it to her bedroom through fumbling navigation and desperate kisses. I ease her down onto the simple bed, following to brace myself above her. The candle's positioned close enough I can see her face clearly—flushed and eager and beautiful in ways that make my chest ache.
"Tell me if anything hurts," I say, my healer instincts refusing to shut up completely. "If you want to stop?—"
"I won't want to stop." She pulls me down for another kiss. "But I'll tell you. I promise."
I work her shirt up and off with careful hands, revealing freckled skin and the faint marks where bruises used to bloom. All healed now. My salve did its job, helped her body repair itself until only memory remains.
I plan to replace those memories with better ones.
My mouth finds her collarbone, kissing along the line where I once applied healing paste to swollen tissue. She arches into the contact, her breathing already unsteady. I take my time exploring—learning what makes her gasp, what draws soft sounds from her throat, where her skin tastes sweetest.
Her breasts are small and perfect, nipples already tight with arousal. I circle one with my tongue and she moans, her fingers tangling in my hair to hold me there.
"Good?" I ask against her skin.
"So good. Don't stop."
I have no intention of stopping. I lavish attention on both breasts until she's writhing beneath me, then kiss my way down her stomach. Her pants come off easily, revealing simple undergarments that I remove with reverent care.
She's spread before me, vulnerable and trusting and so fucking beautiful I have to pause just to take her in. The way candlelight paints her skin. The way her chest rises and falls withanticipation. The way she's watching me with heat in her brown eyes instead of fear.
"I want to taste you," I tell her, my hands settling on her thighs. "Can I?"
"Yes. Please, yes."
I lower my mouth to her center and she cries out, her hips lifting from the bed. She's already wet, ready, her body responding to arousal instead of bracing against pain. I take my time learning her here too—what pressure she likes, what rhythm makes her thighs tremble, where to focus my tongue to draw those perfect desperate sounds.
Healer's hands know anatomy. Know exactly where nerves cluster and how to stimulate them for maximum effect. I use every bit of that knowledge now, my fingers working in tandem with my mouth until she's gasping my name like prayer.
"Falla, I'm—I'm going to?—"
"Come for me." I seal my mouth over her and increase the pressure, sending her over the edge.
She breaks apart beautifully, her whole body tensing then releasing in waves while she makes sounds I want to memorize. I work her through it until she's pushing at my shoulders, oversensitive and shaking.
When I rise up to look at her, she's flushed and gorgeous and smiling with satisfaction that makes pride bloom warm in my chest.
"That was..." She trails off, apparently unable to find words.
"Good?"
"That's an understatement." She pulls me up for a kiss, tasting herself on my mouth without hesitation. "I want more. I want all of you."
I'm painfully hard, have been since she first pulled me inside, but I make myself pause. "I need to be careful. I'm?—"
"Massive. I know." Her hand drops between us to stroke me through my pants and I groan at the contact. "I'm not afraid of you."
The words settle something fundamental in my chest. She's not afraid. This woman who has every reason to fear orc males isn't afraid of me.
I strip off the rest of my clothes and her eyes go wide when she sees me fully bare. I'm not small by any standard—even among orcs I'm considered well-endowed. But instead of fear, I see curiosity and want in her expression.
