“But — what about you?” she blurted out, without thinking. “Where will you stay?”
There was an instant’s silence, followed by a low, dissatisfied growl. “I shall stay at the inn,” his curt voice replied. “In the room I shallpayfor.”
But Geva’s heart was pounding again, her thoughts twisting back to those moments in her bedroom at the Fitzwalds’. When he’d so easily sparked her pleasure, and then so cruelly mocked her. And now she needed to spend an entire night alone with him, in a small bedroom?Sleepingwith him?
“Could we have two rooms, then?” she ventured, before she could stop it. “Or two beds, at least?”
The question rang between them for an instant, and far too late, Geva heard the implied insult in her words. Like she, too, couldn’t bear the thought of sharing a space with an orc. Like she had more in common with all those muttering, mocking travellers than she’d wanted to admit…
But before she could open her mouth, take it back, Rathgarr was growling again, even deeper and more vicious than before. “No,human,” he hissed, his voice clipped and contemptuous. “Not only do I pay good coin for this room, but I pay good coin foryou, also. And I shallhavewhat I havepaidfor!”
With that deeply alarming statement, he spun off, and stalked away toward the trees — and then whirled around again, his face unreadable in the darkness.
“Go, and gain this room,” he ordered. “And when I come to you, you shall be ready.”
9
All too soon, Geva found herself alone in a small, lamplit bedroom, pacing in agitated circles around a steaming steel washtub.
It was a clean, adequately furnished room, and the process of reserving it — along with eating a hot meal in the inn’s dining-room — had proven thankfully straightforward. But Geva had found herself entirely unable to enjoy any of it, amidst the churning miasma of guilt, and fear, and twisting, towering apprehension.
Go, and gain our room,Rathgarr had ordered her.And when I come to you, you shall be ready.
And Geva had obeyed, or at least, partly obeyed. She’d lit the candle, inspected the room, ordered the bath, and even turned down the blankets on the bed. The single, disconcertingly small bed, which looked far too tiny for two average-sized humans, let alone a tall, shapely woman and a truly massive orc.
But she’d made herself keep going, doing the next thing. Kicking off her boots, and then peeling off almost all the layers of clothing she’d been wearing, and hanging them neatly away in the wardrobe. And finally, after another moment’s warring with herself, she’d even taken down her tightly bound hair, shaking out her masses of coiled black curls around her head.
It left her standing in the room bare-footed, bare-headed, clad in only a flimsy, close-fitting white shift. And while the obvious next step was to take advantage of the waiting bath, she couldn’t seem to muster the will to undress any further. To face the near-certain possibility of Rathgarr walking in, and seeing…everything.
And truly, wherewasRathgarr, anyway? A considerable amount of time had passed since they’d parted, and he’d meant he would meet her here… hadn’t he? Or, had he perhaps reflected on her earlier insult, and then decided to stay away longer, as some kind of admonition, or retaliation? And gods, perhaps she even deserved it, because after today’s experiences on the road, there was no doubt that staying at an inn was a fraught prospect, for an orc. One that could result in suspicion, or ridicule, or perhaps even violence, for the grave sin of being an orc who dared to exist, in public.
Geva groaned aloud and paced faster, dragging her shaky hands down her face. No. No. She couldn’t allow her own judgement to become clouded with sympathy, with guilt, with…commiseration. By all possible measures, Rathgarr had still been cruel, and arrogant, and selfish. A shameless brazenthief, who’d destroyed her entire life in a single damned day. And now he was making her wait for him, ready herself for him, so he could —
A sound. From behind her. And when Geva whirled around to look, the room’s heavy oaken door was swinging open — and behind it stood a huge, hooded figure, its shoulders nearly filling the entire doorway, its face shrouded in shadow.
Geva yelped, twitched, attempted to lurch backwards — but then tripped over something solid and unyielding. The bath, the gods-damned devils-cursedbath, and her body was already falling, her arms helplessly whirling behind her, no,no—
And even as she splashed backwards into the hot steaming water, something… caught her. Something warm and alive and powerful, its strength circling around her back and her hips. Cradling her with astonishing care, preventing any part of her from hitting the basin’s hard steel edge.
“What the —” Geva began, spluttering and flailing against it, against the shock of the sudden liquid heat — but then she met its eyes.Hiseyes. Rathgarr.
The relief swarmed in a dizzying rush, and she felt herself sagging into the heat, into… his arms. His sturdy, massive arms, still curved around her, holding her strong and safe. And now she was soaking wet, damn it, and Rathgarr had to be half-soaked too — but in this baffling, ludicrous instant, Geva could only seem to stare at his face, at his intent, long-lashed eyes. At how — unlike hers — they weren’t a deep brown, but a pure, full, unbroken black. So oddly, inexplicably compelling, and she felt herself inhaling, drinking up a rich, familiar sweetness, as he came closer, closer, his parted mouth only a breath away from hers…
But then his eyes squeezed shut, blocking her out — and suddenly he yanked up and backwards, away, as Geva flailed too, scrambling up to her feet. And when the world settled again, she was standing knee-deep and dripping-wet in the bath, while Rathgarr was pressed back against the closed door, his eyes glittering, his claws digging into the dark wood.
“Truly, woman?” he demanded, though his voice sounded hoarse. “You cannot stand next to abathwithout falling in?”
Geva grimaced, but couldn’t seem to move, let alone reply — especially when Rathgarr’s glinting eyes dropped, sweeping down her wet, dripping body. Catching on where — she blanched as she followed his gaze — her thin white shift was now fully transparent, and clinging to her like a pale, useless second skin. Blatantly displaying her heavy breasts with their brown nipples, the soft roundness of her belly below, the full strength of her thighs, the hint of darkness between…
“Damn it,” Geva gulped, as she clamped her arms over her too-exposed chest. “You could have knocked!”
Rathgarr’s eyes guiltily darted back up to her face, his brows furrowing. “Ipaidfor this room,” he snapped back. “And I told you to be ready for me!”
His gaze again flicked downwards, now holding with baleful disapproval on her wet shift, as if it were somehow offensive to his eyes. And suddenly his words from earlier that day were ringing, echoing with peculiar, powerful meaning through Geva’s stunned, stilted thoughts.
You shall need to be bared, and bathed all over in my fresh seed.
And damn it, this was part of herjob. It was what she’d signed up for, her next step. One month, and then the sea.
