I’ve had enough. She will learn to accept me, my touch, and my rule over her.
I throw her over my shoulder, enjoying how she digs her fingers into my back on our way down to the lake. She has such spirit and fire. I long to take this female. But we need to come to an understanding, before my men return.
“Put me down!” she yells as I walk to the water’s edge.
“Do humans have honor?” I ask, wondering how I will make this female accept her role among my people. To my surprise, she stops thrashing.
“Do orcs?” she asks in return.
“More than humans.”
“Prove it,” she challenges.
“I will put you down, but you will not run. Is this clear, female?”
After a moment, I hear a soft voice. “Yes.”
The moment I set her down, she watches me with a mixture of suspicion and fear, but she does not run. When I begin stripping, fear fills her eyes making my stomach turn in a way it hasn’t since seeing my mother gutted by my father’s sword. I could never harm a female, not unless absolutely necessary, but she doesn’t know me. I cannot—will not—ask her to trust me. She must learn to obey me as her grak first and as her mate second.
Her eyes scan the area. The moment I turn my back on her, she will run. But I scent my men nearby. If she runs, they’ll catch her.
“Don’t touch me,” she warns, her voice shaking with fear. Then she clears her throat and adds, “Please. Not yet. Not…here.”
My weapons harness drops to the ground with a thud. I normally would care for my weapons better than that, but I’m itchy from the muck covering my torso.
“Please? This is a term I’ve heard among your people many times. What does it mean?”
Her brows pinch together and she cocks her head, thinking. “It’s similar to asking for… mercy. A request for mercy, for a person to do the right thing… to demonstrate honor. It is a sign of respect.”
I don’t understand this wordplease, but I understand the concept of mercy, and if she is showing respect for me, that is a good sign I’ll be able to train her without too much difficulty. Though I’m disappointed she bent to my will so easily. I thought she had more spirit than that.
After unfastening my scabbard and laying it on top of my knives, I rise to my full height and step closer to my female. “On your knees.”
“Wh-why?”
“This constant questioning of my orders grates on my nerves. I will not be questioned when I give you an order.”
The moment I step forward, she drops to her knees. “I’m not one of your warriors.”
“Correct. You are just a female, with little worth other than your ability to bear my younglings, and even that is in question.”
When I drop my trou, her eyes go wide and she stares at my cock. On her knees, she is at eye-level with my shaft, as I’d planned. I know she detests me and the thought of me claiming her, which is why I will give her time to acclimate. But not too long. I am eager to see if mating a human will work as the cendagi promised.
The cendagi are not a trust-worthy species, but I am a desperate grak. Fucking this female, giving her my seed, does not guarantee we can create a youngling together. If mating human females does not work, we will have to seek another way to increase our numbers or I’ll be grak of a dying species.
“Touch me,” I order as my hard cock bobs in front of her face.
When she clenches her jaw shut and shakes her head, I put my finger beneath her chin. Her eyes lift to my face and a wetness trails down her cheeks.
“What is wrong with your eyes?”
She swipes at them with the backs of her hands, streaking the liquid on her cheeks. “Nothing. Just tears.” Her eyes flutter to my cock and then return to stare back at me.
“What purpose do these tears serve?”
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“When I ask a question, you will answer.”
