She shifted to look up at me, curiosity sparking in those beautiful eyes. "Here? At the cabin?"
"Here. Alone." I traced the curve of her jaw with my thumb, marveling at the softness of her skin. "Once we reach the village, everything will change. Everyone will want to meet with you, talk to you. You're the new healer—they'll have questions, concerns, ailments they've been saving up." I grimaced slightly. "And if Sarsa has been running her mouth..."
"Sarsa?"
"The elder. She has all the subtlety of an avalanche and loves gossip more than breathing." I couldn't help the fond exasperation that crept into my voice. "By now, the entire village probably knows you're my mate. Which means the momentwe arrive, we'll be the center of attention. Everyone watching, everyone speculating, everyone having opinions about us."
Understanding dawned in her expression. "Ah. So you want to delay the inevitable scrutiny."
"I want you to myself for a little while longer," I admitted, pulling her closer against me. "Is that selfish?"
A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Maybe a little." Her hands slid up my chest, fingers tracing idle patterns across my skin. "But I don't mind. I could use a few quiet days to adjust before facing an entire village of curious Orcs."
Relief flooded through me, warm and sweet. "Good. Then it's settled."
"Just one question," she said, tilting her head back to meet my eyes fully. A teasing glint shimmering in her gaze. "What exactly do you plan on doing with me during all this alone time?"
Heat flared through me at the invitation in her tone. A slow, predatory grin spread across my face as I rolled, pressing her back into the mattress and caging her beneath me. Her breath caught, eyes darkening with renewed desire.
"I plan on learning every inch of you," I rumbled, my voice dropping to that low register that made her shiver. "Every sound you make, every place that makes you gasp." I traced my hand down her side, feeling her tremble beneath my touch. "Every way I can make you come undone."
I caught her around the waist, lifting her easily and repositioning her in the center of the bed. "I plan on claiming my mate so thoroughly that when we finally do reach the village, there won't be a single doubt in anyone's mind—or yours—that you belong to me."
Her breath hitched audibly, and she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me closer. "That sounds... ambitious."
"I'm a very ambitious Orc." I nipped at the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, feeling her pulse jump beneath my lips. "And I have several days to work with."
"Several days," she repeated, her voice already going breathy and wanting as I settled my weight over her. "That's a lot of time."
"Not nearly enough," I growled against her skin, kissing my way down her throat. "But it's a start."
She arched beneath me, her hands threading through my hair and gripping tight. "Then you'd better not waste a single moment."
"Never." I captured her mouth again, swallowing her gasp as my hand slid between her thighs, finding her still slick and sensitive from our earlier joining. She was so responsive, so perfect, trembling at even the lightest touch. "Tell me what you want, Jordan."
"You," she breathed against my lips. "Just you. Always you."
The words undid something fundamental in me, cracking open a part of my heart I hadn't known existed. I'd never felt this way before—this desperate, all-consuming need to possess and protect, to worship and claim. My mate. Mine.
I showed her with my hands, my mouth, my body, taking my time now, learning her the way I'd promised. I discovered that the inside of her wrist was incredibly sensitive, that she made the most delicious sounds when I kissed behind her ear, that she liked it when I used my tusks to graze along her collarbone. Every gasp and moan was a revelation, every shudder of pleasure a gift I'd spend the rest of my life earning.
When I finally slid inside her again, it was slow and deliberate, watching her face as she took me in, seeing the way her eyes went hazy with pleasure and her lips parted on a silentcry. She felt like heaven, like home, like everything I'd never known I needed until this moment.
"Ruka," she whispered, my name a prayer on her lips.
I moved with aching slowness, drawing out every sensation, every moment of connection. This wasn't the frantic coupling from before—this was worship, devotion, a promise sealed in flesh and breath and the mingling of our souls. I memorized the way she looked beneath me, flushed and wanting, the way her body moved with mine like we'd been made for this, for each other.
When she came apart this time, it was with my name on her lips and tears of joy glistening in her eyes, and I followed her into bliss knowing with absolute certainty that I'd found exactly where I belonged.
Afterward, we lay tangled together, her head on my chest and my arms wrapped securely around her. Neither of us spoke for a long while, content in the peaceful silence.
"Ruka?" she said eventually, her fingers tracing lazy patterns across my skin.
"Mmmm?"
"I think I'm going to like these few days alone with you."
I smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Good. Because I'm not letting you out of this bed."