Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Get out, or don’t come crying to us when things go south pretty much.
We were on the run for a few weeks. It was horrible. There were battles and fires and no food and no one to trust. When the gasoline ran out, we had to abandon our van which was also our home. A week later, my father was a widower with two daughters in a world that had lost its mind.
He changed. Loved us as hard as ever but I knew losing us would kill him and us being without him, would kill us. He re-invented himself and within a year, he was one of the biggest producers of smikkaan in Oregon.
The next year, we were in our compound and his power is still growing. Smikkaan was already around when he realized he had the necessary skills to manufacture it on a larger scale and the ruthlessness to take control of the trade. Soon after he established himself, he invented the other drug, ivee, naming it after an orc word that means shit because of its color.
I guess they are similar to the human drugs of meth and fentanyl.
“What do they call you?” I ask as he lumbers toward the back of the space, inspecting the walls, the ceiling, looking under the bed. I am focused on the thick muscles moving in the backs of his thighs. The broadness of his back.
“I am called Gathred,” he answers as I work my way toward the small kitchen, opening cupboards and inspecting our stores in case we are trapped for a while. All I find are a couple cans of green beans when my skin prickles and his heat and scent tell me he’s close behind but his approach was completely silent.
He’s so close in fact, it’s impossible to turn around, his body brushes against mine from behind, the hard buckle of his belt halfway up my back, and something else hard is pressing into my butt.
“I’m Aleena,” I say, scooting sideways until there’s enough space for me to spin and face him, tracing my gaze upward but, it’s as though he didn’t hear me.
The uncontrollable tightening between my legs doubles as he runs a hand down the back of my head. The weight and heat make me unsteady as he cages me with his other arm, my eyes locked on the metalwork and leather traversing his torso.
I should be fighting him off, but it’s not even a consideration. I may have lost my mind, but I reason that in a world turned upside down, sometimes, you just can’t overthink things.
His seven foot plus frame makes me feel like a child. The defined musculature in his chest makes my fingers twitch to touch him there, to trace the words I don’t understand inked into his skin. He looks hungry as I catch his gaze, not necessarily lustful, but curious about me as though I’m a new toy he’s trying to figure out.
I remember the day the orc ships hovered over Earth. I was in school, Algebra class to be exact, with Mr. Castle who I wanted to marry. I was in all advanced placement classes and even skipped a grade in elementary school. I ran track, cross country and played on the girl’s basketball team.
My father always told me I was destined for a full ride to the school of my choice. Instead, I got a scholarship to ‘what the fuck’ university and all the grades and extracurriculars don’t mean shit anymore.
“You smell good.” Gathred grunts, pinching my hair to his nose.
“So do you,” I breathe back, barely able to speak as my knees quiver and my belly does cartwheels. The muffled sound of thunder filters down through the bunker but the only other sound is the pounding of my own heart. “Wh—where will you go now that you can’t return to your clan?” I ask, a cloud of darkness moving into the moment, thinking of what happens when we leave here.
“I will decide when that time arrives. I do not live in the future. I live in each moment.” He answers with a deep sincerity in his low voice. “Right now, you are where I live. When we are out of here, I will still be living in the moments with you. This I know. I will protect you, my Aleena. Again.”
There’s a primal truth in his words and my chest clenches as my body hums. I run my hands down my cheeks, the gathering heat there warm on my fingertips as Gathred takes a deep breath and steps back.
“I don’t know why you would do that,” I start. “I mean, I would do the same for my family, but we are strangers. My father, my...” I hesitate, still uncertain. Trusting him with the knowledge of my sister feels like too much right now., “I’d die for him, and…yeah, kill for him. But he’s family. I’m no one to you.”