The Gardener and The Orc

Chapter 17

[Smut is in chapters 4, 5, 7, 11-14, and the first half of this chapter (17). The second half of 17 is character-building. As always, if you're only here for the smutty stuff you can skip around, I'll never judge! If you couldn't tell, some of the dialogue between Lilith and Iliana is inspired by "All of You" by Betty Who ft. Peter Thomas!]

Gareth pressed his face into Lilith's tousled hair the moment he awoke, breathing her in like he had to be sure she wasn't a fading dream. There was some distant din erupting at the south-facing docks that made him stir, but nothing loud enough to force the woman in his arms out of slumber. The orc indulged in watching her sleep, wholly bewitched. He went from simply appreciating the peaceful look upon her face to admiring her full lips and thick lashes, to her long neck and delicate shoulders... His breathing slowed into deep controlled inhales and exhales as his gaze roved further, savoring the generous supple cleavage peeking out of her nightdress, the dip of her waist, the substantial curve of her ample hips and rear. He had to carefully remind himself she was partially off-limits for now, she needed 'time,' but what that meant in terms of physicality was still vague and undefined.

The sound of a bell tolling outside at dawn to announce the arrival of a long-expected barge startled Lilith awake. She normally would rise the moment it began ringing but found that difficult given the long muscular arms that encased her and the woolen blanket entangled in her legs. One large pale gray hand crossed over her torso and was resting upon her hip, the other arm angled over her breasts and securely holding her shoulder, both keeping her back flush with the orc's bare chest.

She tried to stretch in place, as much as his unyielding sinew would allow, making him growl as her arching back and rear pressed into his hardening length. Lilith seemed surprised by the combination of sensation and sound, peeking over her shoulder to read his face. He appeared neither enraged nor overwhelmed by lust but he was unreservedly tense, his eyes narrow and observing.

He had returned to her in the night and stayed with her through til morning, so she could safely assume he still wanted to pursue their arrangement; that he still desired her no matter how agitated her terms made him. She gave him a demure, innocent smile...making him immediately suspicious, his brow furrowing wondering just how she'd try to rile him up. Lilith tried to pry his right hand from her hip to guide it between her thighs but he resisted, murmuring "Impulsive minx," against her ear roughly.

Gareth gave no indication he found the effort amusing and difficult to turn down, but she either sensed it or simply wanted to drive him mad. "Fine, I'll do it myself," she threatened...or promised? He shrugged indifferently behind her without relenting his iron grip upon her body, but still pressed his cheek into her neck with a gentle caress, his refined nose tickling her jawline and ensuring a prime position to watch should she follow through.

"Don't ye have some sort of responsibility to tend to with that racket outside?" The sound of horse carriages and men heading to the docks was clear to him but only just starting to drift through the glass panes at a level that she'd hear.

"The bell tolls when a shipment is on the horizon, not already docked. And I do not supervise unloading the barge; my job is to assess our bounty and review the letters from uncle Lucien." Lilith's tone was pleasantly conversational despite the way her hand roamed past his arm to between her thighs, her legs spreading just enough to allow room for it to dive beneath the undergarment concealed by the skirts of her short night shift. "I have a few hours until I am truly needed in the loading bay," her breath hitched with the last word, her fingertips finding their mark.

His right hand shifted from her hip to draw the skirts of her nightgown up but her left hand darted to tug them back down. She tilted her head back onto his shoulder, her eyes closed and lips smiling insolently, "If you're not going to do the work, then you're not going to watch." Her smile abruptly faded to make way for a whimper of pleasure, the mere sound combined with the delicious smell of her making him groan in reply.