"Why do you like his scent on me?" I asked, frowning and finding it easier to think as the harness slipped down my arms.
"He smells like toast," Hunter said.
A hysterical, exhausted burst of laughter cracked out of me at the statement. Hunter was right, and yet...
I twisted and found him smiling, wondering if he'd said something so ridiculous on purpose.
"I can smell him and your own pleasure. And yet, you're here with me too, and I bring you that pleasure as well," Hunter mused, studying my face. "I also like smothering his scent with my own," he added with a sharp grin, tusks gleaming in the firelight.
I stood, and Hunter's grip faltered, freezing as I lifted his shirt from the rug where he'd dropped it and then slid my own arms into the sleeves. His smile softened again as I climbed back onto his lap, facing him.
"Do you want me to leave the theater?" I asked.
Hunter's eyebrows bounced. "Do you want to leave the theater, little one?"
I blinked at him, surprised to find no answer on my tongue. Hadn't it been yes? Wasn't I tired? But today's rehearsals had been fun. The company was like family to me, and my family was under attack. How could I leave the theater and leave Ronan? Leave Nireas? Even Myra and Reddy, when I wanted to strangle them. All the other humans and monsters.
"Not yet," I whispered.
Hunter leaned forward, and I twined my arms around his neck as he kissed me. "I love to watch you on stage. Here, you are my little pet and my exquisite Hazel," he said, brushing my cheek with his knuckles. "And there, you are equally vibrant, but I share my joy of you with so many."
"And that doesn't bother you?" I asked.
Hunter shook his head, but his gaze trailed away thoughtfully. "Is it ugly of me to say that it is like the privilege of witnessing a beautiful work of art on display, and then to be alone and enjoy the art as she breathes and lives and thinks in her perfect," he kissed my brow, "exquisite," my nose, "honest form? The woman, not the canvas, that is."
I blushed at the comparison and took his lips with mine, lingering until a smile interrupted the kiss. "I'm not sure. I don't mind it. And you're certain I won't hurt you if I step out of that frame with...Ronan?"
"Little one, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that if anyone should be offended by an interloper, it is him, not me," Hunter said, arching a lovely coppery eyebrow.
"I'm not sure I really understood the connection until recently. I am especially susceptible to affectionate feelings lately," I said with a heavy sigh. But Hunter's smile was too huge and dazzling for me to be annoyed by my own rebellious heart for long.
"You're a very rare woman, Hazel Nix," Hunter said, hands sliding under his shirt and up my back to draw me closer. "Someone so precious ought to be loved by many."
My cheeks warmed again, and I reached down between us, but Hunter caught my hand before I could distract him from his sweetness.
"We should've talked about this before. I didn't realize it was disturbing you."
"Neither did I. Or not so much," I admitted, frowning. "If I didn't feel so equally for you—" I hummed as his lips pressed to mine, yellow eyes warm and hooded as he pulled away again. "You know that, or you should. You could be a guest act or a company member or yourself. I want you, with or without grand houses and pretty harnesses."
"Thank you, little one," Hunter said with another long kiss gifted to my lips, and his hands no longer fought me as I found his cock and stroked it to eager arousal. "You should be tired."
"I'll be tired after," I said, kissing each of his cheeks and then the tips of his tusks. "You'll make sure of it."
Hunter chuckled, and I held my breath as I turned the sound into a moan, drawing him inside of me and sinking down, watching his eyes fall shut and his tongue wet his lips.
I'm free, I thought, my own breath coming short. To stay with Hunter. To remain at the theater. Hunter might buckle me into the harness, tell me to crawl for his pleasure, but he would be the first to hand me back up to the stage or to carry me to bed or to see me home to Stepney Green in his carriage, if that was where I wanted to go.
My knees sank into the cushions on either side of his hips, his hands on my waist helping me slide up and down his cock.
"Are you attracted to Ronan?" I asked, still thinking over that little note about Ronan's scent.
Hunter huffed and blinked at me, lips parted on a soft pant. "I'm attracted to the sight of him touching you, feasting on your cunt, fucking you. Alone...no, I don't believe so."
I smiled at that, rewarding my orc with a nip on his lip. "Would it be terrible if I say I am going to be very possessive of you?"
Hunter's eyes widened, and a soft moan escaped his lips as I started to ride him a little faster, rolling my hips in a forward circle to make those tip piercings rub inside of me.
"You know me well enough to know how much that honors me, little one," Hunter said, words ragged.
"Then you are mine," I said, gasping as he bucked up at the words. "My gentleman orc. I ought to share you with others like you've offered to me, but I won't. I will possess you with all the greed in me."
Hunter groaned, his claws scratching down to grip my ass.
"Mine," I whispered, nibbling on his tipped ear. "My orc. My master."
"Hazel!"
"And I want your seed in me. I want you to fill me up and make me filthy. I'll let them all smell you in me tomorrow," I said, my eyes widening, understanding my own power and privilege as I watched Hunter unravel at my words, my touch.
Victory was as bright as Hunter's eyes blazing up at me, as sharp as his claws gripping my flesh, and as hot as the burst of his release in my cunt as he bellowed his joy and took me down with him.