Griff did hesitate, hovering with Shadnay while Blaze caught up to him.

  Blaze held a hand up to Griff. “Please. Look at it. Him. It—whatever!”

  “He,” Griff said, gesturing, and that was when Blaze noted the complete lack of covering over the orc’s genitals.

  “Fuck.” Blaze was equal parts horrified and, well, fascinated. “How can he walk with that thing?”

  “Much less run,” Griff added. “But can’t you feel his pain? He’s heartbroken, Blaze, not angry. He’s hurting.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Blaze asked. “He could be crying and snotting because he’s…he’s…got gas. And if that’s the case, we really need to get out of here.”

  Griff grimaced. “I feel it. I think we need to help him. At least talk to him.”

  “No, no, we don’t.” But as if the awful creature knew they were there, it slowed to a stop and sniffled.

  Which was really gross. Blaze had never thought he had a sensitive stomach before then. “That’s…that’s disturbing,” he muttered, watching the mucus stretch and pop back up to the orc’s nose.

  “Urk.” Griff made another gagging sound, then gulped. “Er. He’s looking at us, isn’t he? I can’t tell with that massive forehead.”

  “And eyebrow. He’s just got the one, and yet…not a single hair on his head.” Blaze patted his own thick locks and shuddered. “Maybe that’s why he’s upset.”

  Griff shot him a dirty look. “Stop it. He might hear you.”

  The orc cocked his head and made a clicking sound, rubbing his teeth together.

  Blaze told himself he was not afraid. Clothes would have helped him believe it. Somehow, sitting nude astride a dragonfly made him feel very vulnerable.

  The orc wiped his nose and flung the excess goop off his forearm. His bottom lip trembled, and a fat tear spilled down his cheek.

  Blaze tried not to feel bad for the guy, but it was no use. “Shit.”

  “Exactly,” Griff agreed. “Let me talk for a moment, okay?”

  “Don’t go any closer.” It was the most Blaze could compromise.

  “I won’t.” Griff sent him a sweet smile, then looked at the orc. “Do you speak, um, at all?”

  The orc raised his head, his chins wobbling. “Of course I speak, quite well, thank you. I’m not quite the oaf I appear to be.”

  Blaze bit his tongue to keep from commenting that he was sure as shit acting like an oaf, hollering and tearing up the forest.

  But the orc sighed, his fetid breath reaching them. Blaze wasn’t the only one who gagged.

  “Could you just…not?” he asked, fanning the air away from his face.

  The orc seemed to droop, his massive shoulders rounding. He canted his head down. “Sorry. I haven’t been able to clean myself up since being purged from my pack.”

  “Purged?” Griff asked. “Like…like banned?”

  “Exactly that, except of course I’ll be put down if I return.” The orc shrugged. “And so I’m alone in the world now, with the most broken of hearts.”

  “Oh, gods,” Blaze groaned quietly, knowing there was no chance he and Griff would be zipping away now.

  “The most broken of hearts?” Griff repeated, nudging Shadnay forward.

  Blaze was glad Eleandross followed suit.

  “Yes,” the orc said. “Forgive me. I am Grlind.”

  “I’m Griff, and this is my bonded, Blaze.” When Griff smiled at him with so much affection, Blaze knew he’d face a hundred orcs for the fairy.

  “Bonded?” Grlind sniffled again and scrubbed at his cheeks as tears poured from his eyes. “That is…everything I-I w-wanted, but we can’t—”

  “Shit.” Blaze looked the orc over. Really, Grlind wasn’t but maybe a foot taller than him in Blaze’s standard man-size. Of course, Grlind had about a hundred pounds on him, at least, but Blaze had seen him running. The orc wasn’t faster than him, or faster than Griff.

  “Can you make us regular size?” Blaze asked Griff.

  Griff nodded. “Grlind, we’re going to do a little magic here. Please don’t be startled.”

  “You’re a fairy,” Grlind observed. “But where are your wings?”

  Blaze hissed at him. “Stop asking questions!”

  “It’s fine,” Griff said. “They were knocked off in an attack that reached through the veil. And it also screwed up my brain.”

  “Reached through the veil? But that isn’t possible,” Grlind protested.

  “Do you see any wings?” Blaze snapped. “And I’m a dragon who can’t shift or use my fire.” Oh, maybe he shouldn’t have given that information up. He’d just exposed their vulnerable belly, so to speak.

  But Grlind shrugged. “I’m not a violent orc, hence my current status. I refused to kill one too many times.”

  “How many times did you refuse to kill in total?” Blaze asked.

  “Just the once,” Grlind said. “It was enough. I’ve killed in defense before, but I would not help annihilate a village just so our pack could have the gold. And here I am, outcast, with my lover among those who voted for me to be in such a state. He even cast the first stone.”

  “Cast the first stone?” Blaze had heard stories about the orcs, but he had no true knowledge of the creatures.

  “Yes. When one is purged, outcast, he—I was stripped of all my belongings, then chased from our pack while being pelted with stones. It is often the fate of the purged one to die before he ever makes his way free,” Grlind explained. A sad expression flitted over his face. “I’ve no doubt that would have been the better fate for me.”

  “Oh, don’t say that!” Griff exclaimed. “I know how sorrow feels, how it is to dislike yourself.” He got off Shadnay as soon as the dragonfly lowered him close to the ground.

  Blaze dismounted Eleandross a second later, then both dragonflies flitted up and out of reach. “Griff, you are only loveable, always. Eminently.” Gods, he hoped that was the right word. It sounded right in his head.

  Griff just glowed for him, smiling so brightly. “Thank you, Blaze. The same is true for you.”

  Grlind sighed. “I’ll never have that, what you two have. Orcs don’t have bonded mates, and—and we aren’t to love a man of our kind. Have sexual relations with one, yes. There are so few females, but love one? It isn’t done. Another rule I broke, falling for my lover.” He shook his head, and the tears started again before he covered his face with his hands.

  Griff chanted, and he and Blaze were taller in an instant.

  “You don’t know what the future holds,” Griff said to the orc. “Look at us. A dragon and a fairy, bonded. Have you ever heard such a thing?”

  Grlind peeked out from between his fingers. “But both of you are beautiful, and nude. I am a hideous thing. Even our female orcs don’t want to have sex with us, but no one else will have sex with them, and so it goes.”

  Blaze had to agree about the ugly part, but he had enough sense not to say as much. That, and Griff squeezed his hand hard, so he knew to keep his opinion to himself.

  “I’m just going to run until I die,” Grlind said after a moment. “What point is there to living?”

  “Wow,” Blaze snapped. Had he ever wallowed in so much self-pity? Maybe. “You are a whiny baby. Cut it out and stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

  “Blaze!” Griff tried to snatch his hand away, but Blaze brought it to his lips and kissed the back of Griff’s knuckles.

  “It’s true, and he needs to hear it.” Blaze cut his eyes toward Grlind. “You’re all ready to die—so why did you even run, Grlind? Why not let them stone you to death?”

  Grlind blinked. “I…I d-don’t know.”

  Blaze did. “Because you don’t want to die. You just hurt inside right now, but you don’t want to die.”

  “But there’s no place for me out here.” Grlind gestured to the world in general, Blaze supposed. “None. Orcs stick together, unless we’re hired out to perform a task. We keep to ourselves even then. I don’t know how to not be a part of a pack. I—”

  “You just need to relax,” Blaze advised. “And you’re not alone.” Ugh, he was a moron. But when he looked at Griff, there was such obvious approval in those lovely eyes of his, Blaze felt like a hero. And for that, he’d continue with his offer. “You can come with us. We’re on a quest.”

  “A quest?” Grlind perked up. “A noble one? I’ve never been on a noble quest. Just paid ones. Is it a noble one? Tell me it is!”

  Gods, the orc was as excited as a baby dragon begging for lava treats.

  “It’s a very noble one,” Griff said firmly. “To find my wings and see if there’s a rip in the veil.”

  “Oh! There must be! The veil is supposed to be impenetrable,” Grlind said. “Are you sure that’s what happened?”

  Blaze let Griff tell the story, and he listened closely, as he always did to Griff.

  But Blaze began to wonder exactly what had happened when Griff was harmed. A rip in the veil seemed so unbelievable an occurrence. He’d never heard of it happening before, ever.

  Magical creatures could cross over into the boring real world if they were powerful enough. That was true, and on occasion a mage or witch or even an elf managed to go over. They came back powerless, if they came back at all.

  So how could the veil have been breached from the other side?

  Or had it been?

  Chapter Twenty

  Originally, Griff had intended to take Blaze to the frolic lands and spend at least one night in his own home.

  Adding an orc to the mix—a naked orc at that—put a kibosh on Griff’s plan. For one thing, he didn’t know enough about orcs to judge whether or not Grlind could be trusted.

  Secondly, he had nowhere to put the orc in the frolic. Grlind wasn’t a giant—everyone knew giants were dangerous—giants never tried to keep that a secret—but he was still much, much taller than Griff and a lot more muscle-y. Griff also didn’t think Egregio would care for the orc at all, and Griff didn’t want the monster suffocating Grlind in his sleep or anything like that.

  “We need to find something to cover that up with,” Blaze griped, pointing at Grlind’s obnoxiously huge cock. “I’m beginning to feel lacking.”

  They’d put their clothing back on already. Griff patted Blaze’s butt. “You are perfect. Grlind’s shaft is frightening.” It was another area where Grlind was much bigger than he was.

  The orc wasn’t close enough to hear them, having stopped to try and replant the tree he’d almost ripped from the ground. Most of the others Grlind had smacked, as far as Griff could see, had been snapped in half, not pulled up.

  Blaze wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, that’s too much of a good thing. Which, that makes it a bad thing, right?” He shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t want to see that thing flopping all over. But you know what?” He looked at Griff, appearing to be quite pleased with himself.

  “What?” Griff asked, smiling back automatically. He couldn’t be unhappy when Blaze looked so happy himself.

  “I finally understand what the word pendulous means!” Blaze chuckled. “But, damn. Imagine that pecker hard. Think it’d stand out straight, or—”

  “I’d prefer not to muse on Grlind’s penis,” Griff said. And maybe figuring out a way to cover that appendage up, as well as Grlind’s pendulous balls, would be a great idea that should be implemented immediately. Griff cast about for something he could use just for that purpose.

  Shadnay buzzed, chattering at him. Eleandross dipped and bobbed around Shadnay.

  “What’re the bugs saying?” Blaze ducked a dive-bomb from Eleandross. “Dragonflies! Insects! I didn’t think bugs was an insult!”

  Griff saw the teasing glint in Blaze’s eyes, the twitch of his lips. The dragon was getting a kick out of riling the bugs—er, insects—up.

  Blaze’s smile was astoundingly real. There was no other way to describe it. He was happy, and part of that was Griff hoped, because of him.

  Griff stood on his toes and reached for Blaze. He had to taste that smile, or he’d just die.

  Blaze tasted like sunshine and joy, like love and fun and sex. Griff moaned softly, slipping his tongue deeper into Blaze’s mouth. He moved his hands down to cup Blaze’s firm ass and gave both cheeks a squeeze.

  He loved the way Blaze moved closer, the press of his hardening cock through their clothing, the heave of his chest. Griff wanted to just—

  “Oh. Er. I could leave?”

  Griff groaned and stopped kneading Blaze’s ass. He’d probably given Grlind quite the show.

  “Sorry,” Griff whispered to Blaze, in case he was embarrassed.

  But that huge, sweet smile was still on Blaze’s face. “It’s good. So good.”

  After a moment, they separated, and Blaze turned to face Grlind. “Man, you have got to do something with that thing.”

  Grlind looked confused for a second, then he smirked. “What? Like heft it over my shoulder?”

  Griff snorted while Blaze laughed.

  Grlind jostled the body part currently being discussed. “I might need it to prop myself up on when we take a break. After all, I’ll be walking.”

  “What do you know?” Blaze asked. “Your cock’s almost as big as your ego!” He laughed again, and Grlind did, too.

  “There’s no almost to it.” Grlind stopped waving his prick and looked around. “There! I’m handy with weaving and braiding. I can use that vine, although, if the leaves wilt… Can’t you magic me some clothing, Griff?”

  If he could remember the chant for it, Griff could have done so, but his mind blanked when he tried.

  And Griff’s amusement morphed into frustration. He turned away from the orc and Blaze. “No, I can’t.”

  There was a moment of silence, then Grlind said, “That’s okay. Don’t feel bad, Griff. I think we’ve all felt bad enough in our lives already. I’ll braid the vine into thick strands. We orcs are handy like that.”

  Blaze took Griff’s hand, and startled Griff by raising it and kissing Griff’s palm. “He’s right. No dwelling on anything that makes us sad or angry. Not today, and tomorrow, we’ll set the same rule, just for that day, and so we’ll go until we’re past what hurts us.”

  Griff didn’t know if that would work for him. Not if he never found his wings. His memory, that he could maybe deal with, but the inability to fly was crippling him in more ways than one.

  Even so, he could bury his pain for his bonded. Griff nodded. “Okay.” Grlind trudged off to the vine he’d pointed at. “And we’ll keep an eye out for some perunian flowers. You know the ones, purple and gold with orange leaves?” That he could remember, thank the gods.

  Blaze frowned. “I don’t think so.”

  Grlind was close enough that he heard Griff shout the same question at him.

  “Yes, I know of it. It’s what we orcs use for—” He smirked at them. “Personal relations.”

  “Personal relations?” Blaze scowled. “What the fuck?”

  “Well, not just personal, because if there’s more than just this involved”—Grlind waved his left hand at them—“that plant comes in handy. Heh. Handy.”

  “Good gods, our orc friend is our dork friend,” Blaze said, eyes rounding. “Who’d have guessed?”

  Griff was tempted to thump Blaze for the bad pun, but instead, he kissed him. It was a fierce, brief kiss that left Blaze panting and trying to get more.

  Griff murmured against his wet lips, “Lube, my mate. The stalks of the plant produce a viscous liquid that makes the best sexual lubricant.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Perunian. Huh. It’s kind of ugly. But Blaze could sure deal with ugly if it meant getting lube, then getting fucked. “Is this it?” he asked, reaching for the orange-leafed flower.

  “What—Blaze! No!” Griff shouted.

  Too late, because Blaze already had his hand closing around the plant and while he heard the alarm in Griff’s voice—hard not to, the way he shrieked—Blaze couldn’t get the command not to grab, sent from his brain to his hand, to follow through in time to stop his motion.

  So he screamed like a dragon getting his scales ripped off as pain exploded throughout his hand and forearm. He couldn’t even get his hand to work so he could jerk it away from the damned plant.

  “Blaze!” Griff was right there, pulling at his arm, gripping his elbow and panting as he gave a mighty tug. “Let go of the flower!”

  “Oy, that’s gonna hurt,” Grlind said. “You forgot about the purple and gold petals. That’s got purple and white petals, and it’s got these fine poisonous fibers on it. Paralyzes what touches it, at least for a few hours.”

  “Fuck!” Blaze’s vision blurred as his eyes rolled. “I hate pain. Hate it!”

  Grlind looked at Griff. “On the count of three, you pull again while I get the flower. As thick-skinned as I am, it won’t hurt me like it does him.”

  “Are you sure?” Griff asked, panting slightly as he clung to Blaze.

  “Pretty sure.” Grlind shrugged. “We’ve got quite thick skins. Not like scales, but tough enough. So let’s give this a go. One, two, three!” He reached down and swatted the whole flower aside, while Griff pulled hard enough to send Blaze and him both tumbling backward.

  Grlind grabbed them and shoved them to the side. “More of the flowers,” he explained, shaking out the hand he’d used on the evil flower. “But where these are, the perunian is usually nearby.”

  “Not sure it’s worth risking,” Blaze muttered. “What if the flowers have mutated? I’m going to have nightmares about this plant for weeks.” He looked at his hand. His palm was dark red, his hand swollen, as was half his forearm. “Is this shit going to kill me?” he asked around a ball of fear he was trying to suppress.

  “No, it’ll be fine after a few hours,” Griff said, taking Blaze’s hand and looking it over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about poisonous plants. I mean, I…” He scrunched up his nose. “I think I know which ones are poisonous, but what if I don’t? What if I remember wrong and it gets you hurt?”

  “Here now,” Grlind said. “I’ll grab the plants from now on. It’s the least I can do since you have both let me accompany you.”