Orc Boyfriend: Ozren 2 (rough draft)

Obresh had never been your destination. It was a happy accident you ended up here. Running away from home in the first place, you had intended to get much farther away. Life had other plans though, and life left you here. Life gave you Ozren. While a first that seemed like such a strange thing, you now knew this was exactly what you needed.

Big, loveable Ozren, he gave you the world and asked for nothing in return. He just wanted to see you happy and smile. The day he selected you during the Reaping, you didn’t want to believe it. All your life you had been told you weren’t worth anything, but Ozren saw you as all the treasure in the world.

Lately, sleep has been hard to come by, you wake at strange intervals and find it impossible to fall back to sleep. So you lay there in that big bed and listen to Ozren breathe. He’s so gentle and peaceful, it’s nice being able to watch him slumber. He lays on his back when he sleeps, so you often picture him as a mountain laying beside you. His long, curly hair is splayed out all over his pillow, so you reach out and curl a lock around your finger. You’ve been helping him brush it and tend to it lately, and you’ve found comfort in touching it. He’s quite the hairy guy, but the curls on his head are by far your favorite.

The reaping was a few months ago now, and you and Ozren are growing closer day by day. You starting to feel like love is a possibility, but sometimes a voice in the back of your head warns you that you’re still not good enough for love, for this level of comfort. You’ve been trying very hard to ward it off.

You scoot closer to Ozren in bed, snuggling up to his side. His arm then lifts up and holds you close. “Can you not sleep, my rose?”

You rest your cheek against him. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I felt ya stir, cracked me just a bit.” Ozren squeezes his arm around you. “What troubles ya so? What can I do to make it go away.”

You place your hand upon his bare chest and lean your face against his side. “Go back to sleep. Don’t worry about me.”

“Nah, that ain’t gonna work. I’ll never sleep knowin’ something is botherin’ ya.” His hand rubs up and down your back lovingly. “We can just talk if ya want.”

I sigh heavily and look up at him, only seeing his chin and tusks. “Talk about what?”

He chuckles. “Whatever ya want.”

You lay your cheek back against him and sigh. “I’m really happy here with you, Ozren.”

“That’s good, very good,” he says sleepily. “I try my hardest to make sure ya are. It does me good to know you feel that way.”

You smile to yourself. “You’re very good to me. Thank you.”

“I like having ya around,” he chuckles. “Makes me feel like a younger man again. Like I could do anything.”

“What do you mean? You’re still young.” You tilt your chin up to look at him again. “That’s absolutely silly.”

He laughs quietly. “I could still be younger. Could have less silver in my hair. I’m not one of these young swains walking around the village swinging barrels and getting piss drunk every night.”

“I’m glad you aren’t.”

He kisses the top of your head and makes you smile. “I used to, back in those younger days. I would come out of the bar at dawn and not feel sober until the next time I went inside.”

“How are you alive?”

He clicks his tongue. “I’m not sure.”

You sit up in bed and look down at him. “I’m glad those days are behind you. I’m even more glad you’re here now.”

He reaches up and cups your face in his palm. “I suppose all that youth was good for something, was the road that led me to you.”

You smile down at him. “Seems like a very silly road.”

“Not to me it isn’t.” He sits up with you and his hair falls over his shoulders and back.  He holds your face in both hands. “I came from a little island off the coast of the Rakshasa Kingdom. Very small, very poor. My family and I left it, hoping to find a future here in Obresh so we could send money home. I always wanted to go back, I felt out of place here, even surrounded by other Orcs. But my mother kept telling me there were reasons I was here, fates I couldn’t yet see.” His smile grows as he looks at you. “I mean when I say it was fate that brought us together.”

You look down then back up again, your face fluctuating between a smile and frown. You sniffle as tears well up and Ozren dips down to give you a kiss. You hug onto him tight, resting your chest upon his chest as he runs his hands along your back.

“Tell me, what’s wrong, my rose?” he whispers. “Why do you cry when I say these things?”

You shake your head, “it’s not you.”

He smooths your hair from your face and holds your chin up. “Then what is it?”

You hiccup and blubber slightly. “No one has ever wanted me before,” you confess. “I don’t know-” You hiccup sharply again. “I don’t know how to accept such a thing.”

An angry look crosses his face. It’s such a strange expression on him, you’ve rarely ever seen him look cross. “What do you mean by that? How could someone not want you?” He wipes up your tears as they fall, his palms trembling as he tries to maintain his calm.

You look down from him, trying to find a way to bring the words to the surface, to tell your story without feeling afraid. “My mother died giving birth to me. After that, I was blamed. Nothing I ever did could be right, nothing I could do could make my family look at me.” You move his hand away from your face and rub your eyes. “My father was a noble in Sothen-”

Ozren’s expression completely changes. “What? You’re noble?”

You shake your head. “Not anymore. I’d rather be anything else,” you sniffle. “My family had me living like I wasn’t anyways.”

Ozren’s scowl deepens.

“Bit by bit, I saved enough money so I could leave. I doubt they even notice that I am gone.” You wipe at your eyes and breathe out slowly. “I just...I just keep hearing them in my head, telling me I’m nothing, telling me I don’t deserve what I have. I keep feeling afraid you’ll see that I don’t-”

Ozren grabs your arms firmly. “My rose,” he growls deeply, “may the gods strike me with lightning and toss me into the seas should I ever utter such words. Even the lowest of the low deserves grace and love. You are not the lowest, nowhere near that. You are a wonderful, sweet, beautiful creation. And I swear to the same gods that would kill me, I will never tell you anything different. You ran away for a reason. You left because you knew better. If you truly believed their words, you would have stayed. Right?”

“But-” He shakes you gently.

“No! None of that. You left because you knew there was a better road stretched out before you. People who have given up do not try to find something better for themselves.” He touches your face, brushing away the tears that cling to your cheek. “You are here now because you know you deserve everything they told you that you didn’t.”

You sniffle and wrap your arms around his neck, holding him tight as he buries his face against your hair. You then turn your head and kiss him, pressing close to his body. He wipes your cheep again and smiles at you.

“My rose,” he whispers. “I love you deeply, never a question in my mind.”

Your heart squeezes tight at his words. You lose your breath, growing dizzy as they keep reverberating in your mind. “I-” You choke on your words.

“I loved you the first time I set eyes on you. But now, I know, I love you eternally. I love you because I know you.” He lifts your chin up again. “If anyone is undeserving here, it is me.”

You sputter and smile, clutching your hands around your face. “Ozren-”

“You don’t need to say a thing, not unless you want to.” He kisses you again, softer than before. “

“Can we lay back down?”

“Of course.” He lays on his side, bringing you to his chest. You lay your head upon his arm, closing your eyes. “Comfortable?”

“Yes,” you murmur.

“Try to find some sleep, my rose. I know it has not been easy lately.” You kisses the back of your neck and shoulder gently. “But do try.”

“You work hard, you need sleep more than I do. But…” You roll over so you face him. “Thank you, for tonight.”

He smiles big and bright. “I was happy to. I’m glad you opened up more to me.”

You snuggle up to him, finding sleep soon after in his embrace.

It’s quite chilly in the morning, so you’re not surprised to hear Ozren outside chopping wood. You look out the window at him, seeing him shirtless and swinging his ax. It’s a lovely sight to get the day started, but you know you can’t dawdle. He’ll be cold when he gets inside, and he’ll want his coffee right away. You get up and go to the kitchen, adding what’s left of the firewood into the stove. Once you get the kettle set and the press prepared, Ozren comes in and unloads an armful of wood into the box.

“What are you doing? Going out there without your coat!” You fuss at him.

“I was in a hurry,” he laughs, teeth chattering. “The bedroom was cold, I wanted to make sure it didn’t stay that way.”

You rub your hands up his arms feeling how chilled he is. “Go sit by the stove, you silly man! I’ll have your coffee ready in a moment.”

He kisses the top of your head. “Did you sleep well?”

“Sit!” You scold.

Ozren laughs, sitting down in his chair before the stove and kicking off his boots. You drape a blanket over him, but as you try to walk away he grabs you and pulls you in, wrapping you up in the blanket and his arms.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” He teases. “Aren’t you going to warm me up?” He kisses your cheek and neck.

“Your hands are cold!” You giggle as he holds you. “You're tickling me!”

He chuckles against your shoulder. “You feel nice and warm. Just a second longer.” He kisses your neck. “Now tell me, did you sleep well?”

You sit with him and lean back against his chest. “I did. Thank you.”

“Happy to help anyway I can, my rose.” He rests his chin atop your head. “I must confess. I wanted to go out like that this morning because I was still quite heated by what you said.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your family,” he growls. “The way they treated you. It makes me angry even thinking about what their smug, idiotic faces must look like.”

“Please stop,” you try to coax. “It isn’t worth it at all. Just breathe, for me.”

Ozren huffs. “I know. I’m sorry. But it just...I care so much and knowing-” He grumbles and lowers his head down, letting you kiss his cheek. “I know they don’t matter now. You’re better off without them. But I cannot let this go so easily.”

“You love me, that’s enough.”

“Aye,” he whispers, “I do. Very much.”

“Then just do that. I don’t need you bashing heads for me.”

Ozren chuckles. “If you asked, I would.”

You start to giggle, but you try to remain firm. “Don’t.” You smile to yourself, feeling him growing warmer by the second. “Tell me more about the island you came from.”

Ozren sighs deeply. “Well, let’s see. It was called Northknock, and it was covered with fruit trees as far as the eye could see. It was beautiful.”

“Was?” You look back up at him.

“Was,” he sighs heavily. “When I was just a child, there was a fungus that began spreading to the soil. It infected the trees, started to rot away at the core. By the time I was a teenager, there was barely anything left for us.”

“That’s why your family left?”

He nods. “Last I heard, most of the Orcs had left the island. Some came here, some went to Rakshasa Country. I don’t know what’s become of Northknock now.”

You stand up as the kettle whistles and pour the water into the press. “Have you ever wanted to try and go back?”

“I’ve been afraid,” he murmurs. “I don’t want to go there and find something-” He looks at you with sad eyes. “I want to remember it from my childhood.”

You pour his coffee from the press and place it in his hands. “That’s fine.” You brush your fingers through his hair, pushing it back and tucking it behind his ear. “What have you got planned for today?”

“Since it’s getting cold I’m going to start prepping the house, chopping more wood,” he huffs. He sits up, puffing out his chest and moving the blanket aside.

“Wearing your coat, of course.”

He looks at you with a grin and laughs. “Aye, with my coat on.” He gives you a wink. “I’ll still be quite chilly when I come in. Are ya gonna still warm me up?”

You look up from the potatoes your picking from the basket and smile back at him. “Are you being suggestive?”

“Only if you like it that way,” he says with a grin.

“Let me make breakfast and then you can bat your eyes at me.” You rinse off the potatoes then start slicing them to fry in the pan.

“You can tell me if I get annoying,” he says. “Just hit me over the head.”

“I would never hit you.” You toss the potatoes into the hot pan and they sizzle. “Besides, even if I act shy about it, I do enjoy when you talk to me.”

“Ya do, do ya?”

You glance back at him to see his smile then turn back around giggling. “Not to say it doesn’t have it’s time and place.”

“I want you to be comfortable here, especially when you’re with me. I known we’ve done it a few times now, but I want you to know, you don’t have to have sex with me if you don’t want to. I only want you when you want me just as much.”

You finish cutting the potatoes and you wipe your hands on your apron. “I know that. I just get nervous easily.”

His brow pinches. “What makes you nervous?”

You keep your eyes down. “That I won’t please you.”

“Big secret,” he whispers. “Come close.” He wags his fingers, and once you’re close enough he pulls you in to whisper into your ear. “Men don’t need much, my rose,” he chuckles. “As long as you’re willing and breathing, once I’m inside you, I don’t need much else.”

You sputter and giggle as you push against his face. “You’re teasing me!”

“I am not.” He grins at you, holding your hips. “I like to hear you though,” he whispers. “Your low, soft moans as I grow wet. The slight jiggle of your breasts as your breath begins to deepen. It makes me feel powerful knowing I’m making you feel so good.”

“Ozren,” you titter.

He kisses you. “As long as you don’t suddenly grow teeth down there, you’re always going to please me.”

You kiss him softly in return. “You...you do make me feel good,” you answer shyly. “I don’t have any experience, you’re my first so…”

“Nothing more precious than a woman whose just come,” he moans. “I love watching you in your afterglow.”

You look into his eyes and your heart sputters. “Were you always this way?”

He shakes his head. “Used to be a right shit when I was a lad. I won’t scare you with the details, but I didn’t used to take pleasure so seriously. That’s the only thing about youth I do not miss. I much prefer the love making we do, than any rutting I did when I was stupid. Not saying I’m not stupid now,” he laughs.

“I bet you were still very handsome as a young man.” You cup his face between your palms. “All that beautiful hair, must have been the envy of all the girls.”

“Oh, another big secret, my rose,” he chuckles. “I used to sheer all my hair off!”

You gasp in play dramatics. “Offensive! You really were awful in your youth!”

Ozren throws his head back in laughter. “Used to think it made me look tough! It just made me look like a big, fat thumb.”

You turn quickly to flip the potatoes then you go back to him. “Your hair is so beautiful. Did you really hate it so much?”

“I wanted to be big and bad, lovely dolly curls didn’t exactly scream mean.” He kisses your cheek affectionately. “Took me a long time to learn I was never meant to be mean. I’m a lover.”

“You really are.” You purr.

“What’s that tone I hear? You growing sweet on me, rose?” He kisses your neck and grabs the hem of your nightgown.

“Breakfast first,” you chuckle. “I won’t have it burning and ruining my good pan.”

Ozren kisses you lovingly, deeply. “You just ask me whenever you want me,” he whispers into your ear. “I’m yours, don’t doubt it.”