Page 58 of The Orc and the Innkeeper

For a moment, we simply stand there, looking out over the gardens. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unsaid things.

I take a deep breath, the cool night air filling my lungs and calming me.

“Thorak, I...” I begin, my voice soft but steady. “I have to apologize. For not trusting you about Ygra. For judging you without hearing you out first.”

Thorak turns to face me, his bright eyes searching mine. “Mariah, you don’t have to?—”

“No, please. Let me say this,” I interrupt gently. “I’ve been so unfair to you. You’ve shown me, time and again, that you’ve changed. That you’re not the same person you were when we were kids. And instead of seeing that, I let my own insecurities cloud my judgment.”

Thorak’s expression softens, surprise and a glimmer of hope flickering across his face. “I understand why you felt that way,” he says quietly. “I know I hurt you in the past. I don’t blame you for being wary.”

I shake my head, shame burning hot inside of me. “That’s no excuse. You deserved better from me. After everything that happened between us, I should have given you a chance to explain about Ygra. But I let my fear and my pride get in the way.”

Thorak turns toward me now, opening his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off, grabbing his large hand in mine.

Sparks ignite in my veins at his touch again after all this time.

“I’m sorry, Thorak,” I continue, moving closer to him. “For everything. I’ve spent the past weeks living through heartbreak that I think I’ve inflicted on myself. I can’t stop thinking aboutyou and about what we had. How perfect it felt while it was happening. How incredible you made me feel and how right it seemed. I realized that…I was falling in love with you. And I fucked it all up.”

I take another deep breath, fighting against the prick of tears behind my eyes.

“Can you...can you forgive me?” I ask.

27

THORAK

The low, romantic lights of the balcony dance across Mariah’s face as she gazes up at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Every muscle tenses as I drink in her words—an apology, a confession, a plea for forgiveness and a second chance.

Emotions crash over me like storm-tossed waves. Relief, joy, hope, all tinged with the lingering ache of our month apart.

How many nights did I lie awake, torturing myself with thoughts of what could have been? How often did I replay our short but passionate romance in my mind, craving her touch, her scent, her soft sighs of pleasure?

And now here she stands, more beautiful than ever, laying her heart bare before me.

My eyes rake over her, taking in the way her chestnut hair tumbles around her shoulders, the flush of her fair skin. Desire pulses through my veins, hot and insistent.

I want to crush her against me, claim her lips in a searing kiss, trail my hands over every delicious curve. But I hold back, knowing we have wounds to mend first.

“Mariah,” I rumble, my voice raw with emotion. “This past month has been agony without you. I’ve replayed that day in the square a thousand times, wishing I had done things differently. I should have been more firm with both my parents and Ygra from the start. Everyone in town should’ve known that you were my woman and that it was real. I let my pride get in the way, and it nearly cost me everything.”

I step closer, my large frame towering over her petite one. She tilts her head back to hold my gaze, and the vulnerability in her expression makes my chest ache.

“I love you, Mariah,” I confess, the words tumbling out in a rush. “I think I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you again, standing in your inn with pixie dust in your hair. It consumes me. It controls me. And I’ll spend every day of the rest of our lives proving myself worthy of your trust, if you’ll let me.”

Happiness flares in her eyes, bright and fierce, and an answering warmth spreads through my chest. This is more than reconciliation—it’s a new beginning, a chance to build something real and lasting together.

“Oh, Thorak,” she breathes, a radiant smile blooming across her face. “I love you too. And I promise, no more assumptions, no more running away. I’m yours.”

The last of my restraint shatters. I reach for her, my hands spanning her waist as I draw her flush against my body. She comes willingly, melting into my embrace as if she was made to fit there.

Unable to hold back any longer, I capture Mariah’s lips in a heated kiss. A groan rumbles up my throat as I taste her sweetness, feel the silk of her skin under my hands. Every nerve ending ignites with the rightness of it.

Her small hands fist in my suit jacket, tugging me impossibly closer as she matches my fervor. I nip at her luscious bottom lipand she opens for me with a breathy moan that shoots straight to my core.

I walk us backwards until Mariah’s back meets the ivy-covered wall of the balcony. Never breaking our frantic kiss, I hoist her up, encouraging her legs to wrap around my waist. She does so without hesitation, rolling her hips against the evidence of my arousal.

The layers of fabric separating our heated flesh are maddening. I want to tear through them, to claim her, mark her as mine for all the world to see.

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