Page 15 of One Night with Her Mountain Orc

“But telling you how hard life has been? Making you think you’re responsible? That’s nonsense. Yes, I’ve been untethered since my mom passed away, and I’ve been a bit nomadic, trying to find my place in the world.” I stop to flutter my eyes at the ceiling, trying to prevent the tears that are filling my eyes from falling. I hate crying. Hate showing that I’m weak. Missing my mom won’t bring her back. Showing Bjorn I’m a hot mess isn’t going to win him over.

When I catch my breath again, certain I won’t cry, I look at Bjorn across from me, and my heart melts with the tender expression in his eyes. No one has ever looked at me this way before. It’s startling, comforting, unsettling, and delicious, all at once. He reaches his hand out across the table, an invitation. I take it. The heat from him is a tingle that spreads through my hand and up my arm to my chest. His fingers are thick, fat, and as they close around my fingers, I thinkI want to stay like this forever, protected by him.

“Bjorn, I don’t know how to say this. You are the only person who has ever made me feel seen. The only person ever to accept me at face value. What’d you say yesterday? Stubborn? Rash?”

“I think today I’d use the words headstrong and gorgeous and tantalizing.” At his low rumble, I squirm in my seat, heat slowly creeping up my neck to my cheeks. “I want the best for you. And it seems I am not the best.”

Shaking off the doom he just dropped, I squeeze his hand. “Don’t let my cousin’s opinion stop you, us, from being together. I can no longer respect her opinions and choices after yesterday and today. I want you. I want to be with you. In your pillow nest.” I clench my thighs, feeling sensations in my core when I picture us together in the nest he made me.

A sniff. He smiles. “You liked that?” Bjorn asks, but the fire in his eyes says he knows the answer. “You know, orcs have finely honed senses. I can see when you blush in the dark. And I can smell your arousal.” The words are barely there, kissing my spine with a shiver.

“Will you please take me to your home?” I ask, batting my lashes, not to prevent tears, but to encourage him. His chuckle is low and slow as he nods.

“I’d love that. But are you sure? I don’t have the most stellar reputation.” He gives me a long, serious look, as if he is inspecting my soul for signs of hesitation. There is none. Nodding, satisfied, he says, “Let me clean up and tell Koru bye. That orc is going to ride my ass hard for the rest of the month to ensure I stay out of trouble. Big brothers are the worst.”

He carries our empty bowls and mugs back to the kitchen while I let my mind imagine us together tonight, tomorrow, in a year, in ten years. My heart swells with excitement, trepidation, and something that might be close to love.

Chapter 10

Bjorn

It’s hard to describe, let alone admit, how big my heart swells at the sight of August lounging in the pillow nest, naked, hair draped over her shoulders, nipples teasing me from underneath her smooth locks. Her curves are lush and inviting; my fingers yearn to caress, to dig in, to hold her to me and never let go.

This drive of wanting to protect her, I’ve never felt it before. Not with my brothers, not with any other girlfriends of the past. It’s like she’s ignited a shield power, an inner dragon, a tarnished knight from within me. Nothing will keep me from her. Nothing will hurt her.

Is this fate? Is this love?

A laugh bubbles out of August as she watches me watching her. I put a sock on the door—unnecessary because I’ve also triple locked the door. Candles lit around the small apartment, I stoke the fire in the fireplace. This might be the best feature of this apartment. Warm. Safe. Aching with need.

“Are you done fussing? I’m getting cold waiting for you.” Her voice is melodic.

“Can’t have you getting cold.” My knees creak when I rise from the hearth, and I lumber toward her like a bumbling fool. At her feet, I pause, in awe of her beauty and strength. I am not worthy of her love, her adoration. But then she extends her hands in agimme gimmemotion. Who am I to deny her? I shed my clothes and come to her.

“I never knew I could feel like this until I met you,” she whispers in my ear as I straddle her. Orcs aren’t known for their gentleness and delicate touch, but I want nothing more than to ravage her in tender, sweet kisses. She deserves caring, safety. Pleasure.

“Like what?” I ask in between kissing along her collarbone, from her left to her right.

---