Page 17 of Romancing the Orc

I roll over until her butt presses into mine, and I grin.

For I have indeed read her books, and every time she writes only one bed, it always ends with some form of physical affection.

Morning brings warm sunlight filtering through the trees. I come awake first, long years of warrior training making me rise with the dawn.

We shifted in the night until I ended up on my back with Lara draped across me, her head resting on my chest. Little sighing puffs of breath come from her open mouth, her eyes moving rapidly beneath closed lids.

What does she dream with that brilliant mind of hers? What fantastic tales will she put to paper next? Her stories have offered me the only glimpse of home I’ve had in this new world, and I treasure them.

Almost as much as I treasure her, my mate. I never thought to find her. As one of the king’s guard back in Alarria, I traveled with him regularly from one village to the next. There wasn’t a single orc I hadn’t met, even if only briefly, and none of them had sparked the mating instinct.

Lara must be the reason the Moon Goddess let me get sucked through the door to Earth. In her wisdom, she knew my fate lay here with this amazing woman.

My mate stirs and gives a little groan. She squeezes her eyes shut and rolls her head to press her face more fully against me, not wanting to wake.

I can’t help it. I laugh, my torso shaking and jolting her head.

She snaps upright, her hands patting at my chest. “Oh, god. Oh, god. I didn’tdroolon you, did I?”

“I don’t mind,” I say.

She groans and tries to get out of the hammock, only to fall back onto me.

I extend a leg over the edge until it touches the ground, wrap my arms around her, and roll from the hammock to stand, bringing her with me.

Her wide brown eyes meet mine. “How did you do that?”

“I’m very strong.” I grin. “And besides being a warrior, I’m also a good dancer. Both require strength, flexibility, and very fine control of your body.”

My grip on her tightens, pulling her more closely to me. She feels so good with her breasts pillowing against my chest that my morning erection roars back to life, straining against the front of my pants.

Lara’s breath catches, her cheeks flush pink, and she pushes at my shoulders. “I… I… Put me down.”

I set her on her feet, sliding my hands down her arms to cup her elbows until she steadies. “What’s wrong?”

“You… you make it hard to think.” She takes several steps away from me. “And that’s whatIdo well. I think. And if I can’t do that, then what good am I?”

Is this truly all she thinks she has to offer the world? As much as I love her creativity, she’s so much more than her books. I move toward her. “Lara.”

“No.” She throws up a hand. “I need to make today’s list. Then I’ll know what we should do.”

“I’ll get us some breakfast while you do that.” I drape the cleaning cloth over the end of the hammock. “Use this when you go to the bathroom, then dip it in water after, and it will be refreshed.”

“Thanks.”

My magic spirals out into the jungle, asking for fruit or nuts. A strong pulse comes from the right, and I follow it to a group of coconut palms, tall smooth trunks rising into the sky. Clusters of large brown globes hang under wide-flung fronds, and when I ask, three of them drop to the ground.

A flicker of awareness flashes across my back with the uncomfortable feeling of someone watching me. I spin around.

I scour the heavy vegetation, my magic unfurling to ask the plants if any humans are near.

They say no.

The feeling disappears. Perhaps a wild animal that realized an orc warrior is no easy prey? I grin and snap my tusks at the air. How right they are.

Back at the campsite, Lara sits on the log, muttering to herself and smoothing her hair back into a ponytail.

I slice off the top of the first coconut and hand it to her before preparing one for myself. The liquid inside is faintly sweet and nutty, and as soon as it’s gone, I chop the shell in two to more easily get at the meat.

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