Page 39 of Romancing the Orc

I’mpart fae.

I flip faster, looking for more. The dates grow farther apart in time with each entry, and I hope it’s because she fell in love with her new life. Yet I have doubts, because the final page, dated years after the fact, makes it clear she never forgot that one wild night.

For all of his wickedness, the Fairy nonetheless spoke true.

Not even the marriage bed can compare to the delights he showed me in that bower.

I have longed for my otherworldly lover ever since, but he gave me only what I asked for and not one iota more. One night.

One glorious night that haunts me to this day.

God, how true! Now that I’ve been with Brokk, I know exactly what she means. The sex he and I had was mind blowing. I can’t imagine anyone else coming close.

I don’t want to imagine it.

But all the pretty words the fae told Caroline to get her into bed haunt me, mixing with all the stuff Klaus said and the words of my last boyfriend, Randy. I’ve spent the last year trying to forget Randy as much as possible on any given day, but his weaselly voice sneaks in now. He got upset that I wouldn’t buy him a Rolex with the advance for my first orc book and wouldn’tlisten to my explanation that the money was what I’d need to live on for a full year.

“Look, Lara. You’re alotto deal with, and if I’m not getting something out of it?” He shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“I’msupposed to be what you’re getting out of it.” Tears ran down my cheeks. “Being with me. Loving me.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.” He pointed at my face. “Why are you crying? It’s too much.”

“I’m crying because you’re breaking my heart.” It came out a pained whisper, which only pissed him off more.

He stormed out, leaving me a blubbering mess who ate rocky road ice cream in the bathtub while blasting Taylor Swift’s extended version of “All Too Well” on repeat. The thing that made it all so hard to take is that up until his mask dropped, I thought Randy loved me.

What if Brokk’s telling me what I want to hear to make his life on Earth cushy? What if the mate stuff is a bunch of bull? If he finds a way to go home to Faerie, will he leave me just as easily as this fae left Caroline?

A little voice whispers my biggest fear of all.

What if Brokk thinks I’m too much of a hot mess to put up with for long?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Brokk

Once I have two of the chicken-like birds for our dinner, I leave Grey eating his own meal and return to Lara. The plants part to let me through, and my magic zips through the air, asking them to reform the boundary and to tell me if anyone approaches, either human or fae. I plan to indulge in my mate after eating and want no interruptions.

When I come upon Lara, she’s scowling at the journal spread open on her lap.

Even her scowls fill me with delight, indicating that big brain of hers is hard at work.

I love her. It might be our fate to be together, but I love Lara for who she is. And I want nothing but her happiness.

“What is it?” I set down the birds and gather up the photos spread across the ground, placing the little pile on the log beside her. “What’s wrong?”

“I read more of my ancestor’s journal and learned a few things.” She starts counting on her fingers. “One, I really can read High Fae. Two, my ancestor ‘dallied’ with a fae of some kind. Three, that fae is probably one of my ancestors. And four, he had sex with her only the once and never visited again, no matter how much she looked for him.”

“Ah.” I start building a fire, holding my magical fire stone to the tinder until it sparks.

“That’s all you have to say is ‘ah’?” Anger sparks in her eyes.

“It was probably an elf,” I say. “They tended to toy with humans.”

“What about orcs?” Lara sets the book aside and jumps to her feet, her hands slicing through the air with jerky agitation, punctuating her words. “Do they toy with humans, too? Is that all we are, a quick amusement?”

I stand and take her hands in mine, pressing them to my chest over my heart. “I swear you are the most important person in all the realms to me. You can rip my heart from my chest if I do not speak true.”

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