Page 58 of Romancing the Orc

We eat at the small kitchen table, the old wood of it lovingly refinished, and talk about our future.

“Everything Steve’s been doing for me must be something you can do,” I say. “I can keep modeling to bring in money. I’ll also cook and do things around here, and whenever you go to conventions, I’ll be your bodyguard.”

She smiles at me. Then her expression falls as she draws complex shapes in the top of her hot cereal with her spoon.

I reach over and cover her hand with mine. “What is it? What’s bothering you?”

“I really can’t hide anything I’m thinking, can I?”

“Nope,” I say.

She gives a soft laugh, then shakes her head. “I’m just worried this isn’t going to be enough for you. What about your home in Faerie?”

“Ever since I joined the king’s guard, my parents got used to not seeing me more than a few times a year.” I shrug. “Now that the doors of Faerie are open again, I’m sure we can find one that will allow me to visit.”

She leans forward, her face glowing with excitement. “And take me!”

“Of course.”

Lara throws her arms around my neck and kisses me.

I pull her onto my lap, slipping that T-shirt farther off her shoulder to nip at her skin until she squirms, the scent of her arousal perfuming the air.

The stretchy shorts are easily pushed out of the way, and I lower her onto my cock. Staring deep into her beautiful brown eyes, I rock up into her.

“There’s nowhere in all the realms I’d rather be than here, loving you, my sweet mate. You are my heart, my home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Lara

When I turn on my backup tablet a few hours later, my messages are overflowing. I send Sherrie a quick,I’m okay! We’ll talk soon.

My fingers hover over the screen as I try to figure out what to send to Mom and Dad to explain how I appeared on the property out of thin air. This is going to be one hell of a conversation, especially since they’ve been asking me to come home for months, hinting that there’s something they really need to tell me.

I’m sure whatever it is, it won’t be as shocking as bringing home an orc.

God, how is any of this going to work? It’s one thing for Brokk to blend into all the wild stuff that happens in New YorkCity. What with Broadway, off-Broadway, and all the other types of performing arts that fill Manhattan, I can totally see why nobody batted an eye at him.

But this is Ferndale Falls. As much as I love this town, it’s tiny, and everyone knows everybody’s business. There will be no anonymity. How can we “hide” what he really is under the microscope of small-town life?

Brokk emerges from the laundry room, wearing his freshly washed pants and an oversized T-shirt of mine that stretches sinfully tight across his muscular shoulders, the white cotton so strained it becomes partially see through.

“Do I look okay?”

“Yes,” I lie, unwilling to admit he looks far too tempting, because there’s nothing else here for him to wear.

He walks over and kisses me, and I melt against him.

God, last night was so incredible! His knot locked us together all night long. Each time I moved, I had a mini-orgasm. But the intimacy of it was even better than the physical pleasure. I feel so close to Brokk now. My fingers brush over my chest, right where I wear his mark. I can feel him in my heart.

My tablet chimes with an incoming message. I glance at it, expecting it to be Sherrie, but instead it’s Hannah, using all caps.

My best friend doesnotdo all caps. She’s the most levelheaded person I know—the kind of woman who graduated college and immediately became mayor of Ferndale Falls, vowing to save our small town from its economic downturn.

OMG, are you in town? Your tablet pinged me. COME TO THE BOOKSHOP NOW! Do not pass go, do not collect $200. NOW!

Wow. She’s even using our old “it’s an emergency” Monopoly-game joke.

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