Page 3 of Claimed By The Orc

That should have me running for the hills, or at least following Mrs. Kennedy’s advice and calling the sheriff. Instead, I grinned like a fool and hoped Mark didn’t notice me blushing.

“That’s okay. You’re here now.” Mark grinned and rocked back on his heels, like I’d said the best thing in the world to him. He was so fucking adorable, I couldn’t stand it. He was around 5’9””, the top of his head coming just below my nose. It was perfect. I could easily tilt my head up to kiss the top of his head.

Which I didn’t. Obviously. Because that would be weird. Why would I want to kiss my stalker in any way at all? But just saying, if I did want to, it would be easy.

His hair was so dark that it was almost black, thick but silky smooth. There was one light-blond streak toward the front that fascinated me. It was so light, it was almost white. I thought at first that he’d dyed it, but the more I stared at it, the more I was sure it was natural.

That thick, silky hair, that was probably so soft to the touch, fell to right below his shoulders. The first few times he’d shown up, it had been loose, falling in natural tangles like he’d forgotten to brush it. But lately he had it pulled back in braids on either side of his head. It was so different than the way any man in this tiny fucking town would ever wear his, and I was obsessed. It looked so good on him.

His almond-shaped eyes tilted slightly to the side and stared with such an intensity, it had to freak most people out. Mark didn’t miss anything. His skin was tan and smooth, his body narrow but lithe. He wasn’t big, I could probably wrap my hands around his waist and they’d almost meet—though, I had massive fucking hands—but there was something about him that screamed dangerous. I didn’t know what Mark did for a living, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t strictly legal.

Today, he was wearing those sunset orange parachute pants with a white tank top with a sparkly unicorn dabbing on it. He had his usual golden band around his wrist that somehow accentuated the tribal tattoos up and down his arms. He was also wearing a collar today. Well, it was probably a choker, but it looked a whole lot like a collar, and it was distracting as hell. It framed his neck perfectly, and I could easily imagine him kneeling at my feet, those almost purple eyes watching me through his thick lashes and that collar around his throat.

Fuck . . . Maybe I was the creepy one in this relationship, or whatever you wanted to call it.

“Have you eaten today, Tanner? You only had one of those soft pretzel things for dinner last night. I looked it up. They are delicious, but they don’t have all the nutritional value a human needs to be healthy.”

And there he went. It was one of those statements that any normal person would freak out about, but all it did was makeme swoon. Maybe I needed therapy. I should check to see if our insurance covered it?—

Mark was waiting patiently for me to answer. He always did that. He never nagged or hurried me up. Being the oldest of five with a single mom who had been battling health issues most of my life, I was used to being rushed or just straight up ignored. I also wasn’t used to someone worrying about what I’d eaten for dinner and its nutritional value. I was the worrier. I made sure the kids were fed and my mom took her meds. Not the other way around. I scoffed at myself. Then I wondered why I found Mark’s attention nice.

He was still waiting, and I found my cheeks heating. “Oh, um, I grabbed one of the breakfast sandwiches from the counter when I came in. I’m fine.”

Mark frowned, looking up at the ceiling as he thought. I waited with bated breath, wondering what his thoughts were. Finally, he shook his head.

“You should eat again. I’ll stop at Todo Los Tacos. I know you enjoy their tacos.”

I wracked my brain, trying to remember if I’d ever told Mark that. It was possible. After two days of him lingering toward the back of the store watching me, I’d initiated a conversation with him, one that had been ongoing ever since. We might have spoken about my love for Todo’s tacos. Or he might’ve just known. I decided not to worry about it because now that he’d mentioned it, I was kinda hungry.

“Can you get chips and guac too? Oh, and a side of queso.”

Mark rolled those pretty eyes. “Of course.” Like that wasn’t even a question.

“I will be right back, Tanner,” he told me seriously.

“I know.” I smiled softly at him. “I’ll be here. Thank you.”

He grinned again, his whole face lighting up. “You don’t need to thank me for taking care of you. It’s what we do.”

I didn’t get to question who he was talking about before he was through the door and out of sight.

CHAPTER 2

MAHK

My pace was a little faster than a normal human’s. That was one of the first things I’d learned when I’d crossed the barrier into their world. They walked very slowly. I tried to match their pace, and normally I was very good at it. But today, I had a big brown bag that was soaked in grease and filled with tacos that I needed to bring back to my Tanner. It was making it very hard to move at a human speed.

For someone who had been human his whole life, Tanner wasn’t very good at it. They were very vulnerable. So many things could kill them! It had been terrifying when I’d first started researching everything I’d need to know to keep Tanner safe. Did you know they could trip on the sidewalk and break their wrists? Or their ankles? Simply touching paper the wrong way could cut their skin and cause them to bleed. I didn’t understand how this entire race of very vulnerable people walked around every day like they were oblivious to all the ways they could die. That wasn’t even taking into consideration all the factors they needed to heed to stay healthy on the inside.

That seemed to be what Tanner struggled with. Humans could get very sick if they didn’t have a certain amount of vitamins and nutrients and many other things that hadoverwhelmed me when I’d read it on the Google, and Tanner barely got any of them. He was very good at taking care of other people though. His siblings always had vegetables with their evening meal. But Tanner would make do with a bag of chips he’d purchased at work, and it was simply unacceptable.

I thought he believed I only watched him while he was at his job, but I watched him all the time. I couldn’t help it. Tanner had to be safe. So, I’d sat outside his small home he shared with his family and observed as he’d made sure his mom and siblings had their evening meal, then bathed them in the very narrow bath they called a shower. I’d seen him wash their clothes and comb their hair and pack food in colorful bags for a midday meal. It was clear Tanner knew everything a human needed to survive. He only seemed to forget about it when it came to himself.

But that was okay. I was here now. I’d learned how to use the Google and knew all about human nutrition and their well-being. I’d take care of my Tanner now.

Which meant I had to hurry up and get him his tacos.

When my half-brothers, Nash and Axum, had found their mates, I’d been happy for them but had also thought they were being a little ridiculous. They were mesmerized by their mates, like they were more important than the air that they breathed. Simps. It was a word I’d learned since being stuck in the human world, but I thought it fit them.

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