Page 23 of Enchanted with the Orc
Chapter Fourteen
Tasia
Alittle hand batted at my face, and I smiled against the tiny, sticky palm, pressing a kiss there before I opened my eyes, turning so I was facing my daughter’s pillow. She blinked at me, a little grin on her face.
“Breakfast,” she said without pausing, pointing toward the locked door.
“Good morning to you too, sweetheart,” I told her, leaning over to smack a kiss to her nose. Gabbi giggled, slapping those sticky palms against my face. “Now let’s go get you something to eat.”
I’d packed some things for us to eat, like Gabbi’s favorite oatmeal and her mac and cheese. I just needed to get some hot water going. I pressed a kiss to her nose again and climbed out of the bed.
She scrambled behind me, my little shadow, and I ran my fingers through her silky curls as I walked toward the door. Swallowing hard, I unlocked it, peering outside, expecting to see Enka still asleep.
Instead, I was faced with an empty suite. Relief and disappointment warred with each other inside me. Ishouldbe happy that he wasn’t in my space when I was barely awake and vulnerable.
Biting my lip, I made my way over to the kitchenette, peeking into the cupboards and finding what I needed to get started on Gabbi’s oatmeal. Nibbling on my lower lip, I wondered if I would be able to have some fresh vegetables and fruit delivered for us.
Gabbi got cranky without her blueberries and I didn’t know how long we would be there, but we couldn’t survive off of mac and cheese forever. And wedefinitelycouldn’t afford food from the hotel for every meal.
The beep of the door opening startled me, but Gabbi ran straight for it. Before I could grab at her, I spotted Enka’s handsome face entering, his lips curling in a smile as he saw the little girl running toward him. His grin was filled with affection as he juggled bags and a drink carrier.
“Gruk-ir,” he said, not even blinking as she buried her teeth into his leg, clinging to him like a little monkey. “You’re awake,” he added, his gaze swinging up to meet mine, the happiness still on his face, hitting me like a wrecking ball to the chest.
“Yep,” I chirped in a voice that was so high pitched that even Gabbi sent a questioning side-eyed look my way from her position on his leg.
Clearing my throat, I moved to pry my daughter off his leg, buthe handed me the drink carrier instead, shuffling his way toward the kitchenette. “I picked up some things that you might need. You didn’t bring much with you and…” he trailed off for a long moment before shrugging. “I don’t mean to overstep, but I thought…” He trailed off again, and his brow furrowed as I could see him overthinking everything he’d done.
“Thank you,” I told him in a low voice, letting him hear how grateful I was. “I wasjusttrying to figure out how I could get some things to add to Gabbi’s meals.”
His grin grew again and my stupid heart gave a hard thump in my chest at his hopeful look.
Goddess Mother, please. I can’t fall for another male only to have him break my heart.
He began emptying bags, my daughter contentedly chewing on the tough skin of his leg as he did. There waswaytoo much food, but I had to blink back my tears. No one but my family had ever done anything this kind for me.
“Thank you,” I repeated, and he waved it away as if it meant nothing.
“I didn’t know what the princess likes to eat,” he said, running his huge palm across my daughter’s hair absently while she made a little noise of happiness. The little flip in my stomach with his tenderness told me that I was in over my head with this male.
No, ovaries, wecannotget pregnant with his babies right now! Focus!
I’d always wanted a huge family, but those dreams had died because of David. Now, they were peeking out from the barrier I’d created for them, and I was having a hard time shoving them away.
*smack, smack, smack* Not now!
Notever, if I was being honest. I’d resigned myself to Gabbi being my only baby, ignoring the longing in my heart whenever I saw a mother holding a newborn or siblings playing together in the park. I’d beenhomeschooling Gabbi and I intended to continue in the future—especially now that David had found us—but I knew some of the little quirks that she picked up were because she didn’t get to be with other children.
I squeezed my eyes shut against the immediate flow of recriminations in my head about being a bad mother. I’d been working on it, but with everything that had happened recently, I couldn’t stop the new onslaught.
“Hey,” a low voice murmured, and my eyes popped open as I stared up into the sweet, searching gaze of the male at the counter. His brow was furrowed and he looked so concerned that it was everything I could do to stop myself from stepping into his strong arms.
You barely know him and you already want him to protect you. Pathetic whore.
The small, hissed voice was one I was familiar with. One that had the same tone and voice as David. It festered in my head and I’d never been able to get it out.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and at the tone of his voice, Gabbi unlatched her little teeth from his leg to peer in my direction, her own tiny brow furrowed with worry. She released him, heading toward me with her arms outstretched.
I lifted her with ease, pressing my face to her hair, and girding myself with strength.
