Page 2 of Horn in My Side
It might fracture a limb or two, but thankfully the shop had an excellent employee health plan and she’d only have to be at the bone-setter’s office for an hour.Two, tops.
Placing her right foot on the first step of the stool, she gave it an experimental wiggle.Hoisting herself up, she set her left foot on top of the block, then the other.
Yes!
But now came the hard part.She actually had to fix the darned sign.At this height, she could maneuver theTto its proper position, but she would have to stretch,really stretch,her other arm to pull the hammer far back enough to drive the nails in.
Jasmine did not dare look down, even as the stool wobbled.Holding her breath, she proceeded to swing theTupwards.It remained upright by some miracle and she considered leaving it as is, hoping it would hold up at least until she got some help—maybe she could call her friend Kap to finish the job tonight, as the tree giant was certainly tall enough to fix this without a ladder.She would have contacted him earlier, but he was still surely asleep, being nocturnal and all.
With a determined grunt, she fished out a nail from her pocket and positioned it as high as she could on the painted wooden letter, about halfway up the vertical stem of theT.Pulling the hammer back, she swung it forward to ensure she got enough momentum—then felt the cement block slip.
Jasmine shrieked, bracing herself for the pain when she hit the solid pavement.However, that didn’t happen.Her body hit something solid, but it wasn’t concrete.Rather, she was pressed up against something rock-hard, and warm, andbreathing.
Uh-oh.
A loud grunt made her wince.Slowly, she lifted her head and gazed up into luminous purple eyes.
Oh, Mother Goddess!
“I ...I ...”
Her entire mouth had gone dry and she could only stare open-mouthed at the tall, green-skinned stranger holding her in his arms.An orc, she guessed, though there wasn’t really much doubt, as the sharp lower tusks peeking from between his lips and the elongated ears were dead giveaways.A mane of shaggyhair as dark as a raven’s wing fell over his forehead and between his dark purple eyes, which stared right back at her.
“Do you mind?”His low, gruff voice sent a shiver down the backs of her knees.
“Mind?What?”
His eyes darted down to her hands, which were planted—no, gripping—the prominent pectoral muscles under his shirt.As if she hadn’t embarrassed herself enough, her fingers involuntarily squeezed them.
They’re so ...hard.
And she wondered if he was hard everywhere.
Also, was he greenallover?
Warmth crept up her neck, just thinking about what his skin was like underneath those—
He cleared his throat.
Oh, Mother—
“Sorry!”She pulled her hands away, then began to wiggle in an attempt to free herself of his arms, flailing like a fish caught in a bear’s mouth.
“Yeow!”he shouted as her hand smacked against the side of his head.The arm cradling her legs whipped out from under her and she landed on her feet.
“Oh shi—sorry!”She reached up to check where she had hit him, but that was a useless gesture as even on her tiptoes her hand barely touched his chin.“Are you okay?”
“I’ll live,” he grunted, rubbing at his face.
“I’m really sorry.I, uh, just panicked.Are you sure you’re all right?”Thankfully, she hadn’t poked his eyes.“Do you want me to look at it?Do you need a doctor, a healer, or a medicine man?”She couldn’t quite recall what type of healthcare professional orcs went to.
“It’s fine.What in Vorlak’s name were you doing?”He glanced over the step stool, which was now on its side, the cementblock broken in two beside it.“Don’t you know how dangerous and foolish that was?”
She flinched but quickly recovered.
Who the heck did he think he was, anyway?
“Well, if you’refine,”she began as she picked up the stool, “have a good day, then.”And I’ll see you never.
