Page 93 of Horn in My Side
“Those were my ancestors, back in the days when we were stillmerciless bloodthirsty hordes hellbent on conquering other lands.Orcs are a much more enlightened people now.Besides, I’m from a builder horde.We build things.Things with four walls, a floor, roof, and preferably a king-sized bed with a mattress topper.”
“Then why did you suggest coming out here?”she said, exasperated.
“I didn’t.I said we should do a getaway, and you planned this whole thing.”
She stared at him, slack-jawed.“If you weren’t a camping person, you should have said so.I wouldn’t have made you come out here if you hated it.”
“I may not be a camping person, but I am a ‘want to make Jasmine happy’ person.”
Her heart flew to the moon.“Mal ...”
“You know,” he said, slipping an arm around her waist, “if you’d wanted to, I could have booked us a stay at a five-star hotel in Bayview.Could have made for a nice staycation.”
“Mal, you can’t keep paying for things.We already went to Blackbyrd four times in the last two weeks.”
“So?I like spoiling you.”
Arching her body forward, she pressed her breasts against him.“You can spoil me in other ways, without using your money and—Mal!”she cried out as the world turned upside down.
Mal slapped her ass as he carried her over his shoulder.“I’ll show you spoiling ...”
After a rigorous round of sex in the tent, Jasmine found the energy to prepare a simple dinner of hotdogs grilled over the fire and reheated leftoverkuj’atastew.Afterwards, she made some s’mores for dessert, and they sat in front of the campfire.
“How’s Clawdia?And the others?”
Jasmine looked up from her phone sheepishly.While she knew this was supposed to be a break from the shop, she couldn’t stop herself from checking in.“Sorry, I’ll put my phone away.”
“Don’t apologize, Jasmine.And you don’t have to feel guilty.”
She sighed.“Am I that obvious?”
“It’s all over your face.But just because you need a mental health day, it doesn’t mean you don’t care for them.And it’s understandable you want to look out for them.I take it this is the first time you’ve been away from Dewberry Falls since Vrig died?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“It’s normal, then, to want to check in.But don’t worry, those gnomes are reliable.”They had paid them extra to come tonight to feed the pets dinner and check on Clawdia.“Are they done?”
“They just left,” she reported.“And yeah, the gnomes do a good job.Clawdia seems to like them too.They even let her out to play fetch.”
“You can take her home in a couple weeks, once the insurance company approves the extra coverage.”Mal had already fireproofed her apartment as well, so now they were waiting for the adjuster to come and inspect it.“Which is good, because I don’t know how much bigger I can expand that cage.”
“I can’t wait to have her home.”Sure, she wouldn’t be able to check on Clawdia during the day, but at least she wouldn’t have to worry about her at night, and with the shop only a ten-minute walk away, she could always go home for lunch and take her out.“It would have been nice to have her here with us.”
“Once she has complete control over her fire abilities, you can bring her anywhere, even to work.”
“True.Hopefully she doesn’t bring out the crazies.I’ve had to block a couple of people online because they think I’m being selfish, not letting her out.They don’t understand that it’s still dangerous for her to be around people when she’s not fully trained.”
“Keep blocking them.You know what’s best for her.”He handed her a plate.“Here, I made you another s’more.”
“Oooh, thank you, Mal.”She happily accepted the plate and took a bite of the still-warm confection.“So good.”
They stayed up for another hour before they headed into the tent for bed.
The next day, they woke up bright and early, as Jasmine wanted to go for a hike.They followed a trail up one of the peaks, traversing the dense woods and climbing over moss-covered rocks.The air grew cooler as they ascended, and soon they emerged on a high ridge that overlooked an expanse of rolling hills and massive ancient trees.Across the ridge, a craggy obelisk made of rock and granite rose into the sky.
“Wow, it’s so beautiful,” she sighed.“That’s the other peak of Twin Peaks.”
“Your ass in those shorts is beautiful,” Mal commented.“And your tits are the only ‘twin peaks’ I want to see.”
