Page 16 of Halfling
“Orek,” she repeated, trying out the sound. “They named you Orek the orc?”
She wanted to pull the words from the air and stuff them back in her mouth, but they hung there like birds doddering in the wind.
Then his lips twitched, the beginnings of a smile, and she couldn’t help but laugh. She was tired and still shivering from cold and nerves. Everything was starting to seem funny after the fortnight she’d had.
With mirth lingering in his eyes, she felt comfortable enough to reach out and touch the back of his hand.
“Thank you, Orek.”
The smile faded from his face and he glanced down to where she touched him, but he didn’t seem unhappy. His gaze found hers again and, after a nervous swallow, he nodded.
Sorcha took a long breath. Morning had yet to come and she still didn’t know where she was, but she had that fragile hope now, hope that her luck was finally changing for the better.
4
She’d touched him.
The memory of it burned across Orek’s mind as surely as the skin where her fingers had lingered. It’d been quick, barely anything, yet so easy. She likely hadn’t thought anything of it, but it was the first time he’d been touched gently in…
Orek shook his head and the thoughts away, feeling foolish for letting his mind chew on the memory like an animal with a bone, desperate for every drop of marrow. How sad of a male was he that a fleeting touch should move him so much?
He focused instead on his footfalls, muffled by fallen leaves still soggy from previous days of rain. It was clearer here of underbrush, and he’d warned the female—Sorcha—not to brush against anything if she could avoid it.
It was only a matter of time until a tracker was sent to find them, and Orek would bet the few coins he had that it’d be Silas sent after them. The clan’s best tracker didn’t need them making it easier for him by leaving obvious clues.
They’d spent the last hours of night by the river, catching their breath andsharing a few more dried carrots. Orek had had to squash his desire to keepoffering her more, reminding himself the food needed to be rationed. Something about her appreciative smile and seeing her eat what he offered gave him…satisfaction.
Shethanked him.
When light broke, he led her into the forest, headed for one of the human villages he knew of. It was several days away, on the outskirts of the territory he hunted, but there was a clan of humans there. One of them had to know how to help her.
He glanced over his shoulder at Sorcha, wondering not for the first time how such a female had ended up sold to orc-kin.
His mother had been a poor woman from a poor family, someone who’d already seen many horrors of the world before being snatched by slavers and sold to his father. It wasn’t just her life with the clan that had carved deep lines beneath her eyes though she hadn’t yet been old.
Sorcha had no such weathering. Her tunic and braies were soiled, but there was no mistaking the fine fabric and seams, and the boots that came to her knees were of supple leather. Though her head of brown curls was matted and dark circles rimmed her eyes, there was a vibrancy to her he’d never seen before. She was healthy, her cheeks rosy, her eyes bright, and her figure full and lush. Her fingernails were well kept and she had all her teeth.
He’d been right when he thought her tall for a woman. She came nearly to the center of his chest, almost as high as a human man might, with wide shoulders and hips. Her thighs were thick with muscle but curved in a markedly feminine way, and her breasts…
He had to stop noticing and thinking about those.
Especially since thinking about them or her bright eyes or the easy way her lips moved to grin or purse or talk had the beast inside him rumbling with that unnerving possessiveness. He’d never felt anything like it and wasn’t sure he wanted to.
She walked beside him easily, chattering sometimes and others silently taking in the forest around them. She kept his pace, never complaining, even though her legs were shorter than his. In the light of day, the freckles that patterned her skin were much more noticeable, and he sometimes found himself staring at the way they seemed to dance when she smiled.
Fates, what will I do with her?
The question made his insides tumble with dread. He’d stolen her. He had to return her to her people, but the town was several days away. He supposed he could care for another that long, but he never had before.
He hadn’t spent so much time in any one person’s company since he was a youngling. Sometimes it was lonely, and sometimes he thought he preferred it that way. What did he need another for? The thought that he now had to keep her alive for several days had his insides clenching.
If she sensed any of his silent terror, she didn’t let on. Those mossy green eyes of hers flicked to him, and a half-grin spread across her face.
Flushing, Orek looked away.
He rather hoped she didn’t find anything amusing abouthim.
“So, Orek the orc,” she said in a sing-song sort of way. He’d little experience speaking with others, let alone females, but he thought it was a tone used to soften something sharp to come. “Where are you taking me?”
