Page 86 of Halfling
Fates, what an idiot he could be. He’d never been looked at with desire, never entertained the idea that a female could feel anything greater for him than apathy, especially not a female as perfect as Sorcha. But those had been orcesses and that had been his old life, the dull, painful one that didn’t have Sorcha in it.
And he didn’t want a life without her in it anymore. She’d changed so many things already for him—why not this, too? Why couldn’t he grab onto happiness when it was offered, willing, warm?
Take what she offers. Take her,the unfulfilled mate-bond growled inside him.Take what’s yours.
“I do,” he said breathlessly, as if all the air had been sucked from him. “I wantyou.”
She searched his face, those green eyes sharp as cut emeralds as she took his measure, before a wide grin broke across her face. It lit her up from within, and he swore if he hadn’t been looking right at her he’d have thought she reached a hand inside his very chest and pulled his heart out for her own.
It is, it’s hers.
“Good,” she said with a little half-smile before turning around and continuing on down the path.
21
Sorcha practically floated rather than walked all that day, her mind tumbling with all thepossibilities.
He feels it, too.
Perhaps it was a little evil of her, but the baffled way Orek flustered about for the rest of the day, always looking as though he’d something just on the tip of his tongue, Sorcha found delicious. Despite all the nerves and frustration of the past few days, now that she knew she wasn’t alone in her feelings, the urgency bled away.
She let herself justbefor the first time in days, giving him her smiles and touches freely and without expectation. They had time; the hard part was over, and it took with it the anxious weight she’d carried in her belly.
Instead, a warm, fluttering excitement took its place.
Every brush of their hands, every glance they stole made her skin tingle. They found simple ways to touch, her hand on his arm to point something out, his offered hand to help her pick her way across a flowing brook, and he’d even brushed her hair behind an ear with fingertips so gentle, it nearly broke her heart.
Anticipation was a low thrum in her blood, growing stronger as the sun marched across the sky. At first, she didn’t know why the thought oftonightheld such promise—but when she gazed at Orek, seeing his shy smile and the way he looked at her, as if he almost couldn’t believe she stood there beside him, she knew they were on the cusp of something wonderful.
All that dimmed and dampened a little with the sky. The air turned chilly late in the afternoon, and they lost the sun far sooner than they should have. Gray clouds rolled across the forest, bringing a whipping wind that blew the hoods from their heads.
She took the arm Orek offered her. In his other hand, he held their lantern aloft, guiding their way as they searched for shelter from the gathering storm.
Rain pattered against their leathers by the time they lost the remaining meager daylight. Orek’s face was set in grim lines, his ears pinned to his head in displeasure. He swung the lantern in an arc in front of them, the yellow light catching on the undulating rock face that hemmed them closer to the river.
The hills had begun to rise the day before, keeping them to the shallow valleys between slopes. The river split into dozens of little creeks and brooks, like roots seeking new earth. They’d chosen to follow the largest branch northward, keeping to it as the hills rolled around them.
The map called them the Gray Knolls, and Sorcha remembered hearing of them and the mining communities that dug deep into the hills for their rich deposits of iron and copper ores.
So when the lantern light disappeared into a dark mouth set in the hill, Sorcha wasn’t entirely surprised. Orek tensed as they stood before the cave entrance, his nostrils flaring. She didn’t know what he might scent through the steady pour of rain, but she kept silent, waiting for him to finally nod.
“It’ll be dry at least,” she said.
“Let me go first. We may not be the only ones with the idea.”
Sorcha released his arm, and Orek ducked past the lip of the cave. Cuddling Darrah close, she followed him into the inky darkness.
The patter of rain echoed along with their careful footsteps, but beyond the first few feet, the cave was indeed dry. By lantern they picked their way deeper, Orek having to turn his shoulders to squeeze through the passageway.
After another minute of slow exploration, the cave opened up into a wider space lined in stalagmites that shimmered in the light. Veins threaded through the slate gray walls of the cave, whorls of patterns and swirls that seemed to change color with the shifting light.
With enough room to settle down, they took off their packs and soaked outerwear. Sorcha shook her curls free from the kerchief she’d tied them in, water splattering her legs.
“I need to check further back, just to make sure it’s safe.”
“I’ll come with you,” she said as she laid her oilskin cloak over a rock.
“Something may be back there,” he warned, face gone grim again.
