Page 57 of The Orc's Sweetheart
I take a deep breath as I try to arrange my thoughts, then decide to come out with the truth, not wanting to bullshit a grown male who clearly knows why I’m there. “Look, I didn’t want to ambush you today. I really am going around to meet everyone. But Bodin suggested you specifically to me. If you’re uncomfortable with chatting with me, I can turn around right now.”
Ren toes the ground as he says softly, “Bodin’s a good guy.”
“The best,” I agree, drawing my first real smile from Ren. That smile would be lethal if turned on the right person.
Tugging on the zipper of his hoodie, Ren looks almost defeated as he says in a voice barely above a whisper, “The truth is, I’ve kind of given up on figuring out why I am this way, and just accepted this is what I look like.”
“Do you want to be helped?” I ask bluntly.
Ren frowns. “Yes. No. I don’t know. Maybe?”
Seeing the opportunity, I push a little. “Has this always been your color? Since birth, I mean?”
Ren shrugs and digs his hands deep into his hoodie’s pockets. Looking out at the sparkling ocean visible between hills, he says, “I was in the normal range for an incubus or succubus when I was small. But, in my teenage years, when the color of my friendsstarted to brighten, mine started fading to dullness. It’s been this rusty-red shade pretty much since then.”
Considering everything I read about Ren, this information lines up perfectly with my theory.
I turn to him and offer him a comforting smile. “So, I read your file at the clinic, and I think I may have an idea on how to brighten your color, if you’d want that, of course.”
Ren’s head snaps up, and his eyes fill with hope. “Yeah?”
Nodding, I explain, “Basically, an incubus is a sexual species. You can sense sexual energy, right?” At Ren’s quick glance at my marked-up neck then at Bodin in the distance, I mentally confirm that his senses are very much intact. I continue, “But your vitality is based on the sexual energygivento you.”
Ren quirks his head to the side. Brows furrowing, he asks “What does that mean?”
“Putting it simply, your sex battery might be running low. The more sexual you are—with a partner—the healthier you would feel, and your skin would theoretically brighten too.”
Ren rubs a hand through his messy black hair, pulling on the ends. “So, uhm, if I, uhm, want to be healthy… I, uhm, uhm, need to have… sex… with someone?”
Nodding my head slowly, the final piece of my theory clicks into place. “Ren, have you ever… been with someone? Sexually?”
Cheeks darkening and eyes widening, I have Ren’s answer. Before he feels the need to try to come up with an excuse, I quickly offer, “If you would like to explore this theory, and there’s no one in town who interests you, I can help you call a service and arrange something? But it’s totally up to you.”
Ren pulls on the front of his shirt, clearly uncomfortable, and doesn’t meet my eyes. “Thank you,” he chokes out. “Can I think about it?”
“Of course. If you ever want to discuss it again, I’ll be here. Now, how about you show me which tangerines are good.”
With a single bob of his head, he teaches me how to tell which tangerines are ripe for picking, and soon we’re heading back to the cottage, arms laden with fruit.
Chapter 25
Bodin
Once the generator is installed and Ren has confirmed everything is working, I head to the door, ready to return to Tilly. The sight of her in the center of the clearing, perched on my cart as she patiently waits for me, makes my breath catch in my throat.
Tilly looks like a dream come to life as she swings her leg back and forth, the peels of a tangerine stacked neatly next to her, and her hair swept into a ponytail to put her marked neck on proud display.
I’m so in love with her that I might just propose right here, right now. And the funny thing is, I think she mighteven say yes. Am I really moving in with her tonight? Not sleeping with her in my arms is certainly not an option anymore, and having fresh clothes to change into would be a good idea. But to make love all night, to wake up with her warm cunt wrapped around my cock…
“Uhm, Bodin,” Ren says from somewhere behind me, waking me from my reverie.
“Yeah?” I angle my head toward him to show I’m listening, but I’m unable to take my eyes off Tilly.
The cringe becomes more apparent in Ren’s tone as he says, “I know you and Tilly are in love and stuff, but the vibes you’re giving off arereallyintense right now.”
Wide-eyed, I turn to him. “Oh, fuck. Sorry. But also not really that sorry. Does that make it a half sorry? I mean, look at her.” I gesture to my female in her lilac scrubs, looking like a flower blooming in the middle of his garden like she’s its centerpiece. She’smycenterpiece. “She’s so beautiful. Sexy. And she’s really smart too. And kind. And funny. And she has a wonderfully filthy mind.”
Ren’s face softens. “It’s cool. I’m glad you found someone. You deserve to have someone that makes you happy.”
