Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 117(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
There’s a hint of pride in his voice. I look sideways at him, and he’s scanning the underbrush. “Did you grow up here?”
He shakes his head. “My family moved to the settlement after the civil agreement. I was raised in the western barrens, near the old fort.” He says it like I’m supposed to know where that is, and I nod sagely. “We did not have a forest. Only rocks and sky.”
“Do you like it here?”
He walks a few paces before answering. “I do.” He opens his mouth then closes it while shaking his head.
We hit a break in the trees, and he stops so abruptly I nearly rear-end him. The clearing is ringed with glowing moss and thick with mushrooms that pulse blue at the edges. In the center is a stump twice as wide as my bed. Oren sits on it, testing the weight before gesturing for me to join.
I perch next to him, careful not to let our bodies touch. He’s radiating heat like a furnace, and my skin picks up the charge even with a solid two inches of daylight between us.
For a while, we just sit, watching the bugs trace wild shapes in the air. I can hear his breath, slow and deliberate.
“Why did you take this job?” he asks suddenly. The question sounds like an accusation, but his eyes are weirdly gentle.
I bite my lip, surprised. “Honestly? I needed a job that came with housing to get away from my mother.” I pick at a loose thread in my jeans, ready to pour out my entire life story, while a little voice in the back of my mind tells me to shut up, insisting this is definitely second or third date material.
“I read the report on you.” My heart jumps, realizing he already knows about my background. “I’m sorry for what you had to go through.”
“Did every Orc on the settlement read that freaking report?” I grumble, wondering if everyone already knows about my sad life.
“No.” A horrified look passes across his green face. In fact, he goes a little greener. “Only the Security Council read that report.” He takes my hand in his, and sparks shoot down my spine. “No one else will ever know your personal business. You’re part of our Orc family now, and we protect what’s ours.”
Those words bring tears to my eyes. “Thank you.” I lean close and place a soft kiss on his cheek.
We fall into another silence, but this one isn’t heavy. More like the world holding its breath. The bugs dance. The moss glows. Oren’s profile is sharp against the last rays of sun, his tusks gleaming white in the light.
Out of nowhere, he says, “You’re very direct.”
I snort. “So are you.”
He doesn’t smile, but his eyes crinkle at the edges. “That is not always a compliment among my people.”
“It’s not always a compliment among mine, either.” I shrug. “But I’d rather someone tell me the truth. Even if it’s not pretty.”
He watches me for a long moment. It’s not creepy, just intense. Like he’s trying to memorize me, catalog every reaction.
I feel myself blushing and glance away, looking for something to fidget with, and land on a patch of moss clinging to the side of the stump. I brush it with my thumb, and it lights up, a gentle green pulse that spreads outward in concentric circles.
Oren leans closer, inspecting the effect. “It reacts to touch,” he says. “Defense mechanism.”
“It’s beautiful.” I keep brushing it, and the light shivers under my hand.
He’s close now, much closer than before. I can feel his breath on my cheek, smell the faint tang of smoke and soap and something spicy. My skin goes hot, but I don’t move away.
He doesn’t touch me. Not exactly. But his hand lands on the moss a few inches from mine, dwarfing it. We both sit like that for a minute, touching but not touching, and the moss glows twice as brightly where our fingers almost meet.
“I’ve never done this before,” he says, voice low.
“Me neither,” I answer, and my own voice is much smaller than I want it to be. “We can learn together.”
He looks at me, really looks, and something in his eyes softens. For a second, I think he’s going to kiss me, or at least do something dramatic, but instead he just nods.
I blink, and the moment is gone. He clears his throat, as if embarrassed by how close we just got. “Would you have dinner with me at my home on Friday? Just the two of us.” The way he says it, it sounds like a battle plan disguised as a question.
My brain does a backflip. Heck yes, I want to have dinner with him. But reality butts in. “I’d love to, but it has to be after seven. Aric’s got that big settlement conference, so I promised to watch Ainsley until he’s home.”