Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45901 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Just let me throw on a shirt, okay?”
“Sure.” I nodded, though I was sad not to see his bare chest anymore. He really was mouthwatering.
But I wasn’t too disappointed when he came back. He was wearing a black T-shirt that clung lovingly to his chest and abs and a pair of jeans that showed an impressively muscular ass. Damn, did all Orcs look this good or was he addicted to the gym? I didn’t know, but either way, he was hot!
I didn’t have much time to admire him, though because he was already taking my hand in his.
“Come on, Babygirl—let’s see about getting you home…and bringing you back again,” he told me.
And then he led me out the door and into Hidden Hollow.
4
HARMONY
This time I got to notice things I hadn’t when he was carrying me back and forth before. The crisp Fall weather gave me a chill since I was just wearing a thin silk button down blouse, but I liked it. I shivered in delight as a cool gust of wind rushed through the colorful treetops and swirled around my body.
“Oh—it’s actually cold!”
“Of course it is—it’s Fall. It’s almost always Fall here—fucking nice,” Tark rumbled. “It’s my favorite season. But are you cold, Babygirl? Here…”
He put one long arm around me and drew me closer to his side. I slipped my own arm around his waist, glad to get closer to him. He smelled so good and he really was warm—his big body put out heat like a furnace.
But the walk didn’t last long. We passed by several shops, including a kind of supermarket called “Kreature’s Emporium and Fine Groceries” and then Tark led me up the front steps of what looked like a sprawling Bed and Breakfast.
There was a sign out front that read, “The Red Lion Inn” and by the door was an outline of a lion’s head in red paint.
“Goody Albright runs this place,” Tark explained. “She helped me get settled when I first came to town—she can help you too, I’m sure.”
When he opened the front door, we stepped into what looked like a piece of history. There were portraits on the walls that looked hundreds of years old and lots of antique furniture. The rugs on the dark hardwood floor were well-worn but also obviously antique.
A woman—at least I thought she was a woman—came bustling up to us. She had brown, bark-like skin and the arms and legs that stuck out from her dress were almost stick-like with big, knobby elbows and knees. Her nose was long and crooked and there was a single green leaf growing from one side of it.
“Yes, how can I help you?” she asked in a businesslike way.
“We’re here to see Goodie Albright,” Tark said. “Tell her it’s Tark, calling in his favor.”
“She owes you a favor?” I asked, looking up at him as the peculiar attendant hurried away.
He nodded.
“I fixed some things for her around the inn. And she had a really big boulder she wanted moved to make way for a new cabin but it was magically rooted so she couldn’t use a spell. So I moved it for her.”
“Really? How big was it?” I asked.
Tark shrugged and held a hand up to about his eye-line.
“Oh, about this tall, I guess. And twice as big around. It wasn’t easy to shift but once I got started, it rolled pretty well.”
“Wow—you must be really strong,” I remarked. “I mean, I knew you were—you were holding me at the, uh, doctor’s office for over half an hour without even breaking a sweat. But still…”
“What? You’re light as a feather, Babygirl.” He grinned down at me, showing off his pearly white tusks. “I could hold you all day.”
“Oh, um…” I was starting to blush again when a new person entered the room.
Goody Albright had curly gray hair and she was wearing a colorful dress that might have been a dressing gown or a robe—it was hard to say. It was covered in a mint green and peacock blue paisley pattern and her cat-eyed glasses were turquoise to match.
“Well hello, Tark—what’s this I hear about you calling in your favor?” she asked, smiling at both of us. She might have been anywhere between forty-six to seventy-six—she had a kind of agelessness about her, despite the fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth.
“Just what it sounds like. Goody Albright, this is Harmony…er—I don’t know your last name, I just realized that,” he said to me.
“Oh, Ward. I’m Harmony Ward,” I said, holding out a hand to her.
“Delighted to meet you, my dear. By the way you’re looking around, I can tell this is your first visit to Hidden Hollow,” she said, smiling graciously as she shook with me.
“Yes, it is,” I admitted. “But I’m not quite sure how I got here. Or how to get home. Or how to get back here again when I want to,” I added, casting a glance at Tark.