Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
It tickles something inside me that wants to kneel, look up at him and have him pet my damn head or something.
“How did you know this place?” he asks, looking around. “You knew where you were running when you jumped, yes?”
I think about lying, but why? We’re stuck down here for who knows how long, he did kill the orcs that were trying to kill me, and from what I gather, he is pretty much persona non grata to his clan now, so what could I tell him that would put me in any more danger?
“Yes.” I nod, breathing in more of his scent, rubbing my nose like I have a cold but I just want more of this pheromone-laced sexiness he’s emanating. “My father taught me where there were safe places around the compound. Just in case…” I shrug on a tight smile. “In case things went bad, and I needed to hide. This place isn’t ours, but, it was on the map he made me memorize.”
“I am happy he taught you this. It is good he protects you.”
“Yeah.”
The lightness of the moment evaporates as I realize I don’t know what’s happened to him or to Katya. She was locked in the main house, but the panic system is designed to keep her safe from random fire, not a determined enemy. If someone really wanted to get inside, they could.
Besides that, how will we get out of here? It looks kept up, but who knows when someone will come to use it again? Maybe if my father realizes I’m missing, he’ll come searching, and I know he will send out every guard and human under his control to scour the earth for me, but how long will that take? And, that’s if he’s even still alive…
Even through my worry, I’m captivated by the sinewy movement of the muscles in this orc’s enormous shoulders. He must be four feet wide and oddly enough, I want to know more about him but I’ve never talked to orcs before and I’m not sure what to ask.
“Your ankle will heal.” He runs his hands up my calf and I swear to be’Jesus I almost come.
He releases a long exhale as he stands, holding my leg behind my knee, looking down with a sadness he didn’t have a second before.
I don’t know much about orc emotions, but I know they run hot in more ways than one, but this big fella? He seems…distant, disconnected, but when he touches me and looks into my eyes, I don’t know, it’s like a switch is flipping on and off. Like a strobe light behind those freaky white eyes. There’s something else inside there and my mouth waters wondering if I’ll have the chance to find out what it is.
“Were you raiding us for the smikkaan and ivee?” I decide to be practical through the lust haze. “We’ve been attacked before. Always for the drugs.” I consider his face, wondering if he’s got the bug. “You don’t use smikkaan though, do you?”
He shakes his head, sniffing the air, his hands hanging down at his hips again, fists curled.
“No.” I agree on a nod. “I didn’t think so. You’re smart. Strong. Don’t the orcs that use know, the smikkaan makes them weak? Dull, easy to control? It’s not an accident this drug appeared soon after your people returned.”
He ponders that for a moment as he scans the space for the first time. Then shrugs. “I do not know what other orcs know. I have never cared.”
“You don’t care about your own people? Own kind? Whatever the right word is.”
He gives me a flat look, jaw flexing, his nostrils flare and I so much want to reach out and run my hand down his cheek. Trace the scar under his eye with my thumb. His boxy jaw is smooth, no facial hair at all showing and none on his chest either. From his head to his toes he’s smooth. At least what I can see, but, there’s one other area that might be different…
“I do not care.” His answer is simple and abrupt, and I decide this is not the time or the place to push this monster orc on getting in touch with his emotions.
His voice is sexy though. It makes the flipping feeling in my tummy intensify as I hop down from the table, releasing a little wince when my foot flattens on the floor.
I’m tough. I always have been. But since the world turned cray-cray, and we lost Mom who was the backbone of our family, I’ve hardened. I understand this orc in that way. Not caring is the safer strategy in this new world order.
Our home was destroyed only a few weeks after the decampment orders released the orcs and the government told anyone that was in the northwestern quadrant of the country, they were basically on their own.