Page 47 of Free for Adventure

He sighed and hugged her tight. “I am braced for it.”

“You know how the village is known for its frisky lifestyle?”

“Yes.” He was wary.

“Dad bought me a white cuff when I was seventeen.”

She squeaked and laughed as his arms tightened. “I didn’t use it, dumbass. He forgot how old I was.”

Orc exhaled in relief. He then asked, “Wait, where was he?”

“Off with you three. Aside from sex available around the clock, the village is a pretty safe place to be, so Kekoa found me wandering around, and I ended up hanging out at the palace and taking pictures of the gardens. That nearly gave Dad a heart attack when he saw the images. The next day, he and Kekoa had a chat, and I went up there every time I was here when I was unattended.”

“Well, he was elected king for a reason.” Orc sighed. “Confirmation that we made the right choice.”

She had her arms wrapped around him, and her palms were pressed against the flat slabs of muscle around his ribs. “No offense to the hug, but I am still hungry.”

He stroked her back and let her go. “What do you want to drink?”

“Water is good.” She settled and grabbed the first sandwich which was a predictable ham and cheese.

“Hmm.”

She ignored his sound and kept eating. The next choice was peanut butter and jelly, which made her laugh.

She got her glass of water and made it through three out of seven sandwiches. Just about every craving point had been hit.

Kayak had come in, and when she sat back and got the last sandwich out of her teeth with the water, she had to ask, “What was the logic behind the cheese and pickles?”

“I have heard of that one before.”

“That’s cheese and pickle. A type of chutney.”

He blinked. “Oh. Sorry.”

“No problem, just passing information.”

“What’s chutney?”

“A salty, sweet, savoury pickle, chopped up and jarred. Like a spread.”

“Nice. I will make a note of it.”

“Don’t make one on my account. I should have stopped at the peanut butter and jelly.”

He smiled. “Pickle taste stuck in your mouth?”

“Yeah.”

Kayak got her a spoon with both peanut butter and jelly on it. “Here you go.”

Skaay came in as she started licking, and he turned quietly and thumped his head against the doorway.

Kayak watched her and went, “Oh. Right.”

Orc snorted, leaned against the counter, and watched her with hot eyes.

She finished the spoon and her water. “How sad is it that I want to go back to bed?”