Page 56 of His Orc Lady

I gape at him. “What? No! That was never the issue.”

Owen glances at his boots. “Well, I wasn’t certain. Not after you ran from me that second time—and the third, in the kitchen that night.”

“Ah. I can see why you would think that.” I raise my hands to his face and press both palms to his cheeks so he’s forced to look at me. “I never resented you. Only the fact that we’re…ill-suited for each other, given our duties in life. And like I said, I didn’t enjoy feeling so crushed after you left the Hill all those weeks ago. If you were an orc…”

I clamp my mouth shut, not wanting to compare Owen’s reaction to what might have happened if my mate had been one of the clansmen or an orc from another kingdom. It’s unfair to him because he didn’t know—couldn’t have known what was going on.

But Owen’s gaze sharpens. “What would have happened that day if I was an orc?”

I bite my lip, thinking of the other meetings of fated mates I’d witnessed. “Well… You would have recognized me instantly as yours. Those strawberries you keep mentioning would have been a dead giveaway, just as your scent was for me.”

“Strawberriesand cream,” he corrects me. He puts his nose to my temple and inhales deeply. “What do I smell like to you?”

“Cedar and anise seed,” I blurt. “And leather. It’s a heady scent. Earna has been using anise in her cakes lately, it’s almostas if she could sense that I had a new affinity for it. It’s been driving me mad.”

Owen hums, his gaze searching my face. “Is it bad that I like the fact that you’ve been thinking about me?”

“I suppose not.” I can’t help but smile at him, only a small quirk of my lips. “But Iwasrather miserable, let me tell you that.”

He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I’m sorry for causing you pain.”

“You didn’t,” I correct him immediately. “The Fates were at fault. But my people always say that the Fates are never wrong, and I suppose theymightbe right after all…”

He quirks one eyebrow up. “You still haven’t told me what would have happened if I was an orc.”

I fidget in place, not sure how to say it without making it seem as if his reaction had been lacking in any way.

“An orc would have had…an impulse to act the moment he scented me,” I hedge finally.

Owen purses his lips, then asks, “Would that impulse include wanting to hunt you down through the corridors and press you up against the nearest wall?”

I gape at him, then jerk my chin down in a nod. “Aye, something like that.”

“Then I believe the only difference between my reaction and that of a theoretical orc would be my restraint,” Owen concludes, a small smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. “Or perhaps our upbringing. You see, in the human lands, it’s considered crass to go hunting down a stranger in her own home, no matter how beautiful she is.”

I laugh, unable to help myself. “Oh.”

“That’s right.” Owen nudges me backward, and I allow him to steer me until my ass meets the wall next to the door. “This is what I wanted to do that day.”

He leans his body against mine, until we’re flush from knee to chest, and I can feel his hardness through the layers of our clothes. My next inhale comes faster, and my lungs fill with his delicious scent, a deeper note of desire winding its way through it.

“I wanted it, too,” I confess. “So much. But you were all the way on the other side of that room filled with so many orcs and humans. They all stared after I’d dropped that platter, and I couldn’t stay, not when I thought…”

“I know.” Owen brushes a kiss on my neck, then traces the shell of my ear with his tongue. “It was unfair and unpleasant, and I understand why you ran. But maybe we could have a do-over.”

I grip the back of his neck and crane my head to the side to give him better access to my skin. “A do-over?”

“Mm-hm.” He obliges by raining little biting kisses all over my neck, then down to my shoulder. “We could pretend we’re meeting for the first time. You walked into that parlor and saw me, and I didn’t gape at you like a fool but instead walked right over to introduce myself to the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”

“All right.” I turn my head to intercept his next kiss on my lips. “I like this idea.”

“I thought you might,” Owen murmurs against my mouth. “What would you do next?”

In answer, I part my lips for him, then touch my tongue to his. He groans and deepens the kiss, rocking his hips. I return every caress, every touch, holding on to him so tightly. I’m no longer afraid he’ll leave, but I want to get closer, ever closer to him, and suddenly, what we’re doing isn’t enough.

I unbutton Owen’s jacket and push it over his shoulders, and he shrugs it off with an impatient motion. Then his hands are on the laces of my dress, and I’m tugging his shirt from his pants.He helps me lift the dress over my head, then leans in to kiss me again as he toes off his boots. When he reaches for the laces on his pants, I bat his hands away.

“Let me.”