When Morag left, it meant Eng and I were alone. I glanced over to see the orc still scowling at me.
“If you bring him a squirrel, I will kill him,” Eng suddenly announced, pushing away from the treadmill and striding toward me.
I froze, facing him. I’m sure it wasn’t a good look given that my mouth was open and my eyes wide in confusion.
“What are you talking about? I’m not going to kill a squirrel and give the carcass to anyone, but even if I did, that hardly warrantsmurder.”
“Morag wants you in his furs. You are not his. You are not hisgwintel, and you will never be.” Eng was stalking toward me, slow and focused. Predatory. And I couldn’t deny the heat that pooled between my thighs, or the way my breath caught in my chest.
“If I want to be someone’sgwintel,then that’s my business and not yours, Eng.” The words came out far more breathless than I’d intended and I had no idea what agwintelwas, although I was assuming it meant something like girlfriend or sexual partner.
He stopped right in front of me, so close that I felt the heat from his skin, smelled the odd forest-like scent of his sweat. “I forbid it.”
Forbid it?Forbidit?
“You don’t own me,” I snapped. “I’ll roll in the furs with whomever I please. And I’ll gift dead squirrels to whoever I want.”
“Youwillnot.”
The last two words were said with a growl. I looked up and our eyes met. Yes, there was anger in his expression, but there was also…fear. And something that looked like desperation.
I inhaled, swaying towards him. Reaching out, he snatched me to his chest and kissed me.
Stupid, stupid me. I melted against him, opening my mouth, sliding my one hand up his thigh while my other hand reached up to claw at the flesh exposed by the neckline of his T-shirt. He moaned as my nails sank into his skin, gripping my ass with punishing hands and lifting me up to press my crotch against his iron-firm erection. I wrapped my legs around his hips, dove one hand into his hair, and kissed him like the world was about to end.
A metal door slammed behind me and I jumped off of Eng, nearly falling in my haste to put a respectable distance between us. I was breathing hard. Eng stared at me with dark eyes, his workout pants obviously tented outward. Ugwyll strolled across the floor, picked up a towel, turned…and stopped.
He looked at me, then turned to Eng, his gaze roaming down the other orc and stopping briefly on his crotch.
Damn it. This was so unprofessional. I was going to lose my job because of this asshole. So I did what any prudent woman would do. I turned and ran from the room, not slowing until I’d reached my car.
32
ENG
“Ozar is going to kill you if you mess around with Jordan’s friend,” Ugwyll said as he looped the towel around his neck. “Actually that human female will probably kill you first. Half the team are afraid of her and the other half are ready to propose.”
Fury burned through me at the thought of another male in Willa’s furs.
I pushed down the anger and tried for sarcasm. “Would Ozar kill those other team orcs as well?”
Ugwyll chuckled. “No, because Ozar doesn’t hatethem.”
It was a fair comment.
“I’m not messing around with her.” I stopped, not sure how to explain what was happening between me and the shrew.
Ugwyll snorted. “You were kissing her. And the only reason I’m not punching you into that wall right now is because she was kissing you back. When females climb a male like a tree and plaster their bodies against him, it generally means the female is a willing participant.”
“I don’t want the other orcs to know.”
“Then maybe don’t kiss our team trainer in the gym where we work out,” Ugwyll replied drily.
“I am not joking, Ugwyll.” I took a step closer to him and glared. “This is her job and it’s very important to her. I do not want to have her career at risk because you told everyone you saw us kissing.”
Ugwyll blinked, his eyebrows slowly raising. “You…you are worried about her losing her job? You are worried that the others may no longer treat her with respect?”
“Of course I’m concerned about those things!Willowynhas always wanted to be the trainer for a professional sports team. This is an important opportunity for her.”
