“When we were digging out the Labyrinth, we found piles of human antiquities. We locked everything up in a vault built into the rock. That’s where the computers are stored, and the ancient textbooks about the magic that made them work.”
He picks up a threadbare-looking book with the words,Computer Coding for Beginnerson the cover.
“I have hundreds of manuals like this. I’m working out the spells needed to operate them. Humans used to call it coding. Lots of letters and numbers strung together. I’ve got some systems up and running, but we need to develop more.”
My mouth slackens with admiration. I love intelligence in a guy, it’s super hot. Not that I come across it in Sparkle. Human men are such knuckleheads.
And to think I thought Otis would eat me.
“I’m so embarrassed,” I groan, covering my face with my hands.
“Why?”
“That I said,don’t bite me.”
“I get it, I look fierce.”
I drop my hands. “I can see past that now, it was just the shock.”
He looks at me solemnly out of deep red eyes. “Clem, I have no intention of hurting a hair on your head.”
“I know.” Our gazes hold for a few seconds more than necessary, and I feel a zing of heat low in my belly. And something else along with it, a warm, fuzzy sensation in my chest, like this guy would do everything in his power to keep me safe.
Trust.
That’s the word that comes to mind. I’ve never trusted men before—except my dad and Jax, but even that’s been sorely tested in recent years. The fact that the one guy I suddenly find trustworthy resembles a green warlord is weird to say the least.
“I’ll show you to the spare room, give you some time to yourself.” He splays his hands on his knees and stands.
“Oh yes, thanks,” I mumble.
When I stand up, his jacket hangs to my knees. It’s thick and heavy with silver buttons and a big silver star on the lapel.
He seems to notice my shoulders sag under the weight of it.
“I’ll get you one of my shirts to wear for now. Probably be more comfortable.” He turns that dark shade of green again.
“Cool,” I say, “and then you can have your jacket back. In case you need to go sort out a crime.”
“I’ll leave that to my deputy. He’s on duty tonight.”
He leads the way down the corridor, and I’m fascinated by the way the walls and roof are tunneled out of the rock itself.
He shows me the kitchen briefly. It’s very old-world charming, the kind of interior you don’t see in Sparkle City. There’s a wood burner stove, and utensils strung along the brightly tiled walls. There are shelves of condiments, spices, all placed higgledy-piggledy, along with jars of flour and sugar and rice and dried beans and pickled vegetables.
“You enjoy cooking?”
He grins, and I like the way it makes his tusks curve upward. “Yeah, I do. It’s my way of relaxing.”
He sure is a complex mix, this orc, I decide as he strides out of the kitchen and ahead of me along the rocky corridor.
He also has a really nice butt inside those khaki pants.
Stop perving, Clem.
I focus on the doors running off the hall on either side of us; there are quite a few. We come to a T junction with another corridor and more doors, and Otis goes left.
“Big house,” I remark, Hell, what if he has a partner? Kids, even? “Is it just you here?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
