‘Specially notyou.
Nelly squeezed her arms tight to her chest.This is so, so bad.
She knew that orcs, like many of the sentient beings who roamed the Earth, had a biological compulsion to mate. When they met someone with compatible pheromones, they experienced a number of… urges as well as withdrawal symptoms should they be separated from that person for too long. Orcs were quite proud of this, generally, and many songs, sonnets, plays, novels, and art had been made to celebrate what they calledtaking the kohl.
When an orc’s hands and feet changed color, so did their lives and needs.
Clearly, that was what had happened to Clark. The man who had been disgusted by the idea ofkissingher was not the same being who stood between her legs now.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Listen,” she started, scooting back an inch or two to get some breathing room. Clark’s hands slid away, but he didn’t step back. Instead, he watched her from under lowered brows, his gaze sharp and predatory in a way good ol’ country boys ought not to look.
Trying again, she said, “Okay, listen, I know that you’re— I realize you’re going through some changes right now. I am, too. Neither of us asked for this, so we’re just— we’re in a bit of a mess right now. I’m trying to process that. You can’t just expect me to j-jump into this thing with you when you clearly didn’t even like me yesterday.”
Because no matter how attracted she was and always had been to Clark, Nelly had made the mistake of jumping headfirst into intimacy with other people before. One of the reasons she disliked contact so much was because of the nasty habit people had of saying and doing awful things about her behind her back — things she was forced to experience firsthand when they touched.
Her reckless, desperate desire to find her own way had taught her that even the people you thought you could trust with everything often turned out to be cruel.
Clark, on the other hand, had been clear about what he thought of her from the very first moment she saw him. He didn’t like her. Period. End of story.
No matter what her body — or his, for that matter — said about it, she had no plans to allow him to touch her. Nelly didn’t think she’d be able to handleseeingevery bad thing he’d said about her on top of everything else.
“Right, see, that right there.” Clark pulled back enough to give her a troubled look down his nose. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve got me wrong, sugar, and I mean to set that right.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The kohl doesn’t rewrite our brains.” He paused, considering that, before he shrugged and amended, “Well, maybe a little. But it can’t make you like someone you hate. It can only make you want to fuck them. Big difference.”
Nelly flushed to the roots of her hair. “Clark—”
“Now, Idowant to fuck you,” he continued, casual as you please. “Been hard since I woke up and I’m pretty sure I’ll stay that way for a while yet. But that’s not new, either.” Propping his hands on his sturdy hip bones, he gave her a narrow-eyed look of pure challenge. How he managed to completely ignore her wide-eyed expression in response tothatcomment, she had no idea. “Listen, Nelly. I want you to hear me this time. I haveneverdisliked you. Not for a single second. Not since the moment I first saw you from the top of the hill months ago.”
“But how come you—”
“Infact,”he pressed, leaning down again to give her an up close and personal look at that intimidating expression, “if I recall correctly,you’rethe one who’s been avoidingme.”
Clark’s so easy-going, they said. Clark is the nicest guy around! Clark loves everybody!
Clearly, the people of Montague had never seen the tough as steel orc keeping her trapped on the counter. Apparently when he felt strongly enough, Clark could be downright scary.
It was a good thing she wasn’t easily intimidated.
Sure, they were in a mess. Yes, she had no idea how to fix it. Perhaps she might be wrong about some things.
But she was pretty damn tough. She was capable. She was smart. There was no way she would let Clark“I leave passive aggressive notes on my neighbor’s door for fun”Wilson get the better of her.
Giving his stupidly solid chest a hard poke, she snapped back, “Iavoidedyou because you clearly hated me for no reason!”
Clark frowned and grabbed her hand. Instead of flinging it away from him, he pressed her palm flat against his pectoral. His heart thundered under her palm when he asked, “What gave you that idea, sugar? I’ve had a crush on you for fuckingages.”
“I heard you talking to— You what?”
“Nelly,” he groaned, broad shoulders sagging. “Nelly, come on. What did you think I was doing, stopping by every chance I got? Chasing you around town? Damn, what do you think had me out here in a blizzard? Sure as shit wasn’t me just being neighborly.”
A rolling wave of pinpricks rushed over her.Oh. Oh no.“I… But you— I heard what you said to Mr. Barmont about how I shouldn’t be here. And then you started leaving notes about all the stuff I was doing wrong around the property and fixing the fence all the time like you thought you needed to keep me out andthenyou made fun of Suhana for being friends with me!”
“I said no damn thing to either Don or Rick Barmont. You tell me exactly what you heard.”
