When her reddened lips stretched in a bashful smile, he’d had to shift in his seat as he subtly attempted to ease the pressure of his straining cock.
“Thanks. I don’t let it bother me too much these days, though. Growing up, I struggled with being lumped with my sister all the time, so dressing differently, wearing sparkles and bright colors made me feel more… me. Now I do it just because I can. Because it makes me feel more…more.”
She gestured to the cottage at large with her fork. “Same reason I decorate how I do. I know it doesn’t match the cottage, really, but I always wanted to have a bright, colorful home as a kid, so…”
He thought about telling her that she could decorate their home however she wanted, but restrained himself at the last minute. Just because they both understood that they were forever didn’t mean Nelly couldn’t be spooked. They’d made a lot of progress in just a day. He didn’t want to screw any of that up by telling her she could paint every wall in their house hot pink if it made her happy, so long as he got to help her with it.
After a brief struggle with his instincts, Clark settled on a different truth. “I love what you’ve done with the cottage. I don’t see anything wrong with bright colors or sparkles, sugar. They remind me of you. Can’t think of anything better than that.”
Gods.Nelly wrinkled her nose when she laughed. It was absolutely devastating. “Are you saying that because you mean it or because you want me to like you?”
Clark clenched his fists under the table to keep himself from reaching for her. All he wanted to do was haul her over, drop her into his lap, and kiss the smile on her pretty mouth.
“I don’t need to lie because I think you already like me,” he teased, daring to nudge her chair leg with his foot.
Nelly’s smile hung suspended on her face for a beat before it softened into a bashful look. Her gaze cut away as her cheeks, already rosy with the warmth of the cottage and a glass of mulled wine, reddened further.
Those stained lips parted to speak, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by the lights going out.
Protective instincts snapped him into motion. Clark was already out of his seat and circling around the table to grab her when the backup generator kicked in with a low hum. By the time all the lights had come back on, he was standing behind her chair, his hands settled protectively on her delicate shoulders.
“Clark?” Nelly tilted her head back to stare up at him with wide eyes. “Are you okay?”
Was he? He couldn’t really say. It was just the lights. Losing power wasn’t uncommon, since Montague’s grid was the same, slightly retrofitted one they’d been using since the 1970s. That was exactly why he’d triple checked her generator. With a storm still raging, the likelihood was they’d be out of power for days and forced to rely on stored solar energy.
It was all very normal, non-threatening stuff. So why did he feel like his heart was trying to hammer its way out of his chest?
There was no threat. Nelly wasn’t in danger. The cottage would stay heated as long as the generator worked, and even if that failed, she’d planned ahead and brought in a huge amount of firewood. They’d be fine.
But he felt twitchy, his nerves shot. He didn’t like that she was exposed by the window. His instincts screamed of a threat that didn’t exist. The howling wind raised his hackles like the cry of a predator just outside their door.
Get her away get her inside no windows keep her safe keep her close no windows need the nest where is the nest have to be in the nest—
A soft touch to his arm brought him back to reality. “Cowboy?”
Clark shook his head. Reluctantly prying his fingers off of her shoulders, he rasped, “Sorry. I… The kohl’s messing with my head a little.”
An understatement. Alittlewould mean he wasn’t covered in a fine sheen of cold sweat. Alittlewould mean he wasn’t a second away from throwing her over his shoulder and jogging to her bedroom. Alittlewould mean he had some damn control over himself.
Shaken, Clark made to step away from her, but Nelly was quicker. She grasped his gloved hand and held firm, stopping his retreat. Her expression was pinched with worry. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t mind. Just— Can you explain it to me? How can I help?”
There was no way he could tell her the best way she could help him was by stripping down, hopping up on the table, and letting him eat her like dessert, so he settled on asking her a question of his own. “What do you know about nesting?”
“Um, only what I’ve seen in feeds or read about in books.”
So nothing, basically.Clark winced.
She said she’d been homeschooled, so he shouldn’t have been surprised. All public schools in the UTA were required to include lessons on mating behaviors, and all schools in the Orclind included extra units on orcishcustoms. Things could get really messy if you didn’t know what your instincts were telling you — or worse if you accidentally found yourself mated to a being with an extremely aggressive mating imperative like an orc or a dragon.
Scrubbing his free hand down his face, he said, “Right, yeah, okay. So, you know the bedding nook in your bedroom?”
Nelly blinked up at him. “Yes.”
“You notice how there are no windows in there? And there’s a curtain on the entrance?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s a nest.” He blew out a breath. Even just talking about it made the pressure at the base of his spine ratchet up a notch. He gave it less than five minutes before a wet spot appeared on the thigh of his jeans. Maybe ten before he got on his knees and begged her to touch him.
