It was my body and soul’s reaction to those words that made me jerk against the counter, bump, bleat,et cetera, et cetera.
As soon as Garrak had announced that, I felt a bone-deep shot ofrelief, which surprised the hell out of me. Relief and gratitude and something like belonging, maybe? It was so unexpected that I acted like a total fool, and ended up standing there, my fingers curled around the material of his shirt, staring open-mouthed up at him.
One of Garrak’s hands rose, and his fingers cupped my chin. It was how he’d held me—had it only been the day before yesterday, when I’d showed up at his door? His fingers splaying across my cheek, his thumb resting on my lower lip?
He held me possessively, as if I belonged to him. As if he would take care of me.
And I liked it.
“Your flight’s on Sunday,” he murmured. “I’ll drive you that morning. Until then, you’ll stay here. With me.”
My knees went weak at the command in his tone, and I should have bristled. I should have told him I was tired of males telling me what to do. I should have compared him to my father.
But Garrak hadn’t bruised me. Hadn’tusedme. Hadn’t gotten me in trouble or twisted my moral compass or any of the other shit I’d been through in my life.
And Iwantedto be here with him.
So I grinned up at him softly, hoping my happiness showed. “I’d like that.”
Garrak
Thursday was rainy and cold;the perfect day for staying inside and baking and going through tax documents and eventually going so fucking stir-crazy you decide that maybe going for a run isn’t so bad.
Except…with Stevie there, I never reached that point.
Her face when I announced I was going to start a pot of soup and make some herb bread for dinner?Adorable. “What, you don’t think orcs can bake?” I’d teased her.
“I shouldn’t be surprised,” she quipped right back. “Let me guess. You learned…to help someone. Someone needed bread…”
I stared. How in the hells had she figured me out so quickly? “My mother,” I told her gruffly, forcing myself to turn away and dig out the flour from the cabinet. “My mom loved fresh bread. When she got sick, I came over each day after my shift at the mine and made a batch for her and Sylvik.”
“See?” She beamed as she bumped my thigh with her hip. “Taking care of others. I’ve got you pegged, Mr. Longspear.”
“Garrak,” I growled, before realizing she was still teasing me.
“Yes, sir.”
Gods below, when she winked saucily like that, it shot straight to my cock. Made me wish she hadn’t taken down her panties, so I could go jerk off in the bathroom again, like a degenerate.
We spent the day playing poker. She was getting a little bolder with her plays, although I caught her watching me instead of the cards. I did my best to talk her through the intricacies of the hands and possibilities, but Stevie only hummed and did whatever she wanted.
She kept me on my toes, that was for certain.
That night, we filled up on sausage soup and bread and then I popped some popcorn and we settled down to watch two different action movies. I asked if she minded me sitting on her “bed,” and Stevie smirked as she moved the pillow out of the way.
By the end of the first movie, she was snuggled up against my side, with my arm around her. It was…nice.
And IthinkI managed to hide how much I wanted to kiss her again. Kiss her, and…other things.
That night was another bad night. I found myself straining my senses for any hint that Stevie was in distress. My cock and myKteerwouldn’t let me sleep, so I prowled my bedroom, cleaning and organizing shit that didn’t need attention. I jerked off twice, feeling guilty each time, and eventually just went out into the living room.
I told myself I was just watching over her when I settled on the part of the sectional she wasn’t sleeping on. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t scared, or experiencing another nightmare…
I woke up well after nine in the morning, stretched out on the couch, my head on Stevie’s lap. She was playing with my hair as she read a book on her e-reader, and when she realized I was awake—and confused as shit—she smiled down at me.
“Good morning. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Disturb me? Fuck, if I believed in the humans’ Heaven, I’d have to believe this was it.
