“No,” I say, softer this time. “I want to help you. It is my role.”
“Role?”
Should I tell her I think her natural scent, which is stronger now that she’s cleaned and out of that hospital, is proving to me that she’s my future mate? Or is it too soon and I’ll simply scare her away?
Chapter Nine
Sloane
Jonus carries me toward the front room and I try very hard not to think about how his hands felt on my feet.
I fail completely.
This wonderful, sexy orc oh so carefully went through the bother of taking off the old bandages and applied the ointment and did all the wound care prescribed by the hospital. I mean, I could’ve done this myself, but why point this out when I could instead allow Jonus to care for me?
His rough, calloused fingers were so gentle despite him being built like a tank. I noticed that his thumb traced along my arch at the end, soft and slow, like he couldn’t help himself.
I’m still flushed. Hot and bothered doesn’t begin to cover it.
I wrap my arms tighter around his neck as he walks, hyper-aware of everything. The flex of his biceps under my hands. The warmth of his chest against my side. The way he never seems to mind that I’m overweight with that persistent roll in my back and thick thighs. Even after two weeks in the jungle I’m notwhat anyone would call thin. And here I am, clean, but without makeup and hair I air dried instead of styling and wearing baggy sweats…and he gazes at me with heat in his eyes.
Jonus thinks I’m sexy.
A secret smile tugs at the corners of my lips.
What is wrong with me?
I’ve known this orc for months through video calls and texts. Fifteen-minute interviews that turned into hour-long conversations. Late nights where we talked about everything and nothing until one of us finally admitted we needed sleep. I thought I knew him as a very good friend. I had a fiancé so that’s all we could be. Right?
But after that rescue in the jungle, and being here, in his arms, in his space—our relationship is different. I can feel it in my bones.
Jonus sets me down on the couch in the front room, careful and slow, making sure I’m comfortable before he steps back. And I catch it again—that look. His heated gaze drops to my body for just a second, lingering on my wide hips and my thighs, before snapping back up to my face.
He thinks I don’t notice that he’s checking me out, but I do. He’s been looking at me like that since Colombia. Like I’m some sort of hot swimsuit model.
And I... I like it.
Is it weird that I’m noticing the way this orc looks at my ass while I’m recovering from being held captive by a cartel and still in jeopardy? Probably. But here’s the thing—I don’t care. For the first time in a long time, a man is looking at me like I’m beautiful, not like I’m a “maybe if she lost thirty pounds.”
Speaking of men who thought I needed to lose weight?—
I haven’t thought about Ryan much since Jonus appeared in that jungle. What does that say about my relationship? Or,I guess, my former relationship, because we’re definitely over now.
Wait. Did Ryan break up withme?
I thought I was the one who’d decided to break up with him. But… I turn this over in my mind as Jonus disappears into the kitchen. The State Department called Ryan and let him know his fiancée was kidnapped by a cartel in Colombia and his response was to “decline involvement.”
Asshole.
That’s a breakup, right? A cowardly, passive-aggressive breakup delivered through a government agency, but still a breakup. He chose to let me rot in that pit rather than get involved.
Funny thing is, I’m not even angry anymore. I’m relieved. I have no shits left to give for any of that crap. Because here’s the truth I’ve been avoiding for months—Ryan and I were over long before Colombia. We hadn’t seen each other in person since last Christmas, both of us too busy with our careers. The distance made it easy to ignore that we had nothing left.
I think I loved the idea of the perfect Ryan I’d crafted in my head more than I loved the real Ryan. And finally, my fictional Ryan clashed with the IRL Ryan and it was time to let go and move on with life. I glance at Jonus, who is in the kitchen chatting with his family. It’s time to open myself up to something totally unexpected. Something I never thought about…what if I started a relationship with an orc?
I bite at my lip because this is so, so far removed from how I thought my life would turn out. Never, in a million years did I think about life with a man who wasn’t even the same species as me. Wow. Well, this type of life must work really well for some women. Ellie appears happily married to Garlen and she’s even pregnant with his orc baby. Hmm.
And, as Jonus has told me many times, modern orcs don’t kidnap and they respect the idea of consent.
