“Show me.” I tilted my face up to his.
He lifted me onto the counter, settling between my legs. His mouth claimed mine with a possessiveness thatsent heat spiraling through my core. Unlike our previous kisses, this one held an edge of desperation.
I wound my legs around his waist, pulling him closer, exploring the expanse of his back under his shirt. His skin felt hot beneath my fingertips, the muscles jumping and flexing as I ran patterns across them.
His lips left mine to trail down my neck, finding the sensitive spot below my ear that made me gasp. One large hand slid beneath the shirt, spanning my ribcage, his thumb brushing the underside of my breast.
“Dungar,” I moaned, arching into his touch.
He pulled back, his breathing ragged. A mischievous smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Stop distracting me, Deputy. We have work to do.”
“You started it,” I whined, tugging at his shoulders to bring him back.
“And I’ll finish it.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Later. When we’re not standing in front of unchopped cragroot and uncooked chumble eggs.”
I groaned but released him, enjoying the flush that darkened his skin and the way his eyes kept drifting back to my bare legs. “Fine. But I’m holding you to that promise.” I hopped down from the counter, straightening the coffee mugs that had been jostled during our embrace.
We moved around the kitchen together, settling into a rhythm that felt as natural as breathing. I whisked eggs while he finished chopping cragroot, passing ingredients to each other without needing to ask, anticipating each other’s movements in a dance that seemed choreographed by something deeper than conscious thought.
When the food was ready, we sat at the small table by the window, our ankles hooked together beneath it. Sunlight streamed in, catching in the golden mark on my wrist, making it shimmer.
“Tell me more about this,” I said, holding up my arm. “What does it mean, exactly?” We’d talked about it a bit, but he hadn’t said much. He may have been waiting for my mark to appear.
Dungar took a sip of his coffee before lowering his mug back onto the table. “The mating bond is ancient magic, older than the orc kingdom itself. It recognizes compatible souls and binds them together.”
“So it’s like orc marriage?”
“Similar, but deeper. More permanent.” His eyes met mine over the rim of his mug. “Orcs mate for life, Riley.”
The implications of his words hung in the air between us. The concept seemed simultaneously terrifying and exactly right.
“And it just happens without anyone asking?” I tried to keep my tone light, though my heart was racing.
“The bond forms naturally, but it requires acceptance from both parties to manifest physically.” He reached across the table, stroking his fingertip across the mark on my wrist. “You accepted me, even if you didn’t know you were doing it.”
Had I? I thought back to our night together, to the moment when pleasure had crashed over me like a tidal wave, when I’d felt more connected to him than I’d ever been with another person. In that moment, I’d surrenderedcompletely, not just my body but something deeper, something I hadn’t even known I could give.
“I did,” I whispered, turning my hand to lace my fingers through his. “I accept you, Dungar Bronish.”
His smile came like sunrise breaking over the mountains. “And I accept you, Riley James.”
His phone rang, breaking the moment.
He answered, his expression shifting to professional mode. “Greel. What’s the report?” He listened intently, nodding occasionally. “Nothing suspicious all night? Good. We’ll be heading in soon to coordinate the next steps.”
He ended the call, setting his phone down by his placemat. “No activity at the luminook pens overnight. Sel and Holly maintained surveillance for a few hours, then Ruugar and Beth took over.”
“So if whatever Joyce was planning involved the luminooks, it wasn’t last night. Tonight, maybe?” My mind was already shifting to deputy mode despite the lingering warmth in my chest. “Assuming her plans involve Lonesome Creek or the luminooks.”
“That’s my guess as well.” Dungar stood, collecting our empty plates and arranging them in a neat stack to take to the counter. “We should get to the office and review the surveillance footage again. See if we missed anything.”
I nodded, reluctantly sliding off my chair. “I’ll get dressed.”
His hand caught mine as I passed and he pulled meback against his chest. “Thank you,” he said against my hair.
“For what?”
“For being you. For being here.” His arms tightened around me. “For making me feel like I’ve finally found where I belong.”
