Page 24 of The Billionaire Orc

Strong, hardy, intelligent ones, too. Orc clans who had managed to mate successfully with humans were said to be the most resilient. It was rumored that there had been such a pairing some two hundred years before the great war. An orc from the Northern Mountains was believed to have mate-bonded with a human apothecary.

Who knew if that was true.

Tor frowned and was suddenly hyper-aware of the tattoo on his forehead.

It felt alive, tingling. He rubbed it, confused. He’d never experienced this before, but he had heard it could happen before a mate-bonding.

Shite. Was it because they were heading to Orc Island? A place where orcs had performed mating rituals in times gone by, on the third night of the waning moon.

He was pretty sure it wasn’t that time of the month. Except—how the fuck would he know? He didn’t spend his time gazing at the moon, longing for a mate. He was way too busy for that. And even if it was the waning moon, and his base urges overcame him, well, they’d be long gone from here by nightfall.

He dismissed the notion as superstitious nonsense.

To his relief now, he noticed the selkie was bringing the boat in to a natural jetty in a small cove. This was the exact spot where his dad would bring in their little boat. A sudden feeling of excitement surged through him, a sense of deep belonging and rightness that he couldn’t possibly put into words.

Over that headland, he remembered, there was the most amazing valley. Lush and green and full of palms and giant ferns. And a waterfall with sparkling clear pools, three of them, cascading down the hillside.

He and his dad would sometimes catch fish as the sun set, make a small fire and grill them by those tumbling pools.

The boat was barely tied up before he’d jumped ashore, telling the selkie, “We’ll be back in two hours, mate.”

The selkie tipped his cap. “I’ll be here.”

Tor held out a hand to Shona and waited patiently as she gingerly waved a foot over the side of the boat.

His lips twitched as he watched her features tighten. “Might be best if you take your shoes off,” he suggested.

She hesitated. “There’s nothing in the water that could be nasty?”

“No, just sand. And shells.”

She smiled ruefully at him. “It’s just, this morning, at the sea anemone’s place, whatever it was that jumped out of my boot, it really put me off.”

Tor grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Gods! Saying that felt good. “Maybe leave your shoes in the boat, you won’t need them here.” She did so and then, taking hold of his hand, she jumped nimbly down and skipped through the water on bare feet.

Once on the beach, she let go and stood on the sand gazing in awe at the white sweep of beach fringed by azure water.

“This is… so beautiful. I had no idea it was like this.”

“Few folks do.”

“How come this isn’t a holiday destination?” Incredulous eyes met his. “I would have loved to come here as a kid.”

Tor shrugged. “Temperamental tides and the whirlpools. There were too many drownings and kraken attacks in the early days after humans took over the island. It spooked them. And then stories were made up of dangerous creatures living here with poisonous venom that would kill you in seconds.” He snorted. “Greks are as scary as it gets—like, yeah right.”

“What are greks?”

“Small blue mammals with pointed ears that fled here from the mainland after the Great War. Totally harmless. But the tales sure kept monsters and humans away. And then, when I was young, of course the Counsel of Towns water police patrolled this area.”

She nodded, then stretched out her arms. “And wow, it’s warmer here than the mainland, too. I don’t need your waistcoat anymore. Thank you,” she said, taking it off and handing it back. “It’s really heavy.”

“I guess. But I have a bigger body to spread it over.”

“You do.” Her eyes took him in almost greedily as he put the waistcoat back on.

“C’mon, let’s go explore.” He grinned at her. “Are you up for it?”

“If you promise there really are no dangerous species here.”

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