Page 49 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

His mind drifted back to the one thing she clearly didn’t desire.

“I swear to you, Miranda,” Govek said. “I have no intention of treating you as a conquest and having you bear my son.”

She blinked and sat back slightly. “You don’t... want to have a child with me?”

“I do not.”

Miranda’s face paled, and her expression slacked.

“I leave you to prepare for your bath.” With that, he got to his feet, turned his back, and moved to the tree line to give her some privacy.

Only to freeze in place as Miranda yelled, “Why the heck not?”

Chapter

Nine

MIRANDA

What the flip did I just say?

Miranda fidgeted and chewed her lips. She should be happy he didn’t want to force her to have his baby. He was a stranger, for god’s sake.

But she wasn’t happy. She wasn’t happy at all.

“I mean... I mean...” she faltered as Govek slowly turned to stare her down. His eyes were way too expressive, and she would rather bury herself alive than meet them. “Is there something about me that makes you think I wouldn’t be a good mom?”

He blinked slowly, looking incredulous. “Your ability as a mother holds no bearing.”

“My ability to be a good mother holds no bearing on my ability to be a mother? That makes absolutely no sense, Govek.”

“Conquests do not raise orc babes.”

“They... don’t? So, they’re just surrogates or something?”

He sighed, crossing his arms. “I know not what a surrogate is. Conquests agree to carry the son to term in exchange for boons. Often, they return to their homes to carry out the pregnancy and return the babe after they are born.”

She’d been all geared up to ramble on about her experience with kids, but his response knocked her flat. She knew surrogacy had been very common on Earth, but she couldn’t imagine handing her tiny baby over to anyone.

“I don’t want to be a conquest. I want to raise my babies. I want to be a mom.”

Govek’s complexion drained, and his brows shot up and Miranda suddenly realized what she’d just said.

“I mean, not right now, of course. And not necessarily with you. Not that I wouldn’t have kids with you if we ended up—er. I’m just not ready to have kids, Govek. With anyone.” God, she’d just survived the apocalypse. “But I’m not writing it off entirely either. If things eventually, one day, end up going that direction, I would be down for babies with you.”

Oh frick, that was not better. Miranda wished she could yank out her own tongue and slap it, but now Govek looked like his head was screwed on too tight and she rushed on. “I only say that because... because I want to know why you wouldn’t ever want to have kids with me. You’ve only known me for a day, and you’ve made up your mind already, so there must be something about me that forced that conclusion. I just want to know what it is so I can fix it.”

That was a little better, right? She’d saved herself? Miranda looked around at the sandy ground, wondering how hard it would be to bury herself in it.

“You would be ‘down’ for babies?” She looked back up into Govek’s green-gold eyes. His brows were pinched in confusion. “With me?”

She gulped and fidgeted. “I mean, why not?”

There was a stretch of silence that ate her alive before Govek responded coldly.

“I do not intend to take you as a true conquest because I would not make a good father.”

Miranda’s spine straightened. “What? Why do you think that?”

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