Page 40 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

His jaw was still tense. It had been tense the entire time she had been with him, and she was going to figure out why. Right now.

She moved her massaging fingers down to where his jaw hinged into his skull and pushed into it. “Flex for me?”

His tense muscles gave as he adjusted them so she could get better access to the deeper tissues.

His chin relaxed and fell further. And further.And further.

Her own jaw slacked as his mouth opened, moving like he was chewing.

Lord almighty! Did he haveteeth!

He’d been hiding them. The slit of his mouth was wide, allowing him to cover his upper lip with his lower jaw. It couldn’t have been comfortable for such a long period.

The tusks were the longest by far. Probably three inches total, but they were flanked by two much sharper looking teeth. The top fangs mirrored this pattern, but were smaller and inset slightly so they would fit together when he closed his mouth.

They were distinctly predatory. Obviously designed to rip out the throats of his victims. They shimmered from his saliva. The tips of the upper teeth were so sharp she felt like she’d be cut from looking at them. Only the largest tusks had been filed, and probably only because they were long enough to skewer him in the cheek if he flexed his jaw the wrong way.

She sat back slightly, taking it all in, and her heart flipped over.

By god, he lookedwaybetter. His face was no longer squat and rounded. She hadn’t realized how odd his features were until she saw them as they were supposed to be. His cheeks were slender, not plump, his chin was long, not tight and bunched, his lower lip was less taut, and his upper one was full, whereas before it had been nonexistent.

His proportions were striking perfection, even with the slight under-bite, which wasn’t nearly as pronounced now that his jaw was in the right spot.

He wasn’t human, not at all, but dang, he was gorgeous.

She accidentally stopped rubbing him. His eyes popped open, and he reared away, scrambling to his feet. Her fingers caught on some of his hair, and it yanked free, making her flinch.

“Oh, god. Sorry. You okay?” she asked.

He was facing away from her, stalking toward the depths of the woods. For a terrifying moment, she thought he may be about to abandon her.

She scrambled up after him and gripped the edge of his cloak. His eyes went huge, as if he couldn’t believe she would approach him of her own will. “I... I’m really sorry for pulling your hair out. Are you all right?”

He turned finally. His pupils were small pinpricks in those oceans of shimmering green. There was no anger in the set of his brows, however, and she breathed a desperate sigh of relief.

She reached up slowly and traced the frame of his face. He shuddered almost violently. Was he scared? It was unbelievable that this massive, powerful man could be scared of anything, and yet his expression betrayed him. “You don’t have to do that.”

His brows pinched in silent question.

“Hide your teeth. It looks uncomfortable.”

And weird. Now that she’d seen what his face was supposed to look like, he seemed deformed with his jaw all crunched up.

“I do not want to frighten you,” he said slowly, as his fingers curled around her wrist. “I do not want you to flee.”

“I’m not going to flee.” She had nowhere to go. “You’ve saved my life. Why would I run?”

He still hesitated, as if he didn’t quite believe her.

“If you were going to use those teeth on me, you would have done it by now,” she pointed out. He blinked, clearly having no argument to counter that.

Instead, he looked back toward the rock and released her to go back to his pack. His motions were stiff as he scooped it up off the ground.

When he faced her, his jaw was no longer covering his teeth, but tension radiated from every inch of his burly frame.

Miranda stepped closer.

Then her foot caught on a root and she tripped forward. Govek lunged and caught her easily. His reflexes were insane.

---