Page 70 of The Orc Outcast's Conquest

Miranda fought for reason, to focus on Govek. He was a brilliant distraction. The best. And they would need to cook those fish soon or they might go bad. But her mind lurched its way back to the cave. No matter of logic could convince her to enter.

He leaned in to meet her eyes. “Miranda, speak or I cannot provide a remedy.”

She licked her lips. Govek’s hot flesh on her chilly nape anchored her to the forest. Miranda sidled a little closer to him, soaking up every drop of comfort he offered and locked all her trauma behind a crumbling wall in her mind.

“Miranda,” Govek demanded again. “Speak, woman.”

“It’s too small,” she managed. The skepticism on his face would have made her laugh under any other circumstances. “The door. I mean, the opening.”

This time, his bafflement made her chuckle. She was being stupid, but the idea of going inside this cave with only a tiny crack to escape made her skin prickle and her legs itched to bolt, no matter what pleasures this orc promised her within.

He propped the spear of fish against a nearby rock and turned to examine the rock wall for a moment, brow furrowed. Then went back to her.

“Can I pick you up, Miranda?”

“Oh, uh. Yeah. Okay.” He swooped her off her feet almost before she finished speaking. He carried her to a rock ten or more feet away, plunked her down on top, and tucked her cloak around her. His fingers briefly grazed her scalp before darting away.

He was so careful when he touched her. It made her chest ache.

“Stay here,” he demanded, before stalking back over to the cave. He placed a hand on the massive, moss-covered boulder to the left of the opening. It was fatter than he was tall, and partially buried in the soft, leaf covered ground.

“What are you doing?” She sounded a bit alarmed as he reached up to throw a few of the smaller rocks on top of the boulder off to the side. It caused a cascade of dust and rubble to fall onto his shoulders. “Be careful!”

All he did was shoot her an amused look and cover his head with the hood of his cloak. Then he leveraged his weight against the boulder and heaved.

The dang thing moved. Actually rolled.

Miranda squirmed as Govek’s muscles bulged in his arms. His expression was tight and focused. He growled—the sound spiked heat right through her bones—and gave a tremendous shove before bolting out of the way. Rocks rained down where he’d been, and Miranda yelped with surprise.

Govek gave an appraising look at his work and brushed off his hands as if he’d just casually bucked a bale of hay. “There. Will that do?”

She’d been so concerned about his safety, she hadn’t noticed what he’d done. Which was substantially open up the mouth of the cave. Five feet of space now spanned the passageway.

“My god, Govek,” she breathed, waving him over to her while she examined the boulder he’d moved. It had left a hole in the ground the size of a bathtub. “Just how much weightcanyou lift?”

He snorted, stopping in front of her. “I could not lift that boulder, Miranda. I only pushed it.”

“Semantics,” she muttered, reaching to brush the rubble from his cloak and take off his hood. “Are you okay?”

He quirked a brow. “Yes. Will you enter now?”

She took a deep breath and nodded, but even as he helped her down and walked her over, she found herself asking, “We won’t get trapped in there, will we?”

“No, Miranda,” Govek assured her without hesitation, as he placed his massive hand on her lower back and pressed her into the cave. “I will not allow us to become trapped,” he arranged the vines so they covered the larger entryway.

“I guess you could just push down that whole side and get us free,” Miranda said, gesturing to the front wall, only half joking.

Govek turned and flashed her a smile. An actualsmile. Miranda’s heart thundered right off the rock face and smacked the ground as hard as the boulder had. Dang! He looked flippingfinewhen he was smiling.

He stepped further in and lowered his pack to the ground, murmuring, “I would turn this whole hillside to rubble if you willed it, Miranda. Though that would defeat the purpose of having a safe place to be alone.”

She approached him, and his smile faded into blinking shock. She pulled him down so she could kiss his cheek, his warm skin soft under her lips, the husky scent of him deeply comforting. “My hero.”

Her tone was a little more reverent than she intended, and Govek’s jaw dropped, revealing many sharp teeth. Teeth she craved to trace with her tongue.

Oh, frick, she was a goner. If Govek knew, he’d probably already have her bent over that boulder he’d pushed aside. Or at least she hoped he would.

He sucked in a breath and offered her the water before going about the task of building a fire in one of the stone circles.

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