Page 3 of Bossed By the Orc

I grunted, flustered by the truth of her words. I hadn’t expected her to talk back to me. No one usually did. Instead of ceding the point, I shrugged. “Perhaps to your human ears, it might seem so. But orc senses are more acute,” I huffed.

Stating a fact of the difference between our species should’ve ended the conversation. When I watched her lips part, I realized the gorgeous minx was going to continue arguing. I turned my back to her instead, striding into my office and slamming the door as if I had a million tasks to do that were more important than her. If I didn’t I was going to toss her over that desk and do something that we’d both enjoy in the moment, and likely regret tomorrow morning.

I did have piles of work to do. That wasn’t a lie. Normally, that would keep me motivated to focus throughout the night. Instead, the urge to continue to verbally spar with the beauty was an itch that made my fingers twitch, as though to open the door. Strengthening my resolve, I moved to sit behind my desk again, noticing that I hadn’t run the female off.

Instead, her pouty lips tipped down into a frown before she turned to give me her back as she continued cleaning the rest of the floor. The idea that she was thinking of me—possibly of ways to murder me, but still, thinking of me, brought a strange joy to my chest that I was unfamiliar with.

Five minutes hadn’t passed before the elevator opened again. I groaned in annoyance. The world was determined to interrupt my work tonight. Rudgar stepped out, his eyes narrowing on the female. She smiled at him and spoke. I couldn’t hear her through the glass door—I’d lied about that. They’d been soundproofed so well that even with my keener senses I could barely hear her if she decided to vacuum.

Irritation filled me as my brother smiled at her, responding. I narrowed my eyes at her expression. She didn’t seem annoyed merely by his presence the way she had with me.

Fickle creature.

Rudgar bowed his head at her before moving to my door, pushing it open. One of his dark eyebrows quirked upward as he saw me at my desk, staring out at the female.

My younger brother resembled me in many ways. He was just as tall but a bit bulkier. Something he’d crowed about endlessly when he hit puberty. His features were close enough to mine that everyone knew we were brothers—despite my beard—but his eyes were blue instead of yellow.

Sky blue, just like our mother’s, while mine had taken the yellow hue of our father. Those piercing blue eyes were focused on me now.

“You said there was a security breach. I was already in the building. I came right away,” he said, his voice clipped with urgency.

I lifted my hand, one large finger pointing at the female currently causing a distraction with her body while she watered the plants.

“Her?” Rudgar queried, jerking his thumb in the female’s direction, eyebrows sky high now. “The… human?”

Nodding, I folded my arms over my chest. “I’ve told that cleaning crew time and again that I didn’t want anyone on this floor. Fionel can clean it,” I grumbled.

Rudgar was looking at me like I’d lost my mind but I didn’t care. I was right and I knew it.

“It was Fionel who put this floor back in the rotation, Dris,” Rudgar explained. My brother shook his head as he made his way closer. “He already has to clean your penthouse. Did you want him over here, too? If you make him clean both places, he’s going to revolt. He’s your assistant, not your maid.”

I could feel my jaw grinding but couldn’t do anything to stop it. “I don’t want her here,” I snapped.

A mild sense of panic filled my chest as Rudgar glanced at the female behind me and then back at me, a small smile curling his lips. “I mean, they really did assign the cream of the crop to you. I haven’t seen a prettier female in a while,” he mused.

My spine was stiffening and I had to control my breathing instead of leaping out of the chair at him. He shouldn’t be looking at her and thinking she was pretty. No one should be doing that but me.

Rudgar hummed, his tone pensive as he said, “In fact, she was so nice to me earlier. I think I might ask her on a—”

My fist hit my desk before I could stop it and Rudgar’s smirk became a full-fledged grin.

“I guess you don’t like that idea, Dris,” he laughed. He was loving everything about this, I could tell.

It took me a few moments to calm down. I straightened my tie with the same shaking hand that had almost splintered the mahogany in front of me. It was my father’s desk. One that I’d brought to the office with the dream of making him proud. With that thought in mind, I cleared my throat.

“I just wanted to remind you that while you’re both employees here, there shouldn’t be any fraternization,” I explained, my voice strained.

His fangs flashed with a grin, the white sparkling against the deep green of his skin. “Of course. Wouldn’t want to ruffle the big boss’ feathers with fraternization of all things,” Rudgar chuckled.

I narrowed my gaze at him as he waved, leaving my office. He spoke to my female—the female, I corrected myself—and then left. As she stooped to pick something miniscule off the floor, her glorious ass on full display again, I covered my eyes with my palm and groaned deep in my chest. I prayed that I could regain the control I’d always had over my baser urges. I might want to snatch this female off her feet and take her back to my penthouse, sequestering her away for weeks at a time, but that didn’t mean that I could give in to the urge.

I groaned as I pictured doing exactly that, my palm acting like a screen for my filthiest fantasies. The things I would do to her perfect body. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the images, but it was futile.

There was no way to get her out of my mind now that she was there. Even as I told myself I would call her supervisor in the morning, I knew I was lying to myself. She was trouble, but I was willing to torture myself with her while keeping her at a distance.

There isn’t anything wrong with looking.

I repeated the words to myself, measuring the logic and deciding that it was sound.

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