Page 116 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

She reached out and gave his butt a squeeze as they exited the office. He shot her a surprised look.

“You sure you won’t go naked for me?”

He huffed, trying to look irritated even as his expression was drenched with pleasure. “Perhaps after I get us to the ground.”

“Get us to the ground? Aren’t we going to take the stairs?”

“And get waylaid by every fucking orc lingering in the hall?” He went to the balcony railing. “Fuck no.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to do what I think you are.” Her stomach dropped.

He looked over the edge to examine the route he was obviously planning to climb down. Then he turned and held out his hand. “Come, my mate. Or do you not trust me to keep you safe?”

“Oh, you jerk. You had to put it like that, didn’t you?” She let him swing her up into his arms. She clung to his neck as he climbed over the railing.

“I’ll never let you fall, Miranda,” Govek vowed. “I will never hurt you.”

The intensity of those words struck her. The meaning behind them. Her heart melted at the solid look in his eyes. He truly believed it. Finally.

She kissed him hard and fast. “I love you, Govek. Now take me home.”

Chapter

Thirty

MIRANDA

“Ergoth is begging for a word with you, Govek.” Karthoc said from his chair at their kitchen table. He looked far too big for the spot. Just like Govek did in his own chair next to him. Miranda wondered if there was a way to make the furniture in their house a little bigger.

Their house. She relished how that felt. Her apartment on Earth had never felt like this. The glass on Earth had been clearer but the afternoon sunlight that streamed into her and Govek’s treehouse was so much more beautiful than anything she’d ever had on Earth.

“He’d better not hold his breath.”

Miranda warmed up the fish soup Savili and Viravia had left on their doorstep, though it seemed no one had much of an appetite. They’d brought her cloak back too. It was clean and dry and undamaged. She was so thankful to have it back.

“You really don’t want to confront him? You could easily reissue a challenge. Pummel the male the way he deserves.”

“No, let him rot.”

“That I will do. I have him tied up and gagged.”

“You can’t use the silencing magic on him?” Miranda asked.

“We could...” Karthoc looked at Govek. “Do you want to?”

“No, not yet,” he answered before meeting Miranda’s gaze. “The silencing is permanent. Once cast, it can never be undone.”

“Oh.” Miranda’s gut twisted. “Have... you put it on Maythra and the others yet?”

“No. Sythcol requested we hold off, and I agreed,” Karthoc assured them, and Miranda sighed with relief. “Ergoth was furious when he found out Sythcol refused. Makes me wonder what it is those three are hiding that Ergoth would like to keep hidden.”

Miranda wondered that too. “Has he tried to use magic?”

“No. We have his hands bound too tight,” Karthoc said, “and Sythcol is reluctant to use that binding spell on him, made a vow to himself to never use it again. I don’t want to force him to break it unless I absolutely have to. I need to keep him on my side.”

Govek’s brow screwed up in confusion and Miranda mirrored the sentiment. But before either could ask, Karthoc continued.

“Ergoth is going fucking mad, trying to convince us to give him a judgment. When we ungag him to eat, he babbles constantly. He shifts between begging and playing upon sympathies to outrage and fury. It’s... unsettling. Not even Evythiken can say what his true emotions are.”

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