Page 69 of Bound to the Orc Warlord

And he’s an orc fae. They probably do things differently, anyway.

“With your hair, you’ll look great in this.” Olivia holds up a bolt of pretty green cloth, the color bright like my dress instead of the darker colors Dravarr prefers.

“I love it.” I lean in to whisper, “What about bras and panties?”

“Their magic can make something that fits perfectly out of linen.”

“I want a set!”

When she stares at me questioningly, I blush.

How can I tell her I don’t want to sacrifice my favorite pink panties, but I do want Dravarr to rip off my underwear like he keeps promising?

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Dravarr

By the goddess, being home is nothing like I imagined.

I spent the last week wanting nothing more than to get Ashley to the safety of my village. Yet now that we’re here, I want to grab her and flee before someone slips and tells her she’s my moon bound bride.

Things were so simple when it was just the two of us. Or just the two of us, the dragon, who knew nothing, and Midnight, who for all her mischief can keep a secret.

Rovann corners me as soon as he’s relieved of guard duty, storming into my cottage while the women are still away. “Talk. What the hell is going on between you and your bride? Why did you tell us to warn everyone in the village not to talk about it?”

“Did you warn them?”

“Of course I did, but I couldn’t explainwhy.” He whips his warrior’s braid around to his back with an impatient hand. “Why didn’t you tell her as soon as you could talk to her?”

A hot feeling rushes through me, making my skin itch. Shame isn’t something I’m used to. I despise it.

But my brother, as always, won’t let it go. “Dravarr.”

“I was a fool.” I explode upright, throwing out my arms and sending the wooden bench clattering over. “Is that what you want to hear?”

“No. It’s not.” He gets quiet and understanding, and that feels even fuckingworse.

The hot pulse of rage fades, leaving me drained. I scrub at my face. “I doubted the goddess had made the right match when I first met Ashley. She didn’t understand her powers, and I… I didn’t understand there were other ways to be strong besides being a warrior.”

Joy, friendship, compassion. My bride contains a wealth of virtues I was too blind to see.

“By the time I realized my mistake, I knew the real problem was thatIwasn’t good enough forher. I’ve been trying to make up for it ever since, trying to woo her in the human way so she’ll still want me.”

“You had a moment of doubt.” He claps a hand to my shoulder.

“More like several days of doubt,” I mutter.

“It’s okay. A handful of days is but a blip when you have your whole lives to be together.” He gives me a little shake. “Tell her.”

“I need the time to be perfect.”

“My brother,” Rovann’s voice sounds sad, his hand squeezing my shoulder, “the tutors always went so hard on you when we were young. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I think they went too hard. You don’t need to be perfect at everything. You just need to be you.”

But when Ashley comes through the door a few minutes later, smiling and laughing and wearing new clothes, the words freeze in my throat.

Even if Rovann’s words are true, I’ve never wanted to be perfect more than now, for her.

The women return right as some of my warriors arrive. Ashley looks delectable in brown leather pants and a bright-green shirt made to fit her curves. The others eye her appreciatively when introduced, especially Krivoth, and I want to snarl at him and snatch her away. I’ve never been this possessive with a woman—never felt much of anything for them but a temporary lust quickly slaked—and I don’t know how to handle this new emotion.

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