Page 3 of Tempted By the Orc

She didn’t say anything, just watched me work. I could feel her eyes on me, and it made me uncomfortable. Most people didn’t look at me like that. They avoided eye contact, too afraid or too wary to engage. Orcs were intimidating—that’s just the way it was. But this girl wasn’t looking at me with fear. She was studying me, and it put me on edge.

“What’s your name?” I asked, more to break the silence than anything else.

“Rue,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “My name is Rue.”

Rue. It was a soft name, simple. I rolled it around in my head as I finished wrapping her ankle. She didn’t look like she belonged out here in the wilderness, with her delicate frame and wide, wild eyes. She looked like she belonged somewhere far away from the Dark King’s grasp.

I grunted. “Noel,” I offered after a moment, though I wasn’t sure why. She didn’t need to know my name. This wasn’ta social call. As soon as the storm let up, she’d be on her way, and I’d be back to my quiet life of chopping wood and looking after reindeer.

I sat back on my heels, studying her for a moment. Her skin was still pale, too pale, and her shivering hadn’t stopped yet. Her eyes were drooping, heavy with exhaustion and pain, but I could see the tension in her body. She was scared. I couldn’t blame her. Not out here, not under the Dark King’s rule.

“Why were you out there?” I asked, keeping my voice low, though I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know.

She hesitated, her brow furrowing as if she wasn’t sure how to answer. “I... I was running,” she finally said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Running from what?” I pressed. We were close enough to the Dark King’s territory that it wasn’t hard to guess. His rule had spread like a disease, infecting everything it touched. He’d taken the land, the farms, the forest—and people ran from him. At first, that is. The ones that chose to flee were caught and dealt with, in ways so gruesome to serve as a warning to anyone who dared defy the coming Darkness.

Rue didn’t answer right away. Her eyes darted away from mine, and she bit her lip, like she wasn’t sure she could trust me. Smart girl.

“It’s complicated,” she muttered, and I could see the fear in her eyes. Whatever she was running from, it wasn’t good. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to get involved. The Dark King wasn’t exactly someone I wanted to piss off.

I sighed, leaning back against the couch and running a hand through my hair. Outside, the wind howled, the snow tapping against the windows like icy fingers. The storm was getting worse. We weren’t going anywhere tonight.

“Look,” I said after a long pause, my voice gruff. “I don’t care what you’re running from. You’re safe here, at least for now. But when the storm passes, you’re on your own.”

She didn’t say anything, just stared at me with those soft wide eyes of hers, and I could see the conflict in her expression. She wanted to trust me—wanted to believe that I wasn’t going to hurt her—but I could see the fear still lingering.

I didn’t blame her. Hell, if I were her, I’d be scared too. But I wasn’t her. I was just a guy trying to survive under the Dark King’s rule like everyone else. And now, I had to deal with Cupid running loose in the storm. That damn reindeer would be the death of me yet.

Chapter Three

RUE

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the suffocating heaviness pressing down on me. My limbs felt like they were weighted, and every inch of my body ached. I blinked slowly, trying to shake off the haze. The room was dim, the only light coming from a crackling hearth. The air smelled of woodsmoke and something earthy, tinged with spices. Where was I?

My heart began to race as I struggled to remember. I tried to push myself up, but pain shot through my ankle, sharp and unrelenting. And then it all came back—the storm, the bitter cold, the fall…The Orc. My pulse spiked.

Panic set in as I glanced around. The room was simple, almost primitive, lined with furs and rough-hewn beams. I swallowed hard, unease twisting in my chest.

How long had I been here?

The creak of floorboards made me freeze. I tensed instinctively as a large figure moved toward me from the shadows—Noel, the Orc.

He towered over me, his body casting long shadows in the dim light. His face was hard to read, those dark, deep-set eyes flicking over me, assessing. Concern? Irritation? I couldn’t tell. His voice was deep and gravelly, slicing through the silence.

“You’re awake.” It wasn’t a question. His tone was blunt, but there was something beneath the gruff exterior, something softer. “You’ve been out for two days.”

Two days? My heart thudded painfully in my chest. Two days was too long. I had been running, barely staying ahead of them…I glanced down at my ankle, bandaged neatly, and swallowed a rush of emotion. He’d helped me. He could’ve left me there to freeze, but instead, he brought me here.

“What happened?” I asked, my voice scratchy, fighting to hold back the panic rising in my throat.

“You caught a fever.” His dark gaze lingered on me, then shifted away as he stood, his movements deliberate. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”

His words hit harder than I expected, a chill running through me that had nothing to do with the cold outside. I remembered stumbling through the forest, half-delirious,desperate to keep going. I had known my strength wouldn’t last much longer, and then I’d seen him. Orcs were supposed to be dangerous, cruel—but he hadn’t hurt me. He had brought me here.

Still, I couldn’t let my guard down. I knew better than to trust appearances. Orcs had a reputation of savagery and violence. Just because he hadn’t hurt me yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t. And I had too much at stake.

I pushed myself up again, wincing as the pain flared in my ankle. Before I could steady myself, Noel’s large hand was there, holding me firmly but gently. His touch surprised me—warm, steady, not what I’d expect from someone of his size.

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