Page 5 of Bidding on Her Orc Boss

While Skull places our things in the trunk, his compatriots open the car for Caro and me. The doors close and we are by ourselves for a moment.

“I don’t know how you were able to think around them,” Caro says. “I saw the first one, andpft, all thought, gone.” Her hand gestures like a place swooping away from her.

I don’t tell her that part of my favorite reading material is about the Otherkin, especially the big races like trolls and orcs. It’s one of the reasons I chose to work with an Orc-owned company.They are fascinating to me in a way that no other human histories have been.

Wait until she finds out my favorite dildos and vibes are orcishly big.

Shrugging, I feign a nonchalance I don’t feel as I twirl my cuff between my fingers. “They’re just like people from other cultures and backgrounds. I’m sure they think we’re strange.”

The driver and front passenger doors open and the car rocks as the men settle into their respective seats. The orc and shifter are there. Skull disappears into the airport once more.

As we settle into the plush leather seats, Kro turns to us with a grin that’s all tusks and charm. “Comfortable, ladies? “We decided to drop you ladies off first as the hotel is so close. No sense waiting when we can have you there and back by the time the other guests arrive.”

The orc’s accent is a sort of sing-song lilt. It’s very reminiscent of a Gaelic accent.

“I hope we’re not an inconvenience. We can gladly wait.”

“Well, it’s done now,” the Orc says as his colleague maneuvers us through traffic. “I’m Krothu, by the way. And this here is Maven. We were hired by your employers to make sure their key employees make it to the hotel safely.”

“Is there an issue with...safety?” Caro asks.

“Nah, nothing you’d need to worry about. It’s an older city, though, with many ways a person can fall through the cracks of the universe, so to speak.”

“Has anyone...fell through the cracks recently?”

He turns in his seat, a smile that’s sinfully mischievous. “Not anyone we care about losing.” He winks and turns back around.

I little squeak escapes from Caro that she covers up with a coughing fit.

Kro’s booming laugh fills the car as Maven smoothly pulls into traffic. The cityscape of Obsidian City unfolds before us, a glittering tapestry of neon and shadow.

“Now then,” Kro begins, his accent lilting in a way that makes me think of rolling hills and ancient stones, “let me give you the grand tour of our fair city.”

As he speaks, pointing out landmarks and sharing tidbits of history, I find myself captivated. Not just by the city, which is admittedly fascinating, but by the musical quality of his voice. It’s like listening to a bard from some fantasy novel, if that bard were green and could probably bench press a car.

“And over there,” he gestures toward a fancy restaurant with understated elegance, “is Ma Chérie where I met my mate—she works there.”

My eyes are drawn to the glint of metal on his wrists – intricate cuffs that seem to glow with an inner light.I know enough about orc culture to know that each cuff is unique with symbology that relates to their specific clan.

“Those are beautiful,” I say before I can stop myself. “Are they... mating cuffs?”

A beaming smile splits his face as Krothu shows off his cuff. “Indeed they are. We orcs, we mate for life, you know. When you find the one, you just know.”

I wonder what that would feel like? The idea of being with someone that I didn’t want to strangle was a fairytale more unbelievable than the stories of old when our ancestors assumed that creatures from myth were only make-believe.

I feel a pang in my chest, a mixture of wistfulness and something else I can’t quite name. “That must be nice,” I murmur, more to myself than anyone else.

As Maven skillfully navigates a particularly tricky intersection, I find myself lost in thought. I think back to my twenties, the awkward dates, the uncomfortable encounters, the realization that maybe I just wasn’t wired the same way as everyone else seemed to be.

I’d tried, god knows I’d tried. Men, women, everyone in between—none of them sparked anything in me. Sure, I met some great friends out of it, so it wasn’t a total loss, but nothing romantic.

And, on the rare occassion I found someone remotely stimulating enough to sleep with, well, let’s just say dinner lasted longer than dessert.

I did have in mind to use that new dating app that everyone is talking about. The one that’s set up to match with Otherkin. I didn’t see the appeal before because one body is just as good as any other.

However, being around these guys is a whole other level of aura points. Before today, I considered myself firmly asexual—no one’s physical appearance intrigued me whatsoever, no matter what they presented as.

But now, surrounded by these beings who are so different from anyone I’ve ever met, I can’t help but wonder. Was it really thatI wasn’t interested in anyone? Or had I just not met the right... species?

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