Page 49 of Summoning the Orc

“But maybe,” I murmured, pressing my lips to her mark, my tusks bracketing her neck.

“Maybe,” she confirmed, leaning back in my arms again,sagging her weight against me—so slight, almost imperceptible. “And I think… I think I’m okay with that.” She sounded surprised by that, and I wondered if she wanted younglings at all. I thought I remembered a brief conversation after I took the language potion, before I got distracted by my mate’s luscious body, but the memory was vague.

My lips parted to ask, but I closed them right away, too frightened to know her answer. If she didn’t want them, I didn’t know if I couldnotpush her, and that was something I wasn’t willing to do. It would be her choice.

My brow furrowed as she lifted her hand, dripping the warm water over where my hands met around her round stomach. If shedidn’twant to have younglings, she would have asked me not to come inside her. She would have stopped me instead of pulling me closer every time I did.

Hope—that treacherous emotion—filled my chest, and I tugged her tighter against me, adoring the press of our skin as we soaked in the water.

“I never thought I would meet a fated mate,” she whispered, and I was riveted to her words, stiffening under her. “I always assumed it was a fairytale or for people who weren’t me.” Her self-deprecating laugh had my brow dropping low.

“You’re perfect,” I told her and her smile was radiant as she tipped her head back to look at me, her eyes shining with a glimmer of tears.

“You think so?” she asked, her voice low and trembling.

“Yes,” I confirmed with a firm nod, cupping my mate’s precious face in one hand. “The most perfect female that the Gods have ever made.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, but a tear still slipped past her lashes.

What am I doing wrong? How is the truth hurting her so much?

“Don’t cry,” I murmured, but Becca shook her head, swiping a finger under her eyes.

“Then I realized,” she continued, as if I hadn’t interrupted her, “that I just hadn’t met you yet.” She nuzzled against me, running her soft fingers down my forearms. “And that I just needed to be patient. You were busy becoming perfect for me somewhere else.”

I stilled against her, frozen under the heated water.

Is she saying what I think she’s saying?

“I’m so glad I summoned you from that book,” she gave a contented sigh, wrapping my arms tighter around her. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”

The blow to my chest felt almost as if I’d been smashed there with a mighty battle axe.

I make her happy.

The lump of emotion clogging my throat made it hard to speak. I tried to clear my throat, but instead, I buried my face against my female’s hair, inhaled her decadent scent and let the tears trickle from my eyes as I murmured words of gratitude to her and the Gods who’d gifted her to me.

“I—I want to have your babies—younglings,” she told me in a quiet, hesitant voice after a long moment, and I felt my breath gust out of my chest. “I just don’t know that we know each other well enough for that. We haven’t even had a chance to settle into a routine.”

She licked her lips, turning to peek at me again. “And I think that’s important. For parents to be in a good, solid place before they bring a youngling into the world. Especially since you’re not from here,” she said with a shrug. She was trying to be nonchalant, but I could see the furrow of her brow, the stiffness in her posture and the clench of her jaw. “Is that okay?”

“Yes,” I told her, burying my face in the hair of this brave female. I may have fought in wars and battled against enemies,but this conversation was just as difficult—if not more so—because of the stakes.

My female was giving me her truth, and while a small, deep, instinctual part of me still wished that the seed I’d planted deep inside her womb had taken root, I knew that she was right. I lifted the heavy fall of her hair, pressing a kiss to her soft nape.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I told her in a low whisper and she shivered as my breath blew on her sensitive skin.

“I thought you’d insist,” she said, twining her fingers through our hair floating between us.

“Everything we do is your choice, my Becca,” I murmured, tugging her against me again until she squeaked, my cock rubbing against the crease of her ass. I groaned, but ignored what was happening below my waist in favor of giving her my promise as a mate. “I’ll never push you for more than you’re willing to give.” I cleared my throat, running my tongue against her ear before I murmured low words. “I’d be lying if I say I won’t try to convince you to see things my way, though.”

Her surprised giggled caused a grin to spread across my face. “I look forward to it,” she laughed, laying back against me again. It was a long moment before she tilted her head at something on the side of the tub, lifting it for me to see. It was the metal contraption that had been inside the drain of the tub. I’d yanked it out after I couldn’t figure out how to use it.

“Rok,” she sounded out my name, twirling the metal piece in her fingers. “Is this the tub stopper?”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rok

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