Page 23 of Guarded By the Orc

I believed him—which was shocking to me. I didn’t have the best track record with males. The males that I’d known on thisplane, before I was taken, were selfish assholes after their own pleasures and needs.

Then when I was taken, I’d been faced with the warlocks. Theypretendedto be acting for everyone’s good by bringing about the most powerful of their kind. What I was beginning to realize was that they were just another fanatical cult. For all we knew, that prophecy was fake.

They kept stealing females from my line, yetthe onehadn’t been born yet.

After that, I’d met Savla, Krusk and Enka. They’d been my first introduction to kind males. They’d rescued me and helped me evade the warlocks for months. All they’d asked from me was to find their mates.

Which you still haven’t done yet. Note to feral brain. Scry for their mates as soon as you have the protection spell in place.

They’d paved the way for meeting more males like them. If I hadn’t known them, I would have run from Rudgar. I wouldn’t have believed that kindness was possible in their gender.

Yet here he was, curled around me, mourning the fact that he hadn’t been able to protect me from something that he’d had no part to play in. I squeezed my eyes shut, grateful to the Goddess Mother that I’d found him. While witches didn’t have fated mates per se, when a witch found their other half, they were loyal to a fault.

And damn it, I already feel that way about Rudgar.

I ran my lips over the skin of his throat, puffing a breath against him and making him huff out a laugh. “The thing is…” I started, not sure how to start.

Rudgar pulled away, his eyes narrowed on me, suspicion clear in his gaze. I couldn’t fault him. I hadn’t offered much in the way of solutions so far. Only guff—which I could admit that I had troves of.

“I need to go back to my mother’s house—” I started, and hewas about to cut me off, his lips already parted, but I held up a hand. “Because I need to get my mom’s book, remember?”

“I can go get what you need,” he explained, but I shook my head.

“You won’t even know what to get. There’s only one option. We’ll go together and I can grab what I need. Then we’ll come back here, do the protection spell and then I can figure out a way to break this curse,” I said, infusing confidence into my voice even if I didn’t actually feel it.

“What if they set a trap there?” he asked, brow furrowed. “That’ll be the first place they’ll look for you.”

I nodded, nibbling on my lower lip until he tugged it out with his finger, ensuring that I wouldn’t hurt myself. My heart melted for this male, but I tried to stay strong and unaffected.

“Okay, how about if you go in first to make sure everything’s safe?” I asked him and he nodded at once.

“Even better, I’ll find the book you’re talking about while I’m there and we’ll only go back if weneedto,” he said, his voice stern.

I hid my smile, nodding. “Okay. You win. I have to be there, though. I don’t want you taking the wrong book.”

He grinned, and I melted at the look he gave me. It was filled with such tenderness that I felt myself leaning into him. He pressed his lips against mine in a gentle kiss, cupping my cheek in his big palm and swiping his thumb over my jaw. “Nothing can happen to you, Gul-ar. You can be there, but far away. Promise me.”

I nodded, even though I knew I was going to be close with my faulty powers ready to zap anyone that tried to hurt him. I had enough control for that at least.

CHAPTER 12

Rudgar

This is a terrible idea.

I knew that without question. My female swung our connected hands, humming out a tune that I didn’t know as we walked. And the only reason we were walking was because she’drefusedto stay in the car.

She was the most disobedient creature in the universe and somehow she wasmine. So here we were—walking down the street toward her mother’s house as if we were just out for a stroll.

Not that I wasn’t loving it—if the stupid grin on my face was any indication. I wanted to scream at every being that passed us.

She’s my mate.

But other than scaring unsuspecting beings, that wouldn’t help with our mission. We were trying to be incognito. But my Gul-ar didn’t do well with that. She was pointing out things in her neighborhood, her voice excited and loud as she told me stories and she squealed, grabbing my arm every once in a while, whenshe wanted to draw my attention to anything.

Like the shiny rock on the corner. Or the leaf that looked like a face. Or that female walking by who would look amazing with blue hair.

If I hadn’t known that she was perfect for me before, this would have proved it. This female—who’d seen the worst of the world—had so much joy left in her that she found a simple stroll down the street to be thrilling. I was already planning all the dates I wanted to take her on in my head.

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