Page 18 of My Orc in Uniform

He pressed his forehead to mine and froze, holding me off the ground, his breathing ragged and harsh in the spring night.

“Simbel?” I whispered, uncertain what was happening.

“Gods of the ancestors, Rissa.” His rasp was fierce. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” I pulled back, trying to see his face. “I’m not.”

That’s when he opened his eyes. And in the darkness, his eyes were glowing green. “You don’t deserve to be pawed like this by a male who can’t control himself. Please…” He set me down and stepped back, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Please don’t let this ruin the evening. The date.”

Ruin it? I had to put my hand on my sedan to keep from falling over. This kiss hadmadethe night. “It didn’t,” I whispered. “Simbel, that was…” I swallowed. He’d been the one to pull back. Maybe he hadn’t liked the experience. “Thank you for a lovely dinner. And…everything.”

He nodded once, jerkily, then stepped back again. I couldn’t tell if he was running away or afraid I was going to jump him, or what.

“Rissa, I…” His hand rose to rest against his chest. Except it looked as if his fingers were trying to dig into the button-down shirt he wore, as if he were trying to scratch his heart. “Thank you. I’ll see you at work.”

And he turned and stalked into the darkness.

I would’ve been hurt. I would’ve felt abandoned.

Had I not seen the thick bulge in the front of his trousers. Simbel wanted me as much as I wanted him.

The realization was…intriguing.

Chapter Seven

Simbel

It felt sodamnrightto parade around town with Rissa on my arm.

Well, okay, we weren’t exactly parading aroundtown, but rather, the school’s athletic field, waving and greeting parents, staff, and even the students like Trick who’d been dragged along to the small fundraiser oyster roast.

And she wasn’ton my arm, because it’s not like this is the old-timey-times, yeah? But her fingers were twined with mine, and it felt really fucking perfect, is my point.

We’d met in the parking lot. Although I knew where she lived, she hadn’t yet invited me to her house, so I wasn’t going to go pick her up or anything. And when I saw her, it tookeverythingin me not to pull her into my arms and kiss her.

Even now, myKteerwas thundering in my chest, demanding I quit playing nice and throw her over my shoulder to take her back to my cave.

MyKteeris kind of a primitive asshole.

Not sure I blamed it, though.

That kiss we’d shared after our date the other night? It had caused my blood to ignite and my chest to swell and my cock—? Well, the less said about that, the better.

I have never wanted a female—wantedanything—as badly as I wanted Rissa that night. And every hour—everyminute—since then.

I tried to avoid the front office these last few days at work, just so I couldn’t be tempted by her scent. It hadn’t worked; I’d been drawn to her inexorably.

Luckily, despite my fears, it seemed as if that kiss hadn’t scared her off. She hadn’t considered the date ruined thanks to myKteer’sinability to stay in control.

“There’s Joleen and Maggie,” she announced excitedly, tugging me toward one of the makeshift tables—a few boards and a pair of sawhorses—around the grill. “Can we join them?”

“I’ll follow you anywhere, Rissa.”

The laughing look she sent me told me she thought I was being charming…but I meant it. Gods of the ancestors, I had itbadfor this female, and we’d done nothing more than kiss.

“Hi Rissa,” Joleen, the school nurse, called out. “Hi Simbel. This is my wife, Maggie. Mags, this is the school’s new resource officer.”

The older, dark-skinned woman at Joleen’s side paused in her efforts to shuck an oyster and eyed me up and down, her eyes twinkling with knowing. When she cocked her head and bumped her wife’s shoulder, her graying braids swung around her head. “You didn’t tell me he was so cute.”

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