Page 31 of My Orc in Uniform

He slowed to a stop and rounded on me. “Is it my imagination or are all these dessert-based?” he asked, tipping my chin up gently with one claw.

“You’re very sweet.” My smile bloomed. “I mean, it’s better than meat-based monikers, right?”

“Sausage? Fatty-And-A-Bit-Salty? Chewy Mouthful? Meat-based monikers are great nicknames. Besides, I happen to like meat,” Simbel murmured, lowered his mouth to mine. “Dkaar.”

Dkaar. The word sounded so musical coming from him. I would ask him what it meant…just as soon as I could think again.

Simbel’s kisses did that to me.

I was smiling in bemusement when he finally straightened. “So,” he murmured, running his hand down my spine. “Fried Oreos?”

What? Oh, “No,” I blurted. “I just…” Blinking, I tried to focus on what I’d been thinking about before he’d turned so many heads by kissing me right in the middle of everyone. “I was just…um…we should stop by the silent auction booth.”

His black brows went up, the green spark back in his eyes. “Oooh, what are you going to bid on?”

“Not me,you.” I took a deep breath. “I think you should bid on Kelly.”

Immediately, his expression clouded, and he tightened his hold on me. “Dkaar,I don’t think I could make it any clearer that I want nothing to do with that woman.You’rethe only female I want.”

I mean, flattering? Yes.

Particularly after a week of confusion and self-doubt.

I was flushing—half happily, half in embarrassment—when I rolled my eyes at him. “Not foryou,Simbel. Bid on her—herworkoutoffer—for your brother. You want Memnon out of the house, yeah? And he’s been stiff, right? So win Kelly’s fitness coaching services and give them to him.”

Simbel’s expression had slowly cleared. “Yes,” he breathed. “And he’s almost as handsome as I am, so she’ll be happy.”

“I hope he’s humbler,” I teased.

But he just clicked his tongue and lifted me until my feet dangled, and I was plastered against him. “Have I told you how brilliant you are, Rissa?” he asked seriously, staring into my eyes. “I am the luckiest male.”

There was something about the way he said the words that made me feel warm. No, not just warm, but…itchy. Achy, inside, as if I needed something and couldn’t have it. I squirmed in his arms, a little uncomfortable.

But not from him.

Never from him.

It was impossible to deny. I loved this male.

“Mom!” Patrick’s exasperated huff broke through my daze. “Comeon! Fried Oreos.”

Simbel slowly grinned. “That’s what they call me.”

Impulsively I leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his nose. “Then you’d better go buy us some…dkaar.”

The brightness of his smile almost outshone his eyes’ green flare.

Chapter Eleven

Simbel

I was learningall sorts of things about boating and clamming:

When you’re out past sunset, your boat needs to have a stern light—white—and bow lights—red for port, green for starboard—so other boats can tell which direction you’re going. We set ours up before we left, even though it didn’t get dark until we were at the lighthouse.

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