Page 27 of Loved By the Orc

“Okay.” I sighed deeply and let my eyelids drift closed. I had never fallen asleep with another person before—my two other brief encounters with men had been exactly that—brief. But with Tark, I felt safe and loved and cherished.

Yes, that was the word—cherished,I decided. That was exactly how he made me feel. Despite the awful time I’d had at work and the embarrassing encounter with Madam Healer, I still felt good. I felt happy because I knew instinctively I was safe in the arms of a male who would kill or die to protect me.

Those were my last thoughts as I finally drifted off.

I had no idea how soon my comforting bubble of safety would burst.

12

HARMONY

By the time I finally drew the magical doorway that led back to the ladies room in the Bentley Pharmaceuticals office, I was feeling calm and relaxed. I wasn’t going to let Mr. Price get under my skin again, I told myself. He was just a spiteful, nasty man and who cared what he thought? I had Tark and he loved me and thought I was beautiful. That was enough for me.

I was so determined to let my boss’s nasty comments roll off my back that he actually noticed it.

“What’s wrong with you, Miss Ward?” he demanded, after he’d called me an ‘idiot’ for letting his coffee get cold and I didn’t react. “You don’t seem as sharp as usual—not that you’reeververy sharp,” he added. “You have the IQ of a slice of toast!”

“I aced Organic Chemistry,” I said coolly. “I don’t know many slices of toast that can do that.”

“Well!” He looked at me, his pale eyes going wide with shock. “What’s gotten into you? You’re not the same since lunch.”

“That’s because I went home,” I snapped. “And spent some time with decent people who care about me. Which is something I very much doubt you have—maybe that’s why you’re so nasty all the time.”

I had gone too far—I knew it as soon as the words left my mouth. But I couldn’t take them back—nor did I want to. I’d been a limp dishrag long enough, just soaking up my evil boss’s abuse. It was high time I stood up for myself!

Mr. Price seemed so surprised by my words that he didn’t know what to say or do at first.

“You…you’ll regret that insubordination, Miss Ward!” he snapped. “How dare you speak to me like that?”

“How dareyouspeak to me the way you do?” I shot back. “You’re always so hateful and cruel—it’s like youenjoybeing mean. Maybe you should see someone about that. Don’t we have a mental wellness program at Bentley where you can meet with a therapist?”

“You…I…” Mr. Price didn’t seem to know what to say. Finally, he fell back on an old standby. “I’ll go see the therapist whenyousee a weight councilor or a dietician,” he snapped. “Maybe when you lose some of thatblubberyou’ll be marginally attractive.”

“Nice try,” I said flatly. “But it just so happens that I have someone in my life who loves mejust the way I am.So I don’t give a flyingfuckwhat you think about my weight!”

I don’t usually swear but I’d had enough of his abuse and I wasn’t going to take it anymore!

Mr. Price’s pale eyes narrowed in obvious frustration.

“Ithoughtit must be something like that,” he muttered, apparently speaking more to himself than to me. “Damn it!”

Then he turned on his heel and stormed out of the office.

I watched him go with a feeling of triumph. He couldn’t hurt me anymore. Then a thought occurred to me—what if he was going to HR to get me fired?

The blaze of joy I’d felt at finally standing up to my awful boss cooled some at that idea. But then I lifted my chin. If they tried to fire me, I would complain to HR and anyone and everyone else I could find. I had Katrina and Jeremy as witnesses now—they could testify about how horribly Mr. Price treated me.

And if I had to, I could go around the company and get a lawyer. CEOs and highly placed executives weren’t exactly popular right now—I was sure I could get a jury on my side if it came to that.

Also, no matter how bad things got, I now had a refuge to run to—a place where people liked me and cared about me. And I had Tark.

I comforted myself with thoughts of Hidden Hollow as I waited to see if I was fired. But the rest of the day passed peacefully since Mr. Price never came back. Nobody called me to HR either, so I gradually began to relax.

By the end of the day, I was feeling positive that everything was going to be all right. Maybe Mr. Price would leave me alone from now on, since he knew his mean words couldn’t get to me anymore. Also, I was going to be able to see Tark again very soon—we had planned to have dinner that night. And I had every intention of trying to seduce him afterwards—I still wanted those naked cuddles!

At last it was five o’clock and nothing bad had happened. My heart was light as a feather when I walked out to the parking lot. My plan was to go home and get into the sexy lingerie set I had bought last week. I would put it on under my regular clothes before I drew the magic door and went back to Hidden Hollow. Then, after supper—or maybe even before—I would slip off my skirt and blouse, revealing the sexy red teddy I’d bought just to tease Tark with.

And then—how could he resist me? I loved the fact that he loved my body so much—it made me feel like a goddess, which was certainly different from how every other man in my life had always treated me. I was no longer just the skinny girls’ fat friend—I was the one Tark wanted and I wanted him right back, I thought happily as I pressed the clicker to unlock my Honda. My Orc boyfriend was?—

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