Page 9 of Loved By the Orc

“Thank you.” I settled and he sat beside me, closer this time. “So tell me about the magical world,” I said to him. “This town, er?—”

“Hidden Hollow,” he supplied.

“Oh, right. Hidden Hollow. Are yousureit doesn’t let non-magical people in?” I asked. “Because I’m pretty positive there’s nothing special or magical about me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that,” he rumbled and I noticed that his golden eyes were glowing as he looked me swiftly up and down before his gaze came back to my face. “I think you’reveryspecial.”

I could feel myself blushing again at his frank appraisal and praise. I wasn’t used to men looking at me that way. Honestly, I was more or less used to being invisible.

Whenever I went out with my friends—who were all thin—I wasalways the wingman. Always the one the guys ignored. It was like they didn’t see me. Or if theydidbother to talk to me, it was always asking for advice on how to get one of my skinny friends to date them. I was sick of it, but that’s the existence of a curvy girl—it sucks to date when you’re bigger.

But Tark was looking at me likeIwas one of my skinny friends—like I was the beautiful one, not just someone to ignore and pass over. It made me blush but I have to admit, I also liked it—I liked it alot.

“Well, thank you,” I said, putting a hand to my cheek—it was hot. “But I mean, I don’t think there’s anythingmagicalabout me.”

“Just because you haven’t discovered your magic yet doesn’t mean you don’t have it,” he pointed out. “We have people showing up here all the time who don’t know what their magic is. But they always find it—I’m sure you will too. If you come back,” he added.

“I think I’d like to come back,” I said, which was true. “But, er, I don’t know how I got here in the first place.”

“You said something about trying to get into a room full of ladies?” he said, frowning. “But I don’t know—that was after you bumped your head.”

“Oh—theladiesroom!” I couldn’t help laughing. “That’s just a nice word for the bathroom.”

“Oh—that makes more sense.” He nodded thoughtfully, then frowned. “But you said you were going there to cry—was that right?”

“Um…” I nibbled my lower lip, wondering if I should tell him.

Normally, I wouldn’t have told anyone, not even my friends. I hated being pitied. But somehow, Tark felt like a safe space—I found Iwantedto tell him.

“It was my boss,” I admitted at last. “He said…some pretty nasty things to me and threw some things at me and, well…sometimes you just can’t help crying, you know?”

“Hewhat?”The angry tone in his deep voice surprised me. “What did he throw at you? What did he say?”

“It was just some papers,” I said quickly, surprised at how upset he’dgotten on my behalf. “He, uh, claimed that he told me to alphabetize them—only he didn’t! He’s always making up new rules and not telling me about them until I’ve broken them somehow.”

I couldn’t keep the irritation out of my voice. Sometimes working for Mr. Price was nearly unbearable!

“He sounds like a fuckingasshole,” Tark growled and suddenly his face was scary again. Or itwouldhave been scary if I’d thought his anger was directed at me—it wasn’t, though. I knew that instinctively and I wasn’t frightened.

“Heisan asshole,” I said and sighed. “But he’s an asshole I’m stuck with for the next four years—at least until I finish school.”

“What? Why are you stuck with him?” Tark demanded. “You ought to leave that job!”

“I can’t,” I said and proceeded to explain about the contract I’d signed and the way I couldn’t get out of it because I didn’t have an extra hundred thousand or so to spend.

Through it all, Tark listened intently. What I really appreciated was the fact that hedidn’tstart offering solutions right away—though he did ask why, even if I had to stay at Bentley Pharmaceuticals, I couldn’t at least get away from Mr. Price.

When I explained that I’d tried and HR wouldn’t let me leave him because Mr. Price didn’t want to let me go, his face went as dark as a thundercloud.

“That asshole is a Sin Sucker!” he growled.

“I’m sorry—a what?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“A Sin Sucker—a being that enjoys the discomfort or pain of others,” he explained. “Most Sin Suckers feed on physical pain, but there are plenty out there that feed on emotional pain too.”

“But that’s here in the Magical Realm,” I pointed out. “I’m sure we don’t have anything like that in the human world—do we?”

“You sure as fuck do,” he said, frowning. “In fact, you had a whole lot of them back in the 1940s. What do you think the fucking Nazis were?”

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