Page 4 of Orc's Pretend Mate

He frowns as he drops his gaze to the table between us.

“Heh. No,” he says, shaking his head. “No thanks.”

“No? Why?”

He looks up and there is the slightest hint of a fire deep in his eyes.

“We were better,” he says softly. “Should be better.”

My stomach flips and I choke on my own spit. Coughing madly as I try to calm my spasming throat. I look down in embarrassment at my outburst. He isn’t paying any attention though. The way he’s staring into his tea cup I almost wonder if he’s trying to read the future in the leaves or something.

“That sounds… nice,” I say, sipping the tea to ease the burning in my throat from the choking.

“Nice,” he snorts. “My people…” he trails off with a heavy sigh. “We are not what we were.”

We sit in a silence that is less uncomfortable then it was. I’m a guest in his house. An unwanted, probably unwelcome guest, but he isn’t making a thing of it. I’m grateful for that too. This entire mission sucks.

He finishes his tea then sits quietly until I finish mine too. When I set the cup down, he rises, the chair scraping, and takes my cupas well as his. He washes and puts away the dishes then turns and gazes at me.

“I’m sorry, could I have helped?” I ask after a moment of him staring.

It makes me uncomfortable both because he’s staring and because I now feel like an ass for not offering to assist but it was only two cups.

“Heh,” he grunts and shrugs. I stare, waiting for something more. Some indicator or what he is thinking. “Sleep.”

“Sleep?” I ask, not the thing I was expecting him to say but the moment he does, I realize I am tired. It’s been a long, exhausting day. Stress doesn’t sit well and I really could use a good rest. “Right. Oh. Uh. Yeah.”

I rise from the table and look around the home. It’s small and pretty much the same as Kinto’s place. The living space has a couch and two chairs in it, all of which look pretty comfortable. That’s where I slept at Kinto’s and I was fine with it.

“Bed?” he asks.

Butterflies flood my belly. I cross my arms over my chest then realize that makes my breasts stand out even more and quickly drop them. Staring at his face, I’m trying to decide if he’s offering me his bed or propositioning me. His deadpan tone and generally conservatively reserved demeanor make it really hard to figure out.

“Uhm,” I say, looking around. “The uh, the couch over there is fine.”

His frown deepens. He glances over the piece of furniture, making the metal bands that encircle strands of his hair clatter. He shakes his head.

“No.”

“No?”

He returns his gaze up to my eyes and grunts.

“No.”

“What do you mean no?” I ask as my stomach drops.

I take a step back. As if it’s going to do any good. If he wants to hurt me or… worse... there is literally nothing I can do to stop him. He’s fucking huge for one. And who’s going to care? The Maulavi plan to kill me soon anyway. Why would anyone care if he gets some satisfaction from me first?

His mouth turns into a frown, crinkling his forehead as he narrows his eyes. He tilts his head to the side, not taking his eyes off of mine.

“You seemed fluent in lizard, was I mistaken?” he asks.

“Lizard?”

He may look confused but I definitely am. This conversation is so weird. Oh, he must mean Zmaj.

“Yes, I speakZmaj,” I say, defiantly emphasizing their proper name. “Lizard is derogatory but I’m sureyouknow that.”

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