Page 26 of Bound to the Orc King

As soon as her hooves touch the water, the cries of the water nymphs get louder.

“Over here!” I wave my hands. “I’ll play with you!”

Instead of skimming across the surface so I see them coming, they disappear from where they were and pop out of the water right in front of me, splashing my arms and face.

I startle, then laugh. “Hello!”

“Come!” The nymphs leap from the surface, their fingers tickling across the bare skin of my arms. “Come dance with us!”

“I am.” I undulate my arms, making wild patterns in the air. “I’m dancing with you!”

They jump and twirl, water spinning outward in arcs that catch the sun and make a series of miniature rainbows.

It’s beautiful and magical, and I wish Mom could see it. She’d love it so much—it’s exactly like the stories she used to tell me.

Aldronn’s grip tightens on my hips as Starfall plunges into the deepest part of the river, the water rising so high along her sides that my knees get wet. I brace my stomach muscles to lift my upper body higher to keep my face out of the water.

The nymphs no longer need to leap to reach me. They race along, keeping pace easily, their torsos vertical in the water. Foamy fingers dance over my arms, my face, my hair. “New friend,” they call out, their high voices singing like the water of a creek skipping over stones.

I can’t stop laughing and smiling, my cheeks aching.

We get close enough to the far bank that Starfall begins to climb.

The nymphs start jumping again as the water lowers, spangling the air with water-drop rainbows.

When we’re only a few yards from exiting the water, I stop dancing with my arms and stretch toward the nymphs, trying to touch as many hands as possible. “Thank you!” I cry out. “Thank you so much!”

“Come back and dance with us again!” The bravest nymph makes one last leap, fingers gliding over mine right at the edge of the shallows.

“I will!” I promise.

Starfall’s hooves strike rock as she climbs onto the bank and comes to a halt.

I squirm, trying to get out of this awkward position. Before I can make any real headway, Aldronn scoops me up onto his forearms, lifts, and rolls me until I’m in a bridal carry. My head spins—not from the motion but from how much strength it took for him to do it. I’m average sized and weigh a decent amount. No guy I’ve ever known could have moved me around like that.

It’s freaking hot.

“Thank you,” Starfall says. “That was tolerable.”

“Coming from her, it’s high praise,” Aldronn adds.

“You don’t have to thank me. That was fantastic!” My body’s still humming with joy.

When he lowers my butt to the saddle, I spread my legs to retake my seat, the dark circles of my wet knees looking likepatches against the dry cloth of the rest of my jeans. My T-shirt is wet too from all the splashing.

“Are you all right to travel like this?” Aldronn’s arms remain around me, his voice a rumble in my ear. “It’s not far to where I want to make camp.”

“I’m fine.” In all my travels, I’ve gotten caught in the rain lots of times, and as long as it doesn’t get too cold, it’s never been a big deal.

Especially when I get to snuggle back into an orc who’s deliciously warm.

Starfall follows the river for a while, then cuts into the forest at a diagonal to find an easier way down when the land starts to dip. We circle back towards the river, galloping through heavy pines and another stand of the blue birch trees before emerging into a glen filled with the roar of falling water.

“Oh, a waterfall!” I blurt, excitement coursing through me. “I love waterfalls!”

“After seeing the one at your home, I thought you might,” Aldronn says.

The lowering sunlight of evening angles over the tips of the trees, turning the top of the waterfall into a sparkle of diamonds. The water plunges down a smooth rock cliff, churning the surface where it hits before spreading out into a calm, wide pool of deep blue.

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