Page 49 of Wrangling the Orc Cowboy

He scowled some more before easing his back onto the grass, stretching his legs out like I’d asked. “The sun is still too bright.”

“Don't look directly at it. Oh, if there’s an eclipse, definitely don't look directly at it at all.”

“What’s an eclipse?”

“It’s when the moon floats between the sun and us. It kind of blocks the light.”

“The moon floats?” he barked out. “Is it going to float down to us and hit us?”

“Not so far. I don't think it can.” I really didn't understand the science of all that. “Focus on the clouds. They're pretty. They're not going to attack us.”

“They're visible masses of water droplets or ice crystals that hover in the sky.”

“Where did you learn that?” He hadn't mentioned clouds in the orc kingdom. Was something like that even possible there? Steam off a river or lake, sure, but puffy white clouds in the sort of cavern roof-sky? I doubted it.

“I read about it online. I wanted to know.”

Ah, that made sense.

“When I was a kid, and I had some free time on the set,” I said. “I used to like to lay on the grass and watch the clouds float past. I'd try to pick out shapes.” Spying a good one, I pointed. “See there? That looks like a sorhox's head.”

“Where?”

I scooted closer to him and pointed, trying to ignore how yummy he smelled, how wonderful it was to lie beside him, our bodies brushing, sharing this special moment. “Right there,” I croaked. I really needed to keep control of my voice and emotions. “You can see a big horn coming off the side and the curve of its head. It’s like Castree up in the sky.”

Tark tilted his head as he tried to make sense of it. “I see the horn but the body, where is the body?”

“Just imagine it connecting to the rest of the cloud. Your mind knows how to fill in the blanks. Isn’t that the fun of playing pretend?”

“Playing pretend seems... odd.”

“Odd? Tark, it's beautiful! It's a way to escape reality for a little while.” The fresh air wrapped around us, the rustling of the grass made it feel like the world was sharing secrets. Emotions swirled through me, but I brushed them aside for now.

“Life can’t be all work and survival,” I said. “What would be the point? We need those moments where we can laugh and relax.”

Tark turned to look at me, those dark eyes pooling with something unreadable. “Do you laugh often?”

I chuckled, turning my head fully to meet his gaze. “More often than you'd know. Sometimes I remind myself to be silly. It keeps me enjoying the now and not focusing on whatever might be coming next. We only live this instant. Why worry about tomorrow when it'll never come?”

“Tomorrow is coming. It'll be here…tomorrow.”

“But it won't be, because tomorrow, it'll be today, and the next day will be tomorrow. If you focus too much on what's coming next rather than enjoying what you have now, you'll miss out on the good stuff.”

“I don't want to miss out on anything.” His gaze dropped to my mouth. Was he thinking about our kisses?

I wanted another. Even more.

“I want to kiss you,” he growled.

My breath caught. “Then I think you should.” I slid my fingertip across my lips. “Here.” And then slid my finger to my throat. “And here.” I could keep going. Would he get the message?

His eyes widened. “You don't mind me kissing you?”

“No, why would I?”

“Because…I'm bumbling. I trip over my feet. Slam into walls without meaning to.”

“What does that have to do with kissing me?”

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