Page 51 of Orc's Mate

Eleri

We danced and sang well into the evening, laughing until our voices began to croak and Odik’s legs must’ve ached from spinning me around.

Our happiness shoved the lingering sadness out the door. It could wallow in the storm instead of tainting the joy we found with each other inside our snug home.

Wiped out, we collapsed on the sofa, where I leaned against his side. His arm went around me, and he kissed the top of my head.

“There’s no one I’d rather weather a storm with than you, mate,” he said.

I was grateful to hear joy in his voice. He’d felt fragile earlier, which was why I put so much effort into our meal. There wasn’t much I could do to cheer him up, but simple things often worked better than anything else.

Knowing you were loved helped the most.

“I love you,” I said, lifting my voice to be heard above the storm.

“Mate.” He lifted me up to sit on his lap, facing him, and kissed me.

I snuggled into his embrace while the storm raged around us.

“Is it a good time to go down to the rocks to watch the storm?” I asked.

“We’ll go tomorrow, when it has passed, and the tide has retreated. It’ll be safe then. That’s also a good time to collect wood the storm leaves on the shore. I gather it into a sizeable pile near the base of the cliff and use it to light a fire when I camp on the shore.”

“Camping?”

“Sleeping outside with only the stars as my roof.”

“Do bugs nibble?”

His arms tightened around me. “Only mates who are eager to be with the one they love.”

I couldn’t stop grinning. He said all the right things, but to him, they were more than words. They were feelings spoken from deep within his heart, and they touched me in a way nothing and no one else ever had.

A gust of wind slammed into the side of the building, but it didn’t budge.

“A distant grandfather built this home, and each generation has improved it,” he said. “You’re safe here.”

“I’m safe anywhere when your arms are around me.”

“Can you feel the storm?”

I closed my eyes. “The atmosphere crackles with electricity, as if the very air pulses with raw power.”

With every flash of lightning illuminating the room, shadows danced across the walls, casting eerie shapes on the furniture.

“Can you feel the tension coiling in your chest?” he asked, taking me with him on a journey to explore the sensations generated by the storm. “This isn’t just any storm—it’s an enormous tempest. A beast sent from the sky.”

I found myself both captivated and apprehensive about what lay ahead. Our home was tight and well-built, but the storm sounded ferocious, a vicious creature determined to find its way inside to defeat us.

A rumble of thunder rang out, resonating deep within my bones and shaking the house.

“It’s a chorus to nature,” I whispered. “One of chaos, power, and awe.” Rain battered the windows relentlessly, as if it sought to breach our sanctuary at the top of the rocky cliff. “Does anyone ever go outside during a storm like this?”

“I have. Remember? My father used to take me down to the rocks.”

“You said once the storm had mostly passed.”

“We could try to go outside right now if you want.”

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