Page 52 of Orc's Mate

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Let’s do it.” I couldn’t wait to face the force battering our home. We wouldn’t do anything unsafe, but maybe he meant we could peek out the door.

He rose with me sheltered in his arms and walked down the hallway. A door at the end led outside to a room with a solid roof and screened walls. The room wound partly around to the side facing the sea.

“Why didn’t I see this here?” I shouted to be heard above the wind.

With a shrug, Odik sat in the solitary chair facing the water. “I don’t use the room often, though I should.”

Despite the chair being placed against the inner wall, raindrops pattered on the floor, splashing my lower legs exposed by my skirt. I’d long since kicked off my shoes, and there was something exhilarating about letting the storm touch my toes in this way.

Slipping from his lap, I approached the outer wall and clung to the railing, peering through the screen at the sea churning far below.

Odik came up behind me and I leaned back into his embrace, secure despite the tempest trying to claim victory over our souls.

The salty scent of the ocean hit my senses, and the tang of brine filled my nose, intermingling with the crisp sweetness of wet earth. Below, the waves surged with ferocity, crashing against the cliffs with a deafening roar. A fine mist rose, caught by the wind and carried toward us.

Feeling invigorated and alive, I trembled with a mixture of fear and excitement. One moment, the world around would vanish beneath an inky shroud, swallowed by the blackness of the storm; the next, a bolt of lightning would crackle across the sky, tracing jagged paths through the stars and lighting up everything around us.

The trees creaked and groaned, gusts of wind wrapping around them and sucking at their leaves. Our tiny house held firm, defying the storm safely amid chaos.

Time passed like an adrenaline-fueled blur, and soon we were soaked through. I shivered, partly from the cold but also from the energy released by the storm.

“You’re cold,” Odik said. “And wet.”

I grinned at him. “You’re wet too. Why don’t we go inside and warm each other up?”

“I like how you think, mate.”

He swept me up in his arms and strode into the house, kicking the door closed behind him.

In our bedroom, he gently removed my clothing and his own.

Then he replaced his fingers on my skin with his mouth.

Chapter27

Eleri

Iwoke during the night to complete silence. No drumming of rain on the roof, and no wind gusting against the shutters barring our windows, trying to find a way in. The storm was over. With a grin, I snuggled into my husband’s side. He murmured something, kissing the top of my head as his arms wrapped around me. I drifted back to sleep.

When I woke again, morning sunlight streamed in through the window on my left. Odik must’ve gotten up sometime and removed the shutters.

“We made it,” I said. Reaching out, I found Odik gone. But the smell of food cooking and his low whistled tune tugged me from our bed and down the hall—with a quick stop in the bathroom and to tug on a nightie. I entered our tiny kitchen where he prepared breakfast at the stove. He continued whistling the same song he’d sang last night, shifting his hips along with the tune.

“Have a seat, lovely one,” he called over his shoulder, adding a grin. “I’m going to serve you a meal unlike any other.”

“It smells wonderful.” I dropped into the chair, smiling at how my feet dangled. Everything in the house was orc-sized, which meant it was much too big for me. I felt a bit like I lived in a doll’s house, though no dollhouse ever held Odik. He told me he was going to make me some smaller furniture, and I loved that he’d do that for me.

“Tea,” he said, lowering a mug in front of me. “I collect the herbs on the island, and this is my special blend.”

“I didn’t know you were a tea connoisseur.” Lifting the cup, I closed my eyes and took a sniff. “I smell hints of vanilla.”

“I pick the beans, preserve them, and grate some into the mix.”

“And aspest berries.”

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