Page 63 of Orc's Mate

“I am happy,” she cried. “Really.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“Because you did this for me, and I love you, and I think I’m pregnant.”

I sucked in her words, and my heart came to a grinding halt. “You think you’re pregnant?”

Nodding, she sniffed.

“Mate,” I groaned. I swept her up and spun her around, kissing her as if my very life depended on it—which it did. “Mate. We’re going to have an orcling together?”

“I hope so.”

“A boy or a girl?”

She frowned. “There’s no way to know that before it comes out.”

“Maybe one of each.”

“Twins?”

At her frown, I backtracked. “I’ll settle for one at a time.”

“Odik. I’m having one baby. One. Not two. At least not yet.” She gave me a watery smile. “Show me the tub?”

“When you were newly arrived on the island, you mentioned how wonderful it would be to have water piped into a tub. I decided cold water wouldn’t do, so I rigged a system that heats the water as it emerges from the ground. I’ll have to feed the heater with wood, but this way, you can take nice, warm baths whenever you want.”

“So much work and for me?” She slid down my front until her feet touched the floor.

“I’ll do anything for you, Eleri. You know that, don’t you?”

She glanced at the tub. “There’s one more thing you can do.”

“What’s that?”

“The tub looks large enough for two.” She lifted her dress up over her head and carefully laid it on a nearby chair.

By the fates, she wore nothing underneath. Was she trying to kill me with lust? Whenever she wore the dress next, I’d be wondering if that was the day she’d chosen to wear underthings or the day she’d gone without.

I’d never get the image of her looking so lush and alluring out of my mind.

“I crafted the tub large on purpose,” I gulped out.

She climbed the short steps and swung her legs over the side, sinking down into the steaming water I’d filled it with before I brought her out here. “Yes, there’s plenty of room.”

The smile she gave me made my heart ache with joy. This woman had brought light and color into my life, and there was no place I’d rather be than with her.

Curling her finger my way, she gave me a sultry smile. “Why don’t you join me for our very first bath in our new tub?”

Chapter32

Eleri

EPILOGUE

Eight Months Later

“One more,” the orc midwife, Cassatine, called out. She’d moved to the island a few months ago to help one of the orc women with their first birth and decided to stay. With our population now over one hundred, and ten of them orcling-bearing aged females, we needed her more than those living in the city every would. They had more than enough healers to help with a birth.

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