Page 16 of Orc's Mate

“They attack often?” I asked with a thready voice. I didn’t fear much, but the idea of sea creatures the size of orcs attacking us almost made me eager to return to the forest and face the shaydes and ashenclaws. At least I understood them. I knew almost nothing about the dresalods.

“They rarely bother with the islands. The topography provides too much of a challenge. And they only attack at night and infrequently.”

“Howoften?” If this was going to be my home, I needed to know.

He shrugged. “Every six months or so, when their numbers have grown enough to make them feel brave. Never fear, though. We hear them coming long before they arrive. They tend to shriek as they leave the sea. We pull up our steps, making it harder for them to climb, then drop boulders down on them when they try to scale the stone surface. Few make it to the top, and they’re quickly dispatched.”

“It doesn’t make me eager to go near the sea.

“I’ll keep you safe.”

I had to trust him. After all, he’d lived this long with the creatures. He must be quite savvy when it comes to dresalods.

“What else can you tell me about the island?”

“It’s the largest in a chain of islands, and orcs only live on the main bit of land. The others are too small to support our way of life for long. As for the island itself, it’s made up of open areas and some forest. We grow our own crops, and we have a tight, friendly community. The island itself is prettier than any place you’ve ever seen.” Pride and happiness shone in his voice. “I love it there. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. You’ll enjoy it there too.”

Other than the dresalods, I suspected I would. But I could keep watch like the orcs did. And over time, I would learn how to fight them too. Not as well as an orc. I was nowhere near as strong.

But my strength came from inside, where it most mattered.

We flew until morning came again, and Odik landed Zarran in another small meadow.

Like before, I hobbled behind Odik collecting sticks for the fire, struggling not to groan. I ached so much I winced with each step. I wasn’t sure there was a muscle left in my body that didn’t spasm.

He refilled the flask at a snaky stream winding through the woods near the meadow.

“You can wash here if you’d like.”

The water might be cold, but the idea sounded heavenly. With my bag of clothing in hand, I limped over to the water.

As much as I wanted to strip and sit in the stream, I wasn’t confident about removing my clothing around Odik. I wasn’t worried he’d attack me. He’d already proven he was a good person.

But my skin tingled whenever I thought of him studying my naked body. I wasn’t exactly sure what the tingling meant, but I suspected it was related to the attraction I was beginning to feel for the strong orc who called me his mate.

Removing my undergarment, I washed it and laid it on a flat rock to dry in the sun. I stood in the water with my legs spread and cleaned up as best as I could.

“I’ll turn away if it makes you feel more comfortable,” he called out from where he crouched beside the newly laid fire. He tossed a stick into the flames and didn’t look my way.

Alright. I needed to feel clean.

With my back to him, I removed my blouse, washed it out and laid it in the sun beside the undergarment. I stripped off my skirt and, naked, sat in the water that only came to my waist. I couldn’t hold back a yip. Damn, it was cold!

Odik’s gaze cut my way before he whipped his head back to face the fire.

“You’re not harmed?” he called out.

“No. Sorry. The water’s cold. But it feels great.” I washed myself and even laid back and did my hair as best I could. Too bad they hadn’t included soap in the bag they gave each woman leaving the fortress for the hunt.

“I’ll bathe after you,” he said.

Rising from the water, I used my blouse to blot off most of the water. I wrung out my hair and braided it to keep it from soaking through my clean clothing and dressed quickly.

My teeth chattered as I hurried to the fire, but I felt decent for the first time in days.

“Keep an eye on Zarran,” Odik said, rising. “He’ll alert you if he hears any threat. Call out to me.”

“I will.” I sat near the fire, stretching my twitching fingers toward it to suck in the heat.

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