Page 12 of Mountain Orc Daddy

“It’s both,” I tell her. “I want to boost you. I am an uplifter. I am Chieftain like my father before me. I lift up my tribe.”

“So I am your tribe now?” she jibes back. “You really are flirting.”

“Each of us has two tribes. The tribe we are born with is one. The second tribe is the one we meet in the forest, along the rivers, or in the dales.” I lean closer when I say this last part. I want to smell her more deeply. The cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, and white sage are beguiling.

“I like the way you see things,” Blair comments.

“You are seducing me into seeing new horizons for my world,” I tell her softly and gently. My face is close to her cheek and her hair. I can hear her blood racing through her veins. “Or my world is simply opening to new horizons, horizons that include you.”

“Okay. The big mountain orc finally decides he wants to open up, and this is somehow my fault?” she snaps back. I can sense a giggle corralled at the back of her throat.

“Absolutely,” I tell her. “You are cute as a plum blossom.” I move my face forward just enough to press my lips into her cheek. I want to see if she will let me. Will she flinch? Will she make my tusks a thing?

Blair moves ever-so-slightly, turning her face and lips into my kiss. She is warmth, she is fire, she is sweet as an apple, she is a dream. Her lips into mine, and I know things will be right. My lips into hers, and I wish for her all the love in the world.

I close my eyes for this kiss. To relish the closeness. I know her eyes close, too.

Her lips are pouty, soft, and strong. Our kiss becomes a silent, starving prowl from lips to tongue to lips again.

I am Chieftain. I am strong. I need to pull away and be composed. Yet she is pulling me in. I am reminded of the old sea who greets the lovely shore, and when he feigns to leave, she pulls him back, again and again. In my mind I see the leaves of the trees across the mountains and the valleys which blush so brightly on autumn's hot days and crisp nights. Her tender lips flow through me visages of the mountains who kiss the heavens and the rivers who kiss the seas.

I really do break away. I pull my head back gently and let my eyes open to the spangled heavens.

“I won’t apologize,” Blair tells me. “And neither will you.”

“No, we won’t,” I add. “Because this was perfect. This was a threshold. A place between worlds, a place to cross again.”

“Are you going to head back home now?” she asks. I know she is curious, not accusing.

“I welcome a walk right now to digest this gift of an evening you have given me.” I want to tell her that I already miss her.

I won’t hug her. If I did hug her, I might never let go.

“Give your beautiful family my best blessings and thanks,” I tell her. Behind my words I am imagining seeing her in the morning light.

“You are not going to be able to not see us tomorrow,” she tells me. “You said it yourself, something about natural harmony. Besides, Remus and Jade so adore you and will be curious for more from you. They will want to learn more about the Broken Maws tribe.”

“I will try not to disappoint them,” I tell her. “Sweet dreams to you.”

I turn to go. The hidden trail back to the Broken Maws tribe calls to my feet and requires little direction from me.

Blair’s smile is what I want to keep smiling at. Her flesh is what I want to keep touching. Her tiny movements, big beauty, first a whisper, now a sonnet, are waking me to bigger horizons.

9

BLAIR

I’m the first to wake up among my family members. The birds sing and the rays of sunshine peek through the small openings of the tent. The blankets look tempting enough to lay in bed a little longer. On the other hand, going out to look for Uzul sounds a lot better.

After putting on a sweater, I quietly leave the tent to not disturb the others.

“Blair?” I hear Uzul’s deep voice from behind.

I almost jump. I can’t believe he’s already here! I expected to see him in the afternoon.

“Good morning,” he says.

“Good morning! Did you sleep well?”

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