Page 33 of Rough Riding Orc Cowboy

Instead of silk sheets, she would have to slide inside a sleeping blanket.

Worst of all, everything came with me. I wasn’t the kind of respectable male she’d been raised to marry.

She deserved so much better. I had to remember that.

With a blink of one eye I couldn't interpret, she urged Barg to slow his pace. After the rest of our group had passed, she eased Barg beside the sorhox pulling the cart, taking the rear as if we needed protection. We didn’t.Shedid, and it boiled my bones to think I might not see anything coming with her all the way at the rear.

I slowed Ebar until Barg and the cart sorhox caught up.

“I ride in the back,” I growled.

She frowned. “Alright.”

It wasn’t any easier watching the sway of her body as she shifted on Barg’s back, moving ahead to ride behind the others. She’d never ridden before, but you wouldn’tknow that by watching her now. My heart crunched with pride. I’d shown her how to do that. She had a natural skill, but I’d helped her up, made sure her saddle was snug, and showed her how to hold the reins the right way.

Had she really suggested I touch a part of her body? I couldn’t imagine how painfully wonderful it would be to even stroke her face, let alone put my fingers anywhere near her ass.

But oh, how I longed to do so.

Ahead of us, the dusty road stretched away from the outskirts of town, the land wide and golden beneath the midday sun. The tourists chattered, their laughter mixing with the rhythmic thud of sorhox hooves hitting packed dirt.

As we passed the last building, I felt the weight of a gaze on my back. A glance over my shoulder made my heart come to a stop.

Bradley stood on the boardwalk in front of the jailhouse, his gaze fixed on me.

Me, not Beth.

Not yet.

He didn't know where Beth had gone, but his instincts must've suggested she was somewhere nearby. Why else wouldn't they have left town by now? I had a feeling this male wouldn't stop searching, not until he drove himself mad with the effort to get her back.

Go ahead, I thought but did not say. Keep looking for her. You won’t find her. The promise burned in my eyes.

After meeting Beth's gaze and noting how she'd kepther hat low to shadow her face and how she looked very much like a young male and not a runaway bride, I turned back to face the road. She was safe. I would make sure she stayed that way.

Even if I had to let her go back to the world she belonged to, while I stayed exactly where I was.

Dirt under my boots. Sun on my skin. Empty arms that ached for this woman alone.

Chapter 12

Beth

Barg's haunches rolled beneath me with each step, his steady pace rocking me back and forth, back and forth. At first, my thighs clenched too tight, my hands gripping the reins like my life depended on it. The height alone made my stomach swoop. But little by little, my muscles adjusted. The rhythm of his movement became predictable, almost soothing.

And that let me relax enough to take in the surroundings.

The wind cooled the heat on my face, carrying the scents of sun-warmed dirt and grass. The land stretched wide around us, rolling hills opening into huge plains spotted with sorhoxes. Mountains in the distance surrounded the enormous valley, and there was nothing but a cloud-dotted sky above. No walls, no gated estate, no father looming over my shoulder.

All of this was due to Ruugar.

I sucked in a deep breath and reminded myself to keep pretending I was Ben, the stable hand. A real young man wouldn’t gape at the scenery like he’d never seen anything beyond a manicured lawn. I straightened, rolling my shoulders back in what I hoped was an easy, confident way. And kept my hat sloped low to shadow my face.

I’d watched Ruugar as we rode out of town. He sat on Ebar like he'd been born on the creature’s back. No reins. No saddle. Just foot controls that the well-trained beast obeyed with ease. Ebar moved like an extension of him.

Admiration coasted through me, warm and much too unsettling. The way he commanded Ebar so effortlessly made my breath catch. If only I had even a fraction of that confidence, of that certainty. His strength should've been intimidating, but instead, it made me want to move closer, to reach out, as if being close to him might teach me how to stand taller too.

When he eased Ebar back to take the rear of the group, that made me nervous. What if he was watching me, critiquing my posture, judging me? Since the thought made me fidget, I slowed Barg until Ebar caught up and then rode beside them.

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