Page 34 of Rough Riding Orc Cowboy

Of course, then I was watching Ruugar, tracing the lines of his profile, his muscular shoulders and arms. His hat shadowed his face, making him appear more rugged. And that sharp jawline?—

I wrenched my gaze away.

What was I doing? With my life in turmoil, Ishouldn't be thinking about how it might feel to kiss him. How his tusks might press into my chin or how wonderful it would feel even if all he did was hold me. He was kind, sure. Protective too. But that didn’t mean he wanted anything more from me. I'd already thrown my entire life at his feet. Pretty much told him he could touch my ass, which he hadn’t taken me up on.

Talk about cringe. When he purposefully misinterpreted my pitiful attempt at flirtation, my face had overheated, and it was all I could do not to cry.

He wasn’t interested in me that way, and the sooner I accepted it, the better. There was no way a gorgeous orc like him would want to deal with more of my mess than he already was.

A quiet chuckle pulled my attention away from my dismal thoughts.

Mary and Joel slowed the pace of their mounts until we caught up to ride beside them. Our sorhoxes continued plodding along the trail stretching across the big open plain with their tails swishing and their gazes scanning the area. Those tusks and horns! I couldn't imagine what kind of creature these sorhoxes would face that they'd need weapons like that. Maybe they were holdovers from their ancient history, like Ruugar's tusks, and whatever threat they might’ve battled in the past no longer existed.

“You look like you've been riding sorhoxes for some time,” Mary said with an approving nod my way.

“Oh, um, yup.” I tried to keep my voice deep andgrowly, adding a touch of gruffness to maintain my ruse. It worked for Ruugar quite well.

“This is one of Joel’s first times riding anything that doesn’t have tires.” Her grin widened. “I rode horses when I was younger, but never a sorhox, of course. I talked my husband into going horseback riding on one of our vacations once and, honey, let me tell you. He was so sore at the end of the day and believe me, I heard all about it for at least a week.” She winked at me. “Stillkeep hearing about how his poor old butt muscles ached.”

Joel, riding on her opposite side, rolled his eyes. “I had bruises in places I didn’t even know existed.”

Mary leaned over to pat his thigh. “Still stayed married to me, though.”

“Can't imagine anything else, dear one.”

The way they spoke to each other, plus the way their eyes still met with warmth made my chest ache. They teased, they laughed, and the love between them felt relaxed and easy, the way it should be.

Jealousy squeezed deep inside me. Not the bad kind, though. Just the kind that made me wonder if I’d ever have something like that, a simple, solid love, one that would last a lifetime.

“Yee-haw,” Mary cried out, sending me a smile before she urged her sorhox into a trot. She caught up with Ruugar, who’d eased into the lead, with Joel and his sorhox not far behind.

While they chatted, and the newlyweds, Pete and Carol, pointed to one thing or another, we rode for half an hour orso. We'd stop soon to set up the first campsite, though from what Ruugar said this morning, this was more like glamping than roughing it in the way I'd seen in movies.

Halfway into our ride, Pete and Carol slowed their sorhoxes until I caught up, the clawed hooves of their beasts skimming through the deeper grass along the side of the trail.

“Ben, isn’t it?” Pete asked, curiosity shining in his brown eyes.

“Sure am.” I kept my expression neutral, what they might be able to see of it under the brim of my hat, that is.

“Where are you from?” Carol adjusted her hat to block the glare of the sun.

Not panicking, which would look suspicious, I shrugged. Ruugar and I hadn’t discussed my pretend background. We should’ve. What if I told them I was from Boston, and he said California? “Grew up around horses back home.” That was neutral enough, and it wasn’t a total lie. I’d seen horses out my bedroom window, grazing in the pasture on the estate next door. I just hadn’t gone anywhere near them.

“Ah, you must love this job then.” Carol smiled. “Being outdoors all day, working with these incredible creatures.” Leaning forward, she patted her sorhox's neck.

“Always enjoyed working with animals.” Guys spoke in short, chopping sentences, right?

Ruugar glanced back, giving me a brief nod beforefacing forward again and returning to his conversation with Mary and Joel.

“First time working with sorhoxes, though, right?” Pete asked.

“Yeah. I…arrived here a coupla weeks ago. I've interacted with them plenty since. They're amazing creatures.”

“They’re something, huh?” Pete patted his mount's hide. “Way sturdier than horses. And they don’t even seem to spook.”

“I can't imagine anything around here that would try to take them down.” Carol studied the beast beneath her. “They look like they could fight off a wolf pack all by themselves.”

“Oh, they could,” Ruugar said over his shoulder. “Sorhoxes are built tough. They need to be.”

---