Page 22 of Valpar

Why did she have to look so tempting?

“Leave.” I gritted my teeth, picked her up by her tiny waist and placed her on the ground.

She laughed. “That’s a weird name. Did your parents name you that? Is it a derivative of leaf or something?” She tilted her head and put her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her feet. “I know a couple of elves named Leaf. You match the name Leaf better because you’re green. But I think I would call you Tree, or something, because you are so huge.” She continued. “Hey, do you want me to get you a cupcake? They have my favorites out,” She teased.

Calliope pointed over to the dessert table, and her tiny tongue swept across her lip. My shaft leaked more, and my hand covered my pants to conceal my want.

The fairy had cast a spell on me, that’s all this is.

“Sure,” I ground out.

“Kay, be right back! Don’t go anywhere!” She hopped off, her rounded backside making me groan, but those damn wings caught my sight, again.

She is a fairy, or a fae. I never could tell which was which when they were in their larger forms. I stood, still staring at her as she gathered a plate for each of us, but I knew what I had to do. Get away from her, get my head on straight, and away from her bewitching powers.

As I turned, I smelled the sickly-sweet scent of King Osirus, and a laughing Queen Melina come closer.

“I knew she’d come,” Queen Melina skipped joyfully toward me.

Osirus steadied himself after I almost knocked him over. He brushed off his arm, and his lips curled into a smile. “Indeed, but I have to say, even I did not see this little pairing coming.”

Chapter Seven

Calliope

I didn’t tip toeand act like a graceful fairy when I went to the dessert table. I pranced, my bare feet slapping the marbled floors. I was too excited, my hands shaking at what had just happened.

I fell into an orc’s lap. I saw one up close.

Scars littered his chest, which I imagine were from the war so long ago. His hair wasn’t in a braid like most of the orcs I’d seen. In fact, his hair was rather messy, but I liked that. I wanted to run my fingers through the strands. It looked so soft, like the restof him. Which was strange, because most of the orcs look hard and lumpy. He was so comfy.

Leave was much softer than I imagined an orc would be. His legs were large as tree trunks, his arms strong and muscular, but he was surprisingly gentle with his size.

His yellow eyes stared at me, giving me a look that I had never experienced. There was a heat in his gaze that I’d often seen Uncle Osirus give to Melina, and my dad with Mom.

It made me squeeze my thighs together, and the parts between my legs pulsed like they had never done before just looking at a male.

I bit my lip as I remembered how he looked at my dress, felt the softness between his fingers, and touched my thigh.

A shiver ran through my body. His touch had lit a fire inside me. One that I hoped never burned out. I felt like the heroine in those romance books, who finds a male to quench desires that only mates should have for each other.

And he was—handsome.

Leave was certainly different from the other orcs. He had harder lines on his brow, and he was really bossy. But I liked that he was different. I wanted to know more about the male who saved me from making a mess all over the palace floor.

It wasn’t the first time I’d fallen from high places, but usually I fell in the soft grasses or even in a pond or lake. Never on an orc. I snorted when I lifted a plate and gazed over the desserts.

Though his lap was soft, I noticed that it grew harder the longer I sat. I placed a hand over my lips to hide my smile.

He liked me! Leave liked me. A male’s privates get hard when they like someone, or so it said in those romance books. He liked me, maybe he wanted to kiss me.

My eyes widened.

Could a human and an orc kiss? Can we date? Can we even like each other? The orcs were looking for mates, and he didn’t say I was his. He didn’t claim me when he saw me.

That was how the balls worked. If you found your mate amongst the crowd, you were to hold one another in each other’s arms and make a loud announcement. Well, that was what you were supposed to do: scream mine, my intended, beloved, or mate, then they’d kiss and leave the party.

Leave didn’t do that.

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