Page 13 of Wagered to the Orc
For certes, I’dalwaysslept alone, but usually I did so in the large bed in the cottage. That first night—after I’d ensured the fire was ready and Effie would have plenty of hot water for washing and a helping of soft porridge—I slept propped against a tree, keeping watch.
Not that I thought there was any real danger. I just didn’t trust myself to be in the same house as my new…human.
Despite the way my cock jumped whenever she called memaster, I didn’t think she was my property. I’d merely collected on that wagerbecause I saw the way my cousin was hurting her and wanted to get her out of his hands.
Right.
She wasn’tspecial.
Right.
After an uncomfortable night on the hard ground, I almost had myself convinced of that.
Then she met me on the doorstep with a bowl of warm porridge and soft smile, and something deep in my chest clenched. How often had I dreamed of a homecoming such as this? A welcoming female who was happy to see me?
“I thought you might like to break your fast, Master.”
And just like that, my stomach turned. She didn’t care for me; shecouldn’tcare for me. To Effie, I was just the ugly orc who’d won her. Who owned her. She wasn’t doing this forme…she was doing this because she thought she was somehow indebted to me.
Just as she’d been offering herself last night.
Palton’s Spear, just thememoryof those pretty lips parted so beguilingly sent a surge of lust to my cock. Effie was so small I could pick her up and bend her any way I desired her. I could take her, and last night had proven she’d allow it.
She’d no’ even fight me.
But mayhap I was delusional for wanting a female who actuallyenjoyedmy touch. If the best she could say is that she will not scream when I fook her, then I am not interested.
Scowling, I took the porridge from her, splashed across the stream, and stomped back into the safety of the forest.
Better to hide until my cockstand diminished.
Good luck with that.
Because despite her words, despite her insistence she would allow me access to her body only because she thought I owned her…I couldn’t forget the faint—oh so faint—scent of Effie’s arousal.
And that scent had been sweeter than the honey she’d used to flavor the porridge. She’d made herself at home in my home, had she not? Discovering my stores, cooking over my fire?
I didn’t hate it. Not at all. And that worried me.
Soon enough, we’d be back at the village. I could drop her with Drakolt and his new Mate, and Effie would betheirproblem. I could get back to my solitary life.
But I suspected I’d never forget the trusting look in those big blue eyes. Or the way she smelled.
Fook.
I’d planned to avoid her. For certes, I couldn’t ignore her for the full fortnight we’d be here together, but at least that first day, I assumed ‘twould be easier to find my equilibrium if I focused on weeding the garden and cleaning out the stables and fixing the roof and the hundred other small tasks which always needed attending when I’d been away for a while.
I was on my hands and knees in the garden when that sweet scent hit me again.
And there she was, kneeling beside me, unasked…her innocent face set in a grimace of determination as she reached for an overgrown pea plant strangling my kale.
I liked that she knew what to do.
I liked that she threw herself into the task without being asked.
She’s only doing it because she thinks of herself as some sort of slave.
But I could pretend ‘twas because she wanted to help me turn the cottage back into a comfortable home.
