Page 73 of The Orc's Thief
She pinches my side. “Maybe you always come this much. How would I know? I’ve never been with another orc.”
“I’m honored to be your first,” I murmur, grinning down at her. “And hopefully your last, if I have anything to say about it.”
Tessa sighs and flops back against the pillows. “If we start every day like this, I won’t complain.”
The thought roots itself in my mind—waking up next to her every day for years, even decades to come. It’s the dream I’ve carried for so long, and now it’s turning into reality.
What’s also real is the outside world, and the knock at our door that interrupts our drowsy warmth.
“Breakfast ends in half an hour,” Mistress Maeve calls through the door. “If you want any, you’d best get down there now.”
She’s already moving on to the next door in the hallway, but her voice is enough to get us moving. We wash, dress, and pack our things. In the small space, we keep brushing against each other, and by the time we’re ready to head downstairs, I’m half-hard again, and Tessa’s face is flushed, her braid already starting to unravel. When I trap her against the door and kiss her thoroughly, she melts into me for a moment.
Then she bats my hands away with a grumble. “I’ve survived without tea for three days on the road, but if you think I won’t complain for the entire ride today if we miss it, you’re wrong.”
I release her with a sigh. “All right, then. Lead the way.”
In the taproom, we take the same table as last night, even though it’s less crowded now. I don’t know what Tessa is thinking, but for me, the narrow space is a perfect excuse to press my thigh against hers and drape my arm around her shoulders, for real this time.
She nestles in beside me with a sigh and shows no signs of wanting to pull away. Something settles in my gut, a peaceful sensation completely foreign to me. I have no name for it, not until she leans her head against my shoulder, completely at ease.
That’s when it hits me—this is contentment. The deep, sudden certainty that this moment is exactly as it should be. That everything will be all right, as long as we’re together.
I kiss the top of Tessa’s head and inhale her sweet, floral scent. From the way she’s tilting her face toward me, I know she’s doing the same, even if she doesn’t realize it yet.
She’s falling for me. And it’s not all about the fucking, either.
I want to shout and whoop with the joy of that realization but hold myself back. The worst thing I could do now is push her, to shove the proof of our bond in her face.
She needs to come to that conclusion on her own.
I’ve never been patient. But for this—for Tessa—I will be.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
TESSA
I can’t stop touching Arlon. His warmth seeps into me as he half-wraps himself around me, and I don’t want to move. The maid brings two heaping plates of food, fried eggs, sausages, and stewed collard greens, served with thick hunks of soft white bread, still warm from the oven despite our late start to the day. There’s tea, too, steaming hot as I pour it from the teapot into simple clay mugs.
We really shouldn’t have spent so much time rolling around in bed, but I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t keep my hands off Arlon, and part of me wonders when that will become a problem. The other part is too cozy to care right now, the glow of my climax still thrumming through me.
“You smell like me,” Arlon murmurs as we tuck into our breakfast. “I want to state for the record that I would much rather rent that room for another night and stay in bed with you than ride out into that.”
He motions with his fork toward the front door, just visible past the bar. The light patter of rain on the cobblestones in the courtyard tells me it’s going to be a miserable day for travelingon horseback. I chew my sausage thoughtfully, weighing our options. Would it really be so bad to stay another night? We’ll be much slower in bad weather, and both of us could catch a chill, not to mention our horses will suffer.
But there’s no knowing if the weather will be any better tomorrow, and we’re easy targets here for anyone who might be following me.
“We can’t afford to stay,” I whisper back, then add, “But if our situation was different, I wouldn’t mind staying, either.”
His gaze is warm as he studies my face, then nods once. “All right. We’ll have to stop in a few hours to let the horses rest, at an inn, if possible.”
“Or a farm, if they have a large enough stable.”
I shovel up more eggs and glance across the room, where Mistress Maeve is sending off a group of travelers dressed in bright colors. It hits me that they must be the musicians from last night, and I smile, remembering how Arlon held me as we danced.
“No more camping in the forest,” he declares. “Especially not if we’re really heading for the mountains.”
