Page 27 of Marked By the Broken Orc
She dresses quickly while I clean up the chair and workspace and extinguish the fire, leaving Talon’s shop exactly as I found it. The brand goes into a special case. It’s served its purpose and will now become a treasured reminder of this night.
“Ready?” I ask when everything is secured.
Mia nods, touching the spot where her mark lies hidden beneath her jeans. “Ready.”
We drivethrough the empty streets in comfortable silence, both of us processing what just happened. Mia sits beside me in my truck, occasionally shifting in her seat as she adjusts to the feeling of her new mark.
“Where exactly are we going?” she asks as I turn onto a street that definitely doesn’t lead to either of our apartments.
“You’ll see,” I say, my hands tightening on the steering wheel.
She sits up straight and studies the familiar neighborhood as we pass through Riverside. “Hold on, Kavin, this is…you didn’t. Oh wow.”
A grin spreads across my face.
I pull into the driveway of the house she fell in love with during our house hunting expedition. The For Sale sign is long gone. The wraparound porch and mature oak trees look welcoming even in the pre-dawn darkness. I was here, before I went to set up at Heat & Ink and left the porch light and a few lights on inside so it would be more welcoming and identifiable when I brought my bride to see our home for the first time.
“This is the house I wanted,” she says slowly.
I put the truck in park but leave the engine running. “I bought it for us.”
She stares at the house, then at me, then back at the house. “You…you bought it?”
“Last week, after you showed me the listing.” I turn to face her fully. “You said if you were to pick a home for yourself, you’d pick this one. So I bought it. For us.”
“Kavin…” Her voice cracks slightly.
I take her hand in mine. “It’s our home, Mia. Yours and mine. The place where we’ll raise our sons and build our life together.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, and I start to worry that maybe I’ve overstepped. Maybe buying a house without consulting her was too presumptuous, even for an orc claiming his mate.
Then she reaches over and grabs my shirt and pulls me toward her for a fierce kiss. “I can’t believe you did this,” she whispers against my lips.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it,” she exclaims and pulls back to look at me, her eyes shining in the dashboard light. “Take me inside. Show me our home.”
Chapter 9
Mia
Never did I think a magical, romantic moment like this would ever happen to me.
Romance isn’t the word anyone thinks of when the name Mia Martin comes to mind. And yet here I am, being carried over the threshold of my new home by my new orc husband.
I’m still throbbing from my previous encounter with this man, wherein he licked me to a screaming orgasm in a tattoo parlor. I’ve learned he not only gives the best kisses but also understands the importance of the clit. We haven’t had an actual wedding ceremony,yet, but instead of a ring on my finger I was given his brand on my ass and a new house. I’ll take it.
“I can’t believe you actually bought this house,” I eagerly exclaim as I lick his neck before he sets me down inside the front door.
“I can’t believe you’re surprised,” Kavin chuckles as he turns on a few more lights. “You’re the one who showed me this listing.”
The words send a thrill through me. I turn in a slow circle, taking in the empty living room that’s now ours. The built-in bookshelves with glass doors I’d pointed out catch the light. The hardwood floors gleam, and I can already picture us living here,with Kavin reading in a corner chair I’m definitely buying, and me curled up on a couch we’ll pick out together. There’s even a perfect amount of room for a large screen TV.
“Show me around,” I say, reaching for his hand.
“You already know the layout.”
“True,” I laugh. “But I only know the real estate photos. I want to see what our home really looks like.”
