Page 1 of Pursued By the Orc
CHAPTER 1
Emma
“Holyhotness,” Lin, the harpy next to me, shrieked, her talons digging into my arm as she gripped it with her hand.
“Ow,” I complained, prying myself free, but she wasn’t paying any attention to me. I turned to look at where her eagle-eyes were focused and my eyebrows slowly rose in admiration. “Okay, yeah. Holy hotness.”
“Right?” she gasped, slapping me hard. I almost buckled under her enthusiastic response, but I held strong, if only to stare in awe at the group that was entering through the front door.
Four huge, gorgeous orcs in suits were making their way inside the building, two beautiful human-looking females in the lead. The palms of two of the orcs were on the lower backs of the females and one of them held a sleeping child in his arms, so I didn’t bother focusing on them.
But theother two. I bit my lip, shuffling the mail on the cart infront of me for a moment before my eyes were drawn back to the males. They were making their way to the bank of elevators and my eyes snagged on the one at the back, his huge hands in the pockets of his pants as he surveyed the area around him.
That male is everything that is fine in this world.
He had to be atleastseven feet tall, with shoulders that would test every doorway he entered, tusks that shone in the light with a golden ring around the left and a body under that suit that should be illegal. Wholookedlike that?
“The one in the grey can put a baby in me any day of the week,” Lin crooned near my ear making me bat her away as I giggled.
I hadn’t even noticed the one in the gray suit. I gave him a cursory sweep of my gaze, dismissing him from my spank bank, anticipation filling me as I swung my eyes back to the male who’d taken up my attention.
Eye candy of the highest order.
I had one more hour of work before I had to be at my next job, so I needed to get my ass in gear, butdamn, this was a break that I needed. A few minutes to just stare at some prime orc-flesh. I exhaled a long breath, pretending that my current situation wasn’t so dire, and that I could be desirable enough—or at the very leastavailable—for that male to claim and pillage.
Life had been a shit-show recently. For the last three months, I’d been girl-bossing too close to the sun. I was burned out, exhausted, and I needed a nap—or an orgasm. I couldn’t allow myself to take any rest days until I’d fulfilled my budget requirements for the month, though, so I still had another solid two weeks of back-to-back work.
A twelve-hour nap, I promised myself dreamily. That was exactly what I needed. Images of my pillow floated in front of my eyes for a moment and it was so realistic that I almost reached out to stroke the softness. I’d spent thirty dollars on an ergonomic style that allowed my constantly stiff neck to relax.
I’d cringed over the cost. I wasn’t one to spend on anything other than the complete basic necessities and knock-off brands were my best friend. They were the only way that I was able to keep myself fed, dressed, and somewhat normal looking.
Store-brand is just another word for lifesaver.
I ran my eyes down the male’s suit, recognizing bespoke luxury when I saw it. I might be the poorest of the poor, but I could still admire something well made and clearly expensive. And it fit him like it was tailored just for his perfect proportions. I would give twenty whole dollars, that I didn’t have, to find out what he smelled like.
I released a sigh, knowing thatseeingwas the closest I was going to ever get totouching. Not only was someone like him forever out of my reach, but even if Icouldreach, I didn’t havetimefor reaching.
Any downtime was going to be spent visiting my grandma—who was living in the best nursing home I could provide for her. It was more luxurious than most of the others in the city.
Four jobs meant that my time had to be rationed more than the cheap spaghetti that I made for most dinners. Another sigh slipped out of me—longing and regret filling the space between the male and I.
Maybe in another lifetime, hot stranger.
My teeth were still buried in my lower lip as his brow furrowed and his eyes swung my way. I looked away at once, returning to shuffling through the mail on the cart with no real goal except to look busy. Next to me, Lin joined in, even though her job hadnothingto do with mail.
“He’s looking over here,” she squeaked, hysteria entering her voice.
“Calm down,” I murmured. “Just pretend you’re busy and he’ll leave us alone.”
I was certain of it. Males likehimwere too busy being gorgeousto even notice females like me. Not that there was anythingwrongwith me per se.
I was pretty in my own way, but I was certain that I wasn’t anywhere near his league. Still, eye-candy was in short supply these days, so I took one last peek at him before I started pushing the cart again.
What was meant to be one last appreciative glance made me stop in my tracks. The male waslooking at me. Not just looking, butstaring.His lips were parted and his eyes were wide, so I turned to peer over my shoulders before meeting his gaze again. There wasn’t anyone behind me.
There was a trembling sort of tension in his body that I could see from where I was—which was saying something, since I was all the way on the other side of the huge room. He turned his entire body so he was facing me instead of following in the direction of the other orcs.
What the hell?
