Page 39 of Pursued By the Orc
“I mean there’s a guy there who keeps hitting on me and Ihate it,” I explained.
Instantly, his expression changed. It went from confused to furious in two seconds. My eyes widened and I shook my head at him.
“Oh no. There’s nothing you can do about it. He’s leading a whole department. And I can’t afford to lose this job,” I rushed to say, shaking my finger in his direction with warning. “Donotmake a scene.”
“I can’t promise that,” he sighed, even as his scowl stayedfirmly on his face. “I can’t promise that I won’t kill him either. Does he touch you?” he demanded, his eyes wide with an expression I couldn’t understand, but it sent a rush of worry slithering into my stomach. “If he touches you, I’ll kill him for real. They’ll never find him,” he added, as if that would make it completely okay.
My eyebrows were almost at my hairline, and I searched the cold expression on his face that I hadn’t realized he was capable of. But what was I thinking? This male was a warrior from another plane that had needed to kill to survive.
Of coursehe was capable of taking someone’s life. The doors swung open and I blinked up at him, but not before a cheerful voice greeted us.
“Well, well, well,” Mr. Berard drawled, rocking back on his heels as he stood in the doorway of the elevator. “I was just going to go downstairs to see someone, but I think I’ll stay here instead,” he added, and I couldn’t stop my spine from stiffening.
I knew without a doubt that Krusk sensed the tension because before I knew it, he was there, standing behind me, his heat suffusing my back and giving me strength that I hadn’t known I was capable of.
Yes,this was a cushy job that I would like to keep, but now that I had the cushion of all of Krusk’s tip money and daily excessive payments for walking Ribbon, the fury that I’d kept on a low simmer bubbled up.
Even as Mr. Berard’s eyes moved up and up andupbehind my head, I lifted my chin. No, I was not going to let Krusk deal with this. I wasn’t going to letanyonedeal with this.
I was. Finally.
“I’d actually prefer it if you went to your meeting,” I told the slimy male standing in front of me. “Since your presence makes me uncomfortable.”
His eyes went huge in his face as they dropped back down tomeet mine. “Excuse me?” he demanded, his voice a sharp whip that I was certain he used onanyonethat didn’t immediately agree to do everything he asked. “You have no right to talk to me like that!”
“Youhave no right to touch employees,” I told him, lifting my hand and pointing at my wrist. “And the way you speak to me qualifies as harassment,” I added, lifting my chin and hoping he wanted to fight back. For once, I wasnotgoing to back down. I was right, and I was going to prove it.
“I never touched you,” he lied, his scowl deepening even as his eyes flicked up toward where I knew Krusk was hovering behind me. I didn’t need him, but knowing he was there gave me the strength to do what I’d wanted to do for the longest time.
“I wonder if the video feed will agree with you,” I said with a shrug, pointing at where the cameras aimed toward his office and all over the department. It helped that the sleazeball was in charge of important documents that were guarded daily.
His eyes bulged as he glanced at them before he swallowed hard, his throat moving convulsively. “There’s no evidence of anything,” he stated gruffly, folding his arms and sidling around me to jab at the button on the elevator panel.
The doors slid open at once and he did his absolute best to avoid Krusk and I as he edged around us, ensuring that he wasn’t touching us or giving us his back. “And if you think you can bring some orc inside of this building to threaten me, then—”
“Oh, did you mean Krusk?” I asked, jabbing my thumb up to where I knew he was staring daggers at Berard. “He works here. But he doesn’t like sexual harassment either, wouldn’t you know?” I shrugged at him like it was an absolute wonder just as the doors closed on his bright red face.
I turned to look up at Krusk, a huge grin on my face. “Oh, that wasamazing,” I squealed with excitement, even as I saw the fire in his eyes. “He ran awayso fast,” I added, holding in my cackle,but not by much.
“You should talk to HR about him,” Krusk said with a voice that told me he was forcing himself to keep it level. “Rudgar told me that if anything like this ever happens, it’s important to report it.”
I nibbled on my lower lip, nodding. “I know, but—”
“What if it’s happening to someone else, too?” he asked in a low voice, sweeping his hand out toward the cubicles where Iknewthere were dozens of females who he might have treated the same way. “You should do it for yourself, yes, but also to stop it from happening again.”
I hadn’t considered that in all of my internal dialogues that I’d held while working there. “Shit,” I sighed, nodding. “You’re right. Let’s finish our shift and then I’ll go to HR.”
Hope blossomed in his eyes, and I was about to turn around when he said, “I want to kill him.”
The words were final and there wasn’t any intonation in there to let me know that he wanted to say something else, so I just looked up at him, tilting my head. I wasn’t stupid. I knew that there was more happening between us than met the eye. And of course he wasn’t just going to let someone hurt me.
“I know,” I murmured, keeping my voice low, even as my face softened and a small, genuine smile spread across my lips. “Thank you for that. But for now, I’ll handle it myself. If I need that from you, I’ll let you know, okay?” I gave him a wink and I watched as the furyslowlyleeched out of him.
It wasn’t completely gone, but it was buried enough that he could smile back at me. “You’re welcome. You handled him like a master. I’m really proud of you,” he told me.
The shot to my heart at those words was like an arrow. I didn’t need someone to be proud of me. I had my grandma and Iknewshe was. That should be enough. But the words had healed something inside of me that I hadn’t even realized was raw.
I looked away, jaw tight. When I finally spoke, it was barely a murmur. “You don’t have to say that.”
