“I should build more than one more room.”

“Let's start with one orcling, alright?”

“Twins run in my family.”

Oh, my. There were ten brothers in his family—and six sisters. They planned to come to the surface in a few months to meet me, his parents too. I'd grown up alone, but now I had a huge, amazing family. “If there are two, they can sleep together.”

He brought my palm to his lips, kissing, then glided his lips to the mark on my wrist, before resting my hand on his chest.

“You are my home,” he rasped. “And I will love you, care for you and any orclings the fates deem to gift us, for as long as I live.”

Rising onto my knees, I rested my forehead against his. “Love you, mate.”

“Love you too.”

The world faded into the quiet buzz of the night.

Whatever came next, whatever life built for us, I had no doubts.

This was home.

This was forever.

And our story was just beginning.