Page 14 of Bread with the Orc (Harmony Glen #6)

Chapter Twelve

Laney

I’d felt my energy leave with my father. But now? Now instead of collapsing into a ball of tears, I had to face Dorvak and the look of horror on his face.

“You think that was a lie ?” he growled, his fingers gripping my chin, lifting my eyes to his. “You think I would lie about something like that?”

My smile probably seemed weak, but I tried. “Thank you for defending me, Dorvak. Seriously. It really meant a lot to me that you stepped up like that.”

Judging by the way his scowl just went from fear to anger, it had been the wrong thing to say.

“You think I told your father I loved you because I was defending you? Because I was trying to get rid of him?” Still holding my chin, he bent down, his nose inches from mine. “Laney, I told him the truth. Of course I love you. You’re my Mate.”

Right. The Mate thing. I exhaled on a nod and forced a cheerful tone. “Right. Mates. That’s us. In love.”

“Fucking hells,” he muttered, dropping my chin and wrapping his arms around me. “I’ve never told you, have I?” He didn’t let me answer, just tucked my head under his chin. “I’ve never told you I love you? That was stupid.”

I mean…maybe? A spark of hope lit in my chest.

“ Dkaar …” He blew out a breath, ruffling my hair. “An orc does not throw around the word love lightly. I would never use that as a weapon, even against your father.”

Baba . My eyes closed tightly, trying to hold in the tears that threatened.

My father thought I was a failure. I’d seen his disgust, but when he’d directed it at my Dorvak, I’d lost my calm.

Dorvak was mine , and I’d be damned if I was going to let my father insult him just because of some stupid prejudices.

“I can hear you thinking,” he rumbled above me.

“If you ask me,” cut in someone from the other side of the bakery, “you need to just tell the girl you love her, Dorvak!”

I jerked my head away from my Mate’s chest to stare around the space. At my friends and neighbors, who were now laughing and clapping and calling out helpful—and unhelpful suggestions.

“Kiss her! ”

“Get down on one knee—humans like that sort of thing!”

“Girl, any man who cooks like that is a keeper! Go find an extra-large ring and put it on him!”

“ Kiss her !”

“You’re going to have to tell her how you feel, you idiot.”

“She’s clearly not thinking straight either, just look at her!”

I stared around at everyone, bemused…but should have known Dorvak wasn’t going to stand for it.

“Enough!” he roared.

Suddenly, I was in his arms, and he was lifting me. He scowled at the gathered crowd.

“It’s closing time. Everyone finish and leave. No one touch anything behind the counter. The last one to leave, lock the door.”

The chuckles began again, and I found myself breathless—in a fearful sort of hope—as I clutched at Dorvak.

“What are you going to do?” called out someone near the door.

Dorvak dropped his now-dark gaze to mine. “I have to show my Mate how much I love her.”

Dorva k

I could smell the sharp spike of Laney’s arousal, as well as her irritation. When we reached the living room, she squirmed in my grasp. “Put me down.”

“Of course,” I rumbled, letting her slide down my body to stand, glaring at me, hands on her hips, beside the battered armchair she claimed she’d had since college.

“I’m not going to let you distract me with sex, Dorvak. I’m warning you. This is serious.”

“Sex can be serious.” I waggled my brow. “See?”

Laney threw her hands up. “ Now ? Now you decide it’s time for jokes?”

“Mate.” I reached for her, catching her hands in mine, letting her see how very seriously I was taking this. “The way I feel about you is no joke. I’m not trying to distract you.”

“We need to talk,” she hmphed …but her gaze was locked on my chest. “What you said to my father… It wasn’t just to get him to leave?”

I squeezed her hands. “I meant it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I loved you sooner.”

Her lips formed the word love, but when she took a breath and peeked up at me from under dark lashes, what she said was, “It feels sudden.”

Sudden? I snorted a laugh. “You know I’ve been watching you for months—long before we ever spoke. When I saw you crying outside my shop, that was the opening I’d been hoping for. Oh, dkaar ,” I soothed as I watched tears fill her eyes. “This Mate bond didn’t create my feelings—it confirmed them. ”

“The Mate bond…it isn’t just biology?”

There was hope in her gaze, I saw it now. I just had to convince her.

“I love you, Laney Wong.” I squeezed her hands and ducked my chin so I could meet her gaze on her level.

“I love that you turned my empty bakery—my empty self— into a home. Not just for us, but for the whole town. I love—I love how you clean when you’re nervous, or when you’re bored.

That very first day, you picked up a rag and cleaned my counter without asking?—”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her gaze locked on mine.

“Hush, I’m expounding.” I softened the command with a slight smile.

“I love how you concentrate when you make tea. I love that tea means so much to you, you want to share it with the world. I love that you care so deeply about this town that you’ve made me —Harmony Glen’s grumpiest recluse—give a shit about it too. ”

When her lips curled into a reluctant smile, I felt victory course through me.

With a relieved sigh, I let my shoulders slump. “Beloved, I don’t care if you can’t love me back, but don’t you dare think I lied to your father about loving?—”

“I love you!”

The way her eyes widened after blurting out the words told me she hadn’t meant to confess like that, but when she dissolved into giggles, I felt myself smiling, and tugged her into my arms.

“You’re not just saying that, are you?” I growled fiercely. “You wouldn’t lie about something like that. ”

She poked me in the side, then wrapped her arms around my waist. “I’ve been holding in those words for weeks, Dorvak. I love you . But all you ever talked about was Mating and claiming and breeding , and I wasn’t sure there was room there for love.”

I pulled her away to stare incredulously down at her. “Female, what in the ever-loving shit do you think forever means? I told you that you were mine and I was yours forever , right? I told you there would never be another for me. I told you we were bound together. Forever .”

She scowled. “Saying, You’re stuck with me forever isn’t the same as I love you, Laney .”

Since she’d lowered her voice into an adorable impression of me when she’d said that, I burst into laughter and lifted her until our noses were even.

“I love you, Laney. You’re stuck with me forever.”

“Good.” With a shy smile, she leaned forward and kissed me gently. “Because I love you.”

I wanted her—Gods below, I’d have to be dead and ashed before I stopped wanting my Mate, but right now, I needed to show her how much she meant to me. Surely she could feel my erection pressing against her core as I held her?

“Dorvak…” she whispered.

Somethings still needed to be said. “ Dkaar , what I said downstairs? To your father and our neighbors about being Mated? To an orc, that was a public claiming. A marriage announcement. ”

Her nose wrinkled. “Humans don’t quite work that way.”

“I realize that. And if we’re ever going to have any hope of your father accepting me as your Mate, we need to do things properly. Laney, will you marry me?”

When her smile bloomed, it lit up the whole room. The whole world . My whole life.

“Because you love me, Dorvak?”

“Because I love you. And because you love me.”

“Then yes.” She tipped forward, her lips inches from mine. “I will marry you. On one condition.”

My Kteer suddenly stalled as I cast about for what I could promise her. “Which condition?” I rasped out.

Her smile grew right before her lips met mine. “You take me to bed right now. ”