Page 13 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)

And he was. He had to be. He wasn’t my true mate. I’d already begged one of the members of my coven to check for me, but that was unlikely anyway. Most witches never met their true mate. It was something that we hoped for, but knew that the likelihood was low.

He narrowed his gaze on my face, searching for a long moment, and I had no idea what he was looking for. After a while, his body relaxed, and he nodded. “Promise?” he asked, reaching out to tuck my frizzy hair behind my ear.

“Promise,” I told him, just so I could see that smile curve his lips.

He was happy again. My thudding heart slowed and I was levitating in glee when he took my hand and led me to the car.

He opened the passenger door for me and I moved to get seated, but I wasn’t fast enough, because the door slammed on my foot and a shout of pain left my lips.

He yanked the door open at once, gaping down at my foot as I reached down to cup it.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured, kneeling to take my foot into his hand and run his fingers lightly down the side where it had taken the brunt of the hit.

I wanted to yank away from him, but he held my heel firmly in his hand.

“I didn’t mean to,” he told me, his brow furrowed as he looked up at me. He looked contrite, but there was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there on our last two dates. Something that sent a shiver down my spine.

“It’s okay,” I gasped, shaking my head and giving him a tremulous smile, trying to get rid of the feeling that he’d meant to do that. He’d been looking at me the entire time. He’d have known that I wasn’t inside yet, but… why wo uld he? It made no sense.

“I’m fine,” I told him as he kept up with the apologies. “Don’t worry about it.”

Telling myself that I was being ridiculous, I reached out to put my hand on his shoulder, letting him know that I was fine. I gave him a brighter smile, and he leaned his head down to kiss the back of my hand.

With one final swipe of his thumb over the side of my foot, he made sure that I was tucked safely inside, asking twice before he closed the door again. When he moved to the driver’s side of the car, I watched him settle inside, his hand coming over to take mine.

“Did I ruin our date?” he asked me with his brows furrowed.

He looked so contrite, that I couldn’t stop myself from forgiving him, shoving aside the misgivings churning in my gut.

This was my first relationship. I was being suspicious for no reason.

It was an accident and now that I knew where he was coming from, I just had to be careful with my interactions with other males.

I was going to be his cherished girlfriend and I wanted that more than anything.

“Of course not,” I told him, giving his fingers a slight squeeze. “Every date that I go on with you is perfect.”

His grin was quick and sweet—just like it always was. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine and after a moment of hesitation, I kissed him back, delighting in the fact that this male wanted me.

“Then do you want to go back to my place?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. I swallowed hard, not sure I wanted to end the night like this. Going to his place had to mean sex. I was almost certain it was what he expected of me, and I’d been bracing myself for it all night.

It would be my first and I was too damn old to still have a hymen, damn it. But after the date we’d just had, it felt… different. Not ruined, perhaps, but not something I wanted. Swallowing hard, since I wasn’t a huge fan of conflict, I sent him a small smile .

“I was thinking we could go back to the coven and—” I started, but his eyebrow quirked as he slid his free hand over to put on my knee, his thumb caressing me there.

“But there won’t be much privacy with your coven there, would there?” he asked, his thumb moving higher.

Swallowing hard, I nodded, an awkward laugh filling the air between us. “Definitely less privacy.”

“Then my place,” he said with finality, leaning forward to press a kiss to my lips.

I went along with the kiss, struggling to find the joy I’d started the night with. The anticipation. But it wasn’t coming.

Later, when I lay on my side next to him, tucked against his long, naked body, I winced at the twinge between my legs.

He hadn’t been careful, not by a long shot, but I knew from reading magazines that most women had terrible first times.

It didn’t mean that the rest of my sex life would be destined for failure.

I turned, peeking over my shoulder at David.

He was the male that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

I needed to pull my head out of the clouds and realize that reality was different from the movies I watched.

This was real life and real life meant that the big moments I built up in my head didn’t have to turn out the way I thought they would.

Looking into his face, I found my reality swirling, switching to his features again, but this time, they were twisted in fury.

As fear lodged in my chest, I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

A big hand was holding my arm, and I fought against it, knowing it was David, knowing that he had caught me.

I yanked myself away, confusion swirling in my head as I realized that I was in another room.

Not David’s bedroom. A strange room on a huge bed, and the hand wasn’t David’s.

I pulled away still, scrambling up the bed away from whoever was touching me.

I felt Gabbi next to me and I scooped her into my arms.

As usual, my sweet girl slept through everything that was happening. I eyed Enka, his hands up from where he was kneeling next to the bed, his face ravaged with worry.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice, glancing at Gabbi before looking at me again. “I think you were having a nightmare.”

My eyes squeezed shut as my memories of the night flooded back.

David .

The fucker had found me and as usual, my subconscious was torturing me with our past.

“I’m fine,” I told him with a fake smile, tucking Gabbi close again and easing away from where he was still kneeling at the side of the bed. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

He hesitated for a long moment before he nodded, standing and backing away. “If you need anything—” he started, but I shook my head, cutting off his words.

“I don’t,” I told him, swallowing against the horror of remembering the male who had made my life miserable for too many years.

“I’m fine. Thanks for checking on me, but sometimes I just have these weird dreams.” I waved my hand as if it didn’t matter, lying to him.

I was vulnerable and I didn’t need another male ever taking advantage of that again.

“Okay,” he said in a low voice, backing out of the room. “I’m sorry.”

Regret slashed into my chest. I hadn’t meant to make him feel bad for trying to help, but maybe that would be better. I didn’t need to worry about another male. I had too much going on with the one who was currently after me and my daughter.

“Thanks again,” I whispered, not wanting to be ungrateful. When the door closed, I heaved a sigh of relief and lay Gabbi down on the side. I stood, making my way to the door and turned the lock, the small click telling me that it was locked now.

I knew he probably heard it and there was instant regret in my chest, but I wasn’t taking the same chances I had when I was younger. I wasn’t trusting another male the way I had before. There was no way I would ever be that stupid again.