Page 15 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)

Tasia

A little hand batted at my face, and I smiled against the tiny, sticky palm, pressing a kiss there before I opened my eyes, turning so I was facing my daughter’s pillow. She blinked at me, a little grin on her face.

“Breakfast,” she said without pausing, pointing toward the locked door .

“Good morning to you too, sweetheart,” I told her, leaning over to smack a kiss to her nose. Gabbi giggled, slapping those sticky palms against my face. “Now let’s go get you something to eat.”

I’d packed some things for us to eat, like Gabbi’s favorite oatmeal and her mac and cheese. I just needed to get some hot water going. I pressed a kiss to her nose again and climbed out of the bed.

She scrambled behind me, my little shadow, and I ran my fingers through her silky curls as I walked toward the door. Swallowing hard, I unlocked it, peering outside, expecting to see Enka still asleep.

Instead, I was faced with an empty suite. Relief and disappointment warred with each other inside me. I should be happy that he wasn’t in my space when I was barely awake and vulnerable.

Biting my lip, I made my way over to the kitchenette, peeking into the cupboards and finding what I needed to get started on Gabbi’s oatmeal. Nibbling on my lower lip, I wondered if I would be able to have some fresh vegetables and fruit delivered for us.

Gabbi got cranky without her blueberries and I didn’t know how long we would be there, but we couldn’t survive off of mac and cheese forever. And we definitely couldn’t afford food from the hotel for every meal.

The beep of the door opening startled me, but Gabbi ran straight for it. Before I could grab at her, I spotted Enka’s handsome face entering, his lips curling in a smile as he saw the little girl running toward him. His grin was filled with affection as he juggled bags and a drink carrier.

“Gruk-ir,” he said, not even blinking as she buried her teeth into his leg, clinging to him like a little monkey. “You’re awake,” he added, his gaze swinging up to meet mine, the happiness still on his face, hitting me like a wrecking ball to the chest.

“Yep,” I chirped in a voice that was so high pitched that even Gabbi sent a questioning side-eyed look my way from her position on his leg.

Clearing my throat, I moved to pry my daughter off his leg, but he handed me the drink carrier instead, shuffling his way toward the kitchenette.

“I picked up some things that you might need. You didn’t bring much with you and…

” he trailed off for a long moment before shrugging.

“I don’t mean to overstep, but I thought…

” He trailed off again, and his brow furrowed as I could see him overthinking everything he’d done.

“Thank you,” I told him in a low voice, letting him hear how grateful I was. “I was just trying to figure out how I could get some things to add to Gabbi’s meals.”

His grin grew again and my stupid heart gave a hard thump in my chest at his hopeful look.

Goddess Mother, please. I can’t fall for another male only to have him break my heart.

He began emptying bags, my daughter contentedly chewing on the tough skin of his leg as he did. There was way too much food, but I had to blink back my tears. No one but my family had ever done anything this kind for me.

“Thank you,” I repeated, and he waved it away as if it meant nothing.

“I didn’t know what the princess likes to eat,” he said, running his huge palm across my daughter’s hair absently while she made a little noise of happiness. The little flip in my stomach with his tenderness told me that I was in over my head with this male.

No, ovaries, we cannot get pregnant with his babies right now! Focus!

I’d always wanted a huge family, but those dreams had died because of David. Now, they were peeking out from the barrier I’d created for them, and I was having a hard time shoving them away.

*smack, smack, smack* Not now!

Not ever , if I was being honest. I’d resigned myself to Gabbi being my only baby, ignoring the longing in my heart whenever I saw a mother holding a newborn or siblings playing together in the park.

I’d been homeschooling Gabbi and I intended to continue in the future—especially now that David had found us—but I knew some of the little quirks that she picked up were because she didn’t get to be with other children.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the immediate flow of recriminations in my head about being a bad mother. I’d been working on it, but with everything that had happened recently, I couldn’t stop the new onslaught.

“Hey,” a low voice murmured, and my eyes popped open as I stared up into the sweet, searching gaze of the male at the counter. His brow was furrowed and he looked so concerned that it was everything I could do to stop myself from stepping into his strong arms.

You barely know him and you already want him to protect you. Pathetic whore.

The small, hissed voice was one I was familiar with. One that had the same tone and voice as David. It festered in my head and I’d never been able to get it out.

“Are you okay?” he asked, and at the tone of his voice, Gabbi unlatched her little teeth from his leg to peer in my direction, her own tiny brow furrowed with worry. She released him, heading toward me with her arms outstretched.

I lifted her with ease, pressing my face to her hair, and girding myself with strength.

She’s all I need.

“Yep,” I said again, rubbing my palm along her back, soothing us both with the movement. “Better than ever,” I lied.

His inscrutable gaze stayed on me for a beat longer before he looked down, continuing to empty things from the bag without comment.

He pulled a tub of blueberries from the bag and with a little gasp, Gabbi wiggled until I put her down and I was abandoned by my daughter who ran headlong toward him again.

“Mine,” she said with a bold tone, holding her little hand out toward him, staring up at his towering form without an ounce of fear or trepidation.

“Let me wash them first,” he told her with a wink, turning to the little sink and pulling another bottle from the bag. I frowned as I watched him pull a few bowls from the bag, adding some of whatever was in the bottle, some water and then empty the entire tub of berries into it.

“No!” I gasped, rushing forward. “You can’t add soap!”

He blinked at me before shaking his head.

“It’s a special solution for fruits and vegetables,” he told me, holding the bottle out toward me.

“It helps get pesticides off of them so Gabbi won’t eat them.

The book says that it’s essential to their well-being,” he added with a firm nod and I looked from the bottle to him before I burst out laughing.

The offended furrow between Enka’s eyes made me stop, but it was difficult. “I see you’re taking the book very seriously,” I said, wiping a tear from my eye.

“Of course I am,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t want anything to hurt her.” The sincere words stopped my laughter immediately and that terrible ache in my chest was back. Regrets for every single one of my actions in the past.

I wish I’d waited for him.

Glancing down at the top of my daughter’s head, I corrected that thought right away. Everything I’d gone through had been worth it because of her.

I nodded, letting him finish what he was doing while Gabbi stared up at him with her hands held out with expectation. “Abu, now ,” she cried, and Enka’s smile was back on his face right away.

“Give me a second, Gruk-ir,” he told her with a wink and I watched Gabbi’s little face go from mutinous to grinning in one second flat.

What the hell? Since when does my daughter have patience?

She hummed to herself, her little arms wrapping around one of his mammoth calves as she waited. Frowning, I watched as he filled the little plastic bowl he’d bought, shuffling with her as she held on to him, careful not to jostle her.

He had her seated on the sofa with her blueberries before I knew what was happening.

After that, he plated up eggs, bacon and pancakes, gesturing for me to head toward the sofa.

A blue dog was grousing about his bath on the television and my eyebrows went up as I realized that he’d already queued Gabbi’s favorite show.

I settled into a seat next to her and Gabbi moved closer to me before patting the empty leather seat to her left without pulling her gaze from the television. I smothered a laugh as Enka lowered his massive bulk onto the sofa with us.

Thankfully the furniture in the suite was orc-sized. The seat swallowed my daughter and I, but Enka fit right in.

“Coffee?” Enka asked, handing over a cup along with sugar packets and little containers of creamer. I smiled, thanking him as I took them.

Settling into the seat, I marveled at the comfort I felt sitting there with my daughter and this male who should be a stranger. I didn’t feel the need to fill the air between us with chatter the way I did most people I met.

I didn’t feel anything except… safe. It was the oddest sensation in the world.

Something deep down inside of me recognized that when it came to this male, I was protected .

I busied myself with eating, giving Gabbi little bites of pancakes between her blueberries, and when she was full—with only about ten blueberries left in the tub, she handed them to Enka instead of me.

It was the first time she’d ever done that.

My mouth was hanging open as Enka took them without question or complaint, popping them into his mouth.

They were both glued to the television and Enka laughed—a deep, rough chuckle that sent a shiver through me—at the same time that my daughter threw her head back on the sweetest giggle.

I’m not the only one who feels safe.

She recognized something in him as well.

I was terrified to find out what it was, but I leaned back into the plush sofa, letting it hug me as I put my arm around my daughter to hold her close.

It felt so domesticated and normal that I had to pinch myself for a quick second to make sure I wasn’t still sleeping.

Glancing over at the big green male next to me—who was still deeply invested in whether the little blue dog would get into the bathtub—I reminded myself that I couldn’t have a future with him.

No matter what someone was like at the start of getting to know them, they changed.

And I’d fallen for a skilled actor before. No way was I going to do it again.