Page 20 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)

Enka

T wo weeks had passed of living with my girls and it was the best two weeks of my life. I spent the time getting to know them, although it was much easier to get to know Gabbi than it was Tasia.

With my mate, it was like pulling teeth to get information from her. It was slow going, but every piece was like a victory for me.

It didn’t help that I was completely eager for every bit of herself that she gave me. She showed me what she wanted to show me, and hid so much for me.

Peeling away her layers required patience and time and I had both in spades. My Gruk-ir on the other hand, was settling into our life here as if she’d been born into it.

She enjoyed every single gift that I showered on her, and even though I knew that Tasia didn’t approve, I wanted to give her everything. And I was ruthless. I would let Gruk-ir see the gifts first, before her mother did.

That way I could pretend that it was already one of the gifts that I had previously given her. If Tasia noticed, she hadn’t said anything yet. I was pretty sure she was putting up with me for now.

But I wanted so much more than that. Being this close to her for two weeks was slowly killing me. Being so close to her, and not being able to touch her was absolute torture.

I was surrounded by her scent, the sight of her, the sound of her and on occasion—very lucky occasions—she would touch me.

This typically happened when our Gruk-ir was around.

Then she would initiate touch to take her from me for something they needed to do, or it would be an accident.

I never pushed for it. I wanted all of her touches to be voluntary.

For this little while, it was as if we were a real family. And I was gonna treasure every moment of it.

As it turned out, it was my Gruk-ir’s birthday.

I knew that the birthday party had been early, but I hadn’t been aware of exactly when her birthday was until Tasia had asked me to put Gruk-ir’s papers into the safe.

Her birth certificate had been one of the papers that had been put away, and I had spotted the date of her birth

I wanted her birthday to be special. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to do it, especially since her coven wasn’t here. But I’d tried anyway.

I had some ideas, and Darak helped me put some things together. I didn’t want to override what Tasia had scheduled—not that she’d mentioned anything to me—but I didn’t know how to approach it without letting her know that I peeked at the documents.

I’d also taken a look at the name of the father on their certificate. David Wright. The fucking name haunted me.

He was the monster who had traumatized my mate. I just knew it.

I started looking into him, and based on his history, I knew he was trouble. He hadn’t been arrested for anything, but there’d been complaints against him.

None of the complaints had been substantiated, and it worried me that the victims had never followed up. It made me wonder if they’d gone missing.

I had already asked Darak to start looking into it for me. While I was focusing on wooing my mate, and getting to know my daughter, I was entrusting him with the background search of the asshole who had hurt her.

It was more than I was used to doing. With something this close to me, I usually handled it myself or with my brothers. But Darak was proving to be trustworthy. He was quiet and intense in a way that reminded me of Dristan, but more withdrawn than grumpy.

Yet he’d been quietly helping me with everything I needed.

The male was a good one, and I appreciated everything he’d done for me and my tiny family.

He hadn’t given me an update yet, and that worried me, but I knew we’d be safe as long as we didn’t leave the hotel. That was all that mattered for now.

I strummed my fingers against my thigh, watching Tasia out of the corner of my eye as she stretched to reach the top shelf in the mini-kitchen pantry that we’d set up.

She was grabbing oatmeal for our daughter, but my eyes were latched onto where her back arched and her ass stuck out at just the right angle .

It was everything I could do to not growl low in my chest. My female was perfect. And I had to lasso my self-control so that I didn’t touch her.

I was jarred from my lustful thoughts as a little missile launched itself onto my head.

Startled, but aware that these sneak-attacks were a regular occurrence, I kept very still, hooking my hands over my blunted tusks.

I’d been filing them regularly, but I didn’t trust them around our Gruk-ir’s tender skin at all.

“Did I get you, Abu?” our daughter crowed, giggling from her perch on my shoulders. “You were too busy staring at Mommy,” she added.

I felt heat rush to my face, but laughed it off as if nothing was wrong with that. I saw Tasia turn to send a quirked eyebrow my way, but I pretended not to see.

“You got me,” I told Gabbi, ensuring she was securely perched and wouldn’t fall. “And you’re getting better and better,” I added, making her wiggle with pride.

“Mommy, I scared Abu!” she squealed and it still struck me with awe every time I realized how comfortable our daughter was with me. She laid her head on top of mine, giving a huge yawn, just as I heard a ping on my phone.

“Breakfast time,” Tasia called, moving behind me and lifting Gruk-ir from her perch so she could cuddle her close.

“It’s my birthday,” Gabbi announced at the top of her lungs and then smothered another yawn. It took a little while for our daughter to wake herself up fully.

“It is?” I asked, pretending to be surprised, and she nodded with enthusiasm while Tasia sent an awkward smile my way.

“We’re not making a big deal about it since she’s already had her party,” she told me, settling Gabbi into her chair and setting her up with oatmeal, toast and yogurt.

She went straight for the yogurt, dunking her fist into it and then sucking on it. I watched as Tasia rolled her eyes but didn’t admonish her—probably because it was her birthday.

I cleared my throat and Tasia turned to face me, her gorgeous hair falling behind her. She’d wrapped a scarf around her head to keep her hair back, but I wanted to set it loose and bury my face in it.

Her scent was delicious and I had to give my head a sharp little shake to remember what I’d been about to say. “I have a little party planned for today. Downstairs in the playroom,” I explained in a wary tone, semi-terrified that she would beat me with the little spoon she had in her hand.

Instead, her gorgeous brown eyes widened. “You planned… a party?” she asked, her lips parting and it was everything I could to stop myself from ducking my head to kiss her.

“Yeah, for Gruk-ir,” I whispered, trying to not be heard. I didn’t need to bother, though, since our daughter was splashing her hand into yoghurt again, screaming a song at the top of her lungs.

“For her birthday?” she tilted her head to the side, her eyes flicking between mine as if she was searching for something.

I nodded, my arm going backward to scratch at the back of my neck, guilt heating it. “I saw her birthday on her birth certificate when I put it away,” I admitted, and a small, shy smile spread across her face.

“You just happened to see it?” she asked, mischief in her voice, and I froze for a moment, not sure how to react to it. Teasing wasn’t my mate’s default setting.

“I looked,” I admitted, ducking my head in shame.

A laugh left her, shocking me. I wanted to fall to my knees in front of her and beg for more of that laugh, but I didn’t need to. Instead, she reached out, taking my hand in hers—her bronze skin perfect against my green.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I was worried she’d be upset about how boring her birthday was, but I wasn’t sure what we could do. ”

“If you ever need anything,” I whispered in a rushed statement, my voice low and hoarse, “I’m here.” It was an eager statement—maybe too much so—but she just smiled at me instead of rebuffing me.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she murmured, looking behind her to where Gruk-ir was making a ruckus with her breakfast. But she didn’t release my hand. I was frozen in place, wishing that we could stay like this forever.

The moment was broken when she called, “Guess what Abu did, Gabbi-girl?” to our daughter.

Our little one spun in her chair, sending a spray of yoghurt to the floor. “What?” she gasped, with an eager expression, clutching the back of her chair and standing on it, starting to jump up and down. “Abu, what?” Her voice was almost a screech and I flinched, my sensitive ears twitching.

“I’ve planned something for your birthday, Gruk-ir,” I said, grinning at her. “A party for you.”

“For me ?” Her scream could probably be heard from the next building over. Even Tasia flinched at the volume, turning back to me to blink and rub her ear, shaking her head.

We’re sharing this moment.

She was including me, and it was everything I’d ever wanted.

All the Gods in heaven, I prayed , please keep it this way. I want to share moments with her. Share her life.

“Now, Abu, now!” The volume only seemed to be rising as she jumped enthusiastically on her chair. With so much enthusiasm the chair began rocking. I released my mate’s hand—grudgingly—and moved toward her, lifting her into my arms so she didn’t hurt herself.

“Let’s go!” she screamed, and I turned back to face my mate. The look in her eyes took me by surprise. It was tender and heated . I gave myself a quick pinch, trying to make sure I wasn’t sleeping and my Gruk-ir joined in, pinching with enthusiasm.

I grinned at Tasia, and she shook her head, walking toward us, reaching up to wipe the yogurt off my skin. It was like a heat wave passed through me.

“I’ll just get her cleaned up and we’ll go,” she said in a low voice that was so different from how she usually spoke to me. “Thank you.”

I nodded and Gruk-ir launched herself at Tasia. “Hurry, Mommy! We have to get to my party!”

I watched them go to their bedroom before pressing my palm to my chest, trying to keep my heart inside of me from where it was pounding in my chest.

Dear Gods, I didn’t know if I could survive her looking at me like that, but I wanted it more than anything.