Page 37 of Enchanted with the Orc (The Kingverse Orcs #4)
Enka
I was certain that Tasia expected things to be different. In fact, for a moment, I expected things to be different when we woke up the next morning.
Not that I’d had much sleep.
I’d laid awake the night before, reliving every sweltering moment of having my mate for the first time. Of the little noises she made, of the way her soft, delicious body shook under mine when she moved. And how she moved .
Never in my life had I ever experienced anything so erotic and perfect. Her sounds and the expression she made when she came would be seared into my memory for the rest of my life. I wanted to see and hear her like that every day until I passed on to the other side.
I licked my lips as I took a deep breath, watching how she moved around the kitchen, a slight shift to the way she walked telling me that she was sore. Sore and feeling me still.
My self-satisfied grin must have been showing on my face from where I was supposed to be helping Gruk-ir play a game on the tiny tablet she held, but my fingers were too big and I kept losing it for her.
Still, our sweet girl laughed instead of getting angry, holding onto my finger to jab at the tablet over and over, cackling at the unwanted outcome.
She might be a bit of a chaos demon.
“Breakfast time, sweetheart,” Tasia said to our daughter, running a gentle hand down her hair and connecting with mine where it was resting on her back.
She glanced up at me and then looked away, but I spotted the shyness in her expression and marveled at it. Shy . After she’d made me come until my balls had shriveled up inside me. I grinned at her, twining our fingers together behind Gruk-ir, but our girl wasn’t one to miss much.
She peered behind her, seeing our hands, and then looked up at me with a small grin that said, I told you so. She had, indeed.
“Mommy, you have something right here,” she told Tasia, pointing to the right of her neck and I stiffened, giving my mate my most innocent smile.
Tasia’s brow furrowed, and her fingers went to the spot our daughter indicated.
She canted her head to the side, wincing as she felt the twinge of pain from the healing bite.
She gave me an indecipherable look, and headed back toward the kitchen.
I pursed my lip before looking at Gruk-ir, but she just smiled up at me, heedless of any censure from me.
“Does this mean I get a little sister?” she asked, tapping dexterously on her tablet, playing the game at a speed that made my eyebrows sweep up. When the words registered, I almost choked on my own spit.
“If you’re trying to help Abu win your mommy,” I whispered conspiratorially, and she leaned forward with a serious nod, “then don’t talk about sisters yet. Let her get used to it just being the three of us for a while.”
“But I want a sister,” she argued, her lower lip sticking out, and I was recognizing the signs of my Gruk-ir getting ready to protest.
I dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head. “And you’re going to get one. But if you talk about it before your mommy’s ready, she’s not going to want it to happen for some time. She’ll get scared.”
“Why?” she asked, moving toward me and climbing up on my lap so she could cuddle against my chest while she played her game.
“She’s scared,” I whispered against her soft, sweet-smelling hair. “And we have to be careful with her, okay?”
“Like when I have to be careful of the hard cups?” she asked, still tapping away on the screen.
“Exactly. We never want Mommy to be hurt, right?”
“ Never ,” Gruk-ir agreed, nodding with finality.
“Then we’re going to have to be patient. Things like weddings and babies will have to wait, alright?” I asked, and I should have realized my mistake when she went as stiff as a board against me.
The way her little head turned on her neck—as if she was haunted by a demon—should have been my second warning. But I was too foolish to understand, until I saw the gleeful gleam in her gaze.
“Wedding!” she shouted, sucking in a deep breath before releasing an eardrum-rupturing screech of excitement. I fumbled to keep her still, pressing her little face into my chest to smother the sound, but it was terrifying in its pitch.
“Shhh, or Mommy will get worried,” I insisted, and our daughter wiggled with joy.
“Wedding!” she cried, her words still muffled against my shirt, and I was wondering if she was always this excited about weddings or if it was just every time ours was mentioned.
“I know, Gruk-ir,” I murmured, rocking her while she did a happy dance. “I know you’re excited, and it’s all going to happen, but remember I said you have to be patient?”
The wiggling stopped and she pulled back to frown at me. “Mommy’s being too slow. We should plan it and then surprise her!” The feral glee in her eyes told me that I would have no say in anything for the wedding and I would end up wearing sparkles of some kind.
“No,” I laughed, cupping her little face in one of my hands. “I haven’t even asked her,” I whispered. “And when I do, I want to make sure she’s going to say yes. For that, I need some time to get her to fall in love with me.”
“That’s easy,” Gruk-ir said with a shrug. “She already loves you.”
“She does, huh?” I chuckled, tickling her under her neck and making her squeal with laughter.
“Yeah,” she cried, rolling around to hide from where I aimed for her sides. “She doesn’t really love people. She loves me, our coven, and now you.” The words were said with such matter-of-fact assurance, that I almost believed them.
“Well, we’ll see about that,” I sighed, settling her back down to play her game. “But until then, no more talking about our plans, okay?”
She heaved out a sigh as if the weight of the world was on her tiny shoulders, and I had to hide a smile. “Fine,” she agreed, rolling her eyes and leaning against me. “But did you get a ring?” she asked, focused on the screen again.
“I did,” I told her, and when she looked up, her eyes gleaming, I shook my head. “And you can’t see it until Mommy shows it to you, okay?”
Her pout was even bigger, but I ignored it. I didn’t want her to get attached to a ring until Tasia did. I wanted my mate to have a choice. If she didn’t like the one I’d chosen, I would take her to the store that I’d visited with Darak and let her select another.
It hadn’t taken me long. I’d been sure as soon as I’d seen the beautiful, unique ring on display. It was one-of-a-kind, just like my Tasia. It held a special place in my heart and even if she didn’t like it, I’d still like for her to have it.
“I want a ring too,” Gruk-ir said from her position cuddled against me. “A pretty one.”
A grin spread across my face and I didn’t tell her about the tiny little exact replica that I’d had commissioned for her that was tucked in the wedding box under Tasia’s. “We’ll see,” I told her instead, and she huffed as she continued playing her game.
“We’ll pick one for you too, Abu,” she told me with firm confidence and my heart clenched hard in my chest at the thought of my mate and our daughter searching for a ring for me . Something that would let the world know that I belonged to them. That I had a family who accepted me.
It was a struggle not to let the tears that were threatening brim in my eyes, but in the end I won, taking a deep, rattling breath before releasing it and trying to help Gruk-ir with her game again.