Page 29 of Grumpy Pucking Orc (Orcs on Ice #1)

Ozar

I slept fitfully without Jordan in bed beside me. Her scent was all over my sheets, all over me. Every time I’d doze off, I’d reach for her, only to wake up in a panic when I found the bed empty beside me.

She was my mate, my soul-bond, the only woman I’d ever love. When she’d consented to our joining, I’d hesitated, knowing she had no idea what that action would mean for me. But in the end, I’d done it, willing to risk a lifetime of painful solitude for even a moment of that joyous connection.

I knew she’d felt it too. I could see it in her eyes. Sex between us had been more than just an orgasm for her. But she was human, and I wasn’t sure if the mate bond meant the same thing for them as it did for orcs.

I’d take what I could get, though. Whatever love she was capable of giving. And if her love was fleeting, not for forever, then I’d watch her leave. And I’d thank the mountain gods for every moment she was mine.

After tossing and turning, I finally got out of bed, finished off the pine-nut cake, and made a pot of coffee.

My bed furs smelled of Jordan. My skin smelled of Jordan.

Faint traces of her scent lingered all over my apartment.

I debated taking a shower but decided to leave her scent on my skin for a little while longer.

At six, I dressed, grabbed the box of leftover cannoli, and headed over to the stadium.

Just like yesterday, Ugwyll was on the ice.

This time he wasn’t on his back, cursing with his legs and arms splayed out.

I watched as he made his way around the rink, pushing a puck side to side in front of him with the stick.

After two laps, he slowed and turned around, then began to skate backward, still maneuvering the puck as he went.

These laps were punctuated with several stops and starts, but the orc managed it without falling or running into anything.

I kept watching, letting Ugwyll have his solo time on the ice, then I went to the locker room to get my gear on.

By the time I joined him, Ugwyll was circling the far goal, shooting from a line of pucks as he came around. As I skated over, he halted and turned to face me. Lifting his head, he sniffed the air then put out his hand for a fist-bump.

I completed the human-style acknowledgement.

“When’s the wedding?” he asked, a broad grin on his face.

I shifted on my skates. “We’re not at the wedding stage yet. Humans take these things slower. I’ve got more wooing to do, but things are looking promising.”

Ugwyll gave me a worried look, then shot another puck into the net. “You locked your mate bond with her. Why would you do that when you weren’t sure she was ready for that kind of commitment?”

Because I am a love-sick idiot. “There will be no other for me. I’d rather complete the mate bond and experience a moment of that bliss, than risk having a partial bond for the rest of my life.”

Ugwyll sighed and hit another puck. “If she doesn’t return the mate bond—if she doesn’t even feel the mate bond, then you risk a painful, short life. Personally, I’d rather live with a partial bond.”

“I will accept whatever she can give,” I said with far more confidence than I felt. “I will continue to woo her, and if she commits to be my bride, that will be enough.”

I wanted her to feel the mate bond and accept it, but I would take whatever the human equivalent of that might be.

If the worst happened and she decided she wanted another…

I clenched my teeth, not wanting to think about that.

Last night, I’d thought I could accept that horrible alternative, but now I wasn’t so sure.

Not that I’d have any choice. I would never force her to be my bride.

“She’s moving into your den, though?” Ugwyll asked.

I winced. “Not yet.”

The other orc turned to face me. “Please at least tell me she remained in your furs until sunup.”

“She had commitments to her patients this morning,” I protested. “And she didn’t have appropriate clothing with her for her employment.”

Ugwyll’s eyebrows shot up, and he tilted his head.

“She is taking me to eat ice cream tonight. She also wants to skate with me.” I left out the teaching me part because I was feeling rather pitiful as it was. “She also said she wanted to take me to other places in the city.”

The other orc stared at me in surprise. “ She’s wooing you ? A female is wooing a male?”

I nodded. “I think this is the way humans do things. But it must mean that she has similar feelings. She is attracted to me. She’s been receptive and even eager. I satisfied her several times last night and she was reluctant to leave.”

Ugwyll shrugged and turned back to the pucks. “You’re a wyndall ’s ass, and I shouldn’t care whether you get hurt or not, but I do. You’re absolutely committed to this female without knowing if her feelings for you will last a week or a month or forever.”

He was right, but I couldn’t be any other way. I’d been bold and strategic in warfare, and while I’d never put my team in unnecessary danger, I’d always been willing to take great personal risk. I could do no different with Jordan.

Pushing my doubts and fears to the back of my mind, I did laps around the ice as Ugwyll had done, attempting to skate backward and failing miserably.

I did better at getting the puck in the net, even managing to speed up and aim my shots to specific sections of the goal.

Two hours later, Ugwyll and I were both sweaty and tired—and the only two who’d been on the ice this morning.

“Where is the rest of the team?” I asked during one of our water breaks.

“In bed? Playing games in the locker room? Tugging their hand-axes?” Ugwyll speculated.

“We have a game in two days,” I fretted. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to continue to be the fool.”

Ugwyll snorted. “These humans have been playing this game for much of their lives. We’re not going to win against them.”

“I don’t need to win; I just need to make them respect us.” I waved a hand at the empty stadium seats. “I want those who watch to respect us as well.”

“Me too,” Ugwyll confessed. “But that’s going to take more than just the two of us. ”

I tossed my empty water bottle into the plastic bin. “Then let’s go try to recruit some hockey players.”

Ugwyll followed me off the ice and into the locker room where I found six of our teammates lounging around. Whacking my stick against one of the lockers got their attention.

“You’re interrupting my nap, you wyndall’s ass,” Eng said as he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

“Team meeting,” I yelled. “Now. On the ice. Put your skates on and get out there.”

Bwat ignored me and kept looking at his phone. Eng yawned and folded his arms across his chest. Two of the guys eyed me nervously and grabbed their skates. The other two edged toward the door.

Ugwyll slapped his stick across the doorway and glared at the two potential deserters. “Get. Your. Skates. On.”

They hustled back to the benches and did as he said, which left me to deal with Bwat and Eng.

“Bwat,” I barked out. “Meeting. On the ice. Skates on.”

He looked up from his phone. “Do you know that hockey players are known for their foul language, taunts to members of the opposing team, and fights in the middle of the games?”

My eyebrows shot up, impressed that Bwat had been researching something related to hockey and not just generic human culture and language.

“That’s…helpful,” I reluctantly admitted.

“The main curse word used is ‘fuck,’” he continued. “If we want to be taken seriously at this hockey game thing, then we need to say ‘fuck’ a lot.”

I nodded. “Everyone say ‘fuck’ as often as you can in your communications. Bwat, you’re in charge of coming up with appropriate taunts for us to use against the opposing team. Now, skates on and hit the ice. That means you too, Eng.”

Eng rolled his eyes. “Why should I bother? No fuck-one cares if we win or lose, if we try or not. If there’s no payoff, why exert any effort?”

“No fucking one,” Bwat corrected. “When it’s describing?—”

“There is a payoff.” I grabbed my box of leftover cannoli from my locker. “Now everyone get on the ice.”

Eng muttered something about how my finding a mate and getting laid had pushed me over the edge of insanity, but he did as I said and strapped on his skates.

We all went onto the ice, Ugwyll and I moving with a whole lot more ease than the other orcs who hadn’t been practicing.

Just to torture them, I skated to the center and waited for them to slip and slide their way to me.

Eng, as usual, refused to cross the ice and instead stomped his way around the wall until he was as close to us as he could get while still clinging to the barrier.

“Our owner might not care if we win or lose,” I began. “Some fans might not care if we win or lose—although many do. But no matter what others’ expectations are, we need to care. We need to stop being the fools they come to laugh at, and be the players they respect, the ones they cheer for.”

“We’re not going to win,” Ugwyll reminded me. “I can barely fuck-skate, and you’re not much better.”

“ Fucking skate,” Bwat interrupted.

I scowled. “We might lose, but we’ll make the other team pay for every point in fuck-blood.”

“ Fucking blood,” Bwat corrected. “Because?—”

“We try to win. We try to score every point we can. But our primary goal is to make the other team respect us. And we do that by hitting them hard and often.”

For the first time, probably in his life, Eng looked mildly interested. “You want us to beat the shit out of the human team?”

“Yes but make it look like a series of unfortunate accidents,” I explained. “We’re clumsy and don’t know how to skate, so we slam into them, trip them, accidentally sucker punch them while flailing around for balance, rack them in their hand-axes with our sticks.”

Ugwyll grinned. “I can do that.”

“They’ll put us in the box if we fight,” Bwat said.