Page 21 of Loved by the Orc (Hidden Hollow #4)

20

HARMONY

A fter he finally pulled out of me, Tark had to give me another bath, to clean me up. But it wasn’t until we came back in the bedroom to strip the sheets, that we got a surprise.

“Hey—why is this so heavy?” he grumbled, when he took hold of the headboard to shift it a little to one side. “It’s never felt like this before.”

“I don’t know—I was hanging on to it while you, er, tasted me,” I said. I was wrapped in another one of his big, puffy towels that was more like a blanket. If you’ve never tried Orc sized towels, I highly recommend them.

“Ah…I thought I felt something happening when you were coming.” He nodded wisely.

“What? What happened? What are you talking about?” I demanded.

“I mean, this…” He wrapped one big hand around the top rail of the brass headboard and I saw his bicep bulge as he lifted it. When he let it drop, it came down with a dull thunk! that shook the floor!

“Oh!” I exclaimed. “What happened to it to make it so heavy? ”

“You did, Babygirl.” He rumbled laughter, his eyes dancing. “You turned it to gold when you came!”

“I did?” I went to put a hand on the brass headboard. Maybe it was a little different color than it had been before, I thought. But nothing extraordinary. Tark was right, though—it was too heavy for me to even try lifting it.

“Solid gold,” he confirmed, still chuckling. “Well, I guess now we know your magic works either when you’re in mortal peril or when you’re coming.”

“Wow…” I shook my head. “Well, I know which one I’d rather be doing.”

“You can make millions and billions, you know—if you want to.” Tark’s eyes were suddenly serious. “You can turn yourself into a dragon and live in a castle—a literal one—if you want.”

“But what if I’d rather just stay here with you and learn from Madam Healer?” I asked, looking up at him.

He came around the bed and took me in his arms.

“That’s what I want too, baby. And now that we’re Sworn Heartmates, we’re going to be together forever. I was just saying, if you wanted to, we could move to the Human Realm and buy a place in one of those ultra fancy high rises or something. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’ll follow wherever you want to go.”

“No overpriced penthouse suite could compare with Hidden Hollow,” I told him, snuggling to get closer. “I like it here. And now that Mr. Price—or the monster impersonating him—is dead, I think I’m going to have to move here. Like I said, the police would want to question me and what could I say? ‘Sorry, my Orc boyfriend chopped off his head because he made me upset so he could suck out my emotions?’ I don’t think that would go over very well.”

Tark rumbled a laugh.

“Yeah, that might be fucking hard to sell. But what about your dream of becoming a pharmacist? ”

“I’d rather be an alchemist,” I said, lifting my chin. “It’s way more interesting and fun.” I nibbled my lip. “If…I can live here with you?”

“Of course you can!” Tark exclaimed. “I wanted to ask you to move in earlier, but I was afraid I might scare you off.”

“You did?” I raised my eyebrows. “Like how much earlier?”

“Oh, I don’t know…pretty much from the first time I saw you when you came running out of that door and smacked right into me.” He grinned. “I just knew the minute I saw you that you were for me. Does that sound weird?”

“Not weird at all,” I assured him, snuggling against his broad chest. “Oh, Tark—I love you so much!”

“Love you too, Babygirl,” he growled softly, stroking my hair. “And now I never have to let you go.”