Page 2 of Marked by the Wild Orc (Heat & Ink)

Chapter 2

Talon

I ’m in my office, alone and comfortable, when I receive an annoying call from my so-called best friend. The male who moved from our commune to the same town I live in and is already a firefighter, found his bride and has a son on the way.

It’s most annoying.

And now he’s trying to unload his human sister onto me.

“No,” I respond. “It’s bad enough that I’ve moved to a human town and give humans orc tattoos, but I draw the line at a human working with me day in and day out, least of all an unmated female. It’s me and two other orcs in the shop and none of us are mated. This would be a disaster.”

“She’s my sister and I’ve already told her that the job is hers.”

“This was your mistake, not mine. I don’t care if she’s the President of the United States, I don’t want her here. I’m not mated and it’s the fall. What if I scent her and my body locks on to her and that isn’t what she wants? I’ll only be able to remain sane for a few short months.”

“You won’t ever want her as a mate and neither will Oreg or Doril.”

“Why not?”

“Because my sister is not able to become pregnant.”

“What is the problem? Why is she unable to conceive?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what the human doctors told her. But don’t tell her I told you that; she’d kill me. I’m only telling you because it’s important.”

I let out a snort. “Wild orcs are not the easiest to be around.”

“I know. But you’d better treat my sister well or I’ll kick your ass.”

“How am I supposed to know how to treat her well? I don’t know how to deal with delicate humans. I’ve only been in the commune and now I’m here, giving orcs tattoos in the ways of old and also to these needy humans because it’s become trendy. They put up with my aggression to get the tattoo.”

“You said you needed someone immediately.”

“Heh,” I growl. “This is true. Does she know how to take care of customers? She’s worked in a tattoo shop before?”

“She’ll be great.”

“What are you hiding?”

“Nothing. Like I said, she’ll be great.”

Heat churns in my chest. “She’d better be because I’m not hiring some stupid, useless human girl who’s never been around a tattoo shop in her life.” And then I hear a squeak in the hallway past my open office door. “Who is there?” I growl, pounding my fist against the desk.

“If you ever call my sister ‘stupid’ again,” Kavin snarls, “I’m going to beat you first then toss you in the fire pit.”

I see a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I hang up. Then I throw open the office door and see a female rushing away from me. I march down the hall and catch up with her as she’s halfway through the front door, ready to exit the shop.

“Stop!” I bellow.

She pauses and looks back at me.

I’m transfixed for a moment by her radiant beauty. “Come inside and talk with me,” I order.

A muscle ticks in her jaw. Her long, brown hair whips in the wind and her hazel eyes narrow. When have I ever witnessed a more extraordinary female? How did an orc as ugly as Kavin become half sibling with this graceful human?

“You said you would never work with a stupid human,” she challenges. “Therefore, I’m leaving.”

“Heh. Does this mean you are admitting you are stupid?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I’m not stupid. But it’s terrible of you to assume I’m of lower intelligence ahead of time before even meeting me.”

I soften my voice. “You are Kavin’s sister. I would like to talk with you about a job.”

She blows out a breath and rubs a hand against her forehead. “Job. Yes. I need to talk to you about a job.”

“Let’s go to my office and talk.”

“Okay.” The female quietly closes the door behind her and follows me back inside.

All three cats march alongside us.

I sit behind my desk and the female takes one of the two chairs on the other side. Now that we are in an enclosed space, her pheromones reach my lungs and I inhale, confirming that she is not compatible. I’m find myself mildly disappointed. “My name is Talon Overtree,” I greet.

“I am Krissy Thompkins.”

I lean back in my chair. “I might say things to you that will be difficult for a delicate human to process.”

“I heard.”

My lips twitch. “I will not apologize for speaking like an orc. This is who I am. I always say what I want,” I warn her. “I refuse to be different for anyone and I can't have an employee who's so delicate that they cannot handle orc talk.”

She tilts her head. “But my brother doesn't talk like that to anyone.”

“He is being different for you.”

“I’ve never heard him talk in a rude manner towards Mia either…”

A growl rumbles in my chest.

She puts up a palm. “I understand, you expect me to roll with the punches while I work here. I can do that.”

“There will be no punches. You will be safe in all your interactions with me.”

Her beautiful eyes flash with defiance. “Sometimes there isn’t much of a difference between hurtful words and the pain of physical hurt.”

“Female, can you work here, or not?”

Kavin’s sister sits up straight. “Oh, I can definitely work here. Sorry. I will do a good job, I promise.”

This is when I remember my friend said his sister was in great need of an immediate job so I back down. It doesn’t seem fair for a human who is already affronted by my plain orc speak to have to work with orcs because she needs the money. If I hire her, I will pay her well so she can move on as soon as possible to another job that is a better match. And then I can hire an orc, hopefully, who I can speak to plainly.

Meanwhile, If I did choose to hire her, I’d have to put up with this human.

And then I witness something so stunning, I choke on a sip of my now-cold coffee.

My largest black cat hops into Krissy’s arms and she greets this vicious animal with a rub right under his chin. The other two animals sit at her feet, purring for attention, completely ignoring me.

“What is this?” I thunder.

She looks up at me with surprise, still petting the cat.

“You have met my cats?” I question. “And survived?”

“Oh, yes. I hope that was okay. The front door was open and I was trying to find you and these three cats were sort of leading me to your office. I heard your voice, and since I was told to come immediately for an interview, I followed the sound.”

Shadow jumps down onto the floor and then both Ink and Cole take his place on her lap at the same time. Krissy giggles and takes it all in good stride, balancing both cats and giving them equal attention.

All three of my cats like her? I try to call them over, but they ignore me, except for Shadow. “This has never happened before. My cats don't like anyone except for me,” I explain. “They are trained guard cats. They don’t even like the two other males who work here.”

“Guard cats? I’m never heard of that. Cats are sweethearts who love to be petted, played with and given snacks. They stopped and stared at me, so I reached out and let them each sniff my hand.”

“They didn't hiss at you?”

She looks confused. “No, why would they?”

“They didn't bite or scratch?”

She laughs. “Of course not. Each one had a slightly different reaction to me, but none of them acted scared or afraid.”

“You can tell the difference between them?”

“Yeah, they're all black, but they have different body shapes and their personalities are different. Do you bring your cats with you to work every day?”

“Yes, they enjoy traveling with me in my car and I don’t want to leave them alone. And normally I’m the only one who can tell them apart.” I cross my arms. “You aren’t allergic to cats?”

“No, but I understand what you’re talking about and I appreciate you checking. I always wanted cats but I’ve never been able to have my own as a pet because my grandmother was allergic. What are their names?”

“The biggest one that was in your arms first was Shadow. The cat with the large ears and tail is Ink and the smallest cat is Cole.”

“Oh, I love their names.”

“That would be part of your job too,” I tell her. “Herding cats. I need someone to help keep them fed, happy and safe from the customers.”

“I can do that. In fact, that sounds like the best part of the job.”

And that's when I decide to hire her. “When can you start?”

“I can start right now.”

I stand and open the door. “Good.”

“Um, can I ask…when do you pay? Do you pay weekly, biweekly, monthly…”

“I pay weekly.”

She nods and looks away, still biting her lip.

And this is when I realize today is Sunday. “We pay on Mondays. Tomorrow you can be paid for today’s work. Then next Monday you will get a full week’s pay.”

“Really? You can start to pay me that soon?”

“Yes, this is no problem.”

“Thank you,” she smiles with a flash of perfect teeth.

Shadow gives out a loud meow, as if he agrees.

I give Kavin’s human sister a quick tour of the shop, the chairs and our supplies. Time flies as I train her to take over the cat’s feeding system and the front counter. The good news is that she is indeed smart and takes direction easily. It helps that the cats like her.

“Everyone pays in cash?” she asks with true surprise after I show her the cash register. “You don’t have a point-of-sale system?”

“A what? I’ve never heard of that.”

“Oh jeez. Well, you at least use QuickBooks, right? So at least there’s that.”

“What is Quick…what did you call it?”

Her mouth drops open.

“I bought a franchise of Heat and Ink but turned it into the only orc tattoo establishment in the country. As far as I know, we’re the only place that practices tattoo art in the ways of the ancients and even allows the ancient ink onto humans.”

“I’ve never had a tattoo.”

I glance at her with surprise. “I assumed you had tattoos on your body that were under your clothes. Why have you never had one?”

“I can't handle the thought of the pain. Plus, I always think to myself, what if I hate this ten or twenty years from now? I don't want to be like a celebrity I heard of who had to spend two years of pain and two hundred thousand dollars to get all the ink lasered off his body that he’d accumulated, including the names of ex-girlfriends.”

I chuckle. “That is human idiocy.” I proudly point at the work done on both my arms. “Orcs never apply tribal ink that would later need removal. Our symbols are earned as a badge of honor and have life-long meaning.”

She blinks. “If they are so meaningful, why do you place these on humans too?”

“I understand their desperation for orc ink on their bodies, because it is indeed the best. I give humans special art that I’ve specifically created that looks similar to our markings but is in truth not our tribal ink. Humans can’t handle the pain of orc tattoo application. They think what I make for them has orc meaning, but it is simply decorative. Only orcs receive ancient tribal ink in the ways of old bestowed on them by their elders, which I then apply.”

“Do the humans know this?”

“I avoid telling them that theirs is different, but if directly asked I will answer truthfully. I do this because I’m trying my best to keep the secrets of tribal ink amongst orcs. And we charge humans twice as much as we charge orcs.”

“Oh.”

“Do you consider that unfair?”

“No…it makes sense. You said that this is originally for orcs and only recently have you been allowing humans to get these tattoos too. You had to go through the bother of creating special tattoos so humans could be included while still preserving orc rituals for orcs only. It makes sense to me that they should be charged more for this privilege.”

“Exactly.”

“I understand. Your secret is safe with me.” She gives me a wide smile, which causes her to look even more charming than before.

And then the first orc customers arrive and my training of this human begins in earnest. I make sure to leave the door to my room open and at first I am able to keep an eye on her for questions and still keep up my work, so that I am not leaving Krissy alone in front.

But eventually I am in deep thought, busy heating up tools and talking with an orc under my care who needs a tattoo to memorialize his first successful knock out of his older brother, tossing him over the fire pit, which is to be celebrated. When I finish the last burn and we both admire the work and he leaves, I notice a human has arrived who wants an orc tattoo.

I overhear him talking to Krissy at the front counter as she signs him in, and I don’t like the way this male stands too close when he speaks to her.

“How did you get this job, working with orcs?” he questions.

“My brother is Talon Overtree’s best friend and he recommended me for this job.”

“Talon’s best friend is a human?”

“No,” she laughs. “My brother is an orc.”

“How is that possible?”

“Well, he’s my older half-brother. My mother met his dad”—she wags a finger—“and no, he didn’t kidnap her. She was smitten and got knocked up by him right away. My mother went with Kavin’s dad to his commune and hid out there for her entire pregnancy until she’d healed from the delivery and then left them both and they never saw her again. Then she went on to eventually meet my dad, get married and had me. In fact, my mother didn’t tell a single person she’d had a secret orc baby. The only way I found out that my brother existed was because he got in contact with me when he’d learned he had a sibling through the Orc Ancestry Database.”

“Oh wow, I should check that database. What if I have a secret orc brother? That would be amazing.”

“You could,” she chuckles, “you could. And you’d be lucky because my brother is a great guy.”

And then she turns and gives me a wink and I realize she knew I was listening all along.

For some reason my eyes drift down when she turns away. The curve of her ass is spectacular, as are the heft of her breasts. Why am I thinking this way if she is a female who cannot mate?

I shake my head, greet the human and lead him into my room and get back to work.