Page 2 of My Orc Contract Husband (Eastshore Isle #9)

I missed having my own space. Back in Bramblewood, I couldn’t do my woodworking in my apartment, but Abydos let me build a big shed on his property, and I’d been happy there.

Me deciding to follow our brothers out here to Eastshore had been one of the reasons he’d agreed to come as well. At least part-time.

Soon .

A noise had me jerking my head upright, turning to peer out the window, and deep in my chest, my Kteer growled at the sight of Sami hurrying across her wide front yard toward my truck.

What was that for? My Kteer —that primitive part of me leftover from a time when we had to fight to survive and find our Mates—had never gotten involved with the other women I’d slept with.

Not that I was sleeping with Sami.

I mean, I wanted to sleep with Sami. Hells, she was stunning—and elegant and wealthy and so out of my league I wasn’t even playing the same sport she was.

But why would my Kteer pay attention to her any more than Mrs. Henders at the grocery?

Maybe because you haven’t slept with her?

I wasn’t going to seduce my realtor so my stupid biology could get its head out of its ass— “Hi!” I blurted as Sami pulled open the door. “Need a hand?”

I guess I sounded as awkward as I felt, because she looked at me strangely as she climbed in. “I’m fine, thank you. Ready?”

“Yeah. You look great. I mean…” Fuck . “You cleaned up. Your hands. Good work. ”

She was definitely smirking at me now. “Couldn’t do a house tour with dirty hands. I also texted the other realtor, and he said we’re fine to tour it now.” She nodded down the street. “Four blocks that way.”

Relieved for a distraction, I began to drive, and felt the tension, the awkwardness, drain away. “This place really is beautiful.”

“It’s my favorite neighborhood on the island. That’s why I chose it when I moved here.”

My knuckles were locked on the wheel, and I didn’t glance at her as I asked, “When was that?”

“Four years ago. My aunt has lived here for ages, and it was a good place to start over when I…well, I needed to start over.”

My Kteer was definitely interested, but this time, I could feel a tug in my chest. I wanted to solve Sami’s problems. Which was stupid, because a) she was a badass modern female who didn’t need no man, and b) I didn’t know what the shit her problems were in the first place.

“This is the place!”

Her tone was almost too cheerful, but I tightened my jaw and turned into the driveway, trying to focus on the property and the yard.

There was a chain-link fence around the whole place, which I didn’t love, but I’d probably leave up for a bit before I made any decisions.

Enough space in the backyard for a large shop, which is what I needed.

The tree cover meant the lawn was mostly dirt, but I could put down some shade-resistant?—

“What do you think?” Sami asked as I put the truck in park. “Want to go inside? ”

I blinked, then realized I hadn’t even looked at the house. “Yeah. Looks just like the pictures.”

“Well let’s go see if they match the interior.”

The truck was too tall for her—she had to jump down, and I winced at the way her cute sundress caught on the door. I should’ve been there to help her down, and I ought to fabricate some kind of step— What was I thinking? Today was a fluke; it’s not like my realtor made a habit of riding in my car.

“Let’s check it?—”

When Sami abruptly stopped speaking, I turned to see what had her frowning. A black car was driving slowly by, and it triggered a memory.

“Do you know them?”

She shook herself and turned toward the house. “No, let’s get inside.”

Strange wording. I kept my body between her and the car—now past—as she unlocked the door. “Sami, are you okay?”

I saw the muscles of her jaw tighten as she struggled with the key. “Yeah, of course. I just…I’ve had this weird feeling a few times lately, like someone was watching me.”

And that car triggered it. I turned to frown over my shoulder at the long-gone vehicle.

“Come on,” she muttered, pushing open the door.

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you what the place looked like. I knew it was the Eastshore standard two-bedroom, two- bathroom home, the layout familiar and comforting, but I was too focused on the woman at my side to pay attention to furnishings or color or decorations.

Until we got to the back porch.

“ This is more like it,” I breathed, hopping down the back steps to admire the yard. “Look at all this space. The shade is nice too.”

“It means you wouldn’t be able to grow much,” Sami pointed out in a doubtful tone.

But I was bending over the only garden bed. “These coneflowers are doing okay. See?” I ran my thumb and forefinger up one stem. “Although?—”

“Wait!”

I froze, my Kteer responding to the panic in her tone. “What?”

“Don’t pick it.”

Slowly, I straightened, my lips curling in amusement. “I wasn’t going to pick it.” There was no reason to kill a flower in the prime of its beauty.

Sami was watching me doubtfully. “You weren’t?”

“What’s that line? If I plucked a rose, it wouldn’t smell as sweet? It’s better to smell it on the vine? Something like that?”

“Tarkhan, did you just quote Shakespeare at me?” She was picking her way carefully across the dirt toward me.

Grinning, I planted my hands on my hips. “Did I? I thought it was an orcish allegory. ”

“Then Othello must have been part orc.”

“Maybe he was.” I waggled my eyebrows, having no idea who this Othello was, but leaning into it, just pleased to hear her teasing me. “We orcs have gotten around, you know.”

She was grinning when she stopped at my side. “What do you think of the place? Should we put in an offer?”

“I’d love to. The lots in this neighborhood are ideal.”

Her fingers were flying over her phone’s screen now, taking notes. “Mm-hm. That’s what’s held us back on the other properties that’ve come available. And the house seemed to be what you want too, size-wise. Although it needs a lot of work.”

Needs a lot of work was my middle name. Or it would be, if orcs had middle names. Or last names, for that matter.

“You’re right.” Satisfied, I crossed my arms and studied the structure. “I don’t think there’s anything I couldn’t handle. And if it needs improvements, that’s good on our end, right?”

“Absolutely,” she murmured without looking up. “We can offer below listing if you’d like, but the price is fair. But it gives us some wiggle room if we need it.”

I smiled at her, knowing she couldn’t see it. In these last four months, I could admit that I really liked how focused she got whenever she was being all business-y.

She muttered quietly to herself as she tapped on her phone, strolling out through the gate in the fence.

I followed her, supposedly investigating the property, but far more intrigued by her.

I’d been in the human world enough to know when I was interested in a female, and I was very interested in Sami Shayson.

I hadn’t acted on that interest, because I hadn’t seen any hints that she was interested in me.

But every once in a while, there was a faint hint of intriguing perfume that I hoped was her arousal, and it made my Kteer crow. One day, I hoped to spend more time with her in a non-realtor-client context, but I also wasn’t going to rush things.

“Well,” she announced, standing in the shade of one of the big trees out front and slipping her phone into her purse. “I think this is a strong possibility.”

My cock stirred at her words, even as my mind caught up.

Calm down. She’s talking about the property, not this…whatever this is.

So I smiled and nodded, my hands on my hips, definitely not shifting to hide my semi-erection. “Now I just have to convince the bank.”

“What do you mean?”

“The mortgage company. I applied for this price point a while ago, and I need them to approve me.”

Sami winced, and I knew she was thinking that I might have been wasting her time. “They approved me at the lower amount. Remember how we originally just looked at properties without structures? I have approval for that.”

“This place isn’t that much more than what we looked at originally—” she began .

I hurried to reassure her. “Which is why I think the bank will approve the second level I applied for. But even if they don’t, I have enough saved up to build the workshop I want.

I can always go back to looking at pieces of land.

” I could plumb the workshop for water and electric and live there, as long as zoning didn’t find out…

“I don’t know, Tarkhan. You are a contractor.” When she hummed and bit her lip, I had to look away, glad she didn’t seem pissed off at me. “A contractor salary, even if it’s really good, can give some banks pause, because it’s not considered steady. You said you have savings?”

I did, but not nearly as much as my friends’, thanks to my choices. “Some,” I was willing to admit. “Not as much as my friends, but I don’t want to borrow money from them.”

Her soft snort was in commiseration, and I was surprised I knew that. “I know all about that. Well, you could always marry for money.” Her grin bloomed. “You know, a second income on the mortgage application? My mom married for money.”

I stared, aghast, and the longer the silence went on, the more awkward it became. Her smile faded and she glanced away, until I realized I needed to say something.

But…marry? For a mortgage? That had never even occurred to me.

“Was she…” I cleared my throat. “Was she happy? In her marriage.”

Sami’s eyes widened. “You know, I don’t know if I ever thought about it. She wasn’t close with my father, but she had everything money could buy and seemed happy with that. Huh.”

A marriage of…of convenience , I suppose. I wouldn’t marry a stranger because they happened to be rich, but what if it was mutually beneficial? What could I offer that stranger?

What? Why are you considering this?

No, no, I wasn’t considering it, not really. Right? Orcs didn’t marry , they found their Mates. But since I’d been in the human world for years and hadn’t found a Mate yet—and Abydos would say, based on the number I’d fucked around with, I’d been trying my hardest—then I wasn’t likely to.

Marriage, on the other hand, was just a legal arrangement.

Could you live with someone you didn’t care for? Sleep with them?

No, the idea was preposterous.

Wasn’t it?

I blinked, realized I’d been distracted. Sami had drifted away and was staring down the street, a worried frown on her face, her arms wrapped around her middle.

“What’s wrong?” I drifted to her side.

“That black car just drove past again, really slowly. It was like…they were looking for someone.”

As we watched, the car pulled a U-turn down the street and headed back toward us. Unconsciously, I moved in front of Sami, putting my body between hers and the car .

And it was a good thing I did, because that car stopped in front of the house and a man climbed out of the backseat, a black leather folder clutched in his hand.

“Sami Shayson?” he called, ignoring me as he strolled toward us. “My client has been looking for you. I was able to narrow your home down to this neighborhood, but we couldn’t find your exact house.”

Thank the gods below he hadn’t found her at her actual home.

“What do you want?” I growled, and again he ignored me, thrusting the folder out.

“Consider yourself served, Ms. Shayson.”