Page 18 of One Night with Her Untamed Orc (Toothsome Monster Romance #6)
Tarik
I ce cream is not innocent. Not the way Emma eats it. Her waffle cone topped with mint chocolate chip smells sweet, as it should. But when she licks the creamy green substance, her tongue flicking bottom to top, left to right, I almost lose it.
It’s impossible to eat my own basil-lime ice cream.
She’s watching me watching her lick her ice cream with an enthusiasm that I can’t deny makes me hard.
Makes me think of when she licked the pre-cum off the tip of my cock, then licked her lips like it was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.
Now, her eyes hold mine captive; I can’t look away, and she knows it.
Her lips curl in a mischievous smile. She licks her lips, and I know I’m beyond trouble. She takes the top of her cone into her mouth, lips stretching to fit around the width of the ice cream, then pulls it out, her eyes still on mine .
I’m hard in my jeans, painfully so, and I’m grateful we are sitting at a table. Some dignity is left to me. And my hand is wet and sticky from my melted ice cream that I can’t be bothered to eat.
“That looks good.” I finally get my mouth to work enough to utter idiotic words at the sexy, smart woman before me.
“Very satisfying,” she answers, back to licking, then scraping her top teeth across the edge of her dessert.
“It looks that way.”
“I love being satisfied.” This time her voice is low, just for me.
“I love to see you satisfied.” Breaking the spell, I close my eyes, trying to hold on to my wits. I don’t even care about dignity anymore. It takes every ounce of restraint not to carry her home, away from town and the ferry, like a beast carrying his prey home to his cave.
Emma opens her mouth once more to say something that I know will pierce me, but Poros interrupts.
“Tarik, it looks like your ice cream is defective.” All I can do is take the napkin he offers me and grunt in response.
Poros engages in eel talk with Emma. It’s clear she’s flattered he paid attention during her talk.
I paid attention too, but mostly to the way her hair shone in the light, and her enthusiasm that is evident in everything she does.
Even though he puts me to shame, I’m proud of Poros.
He’s grown and developed into a strapping young orc with a vision and passion for his new farm venture. But I’ll kill him if he hugs her again.
My ears perk up when he says, “When will we see you again?” earnestly. We? But before I can growl at him again, Emma shocks me.
“Well, I’ll probably see you tomorrow when you come to the farm.” She smiles, completely unassuming and honest. I’ve missed something crucial here.
“The farm?” I manage to cough out, still struggling with the ice cream cone in my hand, devoid of any ice cream.
“Mm-hmm,” she says. “I figure since you’re here, that means you’re inviting me to your place for the weekend, right? I’ve been looking forward to seeing your giant pumpkins again.”
Mouth hanging open at her words, I feel unable to process her words. Thankfully, I’m saved from further embarrassment when her sister arrives back at our table. “You all set?”
“Mary, you met Tarik, right? I’m staying with him this weekend.”
“Ahh, you’re Tarik. I’m so glad to meet you!
” She puts her hand out for me to shake it, but I can only hold up my messy hands, completely unable to make any sense of what is happening right now.
“No worries, I get it. Ice cream is hard to eat.” She smiles at me, and I get the feeling that’s the voice she uses to speak to small children.
She turns to Emma and says, “There are so many huge people here.” There’s something about the way she said that last sentence that I don’t understand.
She’s looking at Emma with a weird look on her face.
Emma laughs and rolls her eyes at her sister.
“You’re—staying with me this weekend? All weekend?”
“Yes.” Emma’s eyes are lit with an impossible flame as she leans into me and says ‘yes.’ Without thinking, without weighing my options or paying attention to who’s around, I lean forward and kiss her on the lips. Thank the gods. The torture was really too much.
When I lean back in my seat, trying to find my own sense of time and space, she says, “Exactly. Yes.”