Page 19

AUTUMN

I stood along the wall in the high school gym, doing my best to chaperone the Halloween dance, but mostly checking out the muscular ass of our high school science teacher, Thraal.

A few years ago, orc males marched out of a previously unknown tunnel on the side of a huge mountain and announced they were seeking mates.

Humans said, okay, sure, we’ll give it a try. Treaties were formed, and they now lived among us.

Thraal took a job as the high school’s science teacher and started after Labor Day.

“He’s so cute,” I sighed to my best friend and fellow teacher, Kassia.

Kassia stabbed her finger toward two kids on the dance floor. “Hey, no making out. Megan? Sam? Stop it!” She huffed, sending strands of her strawberry blonde hair shooting up from her forehead. She turned to me. “ Who’s so cute? Because there are a couple of options.”

She and I had shared a room in college, graduating with our education degrees seven years ago, and because we were besties, we’d applied to the same school district. Thankfully, Baneroot Academy hired us both.

Kassia taught social studies and world government classes, and I taught math, plus oversaw the Math Club.

“Thraal,” I breathed. Per usual, he had a flock of groupies clustered around him, a mix of single teachers and a few students. Also, per usual, he didn’t appear to notice their attention. Unfailingly polite and formal (except for his outfit tonight), he appeared oblivious to everyone around him. His steely black eyes scrutinized the room through his Clark Kent glasses.

He was the sweetest guy, completely opposite from my controlling ex.

“You’ve got it bad,” Kassia said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Would it be crass to go over and ask him if he’s dressed in ceremonial clothing or if the sorta Viking outfit is a costume?”

“Do it,” Kassia said, punctuating her words with a nudge of her elbow into my side. She’d dressed as a fairy, complete with sheer wings and a glittery ballerina skirt and bodysuit, and frankly, she looked amazing. Why Jarum, an orc she was crushing on, didn’t notice was beyond me.

“I don’t know if I dare,” I said with a cringe.

“Do it!”

Her low laughter followed me as I started forward, the tulle skirt of my black witch skirt swishing across my fishnet stockings, trying to hold my head steady so my tall, pointed black hat wouldn’t slide off my head.

I turned back and scurried over to her, my heels clicking on the wooden gym floor.

“What should I say?” I asked, my voice high pitched and thready.

“Start with hello?” Her gaze locked on Jarum, the school’s orc Phys Ed teacher.

“Ya think?” I said with a wry twist of my lips. “It’s what comes after hello that I seem to have a problem with.”

“You should’ve stomped over to Wanda and hip-checked her away from him at lunch the other day. Then you’d be past hello already.”

I’d started toward him, determined to sit with him while we ate. Talk with him. Adore him from up close. Only to have another teacher claim his attention with a sly smirk sent my way.

“If I fumble my words, he’s going to think I’ve got a problem with social skills,” I said. “Give me some tips, oh sophisticated one.”

“If I had great social skills, I’d be chatting up Jarum right now.”

“Let’s make a pact,” I said. “I’ll go over to Thraal and offer to cast a spell on him.” I lifted my witchy wand to punctuate my words. “And you go ask Jarum to dance.”

“We’re chaperoning. We’re not allowed to dance.”

“You can help him hold up the wall.” He was leaning just like her.

“Alright, it’s a deal,” she said, nudging me toward Thraal. “Go on. He won’t hurt you.”

Unlike my controlling ex who’d thankfully had moved to a new town and was leaving me alone.

As I skittered along the outside of the big open gym, lights ricocheted off the disco balls hanging from the rafters, and orange and black streamers fluttered in the sweltering air. The summer heat had held for weeks, and we were all praying for a break. Thunder clouds rumbled on the horizon, but so far, the promise of a heavy rain—and cooler air—hadn’t arrived.

Because I knew I’d chicken out if I thought too hard about it, I half-ran over to Thraal. Stopping a few feet away, I swallowed to hold back my sigh of adoration.

The coarse fabric of his dark blue vest shifted, giving me peeks of his medium-green skin. His abs went on for miles, a rugged terrain I’d kill to explore. The intricate gold embroidery on the front of his vest glowed and the fur trim gave his costume a claim-me-now warrior feel.

A leather belt encircled his waist, adorned with silver stars and strapped with both a blunted silver sword and short blade. He wore fur boots and a metal helmet, with the thick golden horns jutting out at his temples.

“Just carry me away and ravish me now,” I whispered, my fingers twitching.

His gaze sought mine. Shit, had he heard me? From the way his eyes smoldered as they traveled down my curvy frame, I suspected he had.

Before I could spin and hide my overheated face, he stomped toward me.

“You’re in charge of clean-up, aren’t you?” he asked in a neutral voice.

So much for thinking he might be eager to ravish me.

“Yeah, why?” I asked.

“Someone spilled punch all over the floor.”

“We could call the janitor.”

He scowled, never a good sign. “She’s not on call, which means you, assigned clean-up, will have to take care of this.”

“Okay. I’ll get a mop. And a bucket. Water. And anything else I can find in the janitor’s closet.”

“I’ll go with you.”

I twisted my lips. “Do you think I’m going to ignore this?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, but you implied it.”

He frowned, creating creases on his heavy orc brow. “I’m going with you because you’re a tiny human.”

“I’m tougher than I look.” I lifted my arm and made a fist, but I lost some kick while holding a witch’s wand.

Grunting, he crossed his arms over his sizeable chest. “Do you want my help or don’t you?”

“I’d be foolish to turn down such a delightful offer.”

He grunted again.

“This way.” I passed him, aiming for the other side of the gym. There were janitorial closets all over the high school, but the closest one would be inside the locker room.

He followed me to the door and inside, where we passed rows of lockers and approached the door to the closet in the back.

“Inside here,” I said, holding up the master key I was given by the principal this afternoon—with a warning not to lose it.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside the tiny room.

Thraal followed, the door shutting behind him.

Three steps took me to the sink where the janitor had left a bucket. Mops and various housecleaning tools hung from hooks on both walls. I turned on the water, added a few squirts of a solution sitting on a shelf, and grabbed a mop, plopping the rag head inside the foaming water.

Thraal hovered behind me. If I stepped backward, I’d brush against him. The thought of pressing myself against his muscular frame made me close my eyes. I sunk into the dream where I rubbed my butt against his rising cock, his arms eagerly wrapping around me. His hands cupped my breasts and—

“Why are you moaning as if you’re wounded?” he asked, his voice low and raspy in my ear. Reaching around me, he turned off the water.

While I was lost in Thraal-land, the bucket had filled. Water sloshed over the lip.

“You’re not paying attention,” he said in a gruff, grumbly voice.

“Are you always this impatient?” The words popped out of me.

He just chuckled, the husky sound tickling down my spine. “What makes you think I am?”

I turned to face him, my boobs brushing against his upper abs. He was so much taller than me. My five-six to his seven-feet put my lips at nipple height.

His abs twitched, and a vein throbbed in his chiseled temple. Tusks jutted from his lower jawline, and from the moment I met him, I’d wondered what it would be like to kiss his full, dark green lips, to run my tongue along his tusks. I’d grasp his horns and hold on while he . . .

He grunted. “Why do you smell aroused?”