Page 15

Beth

B arg's haunches rolled beneath me with each step, his steady pace rocking me back and forth, back and forth.

At first, my thighs clenched too tight, my hands gripping the reins like my life depended on it.

The height alone made my stomach swoop. But little by little, my muscles adjusted.

The rhythm of his movement became predictable, almost soothing.

And that let me relax enough to take in the surroundings.

The wind cooled the heat on my face, carrying the scents of sun-warmed dirt and grass.

The land stretched wide around us, rolling hills opening into huge plains spotted with sorhoxes.

Mountains in the distance surrounded the enormous valley, and there was nothing but a cloud-dotted sky above.

No walls, no gated estate, no father looming over my shoulder.

All of this was due to Ruugar .

I sucked in a deep breath and reminded myself to keep pretending I was Ben, the stable hand.

A real young man wouldn’t gape at the scenery like he’d never seen anything beyond a manicured lawn.

I straightened, rolling my shoulders back in what I hoped was an easy, confident way.

And kept my hat sloped low to shadow my face.

I’d watched Ruugar as we rode out of town. He sat on Ebar like he'd been born on the creature’s back. No reins. No saddle. Just foot controls that the well-trained beast obeyed with ease. Ebar moved like an extension of him.

Admiration coasted through me, warm and much too unsettling.

The way he commanded Ebar so effortlessly made my breath catch.

If only I had even a fraction of that confidence, of that certainty.

His strength should've been intimidating, but instead, it made me want to move closer, to reach out, as if being close to him might teach me how to stand taller too.

When he eased Ebar back to take the rear of the group, that made me nervous. What if he was watching me, critiquing my posture, judging me? Since the thought made me fidget, I slowed Barg until Ebar caught up and then rode beside them.

Of course, then I was watching Ruugar, tracing the lines of his profile, his muscular shoulders and arms. His hat shadowed his face, making him appear more rugged. And that sharp jawline?—

I wrenched my gaze away.

What was I doing? With my life in turmoil, I shouldn't be thinking about how it might feel to kiss him. How his tusks might press into my chin or how wonderful it would feel even if all he did was hold me. He was kind, sure. Protective too. But that didn’t mean he wanted anything more from me.

I'd already thrown my entire life at his feet. Pretty much told him he could touch my ass, which he hadn’t taken me up on.

Talk about cringe. When he purposefully misinterpreted my pitiful attempt at flirtation, my face had overheated, and it was all I could do not to cry.

He wasn’t interested in me that way, and the sooner I accepted it, the better. There was no way a gorgeous orc like him would want to deal with more of my mess than he already was.

A quiet chuckle pulled my attention away from my dismal thoughts.

Mary and Joel slowed the pace of their mounts until we caught up to ride beside them.

Our sorhoxes continued plodding along the trail stretching across the big open plain with their tails swishing and their gazes scanning the area.

Those tusks and horns! I couldn't imagine what kind of creature these sorhoxes would face that they'd need weapons like that.

Maybe they were holdovers from their ancient history, like Ruugar's tusks, and whatever threat they might’ve battled in the past no longer existed.

“You look like you've been riding sorhoxes for some time,” Mary said with an approving nod my way.

“Oh, um, yup.” I tried to keep my voice deep and growly, adding a touch of gruffness to maintain my ruse. It worked for Ruugar quite well.

“This is one of Joel’s first times riding anything that doesn’t have tires.

” Her grin widened. “I rode horses when I was younger, but never a sorhox, of course. I talked my husband into going horseback riding on one of our vacations once and, honey, let me tell you. He was so sore at the end of the day and believe me, I heard all about it for at least a week.” She winked at me.

“ Still keep hearing about how his poor old butt muscles ached.”

Joel, riding on her opposite side, rolled his eyes. “I had bruises in places I didn’t even know existed.”

Mary leaned over to pat his thigh. “Still stayed married to me, though.”

“Can't imagine anything else, dear one.”

The way they spoke to each other, plus the way their eyes still met with warmth made my chest ache. They teased, they laughed, and the love between them felt relaxed and easy, the way it should be.

Jealousy squeezed deep inside me. Not the bad kind, though. Just the kind that made me wonder if I’d ever have something like that, a simple, solid love, one that would last a lifetime.

“Yee-haw,” Mary cried out, sending me a smile before she urged her sorhox into a trot. She caught up with Ruugar, who’d eased into the lead, with Joel and his sorhox not far behind.

While they chatted, and the newlyweds, Pete and Carol, pointed to one thing or another, we rode for half an hour or so. We'd stop soon to set up the first campsite, though from what Ruugar said this morning, this was more like glamping than roughing it in the way I'd seen in movies.

Halfway into our ride, Pete and Carol slowed their sorhoxes until I caught up, the clawed hooves of their beasts skimming through the deeper grass along the side of the trail.

“Ben, isn’t it?” Pete asked, curiosity shining in his brown eyes.

“Sure am.” I kept my expression neutral, what they might be able to see of it under the brim of my hat, that is.

“Where are you from?” Carol adjusted her hat to block the glare of the sun.

Not panicking, which would look suspicious, I shrugged.

Ruugar and I hadn’t discussed my pretend background.

We should’ve. What if I told them I was from Boston, and he said California?

“Grew up around horses back home.” That was neutral enough, and it wasn’t a total lie.

I’d seen horses out my bedroom window, grazing in the pasture on the estate next door. I just hadn’t gone anywhere near them.

“Ah, you must love this job then.” Carol smiled. “Being outdoors all day, working with these incredible creatures.” Leaning forward, she patted her sorhox's neck.

“Always enjoyed working with animals.” Guys spoke in short, chopping sentences, right?

Ruugar glanced back, giving me a brief nod before facing forward again and returning to his conversation with Mary and Joel.

“First time working with sorhoxes, though, right?” Pete asked.

“Yeah. I…arrived here a coupla weeks ago. I've interacted with them plenty since. They're amazing creatures.”

“They’re something, huh?” Pete patted his mount's hide. “Way sturdier than horses. And they don’t even seem to spook.”

“I can't imagine anything around here that would try to take them down.” Carol studied the beast beneath her. “They look like they could fight off a wolf pack all by themselves.”

“Oh, they could,” Ruugar said over his shoulder. “Sorhoxes are built tough. They need to be.”

A bright flash of pink to the right caught my eye. A cluster of small creatures zipped through the grass behind a bigger one, wobbling in a fluffy little pink parade. They looked soft and harmless, though their mama had fangs and claws. And she was at least the size of an ostrich.

They came closer, though they remained enough distance away I wasn't too concerned. Barg ignoring them helped assure me they weren't a threat—yet.

“Look at that,” Carol cried out, pointing and wiggling on the back of her sorhox. “Are they chumbles?” Her gaze met Pete's. “Remember? I read about them. So happy we're seeing them. I'd hoped we would. Look at those babies! So cute. ”

Ruugar, Mary, and Joel stopped their sorhoxes and we caught up, pausing to admire the pink creatures with them.

“Yes, chumbles,” Ruugar said. “The small ones run in a pack we call a chumble crumble.”

Mary's laugh snorted out, and we all grinned. How adorable.

“The babies are clumsy. They hold onto their fluff until they're older and their scales start taking form,” he said.

Joel pulled a small pair of binoculars from his backpack, and we took turns looking.

The mother truly did have pink scales, layered like armor across her entire body. Claws that had to be a foot long, and a bright orange beak. She studied us as intently as we did her, her chumble crumble peeping and fluttering around her.

Mary's face lit with fascination. “You collect their eggs, correct? I read about them online.”

“Yup,” Ruugar said. “Chumble eggs are about the size of my fist, and they're considered a delicacy in the orc kingdom. We take eggs, but we always make sure we leave some for the mothers.” He described how challenging it was to collect them.

“We have to wait until she's not looking and dive into her nest, grab a few eggs, then retreat quickly.

She'll give chase if she sees you with them, and who can blame her?”

“Wow, that's so interesting,” Carol chimed in, her eyes bright. “How do they taste? ”

“They're similar to chicken eggs, only nuttier. The insides are as green as an orc's skin.” He poked his arm.

“Are you offering chumble eggs during our trail ride?” Pete asked. “I'd love to taste them.”

“We are. One of my brothers collected them and will leave them, along with other food items, at each campsite. We'll have chumble eggs for breakfast along with drundeg strips that you'll find taste a bit like bacon. Drundegs are wild beasts that roam the forests outside the orc kingdom.”

“Your orc kingdom sounds fascinating, Ruugar,” Joel said. “Are you planning to offer any excursions there? I imagine many would sign up for the chance to see how orcs live, to travel through the deep caverns your people call home.”

“Not so far.” Ruugar’s squinted gaze remained on the chumbles. “For now, only mates are allowed to travel there and even they're restricted to where they can go. Our king wants to preserve our lifestyle the way it is for as long as he can.”

“I understand,” Joel said. “Too often, humans force their own ways on others rather than respect them.”

“I know it wouldn’t be the intention,” Ruugar said. “But it happens.”

The chumble mama shrieked and herded her babies away from us, sadly, but Ruugar assured us we'd see more of them.

They'd been selectively introduced to this area, though they were restricted with fences to keep them from interacting too much with wild creatures in the area.

They'd also been cleared to ensure there was no disease that would impact our own wildlife before they were allowed to come here.

As had the sorhoxes and any other beasts brought to the surface.

I'd read about that in the brochure that came with the wedding package we’d received when we toured a few months before my possible wedding.

We left them behind, riding west again.