Page 26

Ruugar

B eth held the spear like she wasn’t sure what to do with it, but she'd accepted my gift anyway. Pride swelled in my chest. I felt good about this. It was going to show her I cared even more than the rock.

I cleared my throat, hoping to push away the feelings floundering around inside me.

“Would you like to learn how to fish with your new spear now?” I asked.

She blinked up at me. “Um, sure.”

A slight hesitation, but not outright refusal. Encouraging. My heart beat faster. “The fish are there now. We can stab many for dinner.”

“Stab.” Beth’s face lost its color.

“Yes, with a spear. How else do you kill fish you plan to eat?”

“I’ve… The only fish I’ve eaten came in packages from the supermarket.”

“Ah, yes. I went there once with one of my brothers. So many items to choose from. How do you decide which is best?”

She shrugged. “Some use the price to decide, others the quality of the item.”

“You can do this with the fish. I’ll help you decide which is best to stab. Some might be too small or even too large.”

“If we only…stabbed the biggest fish, we could stab less fish and have enough for our meal, right?”

“Sometimes. Other times, it’s important to leave enough parent fish to reproduce new fish to stab the next time.”

“Ah, yes.” She sucked in a breath and puffed it out through her pursed lips.

I, of course, stared at her mouth. I couldn’t look away.

I kept thinking about how wonderful it felt to kiss her.

And how bad I felt after when I realized she might not have wanted me to do it.

But she’d kissed me first. That had to mean something.

And that was why I was going to show her how to stab fish.

Then she’d realize this meant I wanted more with her.

Beth glanced toward the firepit where Pete and the others lounged in chairs. Watching. Smiling. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth before she nodded. “Alright. Show me. I’ll do my best to stab the ones you recommend.” Her swallow took a long time to go down.

Despite the fact that she appeared a bit concerned, hope pulled taut in my chest.

Her gaze dropped to her clothes, and she frowned. “I, uh, I can’t exactly change into a bathing suit or anything. Not that I have one, but you know what I mean.”

It took me a moment to catch her meaning because I couldn’t imagine why humans would wear special outfits to bathe.

My ears burned. Of all things, I hadn’t considered what she could wear in the river. If she undressed, the others would know the truth. But if she stayed in what she had on right now…

“You don’t need to change,” I said quickly. “When you reach the river, roll up your pants. Take off your shoes. No one will know.”

Her eyes searched mine, uncertain, before she sighed. “I can do that.”

We left the gazebo, me striding with confidence I wasn't sure I should be feeling, her pacing beside me, carrying her spear. It felt good to look down and see her with me. Happy—mostly. Eager to do something with me.

As we passed them, Pete gave me an encouraging nod. Carol beamed and elbowed her mate. I was grateful that their suggestion for useful gifts had been this well received by Beth, and I actually was starting to think this could work, that Beth might grow to like me.

Mary's head tilted as her gaze fell on Beth, but she didn't say anything. Joel just smiled.

I guided Beth to a broad, shallow area in the river with a big, well-leafed tree shading the water.

“I saw many fish here yesterday,” I told her, pointing to the shadowy area beneath the tree. “I think we'll be able to stab enough for our dinner. Maybe enough for breakfast.”

“I’m not sure many people like eating fish for breakfast, though my grandfather loved smoked kippers.” Her nose scrunched. “He ate them on toast every Sunday morning.”

“Did you eat them with him?”

Her lips curled down, sorrow filling her face. “I was little when he died. I told him they smelled yucky. Now I wish I’d tried them.”

“I’m sure he understood. Grandparents can be amazing.”

“He truly was. He was one of the few people who was nice to me. He loved me, and I loved him too.”

“I’m glad you had him in your life.”

“Me too. As for fish,” she lifted her new spear, “don't count on me feeding the crowd. I’m a newbie.”

“Wait and see.” I looked down at her. “I'll go fetch my own spear and be right back.”

She nodded and turned to face the water while I jogged to where I'd left the one I'd made for myself, returning fast. She'd toed her boots off while I was gone, removed her socks, and rolled up her pants. Her legs were slender and pale-skinned, and I ached to touch them.

Heat crawled up my neck. My breath turned shallow as I dragged my gaze away from the smooth skin of her calves.

I cleared my throat, forcing my mind to focus.

“Normally, orcs wear suits in the water,” I croaked, struggling to find something to say. “But it's safe here. You don’t need to be concerned.”

She bit down on her lower lip, frowning at the water lazily flowing past us. “Safe from what?”

“Attacking creatures.”

A shiver ripped through her. “I assume you speak of rivers in the orc kingdom and not any around here.”

“You're correct. In the orc kingdom, we have to cover our entire bodies or we could be bitten.”

“That must make swimming interesting.”

It took me a moment to realize she was teasing. The sparkle in her eyes gave that away.

“Yes, interesting,” I said gravely.

She looked up at me before the prettiest smile curved her lips.

“Here, you can swim wearing nothing and nothing will bite you. Most of the time, that is.” With a look I couldn't define, she hefted her spear and stepped into the water, speaking over her shoulder.

“Except for random human bites.” With a smirk, she splashed across the river.

Human bites? Unsure what she meant, I removed my boots and set them beside hers, then stripped down to my loincloth.

Someone at the firepit made an odd sound, but when I turned, I couldn't tell who or why.

They all appeared to be deep in conversation, not looking our way.

With a shrug, I grabbed my spear and stepped into the water.

The cool river lapped across my feet, coming to mid-shin on me but nearly to where Beth had rolled up her pants.

She hissed a breath through her teeth, but didn’t complain about how chilly it was.

That pleased me more than it should have.

Maybe she was excited about being with me as I was about being with her.

She adjusted her grip on the spear and stared down at the water, her brows drawn tight. “So, do I just hurl the spear at the first fish I see?” Her gaze shot to my chest and dropped lower. Her lips parted, and her eyes widened.

I looked down at my body, worried something was biting me but I hadn’t noticed because I was so enthralled with her. But I didn’t see anything in the water other than a few tiny fish without jaws big enough to do more than take a nibble.

Beth remained frozen in place, and I began to wonder if the water truly was too cold for a fragile female like her. When her fingers moved, tightening around the spear, my breath whooshed out with relief.

“You’re…not wearing much,” she finally said.

If I’d known removing my clothing might draw her attention, I would’ve done it the first time I met her. Did she find me attractive? Heat shot through my veins, finding its way to my cock that twitched beneath my loincloth, the coorails quivering.

I clenched my jaw, pretending not to notice, but my skin was flaming under her stare. The river wasn’t cold enough and I wasn’t deep enough to smother the fire racing through my body. I should've thought about this. Should've considered what stripping down to my loincloth might reveal about me.

Every inch of me grew tense, and I fought the urge to step closer, to scoop her up in my arms and kiss her until all she could do was moan and cling to my shoulders.

She swallowed hard and yanked her gaze back to the water, blinking rapidly as if trying to erase whatever thoughts had flickered through her mind. Hopefully not bad thoughts about me.

This was working. A sharp spike of satisfaction went in my gut.

When she looked at me, did she like what she saw?

The very idea made my insides quiver, so I gripped my spear tighter and forced myself to focus on this task.

She was here to learn how to spear fish.

Not to gape at me. And I was here to teach her, not to bask in the way her lips parted when she looked at my body.

Shoving the feeling deep down, I did what I could to suppress my semi-erect cock and gestured toward the water. “The fish stay near the rocks under the water for protection.”

“That won’t stop us,” she said in a bright voice. “I’m almost ready to try to stab one. I like that we’re going to eat them, not just hurt them and leave them lying in the river.”

“Never,” I breathed. “We thank every creature we kill for giving its life to ensure we have food to fill our bellies.”

“I like that.”

“As far as spearing fish, you have to be patient. Quick. Precise.”

Beth lifted her spear, amusement twisting her lips. “So don’t just gouge it around and hope for the best? ”

“Always take aim and know what you’re looking at before you do anything with a spear or any other weapon. Safety is the most important thing here. Never send your spear into the water or anywhere else without making sure you know exactly what you plan to hit.”

“Wise.”

I grunted. “Flailing won’t feed you. Worse, you might stab your own foot.”

“Let’s avoid that.” She smiled. Really smiled. And the warmth in my chest expanded, becoming unbearable.

Before I could do something foolish, like tell her how much that smile made me feel, I tore my gaze from her and carefully stepped deeper into the water. The river cooled my overheated skin, but it did nothing to soothe the way my pulse pounded as I sensed her moving behind me.