Page 3 of The Orc Chief’s Baker (Orc Mates Of Faeda #4)

Chapter

Three

TRINIA

T he orc looked at her like she’d just sprouted wings and offered to teach him to fly.

“I swear that honest trade is all I’m looking for.” Trinia held up her hands to look non-threatening, only to realize that she still held the knife. She dropped it back down again. The orc still looked about as uncomfortable as a fish on a line, but Fades help her , she really needed this!

“I know humans don’t trade with orcs much outside the Rove Woods,” she continued.

“With the war going on, I’m sure it’s dangerous even to try.

But Oakwall has been friendly with the orcs of Rove Wood Clan for centuries.

We really depend on each other since we’re so cut off from the outside world.

Trading between us isn’t just normal, it’s expected . ”

Unfortunately, her diatribe had only resulted in making the orc grow stiff and his feet shifted, as if readying to leave.

She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised. The poor orc was literally covered in scars. Face, neck, chest... rippling abs...

Her cheeks heated, and she quickly averted her gaze. Most of the orcs in Rove Wood Clan didn’t have muscles like this guy and she really needed to stop ogling at him before she scared him off.

She could not scare him off. She needed him.

She gestured to the bag of cookies he still had held aloft in his palm. “Why don’t you try those first?” Maybe a little food would get him to calm down and give her something to concentrate on that wasn’t his half naked body.

He hesitated a moment before opening the bag.

His brows screwed up, and for a moment, she worried he might be upset with the offering.

The vanilla cookies inside hadn’t cooked very well.

Divots in the bottom of the pans she was forced to use caused them to overheat too quickly.

They still tasted good, but not as good as they could have, and because of that, they wouldn’t trade well.

But with this orc’s help, her future batches would!

Then he plucked one out—it looked so tiny in his hand—and popped the whole thing in his mouth. He chewed once, twice.

And then his eyes shuttered closed, and he made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. The first sound he’d made so far. She searched his face for any hint of upset, only to find him looking...

Looking absolutely adorable.

Her cheeks heated at the stupidity of her reaction. She’d never met someone who looked as much like a puppy as this male did. With big pleading eyes and shaggy messy hair and a hesitant posture. She wanted to coo at him and give him a little belly rub.

There was something wrong with her.

She waited a moment. “So, you like them?”

He nodded, his shaggy green hair fell over his forehead and almost covered his eyes. She was sorely tempted to push it away.

Instead, she clasped her fingers together and asked, “How long are you going to be visiting here?” She assumed not long. She knew the orcs who came to fetch the healing tinctures only stayed long enough to pack them up. She’d never met one before now.

The male didn’t respond, only glanced behind himself, as if looking for an escape.

“I assume your forge is at your home clan. How far is it from here?”

He opened his mouth as if to answer, and then... grimaced. His hand came up to rub his neck briefly before dropping away.

Her eyes focused on a deep jagged pale green scar that sliced all the way across his neck. Really taking a good look for the first time, pock marks lined each side from where it had been stitched back together. Judging by the size of it...

It looked like he’d nearly been decapitated .

“You . . . can’t talk?”

He shook his head.

Fades blast her back to the depths. Of course they couldn’t make this easier on her.

It was one thing to have been born into a village completely isolated from the outside world with only one forge and an extremely limited supply of metal.

But now, to inexplicably find someone who could only to have them be mute?

This really was the absolute worst day.

As she tried to come up with another plan, she looked back up at the orc. He was gobbling down another cookie. His eyes fluttered shut, his shoulders slumped, and his face went slack in a way that could only be described as sheer bliss.

Trinia blinked as heat tingled from the top of her head all the way down to the tips of her toes.

Her stomach knotted up as unfamiliar emotions swirled around her rational thoughts until she had none at all.

She could only watch the burly orc stranger melt with pleasure as he ate the food she’d made.

She made treats for literally everyone she knew, and not one of their reactions had made her body quake like this. What was wrong with her?

The orc swallowed hard and then looked down at the bag, his expression telling.

“Go ahead and eat them. I can make more and give them to you...” Her breath caught as the idea sprang into her mind. “I can give them to you at the trade tomorrow.”

His brows screwed up in adorable confusion and her cheeks heated as she cleared her throat. “Like I said, my village trades with the Rove Wood orcs. We come together every fifteen days or so. Tomorrow is that day. Why don’t you come?”

He hesitated, face going stricken.

“Is something wrong?” Her stomach twisted up. “Do... you have to leave before tomorrow?”

He took a tentative step back, eyes averted.

Desperation gripped her. This was her only chance. Her chance to finally have more to her life than slaving over an oven day in and day out!

She came right up to him and placed her hand over his arm.

His eyes shot wide at her touch, but she didn’t let him go. Instead, she met his gaze firmly, pleading with him with every fiber of her being. “ Please . I know I’m a stranger, but I swear to you I will make this trade worth it. Just... come to the trade tomorrow, even for a few moments.”

He was frozen, looking down at her with huge eyes. They flitted from her face downward and her back straightened.

But his eyes didn’t linger for long. Instead, they continued to where her hand was still resting on his arm. His skin was surprisingly soft under her fingertips and incredibly warm. He smelled good—heady and spicy, almost like cinnamon, but deeper.

His arm twitched under her touch. There was a thick, raised scar right to the left of her pinky. The white was stark against his pine-needle-colored skin. She moved her finger slightly to stroke it and found that it was almost perfectly smooth.

A hard, hot exhale rustled her hair.

She let out a yip and pulled her hand away. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to take liberties.”

The smolder in his eyes indicated he absolutely did not mind. It was so hot she lost her breath all over again.

“S-so”—she cleared her throat, cheeks heating up at the intensity of his gaze—“the... the trade?”

His eyes flickered down her body again and she wished to the Fades and back she’d been built like Yerina—bright eyes, beautiful golden hair, and curves in the right spots with grace to match.

Her sister had been blessed and Trinia had grown up seeing just how many benefits that got her.

Had Yerina been here, this orc would have said yes to attending the trade in a heartbeat .

Instead, he sized her up for far too long and she could do nothing but hold her breath.

Then finally , the orc nodded. And she knew that everything was going to turn out right.

She would ensure it!