Page 20 of The Orc’s Sweetheart (Creatures & Cottages)
Chapter 20
Bodin
I can’t stop staring at Tilly—her reddened cheeks, her kiss-stung lips, but most of all, at her eyes. At the warmth they hold, strength, vulnerability, and ardor.
Love, however, is the word hovering on the tip of my tongue, bubbling up from the deepest parts of my heart, filtering through my skin, begging to be released and embedded into her soul.
Tilly is so much more than I ever could have asked for in a partner. I’m ready to demolish every last one of my walls and let her fully in, tell her all my secrets and give her my whole heart. And my body.
“You’re amazing,” I state simply, unable to voice all my thoughts right here in an alley.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” Tilly teases back, but there’s so much affection in her tone that it makes my heart ache.
“Let’s get out of here.” I take Tilly’s hand and lead her out of the alley and back toward Third Street. Her hands always feel so soft in my callused ones, but they’re firm, unwavering in their grip—just like Tilly.
“This was a nice little, unexpected, intermission in my day,” she says, beaming up at me with a luminous grin.
“Happy to serve. We can repeat that anytime you need. Want to schedule me in for tomorrow?” I waggle my eyebrows and Tilly giggles adorably.
Are hearts meant to feel this full? Is it normal to be this happy? I can’t even recall that bitter orc I was when I first met this delight of a human.
Tilly tuts. “I know you’re joking, but be careful about what you’re offering. I might just drag you behind The Bandaged Heart at lunch tomorrow.”
“That can be arranged.” Unable to resist any longer, I lean down to press my lips to hers, right there between Third and Second Street, without caring who can see us. Tilly lets out a satisfied hum, so I repeat the action once more.
As we start walking down the hill again, I ask, “Was there something specific you needed from Aurelius’s shop today?” I try not to sound hurt, because I hope she knows she can use any of my tools, or better yet, I’d use my tools to do anything she wants .
Tilly stops walking and turns fully to me, taking both my hands in hers. “I know you’re willing to help me with the thousand projects I have planned for the cottage, and believe me, I’ll accept your help on basically all of them. I just needed to get a tape measure today,” she says reassuringly.
“Oh.” I nod, satisfied with such an easy explanation. I like being needed by Tilly, and I’m glad she realizes that.
Tilly gestures to The Crowned Boot behind her. “I went into Peregrine’s shop earlier to order fabric for my new curtains, but I didn’t have accurate measurements. Apparently holding up your arms to indicate the size of windows is not good enough. He started talking about ‘fullness factor’ and ‘desired drop length,’ then I panicked. I quickly ran up to The Lonely Rake to get a tape measure and will brave Peregrine again tomorrow after I’ve written all the exact numbers down.”
“Fuck, you’re cute.” I push her back against a tree and dip down to claim her mouth.
“Right back at you.” Tilly cups my cheeks and I revel in her easy touch.
I push my tongue past her lips and drag the kiss on for as long as I dare in public. When we come up for air again, I ask, “Where are you headed now?”
Tilly tilts her head to the side, giving me easier access to dab soft kisses to her bruised neck. “Going back to The Bandaged Heart. I was in the middle of reading Ren’s file, but wanted to pop out before the other shops closed. There’s something niggling at the back of my brain about his case. I want to do some more research while at the clinic since the internet connection actually exists there. ”
I breathe in her scent one final time before straightening up. “Will you be okay walking back to your place tonight?”
“Of course. My ankle is healing much faster than expected. Mostly thanks to your initial insistence on caring for me. I won’t be running for a while yet, but slow walking is good.”
“Breakfast tomorrow?”
Tilly raises her brows and I can already read her expression well enough to anticipate some kind of innuendo. She proves me right when she says, “As long as you’re on the menu for dessert.”
I rub a hand down my face. “Fuuuuck, Matilda. Don’t get me hard in the middle of the street.”
Tilly shrugs. “Why not? You made me come in an alley mere minutes ago.”
“Is this some form of payback?”
“No, payback would be when I tell you that I can’t wait to sit on your cock. To feel each ridge, each piercing, as you slide into my dripping pussy,” Tilly says in a low voice, enunciating each word clearly.
I groan and close my eyes, balling my fists so I don’t reach for her and drag her to the closest bed.
From her shop behind me, Calixta calls out with a suggestive drawl, “My, my. Talk about sexual energy. Yummm.”
I purse my lips to stop my smile from forming. We’re so caught. My chest bounces with suppressed laughter, but my poor Tilly’s face is flaming with embarrassment as she eyes her escape route down to First Street. I don’t want to make her feel more awkward, so I incline my head to show her she can leave if she wants to.
The familiar bell above The Viny Shears’s door rings a couple of seconds later as Beryl pops her head out. “Sexual energy? Who? Oh!”
Tilly gives them an awkward wave and starts walking backward, whispering to me, “See you tomorrow.”
I watch her go for a couple of seconds, making sure she’s careful as she makes her way down the hill, then pivot to my sister and sister-in-law as Tilly turns into First Street.
“Before you give me all the ‘I told you so’ speeches, I’d like to say, ‘you told me so.’”
Beryl strides toward me and wraps me in a hug. “I’m so happy for you. And a Cape Easton girl, eh?”
“Yup,” I say proudly. I’d fall for Tilly no matter where she’s from.
Calixta comes forward and angles her head for a goblin greeting. I lean down to press my temple to hers, then wrap her into a hug too.
Punching me on the arm, Beryl says, “I told you so.” I should get used to this refrain.
I rub at my arm reflexively. “Yeah, I deserved that.” My hand pauses, and I look at my sister and then to her wife. “You two got any tips for a romantic claiming proposal?”
Beryl’s smile grows bigger until it’s a magnificent grin. “Loads.”
Calixta stares at the spot Tilly disappeared from before turning back to me. “Have you guys been fucking since karaoke night?”
“We actually haven’t fucked yet,” I say in a small voice, my cheeks heating at the admission .
Calixta’s jaw almost unhinges itself with the rapid speed it descends. “Bro, how can you jump to talks about proposals? You’re going to freak that female out.”
My shoulders pull up to my ears. “Too soon?”
Beryl nods, worry lines framing her mouth. “Oh yeah. We love Tilly, and we can help you plan a proposal, but give her some time to get used to you and Starry Hill first. And do a bit of loving, if you know what I mean.”
Nodding enthusiastically, Calixta agrees, “Definitely. She needs an appetizer of orc sex before she jumps into a claiming rut. You can’t have an amateur run a marathon on the first try.”
I swallow hard. “You think?”
“We know,” they say in unison.
Perhaps my heart decided before my brain did. I need to take some time to align all three—heart, brain, and cock— before I scare Tilly off.
I offer them a small smile. “That makes sense. I’ll need to have a big chat with Tilly first, though. She needs to understand more of what happened in Cape Easton.”
Beryl shakes her head like I really did disappoint her. “You mean you haven’t told her why you were a dick to her in the beginning? And now you’re already talking about claiming her? I’m glad we ran into you before you did something stupid.”
Calixta says, “Got to say, Bodin, jumping in head first is new for you. But I guess love makes you do weird things. Let’s go inside and chat. I just finished polishing Samara’s scales—she was my last client for the day.”
As we walk toward the end of Second Street, Beryl places her hand on my shoulder. “It’s still a way off, obviously,” she adds the last word pointedly, “but we would like to volunteer as your support team for the rut. Whenever that happens.”
“I was going to ask you about that, too,” I say, touched that she offered so easily.
“You don’t even need to ask,” my sister says with a comforting squeeze to my shoulder. “Even if you weren’t the support person for our rut, we’d still love to be there for you. And it’s better us than Ma—don’t know how comfortable Tilly would be with having her boss bringing you care packages while her son ruts her employee. That’s weird, no matter what species you are.”
Just hearing her say that makes an icy shudder roll down my back.
Beryl copies the motion with a wince before continuing, “We’ll make sure you two are stocked up on food and water for the three days. And depending on what Tilly is comfortable with, we can schedule visits to check on you both, make sure she’s getting some rest and staying hydrated.”
Calixta nods. “We’d love to be there for both of you, without encroaching on your love bubble of course. I won’t appreciate you ripping my head off for coming too close to your female while you’re in rut mode.”
I sigh contentedly, a big chunk of worry now off my plate to have these two on my side. “Thank you, for your support and acting as a joint voice of reason. I’m going to lay everything on the table with Tilly tomorrow morning.”
“Then hopefully lay her on the bed,” Calixta jokes with a waggle of her brows .
I breathe in deeply through my nose, the corners of my mouth tipping up into a slow smile. “That’s the dream,” I say on the exhale and Calixta leans forward with a fist bump of approval.