Page 35 of When the Merchant Met the Orc

“That’s sensible,” I say.

“I can’t wait for you to have some young. You’ll be a wonderful father. Aila said so.”

“How would she know?” I ask.

Magnus drinks from his green crockery mug, then smacks his lips appreciatively. “Aila said that Rychell brought up her son, Nate, and how you were with him.”

“She did?”

“Just a passing comment, but my Aila misses nothing,” Magnus says. “She’s still set on you two getting together. Are you at least going to try?”

I exhale in a gust. “I don’t know, honestly. I want to respect her wishes, but I do think she’d be happy with me. I don’t know if I should push the issue or if that would be rude. I don’t want to be one of those males who shoves his way into a female’s life. It’s arrogant and boorish.”

A noise by my ear sounds almost like words.She wants you. Just thaw her out.I shake my head, not sure if I really heard that or not.

Magnus is chuckling. “Arrogant and boorish? You just described all of orckind.”

Eyeing the space around us for whatever noise could have been, I force a laugh and sip my tea. The citrus makes the black tea even more delicious. Maybe Magnus didn’t notice the tusks marks on his guest bedroom door. Maybe I could get out of town and then send him a repair payment and an apology via messenger.

“Can we at last talk about what happened last night?” he asks, bursting my bubble of hope.

I’m not so lucky, I guess.

“I’m sorry. Here,” I say. I hand him my tea and dig into the pouch at my belt. I trade him my cup for two thick gold coins. “I know that won’t be a cheap repair.”

Magnus takes the coin. His gaze is trained on my face, and there’s no humor there. “You want to mate with her, Halvard.”

There’s that sound again. I try to ignore it, but the humming noise turns into a phrase.

“He’s right. Don’t deny the desire you feel for your true mate,” the small, whispering voice says.

My heart jumps, and I shoo a moth away from my head. I’m going mad! Magnus doesn’t notice my insanity; he’s focused on Rychell and Osric now as he continues.

“You have to talk to her about your feelings, Halvard. You can’t be all flirting and maybes. You need to tell her what tusking means to an orc.”

Tusking has two meanings in orcish culture: to mark entry to a mate’s living space and to pleasure one’s mate with tusks, teeth, and tongue. I know Magnus is talking about the first meaning, but my body goes hot anyway.

“Yessss,” that odd little voice whispers.

I firmly ignore it. “She doesn’t want this, Magnus.”

“She does,” he retorts. “You know it. You can scent it.”

“But she told me clearly that she doesn’t,” I argue, knowing it’s a pointless endeavor when it comes to my well-meaning cousin.

Magnus frowns and clicks his tongue. “You must gain her trust. Show her you won’t fail her like someone must have in the past.”

“What do you know of her past?” I ask.

“Aila mentioned her difficult youth,” Magnus says. “Her parents fighting and all of that.”

I frown, hating the mental image I have of young Rychell feeling afraid and sad. “It isn’t just the bad experience she had. She wants to protect Nate.”

Magnus spreads a hand, palm up. “He would only benefit from having you around.”

“I would hope,” I say, “but she can’t know that for certain. I understand that.”

“You must show her,” Magnus says. “Be yourself with her. Seductive when you’re alone. Kind and patient with her youngling when he’s around.”