“Right this way, husband.”
“I’m ready for you to be on top,” he whispers, making heat rise on my cheeks.
Apparently, he and Dominic had a little ‘mating talk’ somewhere during the evening. He’s like the orc version of the Kama Sutra all the sudden, but truth, I’m down for it all.
I’m in love with an orc.
Bring it on.
ChapterNine
Tigor
As I near the back of the ranch property, I feel good about the future.
The clan approved my ideas, and what money we have will be available for me to bid on the rest of the property here. It’s likely to cost us everything, but if we can secure this for Clan Lakktra, we will have the space to expand and look toward the future. There’s going to be a lot of hard work involved, but this is the way forward. I know it.
And I can’t say I’m not pleased to know that Emmie and her found family will be surrounded on all sides by orcs loyal to the clan. Their safety will be guaranteed, whether she is with me in our marriage bed or spending time here with her own little clan.
I will make her happy forever. I swear it, right now, on every god we have a name for. I will do everything to make the rest of her life a walk in the cake, or whatever the human saying is.
Passing through my own property, all is quiet, but when I get out on the street and head for theirs, I realize something isn’t right.
At first it just looks like the fence has blown over in a strong wind, but then I notice the yard beyond, trampled by heavy boots. Human military boots. Tracks from vehicles. And looking beyond, the back door is hanging off its hinges.
Fuck.
I break into a run, dropping my head as I do, steeling my body for an attack.
Whoever is in there, if they’ve hurt her, I’ll… I will rend them over the fire then dismember their bodies while they are still alive. I’ll make them eat their own balls. I’ll pluck out each tooth one by one until they’re screaming for mercy.
“Emmie!” I yell as I crash through the door. Silence greets me. “Emmie! Darrell!” I’ve only known the boy for a few days, but he already feels like a son to me. “Dominic!” I try, sniffing at the air and leaning in through the doorway to the living room. It’s trashed, furniture tossed about and broken, but there’s no sign of them.
There is only silence, and I hate it. Someone should be answering me. Someone should be shouting for me to save them.
I race up the stairs, taking them four at a time, then force myself to stop and calm down. Standing still and listening, it’s truly silent. No sound of breathing, no sound of footsteps. Whatever happened here, there isn’t a living soul in this place besides me.
Not a living soul.
I growl at the thought and shake my head. No. I won’t believe the worst. She’s alive. They’re all alive, and they need me to fucking rescue them.
I catch a scent on the air, and it draws me up short.Emmie.It’s faint. She isn’t here, but she was. Recently enough that the trail is strong indoors. I can’t follow it to its destination, I’d lose it in the open air, but I can at least follow it to its source.
Starting back up the stairs, I reach the top and head through to the bedroom where she was working before I persuaded her to come to the pool. The door is smashed off its hinges, and I have to shake my head to stop myself thinking of her in here, terrified as enemies tore at her only defence.
Not much furniture in here, but crouching down her scent is stronger closer to the floor. An old rug, clean but threadbare, covers the center of the room, but it’s been recently moved and hastily tugged back into place: the corners aren’t quite square with the walls and some threads have torn on a loose nail.
I pull it back, my mind working in overdrive, needing to know, needing to find something. Some clue, some scrap of evidence that tells me where they’ve gone.
“Emmie, who were they?” I ask as I crouch again on the bare floorboards, pressing my fingers against each one.
There.
One of the floorboards creaks under my hands, and I desperately push my massive fingers into the gap around it. They don’t fit so I clench my fist and drive my knuckles through the board but I manage to get and see the white paper nestled in the space beneath.
A note. Bearing my name.
They’re here for me. But I need to know the truth.