My Orc Next Door (Eastshore Isle Book 1) by Veronika Kane & Caroline Lee

Author:Veronika Kane & Caroline Lee [Kane, Veronika & Lee, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Jess

I was humming as I pulled the chicken out of the oven. It had been an awesome day, with Karnak visiting and helping me in the office, and we’d made plans to meet for lunch tomorrow.

He really was getting better at texting. His emojis could use some work though.

I’d baked a full chicken tonight so I could use the meat for a few meals, but the best part was always to eat one of the drumsticks when it was still hot and crispy. While I waited for it to cool enough so I could cut it off, I finished chopping the cucumbers for my salad.

Silent as a ghost, Pickles picked her way around the edge of the island and twined through my legs. I smirked down at her. “You smelled the chicken, didn’t you?”

She said nothing, but sat back on her butt and looked expectantly up at me. I sighed, knowing I was a sucker for those big dark eyes, and always had been. “Fine, but only one tiny piece, okay?”

Predictably, my cat said nothing, and I briefly wondered what I’d do if she did.

Likely scream and throw the entire chicken at her.

Instead, though, I used the fork to tear off a small piece of still-hot meat, and dropped it from counter-height. In true tiny-predator fashion, Pickles darted forward and snatched it from the air, then disappeared in a puff of black fur on her way to the guest bath, where I knew she’d sit in private to enjoy her “kill”.

Smiling, I went back to my humming.

Not like a hmmm, isn’t this interesting? But actually humming a tune. A song. Knowing me, it was probably Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, but whatever. I’ve never been much for pop culture.

Now, you might reasonably assume when a woman of a certain age, who has been spending a certain amount of time with a man of a certain age, begins to hum as she prepares dinner…there’s something going on.

And you’d be right.

I was in love with Karnak, but I wasn’t going to figure that out for a few more chapters.

All I knew was that I loved being around him. I loved laughing with him. I definitely loved his kisses and touches, and I loved the way he made me feel. Like I was important. Me, Jess. Not what I could do or what I looked like…but just me.

It was like he saw me in all of my dorky awkwardness, and still liked me.

It’s a powerful aphrodisiac, to have a man kiss you like you’re the hottest female in the world. In more than one world.

So why hadn’t he made any effort to go further with me? In the times we’d kissed, he’d touched my hair, my neck, my butt—but only to hold me against him. Did he want to do more than kissing?

Did his people do more than kissing?

Or…was he waiting for me to take the lead?

My humming had stopped, probably because I was standing there in the middle of the kitchen, holding a thick cucumber upright, staring off into space.

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