It didn’t work.
Because his hand was hard and soft all at once—callouses I didn’t recognize and skin far warmer than mine. No wonder he was in just a t-shirt!
My breathing had shallowed, my eyes were wide as I stared up at him, both of us balancing on blades.
Oh.
Oh.
I’d known, academically, that orcs ran warmer than humans. I’d read it somewhere, probably, or perhaps Maddie had mentioned it, or maybe I’d simply absorbed it from years of living adjacent to a team of them. It was a biological fact, like a few other bits of orc biology Kardok’s female fans had undoubtably learned.
What I had not accounted foracademicallywas what it would feel like to have all that warmth wrapped around my hand. His fingers were enormous, calloused, and they swallowed mine completely, and the heat of them went straight up my arm like I’d grabbed a live wire.
Edges, I told myself.Weight distribution. Right crossover. Left?—
“You good?” he asked. Quietly, as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear. Though there was no one else to hear, Joshua hadn’t arrived yet, and the rink was empty except for the two of us and the hum of the refrigeration system.
I realized I’d stopped breathing entirely.
Oh no.
“Lila?”
“Pairs skating!” I blurted, my fingers unconsciously squeezing his. “Side by side.” Right. I had to explain.Start with a deep breath, for crying out loud, before you pass out. “We keep our outside hands free, inside hands joined.” Swallowing, I maneuvered us so we were facing the same direction. “We’ll start with something simple—just laps, getting used to moving together. Finding a shared rhythm.”
Kardok didn’t say anything. But he didn’t let go of my hand either, and when I pushed off, he matched my stride without being asked.
Honestly, our skating together was smooth. Smoother than my breathing, that’s for sure.
He was wearing his hockey skates, and I was wearing my figure skates. There were differences in how they worked, of course, but I doubted he’d had much experience with toe picks, so I wasn’t going to ask him to try something new so quickly.
Especially not when he moved so fluidly on his own skates.
I grew up on the ice.
Like me, then.
But he’d been in his wild and primitive world…is that where he’d gotten that scar?
Focus, Lila.
Right.
I felt his gaze on me and glanced up to find him skating without paying attention to where we were going—instinct. “You okay?”
My, “Fine!” was a few octaves too high. “Why?”
His lips curled again. “You’re not breathing.”
He could tell? He was paying attention to my breathing? Oh, be still my heart! Since he was still watching me, I forced myself to inhale, then offered him a smug smile, as if to saySee? I can breathe. No problem. Breathing is one of the things I do best—I’m a champion breather!
Kardok’s little snort, and the way he switched his attention to the ice ahead of us, told me I wasn’t fooling him.
Still, by our second lap, I was finally breathing normally, and his hand in mine had graduated fromOh dear God, I could stand to lick himtototally normal.
Yay, me.
“So…” He didn’t glance down at me. “We just…skate in circles? Holding hands?”
