Page 43 of Protective Pucking Orc

Unable to help myself, I grinned.

And Sofia sucked in a breath, eyes widening in surprise as she took a step back.

“What?” I reached for her, reacting to her shock, but she burst into little chuckles.

“You smiled! I knew you could smile!”

As she shook her head, still chuckling, I swallowed down my own chuckles as I reached for the donut. “Don’t tell anyone. It’ll ruin my reputation.”

Later, after I was dressed and holding my duffel, she followed me to the door. Her hands cradled a mug of coffee—she took hers with a splash of cream—and she smelled of uncertainty.

I turned and performed what was becoming our little ritual. “You’ll be here when I get back?”

She nodded, her gaze dropping to her coffee, her teeth worrying her lower lip. Without thinking, I reached for her, one hand landing on her hip as if a magnet had drawn it there.

“What is it, dkaar?”

Her dark eyes peeked up at me. “You know, Rosa told me that means beloved.”

Ah.

My eyes fluttered shut, and I focused on the feel of her beneath my fingers. “Yes,” I confessed, wondering if this was the moment to tell her the full truth. Tell her she was my Mate.

But…

I felt her take a deep breath. “Dakvaar, we can’t stay here, but I want you to know that we won’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“I don’t want you to leave at all!” The words—full of pain—burst from me as I opened my eyes to stare half-pleadingly down at her.

Her smile was sad. “I don’t want to leave either, but Anthony will find us. He always does. And when he does, I can’t allow you to be hurt.”

My arms ached to pull her closer, to comfort her. Instead, I contented myself with hefting my bag higher on my shoulder, and tightening my hold on her hip, as my Kteer snarled, demanding answers.

But I had to handle this carefully. “Tell me?”

Sofia shook her head. “This isn’t your fight.”

My throat was thick with rage and sorrow when I confessed, “It became my fight the moment I held you in that street, terrified for your life, Sofia.”

Her breath hitched, and I leaned down slightly, just enough to know that she was looking at me, and only at me.

“Love, you’re mine to protect.”

The words hung between us, raw and true.

She stared at me, her dark eyes wide, her lips parted, her knuckles white around the mug.

Then, slowly, she rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to my cheek.

The contact was soft, gentle, sweet…

And it broke me.

I stood frozen, my breath trapped in my lungs, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.

Then she pulled back, her breath lingering against my jaw for just a second before she dropped back on her heels.

She turned and walked away.