My Orc (Secret) Boss (Eastshore Isle #7)

Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Memnon

It wasn’t enough .

A week with Maya, and my Kteer still wasn’t satisfied.

As we’d guessed, Simbel’s big boating adventure with Rissa went well enough that he moved into her home the night of the Festival. Well, his stuff was still in the apartment, but every day after work he’d stop by and grab something else and go sleep at his new family’s house.

This meant that the apartment was empty enough for Maya. I stripped my twin’s bed and washed his sheets and cleaned the whole place for her…

But I hadn’t been able to stand the thought of not having her curled up beside me as we slept, so she was in my bed each night. Where she belonged.

So it had been a week of fighting with myself—my instincts, my Kteer , and my mind, which knew I had to take things slow. A week of sleeping with her in my arms, smelling as sweet as honeysuckle as she wrapped her limbs around mine, as strong as the plant itself.

A week of tasting her, a week of kissing, a week of exploring her pleasure again and again.

And not allowing myself to give into the ridiculously strong temptation to claim claim claim.

I wanted her. The gods below knew I wanted her, and my Kteer wouldn’t fucking shut up about it! But Maya was hung up on our work relationship. She kept harping on the impropriety and HR nightmare of us doing what we were doing…and that was when she just thought I was her employee.

What was going to happen when I finally grew a pair of balls and told her the truth? If she knew I owned the building, would she consider herself my employee? In which case, did shit get creepier?

Or would she be angry—livid—at me keeping such a secret?

It didn’t help that it had also been a week of avoiding Kelly Willis, the “fitness coach” whose sessions Simbel had gifted me, the asshole. She wouldn’t stop texting and calling, and I’d given up on trying to be polite. I didn’t want to talk to another female, not when I had Maya in my arms.

But as the days passed, it was easier for me to take the coward’s way out and avoid telling her the truth to avoid her anger. And because I wasn’t honest with her, I couldn’t give into my urges to claim her, to make her mine.

I couldn’t do that to her.

But each afternoon, after working at the park until my muscles ached, I climbed into the hot shower with her and showed her how good I could make her feel, even without getting my cock involved.

Oh, she tried a few times, stroking me, but I did my best to fight it. She was mine, and I was hers…but she didn’t realize that.

So fucking tell her already !

I was going to have to because my surreptitious jerking off wasn’t satisfying my Kteer anymore than it was satisfying my cock. I was itchy and irritable and ready to snap.

Which is why, on Sunday morning, when Maya set the mug of coffee she’d made for me at my elbow—and I got a whiff of her sweet arousal, left over from when I licked her to orgasm only an hour ago—I growled.

I heard her suck in a quick breath and jerk her hand away, and I cursed myself for scaring her.

Reaching out, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her toward me. She didn’t resist and ended up in my lap.

“Memnon?” she whispered, her dark brows lowered in concern. One hand rose as if she was going to cup my cheek, but she hesitated.

“I’m sorry, Blossom,” I groaned, burying my face in the little crook between her neck and shoulder, where I could smell her perfection and kiss her tattoo had she not been wearing one of my t-shirts, which was far too big for her. “I’m just…not myself.”

To my surprise, Maya hummed and reached up to squeeze the back of my neck. Her hands were small compared to me, but still strong enough to make me groan and drop my head forward.

“No wonder,” she murmured. “You’ve been working nonstop for two weeks. I mean, I know you’ve spent months hiding—I mean, stuck inside. So all this work, and peopling, must be a lot.”

Hiding .

That’s what I was doing, yeah. And now?

“I’m glad I get to work with you,” I muttered. “Not sorry about that.”

“Good, because I’ve really been enjoying my time with you.”

Her thumb hit something tight in my neck, and I groaned in pleasure. She must’ve misunderstood, though, because her scent changed to embarrassment.

“I mean, I’ve enjoyed that too, but you—we’ve been working—I think we…”

My hold on her tightened, and I did my best to put her at ease. “I think we work well together too, Maya.” Of course we did; we were Mates. “I like how your mind works, and your vision, and how you put so fucking much of yourself into the world around you.”

“Oh,” she breathed, her hand going still. “Well… I like you too.” Her fingers inched upward, running through the hair at the base of my neck, tugging slightly and causing shivers to run down my spine. “A lot.”

I grunted, lowering my nose to her shoulder once more.

“But…” she continued cautiously, “I’ve been enjoying all the other stuff, as well.”

My lips curled reluctantly. “Me too.”

She dragged her fingers through my hair gently so they didn’t catch. “Are you sure, Memnon?”

The hesitation in her question made me lift my head and frown down at her. “What?”

“Are you…” Maya took a deep breath, her gaze locked on my chin. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve really, really been enjoying myself. But you’re so focused on me, and I worry…”

“Don’t worry about me, dkaar ,” I managed, my voice thick.

Her dark eyes rose to meet mine. “I just don’t want this to be weird, Memnon. With you working for me, I don’t want you to feel like this is an obligation fuck or some?—”

Her words broke off with a squeal when I stood abruptly and took her with me. She dangled from my hold, but her expression told me she was serious. She was genuinely concerned about my consent?

“Blossom, I’ve spent every hour of the last two weeks—hells, longer —thinking about you and how fucking delicious you taste. Do I want more? Yes, I want more. Am I going to push you for it? No, I’m not.”

“Are you sure?” she whispered. “You let me move in with you, you make me come over and over again. It just seems…lopsided.”

“I invited you to stay with me so you’d be more comfortable.” I slowly allowed her to slide down my body until her small feet hit the floor. “You moved out of your apartment?—”

“So I could have enough money to pay you .” Her hold on my arms loosened as she grinned a little ruefully. “But now I’m living with you, and we’re…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what we are.”

Mates .

I wanted to shout it. I wanted to growl it.

I wanted to pull her into my arms and claim her once and for all.

She’s your Mate. It’s not an obligation, or a contract, or anything other than right if you’re Mated .

And yeah, I was a coward for not telling her the truth about me owning her space, but maybe it didn’t matter? Maybe, because we were Mates, everything would work out okay?

I just had to tell her.

“I wouldn’t mind,” she whispered.

My gaze snapped back to hers. Her smile was shy.

“You said you wanted more.” Maya slid her hand down my arms. “I wouldn’t mind it at all. If you wanted…more.”

Fuck yes I wanted more.

But I had to tell her how I felt about her, first.

“Come on,” I growled, grabbing her hand and turning toward the door to the apartment. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Because I wasn’t going to be able to talk clearly—explain the way my people did things—with the bed so close. And by so close , I mean anywhere nearby when I could smell the sweet scent of her arousal .

We were halfway to the door when I realized she was resisting me. I immediately loosened my hold and turned to find her digging in her heels and smirking up at me.

“You don’t want to walk?” I asked inanely.

“I don’t want to parade around town in just my panties.” She skittered backward, her hands going to the hem of my shirt that she wore, a smirk on her lips. “It’ll give people the wrong idea.”

Gods of the ancestors, I really was distracted—and messed up in the head—if I hadn’t realized she wasn’t even dressed.

You did realize it. You just didn’t care.

“The wrong idea about us?” I growled, realizing I did care. If I had my way, she’d spend all day naked and in my arms. Which would make it difficult to work.

“The wrong idea about me, silly.” Still smiling, she turned and hurried toward my—our—room. “Give me a minute!”

It took her forty-seven seconds to come hurrying back out, wearing another one of those sexy little sundresses—pink this time—and a pair of sneakers. She was breathless as she grinned up at me and twined her fingers through mine.

“There! Now I don’t look like…” Flushing, she broke off and looked away.

I was too busy staring at how fucking delicious she looked. Like a flower I wanted to peel open to get to the honey inside. “What?”

“Well…” Maya tugged me toward the door, and I realized she wasn’t looking at me on purpose. “Last weekend, at the auction, Mr. Harrison bid on me because…of the way I looked. Not because of what I could do. I just thought that if I went parading around half-naked, more people might think I was available for…well, it doesn’t matter.”

It did matter. “You’re mine , Maya.”

As soon as the words left my lips, I snarled and cursed myself silently. Way to sound like a primitive fuck, you primitive fuck .

But by the time we reached the lower landing and slid out the back door into the alley, I realized she wasn’t objecting. In fact, she was flushing, but with a pleased smile on her lips.

Huh.

See? Telling her you’re her Mate is going to be easy .

Easy? No. But it had to be done.

And once I told her about the whole we belong together thing, I was going to have to admit I’d been lying to her.

As usual, the two of us slid into an easy silence as we walked. I liked that neither of us were big on chatter, but when we did have discussions, they were meaningful. I liked that we got one another and didn’t feel the need to pretend to be someone else.

By unspoken agreement, we turned away from the park and headed toward the north side of the island. Maybe we were just tired of seeing the same space every day for six straight days, or maybe she—like me—just wanted to get lost in the serenity of the nature reserve again.

“Oh, did I tell you?” Maya suddenly blurted. “Sami Shayson—you know, the realtor? She told me someone has been asking about the Gary property!”

Oh yeah.

I hid my wince.

It had been a hell of a week, and I’d forgotten I’d reached out to the lady who had helped me buy the row building on Main to ask about the piece of paradise Maya had shown me.

I hadn’t decided if I wanted to buy it yet—I told myself I would talk to her about it before I made that decision—but I just wanted some information on it. Maybe I should have mentioned it before I started asking? I dunno, I was used to doing things on my own, and it was strange to realized I wanted her opinion on my future.

Because you want her to be part of your future, idiot .

Want? No, she was my Mate. I needed her to be part of my future. And I needed to explain this to her.

Luckily, Maya hadn’t noticed I’d failed to answer her.

Maya sighed, her hand tightening around mine. “I’m bummed that someone else will have it soon. I hope they treat it properly, but I’m going to miss just sitting along the creek.”

I wasn’t sure if I was going to buy the property—and I wasn’t sure what Maya would say if I told her I wanted to—so I just jerked my chin in that direction. “Then let’s go there now.”