Chapter Eleven
Penelope
My heart is going to beat out of my chest.
Dristan was taking me around his home, showing me where everything was, but I couldn’t focus. All I noticed was how his big palm cradled mine so gently. I peered up at his handsome green face, his tusks gleaming under the overhead lights.
When he opened the door at the end of the corridor—closest to the bedroom he’d given to me—I wasn’t paying attention. That was until I saw the giant sleigh bed in the middle.
This is his.
On the wall to the right there were antique weapons hung and artifacts that I couldn’t wait to explore. I searched everywhere for any traces of a female, even going so far as to boldly barge into his bathroom with the pretense of exploring the new space.
Nothing. Not a single product that could even be misconstrued as feminine. Relief swept through me and I almost lost my footing. I don’t know what I would have done if this male was taken, but now I didn’t have to find out.
Still, I narrowed my eyes at him when I stepped out of the bedroom. “Will anyone else be living here?” I asked, not bothering to adjust my tone to anything that could be construed as polite. There was an accusation there and if he had any sense, he’d know it.
His eyes twinkled, but he shook his head. “Rudgar moved out years ago even though I have his bedroom ready for him at any time and Fionel comes over, but never to stay,” he said.
My heart melted at the way he talked about his adult brother as though he was still a child. Dristan had clearly had a hand in raising him and even though I didn’t know his full story, I’d read up on him in the library every chance I could get.
I knew that his parents had passed away and left the business to him when he’d still been a teenager. I didn’t let it warm me to him yet, though.
“I suppose you’ll have a lot of visitors then,” I said, a fake, sticky sweetness in my voice.
Dristan didn’t hide his chuckle then. “I told you already, Penelope. I don’t play well with others.”
I ignored the way my name coming from him always seemed to send me into a spiral of lust. His rough voice contoured itself to the syllables like it was made for them.
“I noticed,” I drawled, but decided that I would be direct. Tipping my chin back to face him as head-on as I could, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Do you have a wife or girlfriend?” I demanded.
His eyes only dipped for a second, pure male appreciation entering his gaze before he brought it back up to meet mine. “No,” he said simply, before tilting his head to the side, his eyes narrowing with challenge and annoyance. “And you? Do you have a male?”
Knowing that I needed to respond—especially after expecting him to do the same, I shook my head. Satisfaction bled from every pore of his big, gorgeous green body. “Good,” he purred, sending a pulse to my clit that did nothing for the libido I’d been trying to smother for the past few weeks.
“N-not that it makes a difference,” I stuttered, clearing my throat as I backed my way out of his bedroom.
There was something inside of me that was aware that this primal male was a threat—in the best possible way—and I was trying not to trigger a response from him. Not yet, anyway.
Not ever.
I tried snapping at my inner skank, but she was too busy eyeing the bulge in his pants again. I’d noticed that Dristan’s cock was ready for me at any moment, but he was my boss and there was no way I’d be acting on that.
That was a good way to get myself fired and lose the only hope I had of saving my parents’ house. I couldn’t let that happen. Now more than ever, it was important to keep this male at a distance. I needed this opportunity too much to blow it.
No matter how good he’d taste.
Bitchslapping skanky Penelope didn’t seem to be working as well as I hoped it would. I swallowed hard as I eyed the sexy orc in front of me from head to toe—not missing the way he was eyeing me right back and making skanky Penelope beg me to take him up on the offer his eyes were conveying—before exiting the room and clearing my throat.
“Is there anywhere else to see or can I go to bed?” I asked in a voice two octaves higher pitched than my usual. I turned around for his response and gasped when I saw him looming in the doorway, his big arm braced against the door jamb, so close he could touch me. His other hand was in his pockets, tucked suspiciously close to that giant cock of his.
“That’s all for now. Unless you want something else?”
I stiffened, squeezing my lips shut to stop from blurting the word you . “I’m fine,” I said, the words garbled by my closely pressed lips.
Scrambling backward, I hurried to my new bedroom, closing myself inside and leaning against the door, releasing a sigh of relief. I didn’t need the temptation he presented.
I had enough going on without adding him as an extra layer of complication. Our debt and the house was my number one priority and there wasn’t any orc-sized space in my life for him. I moved over to my bags, looking around the huge bedroom with trepidation.
If this was going to be my space, I’d find a way to make it homier eventually. I opened my bags on the bed, unpacking and realizing that I’d only taken up a tiny portion of the huge walk-in closet.
Who lives like this?
I moved over to the bank of windows, and stood staring out. I could stand here forever and never want to peel myself away. Dristan had an exceptional view from every angle of his penthouse.
I saw the huge park, greenery rolling in front of me. Reaching out, I pressed my palm to the glass, the chill of it not doing anything to calm my nerves.
Living here, with him, was another huge change in such a short span of time. My life was a rollercoaster and I wasn’t getting a moment to catch a break.
Heaving in an unsteady breath, I moved to sit on the bed—the softest one I’d ever been on. I wondered if I was in a dream. It would explain so much.
If I went to sleep, would I wake up in my bed back home? Away from the stress of almost losing our house? Of taking an unexpected job? And having to live with the boss I couldn’t stop thinking about? It was all too much.
Squeezing my eyes shut and falling back on the bed, exhaustion overtaking me, I wished that I could go back to when everything was simple and made sense.
I peeked my eyes open, having had the best night of sleep I’d ever had and immediately knew I hadn’t returned to Kansas like Dorothy. I was still in the penthouse with Dristan, and I was starting my new job as his Personal Assistant today.
Sitting up in bed, I scrubbed the grit from my eyes.
I ran my palms over the luxurious sheets and pillowcase, knowing the material was thousands of thread counts higher than I was used to. Tapping the screen of my phone, I swore, realizing it was dead and I didn’t have a clock to tell me if I’d slept through my alarm.
I hadn’t plugged it into the charger. Doing that, I rushed through my morning routine, ensuring that I at least looked human before standing in front of my closet for an unnecessarily long time.
I wasn’t sure what I should wear to be Dristan’s Personal Assistant. I’d only just been hired the day before, but I couldn’t exactly wear the cleaning uniform I’d been given.
Reaching for leggings and the nicest blouse I owned—which was still ratty compared to most people’s standards I supposed—I got dressed quickly and then ran into the kitchen. I was relieved that I hadn’t slept in too late when I saw the clock on the stove.
Despite the early hour, I spotted breakfast on the table already. I looked around, trying to see if anyone was still there, but they were long gone.
I crinkled my nose at the cold cereal, oats, and fruit that was laid out. How did a massive orc like Dristan survive on this kind of breakfast?
No wonder the male was grumpy all the time if this was what he was eating. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers and I was definitely the beggar in this situation.
I sat down, grabbing some fruit for myself and digging in right away. I was moaning around a strawberry when Dristan turned the corner. I tried not to stare at him in another one of his perfectly tailored suits—blue with a yellow tie that matched his eyes this time—but I was failing before the day had even begun.
He froze, those yellow eyes going dark as he took me in, perched on a stool, sitting at his island. Even if he thought I was audacious to start without him, I wasn’t giving up my fruits. They were my favorite and something I hadn’t been able to indulge in with my tight budget.
I shoved the entire strawberry into my mouth, praying I wouldn’t choke as I ate as fast as I could. I watched amusement twinkle to life in his eyes as he made his way closer.
He pulled a mug from one of the higher cupboards that I wasn’t sure I could reach.
“Good morning,” I called after swallowing my bite.
He nodded, holding out the mug in my direction, an eyebrow quirked.
“Yes, please,” I said, accepting his silent offer of coffee.
He moved over to the most complicated machine I’d ever seen in my life—and I’d been a barista for a few summers back home—and started tinkering, hissing and odd noises coming from the stainless steel contraption along with the glorious aroma of magical morning elixir.
When he made his way over, he pushed a mug toward me and I took it, murmuring my thanks and realizing it was already lightened with cream. I took a sip before narrowing my eyes at him. “It’s a good thing I take my coffee with milk and sugar or I guess I’d be out of luck.”
He grunted, not bothering to give me a proper response as he pulled a bowl of cereal toward him, adding milk and blueberries. I rolled my eyes at his non-responsiveness and went back to shoveling as many fruits into my mouth as I could.
“Can you tell me what we’re doing today?” I asked around a bite of honeydew melon and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“It’s not polite to speak with a full mouth,” he told me. “We’re heading into the office all day.”
Not rolling my eyes every five seconds with this male was going to be a test on my self-control. “Sounds great,” I told him, mouth still overflowing. I was doing it to get on his nerves, since he was keeping my own frayed. Besides, he was sort of cute when he was grumpy. I frowned down at my coffee. Where had that come from? Since when did I think this bossy, demanding orc was cute when he was frowning at me?
He huffed out a breath and we continued eating in silence. I pondered the possibility of one of us murdering the other, but decided that while Dristan could be a grumpy bastard, he wasn’t an outright asshole. We might be able to survive a few days together before we goaded each other into something drastic.