Chapter Fourteen
Becca
I’m holding some kind of gold and I know this is probably worth a fortune.
Just the way that Rudgar had boggled over the pile in Rok’s huge hand told me that this, whatever it was, could probably buy me ten times over. I tried to shove the huge, heavy pieces back at him, but the stubborn male didn’t take them, tucking away the rest back into his satchel.
“I can’t take these,” I squeaked, shaking my head as I held them back out to him. “It’s too much! I’ll lose them or something!”
He murmured some words in orcish, his eyes soft as he swept a lock of my hair behind my ear with his big finger. His eyes were soft and intimate on my face and heat rose in my cheeks.
This male was going to make me lose my mind and I was already pretty close to doing that on my own. Licking my lips, I watched as his gaze narrowed on the action and his head dipped down.
I took a step back. “Oh no! No more of that. You said you’d give me the key!”
His strong brow furrowed with confusion and I pointed to the card that was still tucked neatly in his satchel. “The key ,” I enunciated.
“Key,” he sounded out, searching my expression as he pulled it out and raised it toward me. I nodded, giving him a full smile as I took it from him.
At least I knew he wasn’t a cheater. He’d taken his kiss—and what a kiss it’d been —and he’d given me the key along with five pieces of his gold. I was gobsmacked by his generosity for a moment before I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You better not think you can buy me with this,” I told him, waving the heavy gold around and accidentally smacking him in the chest.
He tilted his head at me, his eyes gleaming as they analyzed me. He murmured a word that sounded like skarsh . I had no idea what the hell that meant, but I’d find a way to let him know I wasn’t for sale.
I didn’t know how mates worked where he was from, but I would not be bought . I’d have to be won. I stiffened at that, realizing what I’d just thought. Guilt flooded my mind.
There was no way I was going all in with this male who would have to go home. And anything else I did here would only lead him on. He’d want me to return with him to his home, but there was no way I’d be leaving my family behind.
We might not be related by blood, but we were related in all the ways that were important. No matter how delicious this sexy male was, I couldn’t make decisions with my pussy.
She can’t be trusted.
I tapped the card to the door and it unlocked with a click. Rok was staring with that eerie focus that I’d noticed when he was observing his surroundings. I had a feeling he was going to be a fast learner and I didn’t know how I felt about that.
He murmured a few words in orcish as I pushed the door open, allowing him to see inside. It sounded like a prayer, but it could just as easily have been a curse and I’d never know.
I pulled up the Prattle app on my phone, tapping furiously until I’d started the free trial for Orcish. There was no way I was going to convince this male to give up on me if we didn’t understand each other.
My eyes widened and I smacked myself across the forehead as I realized that I’d been able to use Zooble Translate this entire time. Rok had begun prowling around the apartment, poking and prodding as he went.
He gave a low growl at the robot vacuum that made its way across the floor, his arm going to his axe. I put my hand on his arm and that seemed to settle him, but he kept his gaze on the little circle of chaos as it zoomed past him again.
“I don’t know how good it is at your version of Orcish,” I told him, tapping away into the translator, “but we’ll give it a try.”
I held the phone up to him and he jerked backward as it spoke in a monotone voice. He furrowed his brow, glancing at me and then the phone, pointing at it and asking a question. I kept my finger on the microphone as I said, “This can help us talk to each other.”
The app spoke again and while Rok still had that confused expression on his face, he nodded.
“This is where you’ll be staying,” I told him, pointing around us.
I held onto the microphone and gestured with one hand for him to speak. He said a few slow words and then the app said,
“I stay with you.”
I nodded, gesturing to the apartment around us.
“We’re both staying here.”
His expression cleared, and he purred the word, “N’am’osh,” that he’d said before. This time the translator said,
“My mate.”
My heart clenched at the words—the tenderness in his gaze and the small smile playing at his lips as he said it. I bit my lip, trying to ground myself in reality.
“How do you know I’m your mate?” I asked him, the app doing its job.
He tilted his head, a smirk playing on his lips and an arrogant eyebrow quirked. He didn’t even need to speak for me to understand what he was saying.
Woman, please.
Okay, that was true. A male orc would know his mate. I knew that. I’d done enough research to know the most intimate of details when it came to orc matings.
My cheeks flooded with heat as my gaze dipped to where I could see Rok’s cock outlined in the leather pants he wore. I looked away, but not before he noticed, taking a step closer to me.
His low purr of words sent a shiver down my spine.
“Female want chicken,” the app said in a monotone voice and I couldn’t stop the amused snort that left me.
I glanced up at Rok, but he was anything but amused. His eyes were brimming with the same lust I’d seen earlier and now that we were safely behind closed doors, I didn’t know if I could say no.