The Orc and the Innkeeper (Elderberry Falls, #1)

by Cora Crane

“I...I don’t want to bother you. I just came to...” He trails off, searching for the right words.

“To what? Gloat? Rub it in my face that you played me?”

He flinches as if I’ve struck him. “No, Mariah, I would never...” He takes a deep breath. “I came to pay the rest of the extermination bill.”

Thorak hands me an envelope and my stomach bottoms out. He’d promised to pay even if the deal...

“Do you need anything else?” I snap, turning back around to face him. “I promise you’ve run out of ways to humiliate me.”

Thorak’s cheeks flush, but he stands his ground. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but I meant what I said yesterday. What we had, it was real. I wasn’t faking or using you. I really do care about you. More than...more than I’ve ever cared about anyone.”

“I’ve given you every reason to doubt me. I was an ass in high school, and I’ll regret how I treated you until the day I die. But I’m not that orc anymore, Mariah. What happened with Ygra was awful and I should’ve told her about you the moment she showed back up. I’ll regret that forever, too.”

He reaches out a hand as if to touch my cheek, but stops himself.

“I get it if you can’t forgive me. If you can’t trust me. I’m not asking for another chance. I just...” His voice cracks with emotion. “I just need you to know that it was real for me. Every moment, every kiss, every time I he...

“Thorak, I...” My voice wavers. “I can’t do this. Not now. Maybe not ever. Please, just...just go.”

For a long moment he just looks at me, a maelstrom of emotions plain on his face. Then he nods slowly. He turns and walks away, his broad shoulders slumped in defeat. I watch him go until he disappears from sight, my heart shattered into a million pieces.

For Mariah, for myself, for any chance we might still have together—I have to try. I can’t lose her. Not like this. Not without a fight.

“But guess what?” I continue. “It’s my life, and I get to make my own choices. And I am done being polite about it for the sake of respecting you when it’s clear you have no respect for me. You say that me being with Mariah would ruin our family? Mariah makes me happier than anything I’ve ever experienced. You are the ones ruining our family.”

As we round the corner into the beverage section, a familiar logo catches my eye, stopping me in my tracks. My heart stutters as I reach for the bottle, my fingers trembling slightly as they brush against the cool glass. Orc’s Anvil Brewing Co. He must’ve gotten the distribution deal after all.

With a small smile, I tuck the bottle of Orc’s Anvil ale into our cart, already imagining the look on Thorak’s face when I tell him that I bought his brew in my parents’ local grocery store.

turn to compliment Ecco again on her stunning dress when suddenly, my gaze snags on a familiar figure across the room. Thorak. The floor bottoms out beneath me.

He’s devastatingly handsome in a well-cut charcoal suit that strains slightly across his broad shoulders. His green skin looks especially rich in the enchanted lighting. My eyes trace the strong lines of his jaw, the sensual curve of his lips and sharp, imposing points of his tusks.

Our eyes lock and there’s an instant spark, that smoldering intensity that’s always simmered between us.

I take a step forward, then another, my heels clicking on the parquet floor. As I move through the crowd, I keep my eyes fixed on Thorak.

It’s not just the nerves; it’s the way Thorak looks tonight, the way he’s looking at me.

His eyes haven’t left mine, and they burn with an intensity that makes my breath catch.

I’m just a few feet away when the rest of Thorak’s group notices my approach. Their conversation falters as they turn to look my way. For a moment, the world seems to fall away, and it’s ju...

“Mariah,” he says, his deep voice sending a shiver down my spine. “You look...incredible.”

“No, please. Let me say this,” I interrupt gently. “I’ve been so unfair to you. You’ve shown me, time and again, that you’ve changed. That you’re not the same person you were when we were kids. And instead of seeing that, I let my own insecurities cloud my judgment.”

“I understand why you felt that way,” he says quietly. “I know I hurt you in the past. I don’t blame you for being wary.”

“That’s no excuse. You deserved better from me. After everything that happened between us, I should have given you a chance to explain about Ygra. But I let my fear and my pride get in the way.”

“I’m sorry, Thorak,” I continue, moving closer to him. “For everything. I’ve spent the past weeks living through heartbreak that I think I’ve inflicted on myself. I can’t stop thinking about you and about what we had. How perfect it felt while it was happening. How incredible you made me feel and how right it seemed. I realized that…I was falling in love with you. And I fucked it all up.”

“Can you...can you forgive me?” I ask.

“Mariah,” I rumble, my voice raw with emotion. “This past month has been agony without you. I’ve replayed that day in the square a thousand times, wishing I had done things differently. I should have been more firm with both my parents and Ygra from the start. Everyone in town should’ve known that you were my woman and that it was real. I let my pride get in the way, and it nearly cost me everything.”

“I love you, Mariah,” I confess, the

“I think I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you again, standing in your inn with pixie dust in your hair. It consumes me. It controls me. And I’ll spend every day of the rest of our lives proving myself worthy of your trust, if you’ll let me.”

“Oh, Thorak,” she breathes, a radiant smile blooming across her face. “I love you too. And I promise, no more assumptions, no more running away. I’m yours.”

I draw her flush against my body. She comes willingly, melting into my embrace as if she was made to fit there. Unable to hold back any longer, I capture Mariah’s lips in a heated kiss. A groan rumbles up my throat as I taste her sweetness, feel the silk of her skin under my hands. Every nerve ending ignites with the rightness of it.

“Please...I’ve been thinking about this for weeks. I need you. Let me show you that I’m sorry this time.”

I pull back from her, glancing back at the balcony door a few feet away. We’re very secluded out here, and the entrance to the balcony is not near the main part of the hall. But still… “You’re not worried that someone might see?” I ask Mariah, the risk of being caught sending a delicious, forbidden thrill through me. Mariah looks up at me wantonly through her eyelashes, her cheeks flushed, lips parted and glistening from our kisses. “Let them.”

“We don’t have any lube,” I say. “I have some in my bag,” Mariah says, blushing. Her gaze goes down to the purse by her feet. “I didn’t want to assume you’d forgive me, but…just in case…” I kiss her again, deeply. “Best assumption ever.”

Then, I hike her back up, bracing her against the wall as I notch myself at her entrance. Our eyes lock, the intensity of our shared gaze a silent promise, an unbreakable vow. I slowly push into her heat, pausing as I go to make sure she’s comfortable.

“Thorak,” she keens softly, and the sound of my name on her lips nearly undoes me. “Forgive me for not trusting you.”

Slowly, reverently, I begin to move. Long, deep strokes that make her shudder and clench around me.

Mariah is really mine.

Mariah shatters with a keening cry, her head thrown back in abandon as ecstasy overtakes her. The sight of her, lost to the bliss I’ve given her, is my undoing. With a guttural roar, I spill myself deep inside her.

“That was...intense,” she giggles. “You’re telling me,” I chuckle, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear. “I’ll never look at a balcony the same way again.”

“Yes, and Mariah,” I begin, my voice rough with emotion, “I meant what I said. I love you, and I want to be with you, for real this time. No more pretending, no more hiding. Will you...will you be my girlfriend? My partner?”

“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, Thorak, I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine.”

“Lead the way, my love,”

Hand in hand, we make our way back inside, not even trying to hide the giddy smiles plastered across our faces. Mariah leans into my side as we walk, her head resting on my bicep, and I’ve never felt more complete.

As we enter the ballroom, a hush falls over the crowd. Curious eyes follow our every move, widening at the sight of our joined hands and rumpled clothing. A couple of monsters turn to each other with scandalized whispers, and some of our former classmates wear shocked expressions.

“I love you, Thorak Ironfist,” she says, her lips curving into a tender smile. “I’m sorry it took me this long to realize it.” “I love you too, Mariah Parker,”

Until my dad clears his throat and says, “So, Mariah, what are your intentions with our son?”

“Krag, I love your son with all my heart,” she says, her voice unwavering. “My intentions are to build a life with him and to support him in his dreams. I know your family has a history with humans that makes you wary of me, but my feelings for Thorak are genuine and true.”