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

by Cora Crane

Mariah was a dream I never allowed myself to have, a wish upon a star that I extinguished with my own hands.

These next fourteen days will either be my sweetest fantasy come true—or my ultimate undoing.

“Have you properly groveled yet? Because from what you’ve told me, it sounds like you’ve barely apologized, let alone made a real effort to atone for your past actions.”

The shelves are rumored to be bigger on the inside. You could get lost for days in there!”

Watching a smart man confidently in his element does something to my insides that should be illegal.

It’s a strange kind of magic, this: the power of sincere words spoken by someone you never thought capable of them.

If we were really together, I’d shut the bar down for the night and fuck her on every surface, giving her orgasm after orgasm until she couldn’t see straight.

“Mariah isn’t just some passing fling. She’s the love of my life, and I’ll be damned if I let anyone, even my own blood, disrespect her.”

“When you love someone,” I say softly, looking up toward Thorak, “that love has the power to overcome any history, to heal any wound.”

“I haven’t seen chemistry like that since I accidentally mixed salamander spittle and dragon horn dust and nearly blew up my house!”

Love is a risk, babe. A leap of faith. No one can ever know for sure how it’ll turn out. But if you don’t jump, you’ll never fly.”

“You deserve happiness, Mariah. Don’t let fear and things that happened in your past hold you back from claiming it.”