Status Updates From Her Orc Protector (Bellhave...

“What can I do to help?” I ask instead.
He motions at the lantern. “This helps. A little.”“That’s easy enough to manage,” I agree. “We’ll make sure we always have enough lamp oil on hand.”
Korr’s smile lights up his face. “Ah, see, little witch? You’re trying to take care of me, like I did for you.”

AWWW and her powers !!!!! Omg excited for that reveal

But Korr soothes me with slow rubs of my back even as he dips a thick finger inside me for the first time.“Is that all for me?” he whispers, and his breath touches my lips.

I nod, unable to form words. Yes, it’s all for him.

😳

A lump forms in my throat. “It’s just…” I search for the right way to explain myself. “I don’t know what to do.”

His lips tug to the side. “Nothing. You should rest and let me take care of you.”

SWOON

He motions around the room with his large hand. “This place is barely fit to live in. I can’t even offer you bread or clean clothes to wear. You deserve so much more, Ivy, and yet you act as if you’ll forever be in my debt because I brought you here.”

I shift restlessly on the bed. “You saved my life!”

“I did,” he retorts, his voice rising. “But not to make you my slave.”

Finally, he raises his dark gaze to me. “I’m not angry at you.”
I lift my eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re certainly angry at someone.”
“Aye,” he rasps. “At whoever made you think that simple kindness must be repaid.”

Korr stares at me for a long while, silent and frowning. Then he stands without a word and bustles around the small room, righting things that seem only slightly out of place, growling softly to himself. Wordlessly, he strips off his tunic and washes it in a pot with jerky movements, then hangs it by the stove to dry.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” he demands.

I cross my arms over my chest, then wince at the way that pulls at the bruises that haven’t been healed by the salve yet. “Nothing is free,” I say mulishly. “I know that. So—what will you want from me after I’m better? I’d rather know ahead of time.”

“Also, a strange spike of worry shoots through my body at the thought of leaving Korr. It’s similar to the feeling I got when my thatched roof sprung a leak and I had to climb to the top to tie new straw bundles over the old. I’d peered over the edge of the roof, and my stomach had squeezed itself into a hard ball. Strange.”

Ooh really loved that description

“I flinch at the sound and stare after Korr, wondering what on earth is going on.The door opens, and he strides back in, lightly dusted with snow. He catches me gawking at him and ducks his head. “Forgive me.”

Lolllll obsessed with this guy I love how they actually have personalities

“He takes my shoulders with warm hands and gently inspects me from head to toe. A moment passes, then he lets go of me and steps back.“Wait here.”I glance up just in time to see him disappearing outside, into the twilight. He closes the door behind him. Then a guttural, angry roar rends the silence, and a heavy thump follows, a blow so strong, it shakes the hut, walls, floor, and all.”

I just love a damsel in distress moment