I switch off the stove off when the stew is ready. With Spring coming to an end, this summer feels like it's going to be a hot one. I swear I feel as hot as Igor these days.

I walk out and I sit on the porch chair that Igor made us. it fits us both and when he is taking breaks from his work we sit and drink juice and dream. Wolfie approaches from the direction of the river, wet, she must have gone swimming.

I am jealous of the both of them. They still swim in the river because they are not feeble like me and Igor would rather meet death than for me to go swimming even after I asked to be on his back, but he doesn't think it's safe.

And to remedy that, he decided to build us a big bathing basin in the extended room that adjoins ours. It's the first almost completed room after he began working on the extension 2 months ago, and he has been working hard.

He works from before dawn so he can rest when the sun reaches peak. We rest in the afternoons, and he will sometimes continue work when the sun has gone down but sometimes, I will convince him to get some rest.

Igor comes from the back of the house carrying a large water container. Wolfie settles next to my feet.

"You finished?" I ask

"Yes, the bathing basin is functional, with no leaks and it is solid. The water tank is ready for rain."

I smile. "That's great. How soon can we give it a try?"

"Maybe after we eat. I am famished."

"The food is ready. I'll get it. Have a seat." I rise.

"No, Aria, sit down. I got it." he leans in and kisses my lips.

"No, Igor, you've been working before sunup. You need rest. Let me get us food." I move past him. "Sit down, orc." I say over my shoulder when he doesn't move. He follows me and when I head to take the plates, he takes the chair in the kitchen.

I arrange our plates and Wolfie's bowl on the table. Then I take the pots. I lift my eyes and I find Igor staring. I smile and look down.

I continue what I'm doing. "You are staring, orc."

"I am. Are you gonna fight me, human?" he challenges with a smirk.

"I might bite." I smirk.

"I may like that."

I chuckle and shake my head. "Are you flirting, orc?"

"Maybe."

I finish dishing our food and we sit outside, and we eat, and wolfie eats in her bowl.

"In three months, we may be finished with all the work if I keep it up everyday." Igor says.

I pout.

"What?"

"Does that mean I will miss you in bed for the next three months in the morning?"

"But Dove I have to start early. It's getting really hot now and we have to be ready when you are close to giving birth. I can't still be busy with working then."

"I know, I just miss..." I drift off when I see his smirk. I huff.

"Come on. Tell me. You miss what?"

"Orc, leave me alone."

"Come on." He lowers his register and Wolfie's ear peaks.

"Wolfie is right here. And she can hear you." I mutter.

"I don't care." He caresses my leg before he pulls me to his lap. I gasp at the surprise and Wolfie gets up and runs.

We both laugh.

"Look what you've done. Now because of your naughtiness, you've scared Wolfie away."

"She was imposing anyway, its bath time. Join me?" he rubs his nose on the side of my face.

"Hm, is that your ploy to lure me to naughty activities, orc?"

"It definitely is. I missed you last night." He purrs for me, and I bite my bottom lip.

"That was your fault. I warned you I'd be sleep by the time you got back home." I tell him. Igor left last night to go to the villages. He said he had to retrieve something, a fancy word for steal. He needed a certain tool to help with his work and he took long because I waited until I fell asleep.

I only know he came back because he kissed me when he returned, and I woke up for a few seconds.

"Hm, I'm here now and we are all awake."

I grin as my body starts vibrating from excitement and anticipation of pleasure. Every day I realize what a blessing being hated by my former husband and being mistreated by everyone was. I would have never been here, known this kind of love and devotion and pleasure and pure joy.

If Shepherd had been a husband to me and given me children, I would have never left, I would have never chanced the deadly night. Before I sleep it is this orc I'm thankful for.

And now in six months we will welcome our offspring into this world. An offspring made from love. Something I couldn't have even imagined was possible when I was still living in the castle.

I have never seen a cross-bred child, but I know they will have parents that love them and accept them. They will grow in a loving home and Igor will always take care of us and he will always give us his best.

Two months ago, when we almost got discovered in the human villages, I had been scared for a few weeks that we'd get found out and someone would come looking for us, but we seem to be safe. Wolfie hasn't detected anything in the forest and his ears and nose travel wide.

Igor gets us up and he carries me to the new stem. It looks great and solid. No edges. This orc is really talented.

"Where did you learn to do all this?"

"I am over 400 years old, remember? And my father taught me. When we were not at war with other tribes, we would spend a lot of time reconstructing the damage from the wars."

"Tell me more about your history."

"How much time do you have?"

"Well, we do have forever." I grin and he returns it. He starts filling the tub with water.

"Well, my tribe, like I've told you is the Modo tribe, and the other tribe is the Bono tribe. We are identifiable by skin color. My tribe is the paler skinned one and the Bono's are green. Orcs are masculine, warrior creatures by nature and because each side is always seeking dominance, we are butting heads a lot."

"How much is a lot and how brutal do the wars get?"

"Every 50 years or so is a big war and one side is almost always left dwindling."

"And which side mostly wins?"

"The Modo tribe has better fighters, we are more strategic and more agile in battle. The Bono, because of their leaders, rely on brawn a lot and we mostly always maintain our numbers because most our women and children are hidden in a caven stronghold away from the war zone, but the Bono have a hubris that is almost always their undoing."

I start undressing when the water is filled halfway. I undo my hair and I let it fall. Igor takes me in hungrily with his gaze, not rushing and with intent. He lowers his pants, eyes not leaving me, and his girth is in its full strength when he straightens to his full length and he offers me his hand.

"So, let's say, I could cross the barrier and I went back home with you. We would have to live in caves?" I take his hand and I let him lower me in the water. The coolness of it is a needed balm for this hot sun.

"Yes. But the caves aren't as horrible as they sound. I mean, the place is really a stone mountain. We carved into it and built homes, and it has fresh spring and an underground river, and it gets sun in the clearing where most of the children play and get sun."

I know he is trying to sell it but being locked in a cave mountain does not sound great at all. I am once more glad Igor chose to stay with me here. I would not like our child and future children to grow up in such a constricted environment. I want them to be free.

"So, how long do the wars last?"

"A few months at a time."

"So, the men are gone for months at a time?" my voice rises.

And Igor chuckles. He plays with my nose as we settle in the water, and I straddle him. "Would you miss me?"

I take the cloth and I wet it and I squeeze water on top of his head, washing him. "Igor, I miss you now that you are here with me working at the back of our house. Weeks and even months would kill me."

He smiles. "You know back home, the women are always very happy when the men are gone. They can sit and do what they do without us looming over them. I always thought I was strange for wanting something different and wanting my woman closer to me, but maybe I was just not looking at the right species for a woman."

"So, your women back home hate their men?"

He laughs. "Not hate, but they prefer a respectable distance from them unless they are mating. It is not uncommon for partners to not share even a room at night."

"What!?" I stop washing his hair.

"Yes. It would be strange where I come from if people saw...this." He gestures to us.

"So, is there any romance in your realm then? Because right now I am convinced that all you do is fight and maybe eat and work."

"That's not all there is to orc culture." He dips my hand in the water, telling me to continue and I do. "We have a rich culture, traditions, political structures, laws and government. When there's no war and families and communities are back together, orc celebrate, and they drink, and they sing and there is a lot of sense of community. Believe it or not, it's not all blood and brutes."

I see a wistful longing in his face, and I feel bad that I'm the reason he won't be back with his people. "How much do you miss it?" I start washing his face and neck while he caresses my body.

"I miss my family and some of my friends. I miss certain things about it."

I can't help myself from souring. I think I would have preferred it if he said he doesn't miss it at all then I wouldn't feel like I'm stealing him away from his family.

"Aria, don't let your mind go there."

"But I am keeping you from your own people, from your own world. You can't expect me to not feel bad. Especially because your rune disappears in a few months."

"Aria, there is no competition. You and our child are my world. It is not a decision I took lightly, and it is one I won't regret."

"But this world isn't even in tune with your body. You are always hot, and you have a feeble woman." I snort at the last part, and he grins.

"Don't discount yourself, human. Your cooking skills," and he leans closer and massages my cunt, "and your other skills redeem you."

I punch his chest and he grabs my hands and he pulls me to lay on his chest. The air changes instantly.

"You are lucky you have redeeming skills too, orc." I say when he lifts my body and guides his girth to my pulsating center.

"Uh huh? Tell me more about my redeeming qualities, human." He fills me to the brim, and I hang my arms around his neck. Then we descend in bliss, and he has me calling his name as I whimper in pleasure like he always does.

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