Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

LILA

T he ship’s core thrumming beneath me matches the wild beating of my heart. We drift in the black emptiness between stars, the silence pressing against the hull like it’s trying to crush us.

Garoth’s massive form looms over me, turning the console lights into a blood-red halo around him. God, he’s huge. And hot. No, focus, Lila!

“Wanna play a game?” His gravelly tone jolts me out of my spiraling thoughts.

I blink. “A game? What, you keep a deck of cards next to your laser pistol?”

He grins, and my stomach does a little flip. “Even us big bad bounty hunters need a way to pass the time.”

Then, to my amazement, he starts pulling out deck after deck of cards from various pockets in his armor.

“Whoa, wait a second,” I laugh, leaning forward. “What’s all this?”

Garoth lays out the decks on the small table between us. “I’ve picked these up across the galaxy,” he explains, his eyes twinkling with an almost boyish excitement that makes my heart flutter.

I pick up the first deck, marveling at the shimmering alien glyphs. “These are orc cards, right?”

He nods. “From my home world. And these,” he points to a deck that seems to glow faintly, “are Luminari. They’re said to show your fortune if you know how to read them.”

“Seriously?” I ask, running my fingers over the smooth, cool surface. “And this one?” I gesture to one of the decks that looks like it’s made of some kind of scaled hide.

“Draconian. Careful with those, they’re a bit... bitey.”

I snatch my hand back, and Garoth chuckles, the sound sending a warm shiver through me.

“And what’s this?” I ask, picking up a perfectly ordinary-looking pack of cards. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a standard Earth deck too?”

Garoth shrugs, looking almost sheepish. “I like to be prepared.”

I can’t help but laugh. This fierce orc bounty hunter, with his collection of intergalactic playing cards, is just too adorable. Wait, adorable? Where did that come from?

“All right, card shark,” I say, shuffling the familiar Earth deck. “Let’s see how you handle a game of Go Fish.”

Garoth’s brow furrows. “Fish? In space?”

I grin. “Trust me, it’s diplomacy at its simplest.”

As I deal the cards, I marvel at how surreal this all is. Here I am playing cards with an orc who has decks from across the galaxy. And somehow, it feels more right than anything has in a long time.

Our hands brush as I pass him his cards, and that spark is there again, making my breath catch. Garoth’s eyes meet mine, and for a moment, the entire universe seems to narrow down to just us.

“Your move,” he says with an arched eyebrow and I wonder what he’s thinking.

“Got any eights?” I tease, leaning forward.

“Go fish,” he rumbles, but there’s a playful glint in those dark eyes that makes me want to forget the game altogether.

We banter back and forth, and with each laugh, and each shared smile, I feel myself falling deeper. It’s dangerous, this thing growing between us. He’s an orc for crying out loud! But as I watch his massive hands deftly shuffle the cards, all I can think about is how they’d feel on my skin.

Stop it, Lila! Must be cabin fever and being trapped in this small spaceship with a guy. Never mind that it’s been over a year since I had sex.

“Enjoying yourself?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady despite the heat curling in my belly.

“More than I expected,” he admits, and there’s something in his tone that makes me think he isn’t just talking about the cards.

Our eyes lock, and suddenly the universe shrinks until it’s just us, suspended in this moment. I lick my lips, and his gaze follows the movement. The air between us crackles with possibility.

God help me, I want to kiss him. I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.

“All right, tough guy,” I say, trying to ignore the way my skin tingles every time he looks at me. “I’ve got one last game for you.”

Garoth raises an eyebrow, his dark gaze never leaving mine. He leans back, crossing those massive arms over his chest. I definitely don’t stare at the way his muscles flex. Nope. Not me.

“Let’s hear it then,” he challenges in a low rumble that has goosebumps breaking out across my arms.

I gather up all the cards, feeling weirdly nervous. “It’s called 52-card pickup.” And before I can chicken out, I fling the cards into the air.

For a second, Garoth just stares as the cards rain down around us. Then he throws his head back and laughs, a deep, rich sound that makes my insides melt.

“Whoever picks up the most wins, right?” he chuckles, already bending to snatch up a card.

“You got it, big guy,” I grin, relieved he was playing along.

We dive into it, scrambling around the tiny mess hall like kids. I crawl under the table, reaching for a stray ace, and when I pop back up, I get an eyeful of Garoth stretching to grab a card from a high shelf.

Holy hell. The way his shirt rides up, revealing a strip of green skin and rock-hard abs... I nearly swallow my tongue.

“See something you like?” he teases, catching me staring.

I feel my face heat up. “Just admiring your... card-collecting technique,” I stammer.

We meet in the middle of the room, both clutching handfuls of cards. But as I reach out to compare our piles, Garoth’s body brushes against mine.

Electricity zings through me, and suddenly I can’t breathe.

“Lila,” he murmurs, my name sounding like a caress.

I look up at him, drowning in those fiery eyes. He’s so close that the heat radiating off his skin, smell the faint scent of ozone, and something uniquely him. My heart pounds so hard I’m sure he can hear it.

“Garoth,” I whisper back, not even sure what I’m asking for. His closeness is intoxicating, making my head spin and my knees weak.

The tension between us is a living thing, crackling with potential. His gaze drops to my lips, and I swear the temperature in the room shoots up ten degrees.

Just kiss me already, I think desperately. But before either of us can move, a shrill alarm blares through the ship.

We jump apart like we’ve been shocked. Garoth is gone in an instant, his warrior instincts kicking in as he races to the cockpit.

“False alarm,” he says comes over the intercom a moment later. “Just a small asteroid.”

I slump into a chair, my legs suddenly too wobbly to hold me up. What the hell am I doing? Lusting after an orc isn’t exactly in the diplomat’s handbook.

But as I sit there, trying to calm my racing heart, I can’t deny the truth anymore. I want Garoth. Not just physically, but all of him — his strength, his unexpected gentleness, the way he makes me feel safe even as he sets me on fire.

It’s crazy. It’s probably a terrible idea. But as I think about the way he’d looked at me, like I was the most fascinating thing in the universe, I realize I don’t care.

I’m falling for Garoth, hard and fast.