Chapter 6

Rhokar

Forty-seven minutes.

The workday started forty-seven minutes ago, and I've been surreptitiously watching Ella through my office windows, trying to ignore her sweet scent curling its way through every crack in my door and into my lungs. For forty-seven minutes.

I feel my bottom lip twitch in irritation against my tusks, and I drag my eyes from her to stare at the same page on my screen that I've been re-reading for forty-seven god-cursed minutes.

With a jerk I stand suddenly from my desk and stride out, finding myself moving silently to stand behind Ella.

To check on her work, I tell myself firmly. Obviously, to check on her work. Got to make sure she's as good as she claims.

She has blueprints and plans spread over the table before her, and a spreadsheet on her screen that she intermittently types into before turning back to the papers. Her dark hair is pulled into a low bun today, and I find my eyes drifting down to trace over the graceful curve of her neck.

"Jeez!" she exclaims suddenly as she swivels on her chair and catches sight of me, her hand shooting up to press against her generous chest in surprise. "What are you doing!"

"I could ask you the same," I say with a glower and a pointed look at her screen, as if I was spying on her work and not eyeing her throat.

Her eyes narrow and she takes a moment before responding tightly. "I'm doing my job."

I stare her down silently, and she lifts her chin.

"I'm reviewing—"

"You didn't think to get caught up on the project yesterday? You had all day."

"Yesterday, I was—" She cuts herself off, takes a breath, and settles her hands demurely in her lap before speaking again with more calm. "I was with Leona, touring the office and learning how things function here. Then we visited the work site so I could get a scope of things there and see what I was working with. It took some time for me to get acquainted with everything, and to organize my workspace both here and at the portables on site."

"So you did nothing," I say with a disappointed sigh, finding a strange thrill in the way her eyes light with fire at my response. "Is this what I can expect when I'm not around to keep an eye on things?"

Her lips purse and she doesn't respond, and I fold my hands behind my back and look out across the office, only to have every single one of my employees' eyes immediately dart away from us and back to their screens.

My irritation flares, and I snort.

"And today?" I ask Ella, who seems to be fighting with herself to remain calm. At least I'm not the only one affected by our interactions.

"I've got this under control, sir, " she says instead of answering me, and a frisson of electricity shoots down my spine, straight to my cock.

"Don't call me that," I snap, curling my fists in an effort to reign in my control.

"Mr. Strongarm," she amends without inflection, and my fingers loosen. Somehow, her deadened tone upsets me. She shouldn't be saying any part of my name without emotion. It feels wrong.

But then a whispered memory slides through my mind of her moaning "Rho," in ecstasy against my ear, clutching desperately at my back as I drove myself into her, and I clench my fists once more and throw the thought violently away.

Enough of that.

"Today , Miss Davis," I growl in warning. "What will you be doing."

She stands suddenly to face me, eyes bright with anger, and despite her head barely reaching my collarbone she doesn't show an ounce of fear. "I'm fully qualified for this job, you don't need to micromanage me."

"I'm your boss." Her sweet scent buries deeper into me, and I huff it away. "Answer my question."

She takes a sharp, angry breath, her eyes continuing to blaze as she stares me down. The urge to wrap my fingers over her bun and tug, to expose her throat to me, hits me with an almost overwhelming intensity.

I scowl harder. "If you don't—"

"I'll be heading to the site to meet with the contractor at eleven."

I grunt. "I'll drive."

"Fine."

"Good. Be ready on time."

" I will be. "

***

It occurs to me that I might be petty.

Ella has been chatting with Gyklos, the burly cyclops contractor who heads the excavation and site prep team before our own builders come through. So far, the meeting has gone well. Ella is irritatingly confident, knowledgeable, and seemingly has everything under control.

I don't see why this should anger me, but it does, and I bounce my knee as I sit and watch the two.

"When is site clearing due to begin?"

"Next week," Gyklos responds to her question with his deep, heavy voice. "Workers are ready, just waitin' on a final permit. Supposed to have been cleared by now, but…" He shrugs his huge shoulders in a lumbering gesture, before turning his eye towards me. "Still havin' trouble with those flouncy Environmental Quality elves. Keep mutterin' about the Boise Park waterways gettin' impacted."

I've been sitting to the side this entire meeting, and the fact that I haven't needed to step in once so far has me feeling twitchy. I open my mouth to reply, but with a quick glance my way Ella immediately steps in to respond, and I snap my mouth shut and bounce my knee harder.

"From what I've seen in the topographic maps," she says without missing a beat, "there aren't any main river paths near us, just a few minor brooks and streams."

"Yeah, well…" Gyklos shrugs his huge shoulders again.

"I'll call and see what the issue is. Continue preparations to start on Monday week, I'll get it sorted."

Petty, I'm definitely petty. I realize I wanted her to struggle to catch up, to need me. To prove that she couldn't do it all on her own. To see her thrown off balance, like I've been since she walked back into my life.

Instead, I'm reluctantly impressed as she takes everything in her stride. Impressed and annoyed—although at her or myself, I'm not sure.

When my phone buzzes in my pocket, I snatch up the opportunity to leave and stride out of the portable construction that's now her second office, taking a deep breath of fresh pine air.

"Olistaire," I grunt into the phone.

"Rhokar," he responds in a mimic of my tone, and I roll my eyes.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to hear your sweet, dulcet tone. I missed you, Rhorho,"

I let out a gusty sigh, my annoyance blasting even higher, and begin to walk.

Olistaire snickers and speaks again. "I swung by the office to see if you wanted to go to lunch. Imagine my surprise to discover you gone."

"Don't you ever work?"

"That's what my staff are for. So, are you coming?"

"Can't. Ella—" I press my lips together and clear my throat, before continuing forcefully, "Miss Davis

and I are meeting with Gyklos."

"Sounds romantic."

"Can I help you with something, Olistaire? Or is your sole goal in life to irritate me senseless?"

"Why don't you let Ella , " he says her name smugly, clearly teasing my slip up, "finish with the cyclops on her own? Or is she as horribly untrustworthy as you feared?"

"No," I say reluctantly. "She's… She's good. At her job." I clear my throat again and scowl, and my feet pick up their pace. "Even if she is irritating."

"Ah, you see? She's a trustworthy professional. You can stop worrying, let go of the past, and ask her out on a date already."

"Goodbye," I snap, hanging up to the sound of his amused laughter as I continue my loop around the grounds.

Why can't I find a single moment of calm anymore?

I run a hand down my face as I walk. I've felt tense for the last two days, my nerves strung tighter than usual, and it bothers me—it bothers me that I'm so affected.

I told myself never again. That I would never again let a female come between me and my peace, and yet here I am, decidedly unpeaceful.

All I did was spend a night with Ella. A fantastic night, one I hadn't wanted to end. But the fact of the matter is that she didn't want a repeat, and that's that. So why should my chest still tighten at the scent of her?

Why should I be dreaming about her, remembering the feel of her soft skin against my fingertips, her body pliant and willing beneath mine? Why should I want so much for her bright blue eyes to meet mine heated with something more than just anger? Even now my cock stirs as I remember the breathy sounds she made, the way her face melted with desire and her eyes rolled in pleasure as I made her come again, and again, and again…

She was sensual, she was willing and eager, and she was…she was affectionate, that night. I'd craved that, more than I'd realized. And I'd thought I'd felt a connection. I'd wanted her with such intensity, it had made me question the routine, complacent sort of happiness I'd had with Morgatha all those years prior.

But ultimately…

I stop walking, shoving a hand over my eyes and squeezing at my temples before letting out another aggravated breath.

Ultimately, it's been much too long since I've orgasmed with something other than my own fist, and it's muddling my senses. Orcs aren't supposed to go this long with only one night of passion to tide us over. We're carnal creatures, we revel in the physical, and I've been pushing against my body's base needs for too long.

As my feet pick up beneath me once more and I make my way back towards the portable office across the clearing, I make the conscious decision to try and keep away from Ella and move on from this whole thing.

After all, she's good for business, even if she's no good for me.