Grumpy Pucking Orc (Orcs on Ice Book 1), page 19
The Ozar and Judy meeting did not go as well as I’d hoped. During the short walk back to my house I’d made small talk while silently fretting that my weirdo cat would not react well to my orc boyfriend. Judy judged, and she sometimes judged harshly. It had taken Abby and Willa over a month to win her over and she still glared and occasionally hissed at them the first five minutes they entered my house. My cat had never been a fan of men, and I had a horrible premonition about how she’d react to a seven-foot-tall orc walking into my home.
My little black-and-white tuxedo cat had raced toward me the moment I’d opened the door, then screeched to a halt, arched her back, and hissed as soon as she’d seen Ozar.
“This is my cat, Judy. She’ll follow you around, glaring and hissing at you because she rules this house and humans live to serve her.”
Ozar tilted his head as he regarded the cat, clearly not understanding my humor.
“Most humans are very attached to their pets,” I explained as I picked up the still-upset Judy. “People who love cats love them, eccentricities and all. They are independent animals. Some are aloof, others are varying degrees of affectionate creatures. Their amazing speed, agility, and hunting ability make them a fun companion that doesn’t require the level of attention and care that other animals like dogs do.”
“Judy is a hunter?” He sounded awed by that fact. “But she is so small.”
I motioned for him to follow me as I carried Judy into the kitchen, petting the cat to reassure her that Ozar was no threat. “Cats mostly hunt birds, small rodents, and bugs. They were initially domesticated to kill vermin in human settlements, homes, and buildings. Mice and rats can carry diseases that spread to humans, so having cats not only protected our food from being eaten but reduced the risk of their owners catching those diseases.”
“It is incredible that humans have developed a relationship with such an animal.”
He reached out toward Judy, who flattened her ears and batted him with her paw. She hadn’t unsheathed her claws, so I was hoping that was a sign she didn’t hate Ozar as much as she hated the rest of my visitors.
I put the cat down and she backed away, her fur puffed out and her eyes fixed on the orc.
“Your best bet is to respect her space and just ignore her,” I advised as I pulled a bottle of merlot from the wine rack. “In time, she’ll learn to tolerate your presence.”
We settled on the sofa with glasses of wine and talked about his campaigns in protecting his clan back home. I told him about my more challenging dentistry cases and my ideas about serving our supernatural community. The whole time Judy sat on the coffee table in front of us, her tail twitching, and her narrowed gaze fixed on the orc. It made our little make-out session a little weird, so when Ozar began to unhook my bra, I stopped him.
“Upstairs,” I ordered in a breathless voice.
We climbed the steps, pausing on the way up to kiss and discard bits of clothing while Judy stalked behind us. The cat ducked between our legs as we crossed the threshold into my bedroom. I broke off mid-kiss with my bra hanging off one elbow and my pants sliding down my hips to grab Judy and evict her. The cat stared at me with huge, incredulous eyes as I closed the door in her face and went back to the orc.
I loved my cat, but there were some things she didn’t need to be watching. And Ozar tossing me on the bed and yanking my underwear low enough to fit his face between my thighs was one of those things.
Iawoke at five a.m. as was typical, but this morning I stretched lazily, enjoying every sore muscle and feeling incredibly satisfied. If I’d been a cat, I would have purred.
Cat.
I bolted upright, realizing that I’d never let Judy into the bedroom last night. Ozar and I had made love over and over until I’d collapsed in a boneless heap, falling into a deep slumber with my head nestled against his chest. Judy always slept on my bed, and I’d learned that any variation in her schedule resulted in all sorts of little gifts distributed like landmines around my house.
Judy wasn’t the only thing missing from my bed. The spot where Ozar had been when I’d fallen into a sexually satisfied sleep was empty. I’d kinda hoped to wake up with him and maybe enjoy some sleepy, morning sex, but I tamped down my disappointment. This whole thing was new for us, and I didn’t know what he might have on his schedule today. I hadn’t slept the night at his house, so I could hardly fault him for leaving. And for all I knew, he might have kissed me goodbye and had a short conversation with me before he’d headed out. I slept like the dead, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’d mumbled something incoherently in the middle of the night and not remembered it in the morning.
Rolling out of bed, I threw on an oversized T-shirt, took care of my morning biological functions, and brushed my teeth. Whatever Judy had pooped and vomited on my floor would still be there after I’d finished my routine.
Finally, I opened the door and, being careful to look where I stepped, headed downstairs. Before I hit the landing, I heard a riot of sounds coming from my kitchen. Scrabbling of claws on the flooring. Chirping and squawking, and the trill of Judy having the time of her life. I raced down the final stairs, sure that my cat was after some bird that had managed to find its way into my house.
Sliding to a stop at the entrance to my kitchen, my mouth fell open. Ozar sat on one of the bar stools that flanked the kitchen island. He held the small mirror from my downstairs bathroom and was redirecting sunlight from it into a beam on the kitchen floor. Judy was chasing that beam of light like her very life depended on catching and killing it.
My cat still might consider Ozar a dangerous character worthy of suspicion, but right now, any anxiety on her part had been washed away by the thrill of the hunt.
“She is a truly ferocious creature.” Ozar smiled over at me. “I wish we had cats back home. I would have loved to have a companion like Judy when I was an orclet.”
My ovaries had exploded when I saw the picture of him with the kids at Patterson Park, but now it was my heart that exploded. He liked my judgy cat. He was playing with my judgy cat.
I sniffed.
And he’d made coffee.
“I have a laser pointer toy that she loves to play with,” I told him. “It shines a red dot, and she chases it all over the room. And she loves the mice toys as well. They’re made of wool and stuffed with catnip. They’re all in a basket by the back door.”
He set the mirror on the counter, much to Judy’s dismay, and poured me a mug of coffee. “I believe she was upset at being shut out of your bedroom last night. I found some….mukaw outside the door when I awoke.”
I hadn’t seen the mukaw outside my door—which I assumed translated to either puke or poop—which meant Ozar must have cleaned it up. How embarrassing that he’d awoken to that. Although he didn’t seem particularly bothered by my cat’s anxious digestive issues.
“I understand what you mean about serving the cat.” He handed me the coffee, then picked up his own, half-empty mug. “I have just met this creature, yet I already have cleaned up her mukaw, entertained her, and provided her with morning food.”
I nearly choked on my coffee. “The cat kibble? Please tell me you gave her the cat kibble from the container.”
He frowned and consulted his phone. “Uhh, there is specific food for cats? Because Judy told me she was to eat the container of shredded chicken from your refrigerator.”
Chicken wasn’t as bad as a bowl of milk or a dozen raw eggs, although I had planned to use that container for the topping of my lunch salads.
“She’ll be okay,” I reassured Ozar. “Judy has a sensitive stomach, so you can’t rely on her opinion of what’s good for her. I do give her chicken as a treat, but only after she’s had her kibble.”
He nodded. “I will remember that for next time.”
Next time. I loved that. My weirdo cat hadn’t scared him away. I hadn’t scared him away. Yet.
Walking forward, I put my mug of coffee on the counter and wedged myself between his legs. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him toward me.
“Do you have anything planned for this morning?” I asked, pressing myself against him.
“No,” he murmured before lowering his lips to mine.
I was a woman who lived by her schedule, just like my cat. I got up at the same time each morning. I ate the same breakfast. I went to the gym, then went to work. But today? Today was when I was going to deviate from that reassuring schedule.
And I was going to relish every moment of my illicit morning with Ozar. Even if it made me late to work.
Chapter 24
Jordan
Iwasn’t late to work, but it was a close call.
And it was one hundred percent worth it. Ozar and I had made love in the kitchen, then he’d cooked breakfast while I’d showered and changed. We’d eaten something that reminded me of a hash skillet, chatting about what we had planned for the day. He had a home game Friday night and told me he’d arrange for my friends and I to attend, with special tickets waiting at the on-call booth of the arena.
The Uber dropped him off in front of his apartment building, then took me to the stadium to retrieve my car. I’d texted the girls and had just enough time to grab another coffee at a drive-through before heading to the office.
Yeah. Three coffees before eight. Don’t judge me.
During my morning appointments, I couldn’t help my mind from drifting back to last night with Ozar. Under that grumpy exterior was a kind, caring, sensitive orc. While performing scaling and root planing on Mrs. Jackson, I kept thinking of Ozar and his homeland. His voice had softened when he spoke of his family and friends, of his childhood, of his mother who he’d lost at such a young age. He clearly loved it there, and it must have been difficult for him to come here in search of a better life. I wasn’t sure I could have been that brave if I’d been in his position.
Three patients later, I was taking a much-needed break when Mike walked up to my office.
“Jordan, there’s someone up front for a consult, but it’s not about her, it’s about her partner.” Mike sounded disapproving. He’d framed the word “partner” in air-quotes, so it might be that the potential client was in a same-sex relationship, or it could be that she was a supernatural. Probably the latter since I’d never known Mike to be snobby about any of our LGBTQ patients.
I’d never been able to tell shifters apart from humans by sight, and I valued confidentiality, so I’d added an optional question on my appointment form for clients to self-identify. Humans hadn’t bothered to answer the question so far, but the three shifters who’d stopped by my office yesterday had.
They’d all been excited, curious, and openly thrilled that we were potentially going to be offering services for them, even if my staff had to inform them of a three-month wait for non-emergency appointments.
I had a few minutes between appointments, so I told Mike to have someone escort the woman to my office. The woman who walked in was tall with a lanky athletic build and short sandy-blond hair. Freckles dotted her skin, and I immediately envisioned her as a Ralph Lauren model.
“I’m Jaq.” She held out her hand and gave me a shy smile before sitting in the chair across from me. “I’m a Nephilim with a werewolf pack in West Virginia, and I was told you were taking on supernatural clients?”
I nodded. “But if you’re a Nephilim, then…”
This was awkward. Nephilim were half angel and half human, and from what I’d read and what Stephanie had told me, they were incredibly powerful. They could shift into multiple forms, although most had a favorite. Some had the ability to heal others, and they had defensive and offensive fighting capabilities similar to angels. They were immortal and were revered in whatever shifter pack they chose to make their home.
“Oh, I’m here for my mate, not for me.” Her smile showed adorable dimples on her cheeks. “My mate is a vampire who had her fangs removed before she was old enough to be able to regenerate them.”
I blinked, trying to process this. “She lost her fangs?”
Jaq nodded. “I realize that technology might not be advanced enough for her to have fully functional implants, but I’d really like to gift her with ones that would at least serve a cosmetic purpose.”
That had to be one of the most romantic things I’d ever heard. But then again, my passion was teeth, so I was a little skewed in my ideas of what a romantic gift might be.
“It should be easy to mold new fangs, but I’m assuming she’d prefer for them to retract like her original fangs did?”
Jaq nodded. “Would that be possible?”
Hmm. The deep cavities where the vampire’s original fangs retracted should still be there, or hopefully easily reconstructed if there was any damage. There were muscles involved in the retraction, though, and I wasn’t sure if they’d been torn or badly injured in the removal of the original teeth.
“Do you know if her glands are intact?” Vampires had two sets of glands, the most important of which was one that rendered their “donor” numb and in a state of euphoria during feeding. The other set of glands was rarely used. It transmitted the virus that caused the vampiric mutation. Turning a human was not often done, but I assumed Jaq’s mate would like to have the option if it was possible to restore either function.
Jaq blushed. “I know that the feeding glands are intact and still connected to the cavities. I don’t know if the glands that carry the virus are though. I’m not sure if she was old enough for them to have formed.”
I nodded, making some notes. The glands to transmit the virus tended to form between one hundred and two hundred years after the human was turned. It varied quite a bit depending on the siring vampire. The very few naturally born vampires had these glands upon birth, so from Jaq’s comment, it was clear her partner was a turned rather than born vampire.
“So cosmetic fangs at a minimum. Retractable if the muscles are still functional. And glandular attachment if possible.” I chewed on the end of the pen. “Would she want to use them to feed?”
From the diagrams I’d studied, fangs had a hollow cavity that drew blood up and across an oral/nasal space before allowing it to go down the vampire’s throat. The majority of the blood consumed was still directly from mouth to throat, but this cavity allowed a vampire an enhanced sense of smell and taste during feeding that added to the experience.
Jaq’s eyes widened. “Could…is that even possible?”
I smiled at her. “It’s not impossible. All of this is going to depend on the damage done to her muscles, bone, and glandular systems, the technology available, and the surgical success. Ideally, I’d love for all of her functions to be returned, but we need to be realistic.”
“I know she’d be happy just having those gaps in her teeth filled,” Jaq admitted. “Anything else is a darned miracle. I’ve saved money. I’ll pay whatever you want to restore anything you can. And I’ll be forever in your debt. None of the other dentists have been willing to do this. When I heard you might be, I drove straight down here.”
“I’ll need to research this a bit in terms of what’s available,” I warned her. “And I’ll need to examine your partner to see if there are additional surgeries needed to prepare her for the implants. Would it spoil your surprise to bring her in for an appointment?”
Jaq beamed. “No. If you can’t make them retract, can you make them slightly longer than the usual canine teeth? She wouldn’t want them full length unless they can retract, but just a little longer would make her feel like more of a vampire, if you know what I mean.”
I completely understood. “Have the front desk schedule her for an evaluation appointment and ask them to prioritize it since she might need several surgeries and the implant fangs might involve a six- or nine-month manufacturing schedule as they’re customized. In the meantime, I’ll research what’s available. There have been surprising advances in supernatural dentistry, so I’m hopeful we may be able to restore some the original function.”
Jaq stood and extended her hand, shaking mine in a firm grip. “Thank you, Doctor Schooner. I’m thrilled to know there’s a reconstructive dentist serving the nonhuman population in the mid-Atlantic region.”
I continued my afternoon schedule buzzing with an adrenaline rush. Although my other appointments were all human patients, I’d received a shipping notification on Ozar’s specialized implants and was mentally strategizing different approaches for my new vampire client. At the end of the day, I was still high with excitement and energy. Staying a little late, I did some research in the office, then locked up and headed north to meet my friends at Abbey Burger.
Willa made us both laugh with her stories of a recent, disastrous internet dating encounter. Abby bragged about her niece’s latest field hockey win, and I told them about last night’s epic date with Ozar.
“Jesus, that guy is too good to be true,” Willa said.
Abby swatted her arm. “Don’t be a pessimist. Your internet match, Paul, might have been a loser, but there are plenty of amazing guys out there. And some of them seem to have green skin and tusks.”
Willa rolled her eyes. “Pollyanna. I’ve heard your dating and relationship stories over the last three years, and you can’t sit here and tell me that these good guys aren’t as rare as hens’ teeth.”
“I’d about given up,” I confessed. “With my track record, I was ready to spend the rest of my life as a single cat lady.”
“I think that would require more than one cat,” Abby commented.
I laughed. “I’m not sure Judy would share her domain with another cat. She barely shares it with me. But Ozar seems to have won her over. He got up early and fed her a bunch of my grilled chicken, then played a makeshift game of laser pointer using a mirror from my bathroom. She’s not snuggling up to him, but with this kind of progress, it’s only a matter of time.”
Abby raised her eyebrows and nodded. “The cat approves. That’s a good sign, especially because I know firsthand how prickly Judy is with strangers.”
