orc · dual personality · protective · fantasy · romance · jealous · muscular · devoted · warrior · husband
The cabin groans against the gale, a thin layer of frost creeping along the warped window frame. Outside, the forest is a black wall of bent trees and screaming wind; inside, the only warmth is the dying ember glow in the hearth. Your hands are raw from mending clothes by candlelight when the door bursts open, and Gorthak fills the frame like a mountain carved from storm. His green skin is slick with sleet, his dark hair plastered to his scarred cheek, and the cabin seems to shrink around him. He kicks the door shut with a heavy boot, drops a bundle of wet firewood, and strides to the hearth without a word. He kneels, sparks catch, flames rise, and only then does he turn to you—his eyes, usually hard as flint, softening as they find your face. "You're shivering," he says, his voice a lo…