Page 4 of My Orc Pen Pal

“Fuck,” I muttered and began to pace.

“You look fine,” Aswan said without looking over at me. “Everything’s clean, your shirt is buttoned properly, and you brushed your hair afteryourshower. What do youneed in there?”

I resisted the urge to flush and stammer out an excuse. I was the youngest of the four of us, but not by much, and Aswan fussed over all of us. So I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jeans and grumbled, “Condoms.”

At that response, clearly unexpected, the other male placed down the large wooden spoon he’d been holding in his thick green fingers, and turned to give me his whole attention. “Confident, are we? This is your first date with Rosemary.”

I scowled, becauseyeah, maybe it was, but then again, I’ve known her—her, the realher—for months. So I turned away and mumbled something about being prepared.

After a moment, Aswan offered, “There’s some under the sink in our bathroom. You’d better use them before they expire.”

Did condoms expire? I didn’t know. To be fair, before coming to the human world, I hadn’tdreamedof anything like them, much less why I’d want to sheath my cock before claiming a female, but Tarkhan and his exploits—his many, many exploits—had been an education in itself.

Apparently, humans could pass diseases to one another through their pussies! Who knew!

But that wasn’t why I needed these tonight…

I was tucking a second one into my wallet as I came out of the house’s main bedroom, and thus didn’t realize Aswan hadn’t gone back to his cooking.

“You know, there’s no risk of pregnancy with a human female unless you’re Mated.” His words were casual, asif he was trying to teach me something without being obvious about it.

So I lifted one brow in challenge and met his eyes. “I know.”

Both of his dark eyes widened. “She’s the one? This Rosemary you’ve been talking about for months? The reason we had to move here?”

I hid my wince as I turned away from the kitchen, stepping in front of the mirror always-vain Tarkhan had hung in the living room—to reflect sunlight, he claimed. I pulled my hair over one shoulder and began to braid it, hoping Aswan would take the hint.

When Sakkara had reached out to us and offered us a place on Eastshore Isle, the haven he was building here on the East Coast, the four of us were initially hesitant. After all, we’d built a home for ourselves in Bramblewood, and the thought of leaving was difficult.

Of course, Tarkhan was always up for an adventure, although I suspected he’d votedyesmerely because he’d run out of females to date in the small mountain town. We hadn’t expected Abydos to agree to the move, mainly because he didn’t have anything good to say about humans, but he had, for his own reasons.

Aswan had the most difficult choice. He’d built a place for himself as the executive chef at one of the town’s most successful restaurants. Of course he wanted to stay in Bramblewood Bluff.

And me?

I was happy in Bramblewood. Happy enough, at least. I had a remote job with a good company, my friends, andRosemary’s emails to look forward to. I’d been interested to hear her insights into the pros and cons of such a move.

But as soon as I’d heardshe livedon Eastshore, every other consideration ceased to matter.

I’d voted yes to the move and gone out and sold my house right away. As much as it would have pained me, I would have moved to Eastshore without the others, just for her. But it turned out, I didn’t need to because they’d all agreed it was time to be with our own kind once more.

Our brothers.

And now that we were here? Well, it wasn’t quite the transition we were expecting. For one thing, it turned out that temporary housing—rentals—were rare on Eastshore, which is why we were all?—

“We havegotto find a bigger house!” announced Tarkhan as he slammed the bathroom door open, the steam wafting through the space and mixing with the scent of the pasta sauce on the stove. “Or I’m going to find my own place.”

“Please do,” I heard Aswan mutter from the kitchen as I turned around.

And promptly wished I didn’t.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Tarkhan.” I surged back, jerking my palm up to block my view of him.Allof him. “Did you run out of towels?”

My cousin planted his hands on his hips and smiled toothily, his tusks becoming more prominent. “Anddeprive you of this glorious sight? I would never be so cruel.”

I switched my gaze to the ceiling. Much better. “Thanks for thinking of us, but I’d rather you turn around.”

Nodding solemnly, Tarkhan did as I requested, but didn’t move further. “More of an ass man?” he deadpanned, glancing at me over his shoulder. “I understand. I’ve been told I have averyalluring butt.”

---