Page 23 of My Orc Billionaire
Deep in my chest, my heart clenched at the sound.
The internet was a wealth of information, but I found myself overwhelmed at the thought of parsing through it all. Riven didn’t need articles from teen websites or advertisements for—what is this? Some kind of silicone cup?
Shaking my head, I closed the browser and pulled up my contacts. Before I even really understood what I was doing, I’d punched in Tarkhan’s name.
He answered on the second ring. “Abydos? What’s wrong?”
I stood there in the center of Riven’s sitting room, hating this feeling of helplessness…and I realized why I calledTarkhaninstead of one of my brothers. Tark’s Mate was Riven’s cousin, I remembered that from her background check.Shewould know.
So I swallowed down my discomfort. “I need to speak to your Mate.”
“Sami?” I could hear my friend’s surprise. “Why?”
Did I have time to explain? “Now, Tark.” I paused, then took a deep breath. “Please.”
I heard Tarkhan exhale a quiet, “Shit,it’s bad enough for aplease?” Then, “Yeah, hold on a second. Sweetheart, Abydos wants to talk to you.”
“Me?” I heard her ask from a distance, her voice approaching the phone. “What is it?” She didn’t wait for an answer—which is good because her Mate couldn’t help her—before she was on the other end. “Hi, Abydos! It’s Sami.”
And I was speaking to a human.
The bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed the sour taste, willing myKteerto calm. My claws dug into my chest through my button-down shirt, and I realized this response had more to do with the powerlessness of seeing Riven in pain.
Because Sami wasn’t just a human, she was a humanfemale. My best friend’s Mate. He’d chosen her, just as my brothers had each chosen human Mates, and in this moment, I had to trust her.
“Abydos?” she prompted. “What’s up?”
I forced my throat to work. “Riven is ill.”
“Oh my God.” I heard the rustle as she moved suddenly. “What’s wrong? Riven’s sick,” she said, further from the phone, as if she’d pulled it away to speak to Tarkhan.
“She’s menstruating,” I barked. “She said the cramps are bad this month. She’s in pain.”
“She’s…oh. No, no, it’s okay.” Sami must have said that to Tarkhan. “Look, I’m putting you on speaker.” A rustle, then: “Okay, yeah. Besides a predisposition to breast cancer, the ladies in my familysometimes get wicked cramps right at the beginning of our periods.”
I heard Tarkhan rumble something in the background, but in that moment, all I could focus on was that Sami knew what was happening. She couldhelp.
“How do I make it better?” I barked.
A pause, then Sami spoke hesitantly. “You want to…make Riven feel better?”
“She’s in pain, gods-dammit. She said she took medication?—”
“Yeah, that’ll take a bit to kick in. Um…” I could imagine Sami exchanging looks with Tark. “Heat and pressure feel good on my lower back. Chocolate is always good. Something greasy and cheesy for dinner.”
I glanced out the window at the now-purple sky. Normally I’d be sitting down to dinner now, but I wasn’t going to eat the leftovers Riven made, and I wasn’t going to make her eat them either.
“Abydos?” Tarkhan’s voice was believably confident. “She wants a snuggle. Trust me on this. Go pick her up and cuddle with her, massage her lower back, let her cry.”
“I don’t cry,” exclaimed Sami. “Except sometimes.” When Tark chuckled, I heard her smack his shoulder. “Okay, Irarelycry. Abydos, I’ll order you a couple of pizzas from Pastabilities. Riven likes extra cheese, can I assume you’re a meat lover?”
Dazedly, I heard myself mutter, “Yeah,” because I was still stuck on Tark’s directions.Cuddleher? “You’re sure about the…?”
“Snuggling?” my friend clarified. “Yep. That’s what Sami wants at that time, and I’ll bet it’ll make Riven feel good too.”
“I’ll have the delivery driver pick up some chocolate too, if you don’t have any,” Sami cut in, and I felt myself relaxing just slightly.
Pizza and chocolate and… I swallowed.Cuddling.
