Page 40 of My Orc Billionaire
And I realized I wantedallof that.
I’d thought peace would be enough.
But seeing my brothers with their Mates and families, feeling the way myKteerpurred in satisfaction…was it possible Ididwant something like this?
Not just peace, but…a Mate? A family? Someplace to belong…
Chapter Nine
Riven
I wavedgoodbye to my mother and Sami, who had dropped me off under the portico, then let myself into the grand house through the front door. Usually I entered through the garage, and it felt strange to step into this mansion’s foyer, as if I were someone special.
Resisting the urge to callHellooooo,I giggled to myself as I locked the door behind me and shrugged out of my light jacket. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that last spiked cider, but it had feltgoodto let myself go, especially after the nerve-wracking last few days as I’d tiptoed around Abydos.
Abydos. I wondered if he was home. Before I’d even crossed the foyer, I knew the answer. The house just feltrightwith him here, which was strange.
What I didn’t expect, though, was to find him sitting in the den, staring at me through the archway.
The lights had been dimmed, and I could see the stars through the picture windows that lined the wall behind him. He was sitting on the couch with one leg thrown across the other, one hand holding a glass on his knee. Watching me.
“Happy Halloween!” I blurted, then winced at my gawkiness and clutched my jacket to me.
He said nothing, didn’t move.
A little concerned now, I crept closer. “Abydos? Did you have a good time at the festival?” I’d seen him there. “I was really glad you went.”
Now he hummed and lifted the glass to his mouth, and I recognized the floral scent of the cheap penguin wine I’d been drinking that night in the kitchen. My brows rose as I stumbled toward him.
“Are you okay? You looked like you were enjoying yourself on Main Street.”
He lowered the glass. “You saw me?”
Was that an accusation? Was he angry?
Thinking only to reassure him, I sank down on the couch beside him, trying to share my enthusiasm. “I did—wedid—but I didn’t know what the protocol was. I mean, you’re my boss, and your family was trick-or-treating, and I was withmyfamily, and Tarkhan was distracted by a few spiked ciders?—”
“I know Tark.” Abydos’s words seemed to come from the darkness, even though he was sitting right beside me. “It would take at least a dozen spiked ciders to get him drunk.”
I grinned. “Yes, fine, we were single-handedly keeping Meli’s Bake Shoppe in business. Mom was helping to run the games the church was sponsoring to raise money for the women’s shelter, so we spent most of our time there. I found out my sister Brooke is coming for Christmas, so we both went into planning mode. I didn’t want to butt in on your time with your family?—”
I stopped talking when his free hand moved to cover mine on the couch. Infact, I stopped talking so quickly I made a little sort of choking noise.
A moment passed, and then Abydos said, “I would have liked to have met your mother.”
“Really?” The word was wrenched from me before I could help myself. “I mean, um. She’s a human.”
“Is she? Huh.” I saw a flash of teeth. “I met plenty of humans tonight. I was civil to all of them.”
I felt myself grinning slightly. “You mean you didn’t scare the piss out of any of them?”
“You’renot scared of me.”
Since he seemed to be asking, I twisted my hand so our palms were touching, and I slowly eased my fingers between his. “No, I’m not,” I whispered, remembering that kiss—morethan that kiss. “And none of the humans in Eastshore tried to hurt you, did they?”
His fingers tightened around mine. “Not all humans are like that, Riven. Haven’t you heard?”
Since those weremywords, I began to giggle. Or maybe it was the ciders. Or maybe because it was easier to feel this intimacy here in the darkness. Whatever it was, my giggles turned to snorts as I tried to muffle them, then he made a little noise with his tongue, a little noise of surrender, and tugged on my hand.
