Chapter 5 #2
Leaning over her, I applied more pressure, realizing my hand was spread across her shoulders. “Riven, you’re bleeding.”
It wasn’t a question, and she’d better not lie to me and deny it.
She didn’t.
Instead, she laughed. At least, I think that’s what her little snort was supposed to be, right before she muttered, “No shit, Sherlock,” and I reared back, frowning.
I recognized the Sherlock reference, but not what it meant.
So I hesitated a moment. “Are you…What’s wrong, Riven?”
Her breath whooshed out of her, and she began to flop around on the bed. “Do you realize—” she began, and I realized she was trying to roll over, but was tangled in the blankets and my hand. “That’s the first time you’ve called me by my name?”
When I moved my hand—and I was surprised how reluctant that motion was—she flopped all the way over to her back. In the dim light I could see her brows and mouth pinched in pain.
“That’s not true,” I defended myself, more confused than indignant. Surely I’d called her by her name before? Yes, there was that time in the kitchen…
She huffed and reached for a pillow. “I’m in pain. Allow me my delusions.” She slapped the pillow over her face, so her next words came out muffled. “I’m sorry I can’t cook for you, Abydos. I made sweet potato pie with pecan crumble last night, but I know you don’t like leftovers, so I’ll order—”
“Fuck the leftovers!” I growled, bending back over her. My hand hovered, wanting to touch her, but not sure where. “You’re hurt. How can I help?”
One corner of the pillow lifted, and I could feel her peeking up at me. “You want to help?”
“Riven, you’re currently bleeding out on my mattress.”
“Your mattress—”
“Fuck the mattress!” My roar startled her, but I couldn’t quell my panic, couldn’t ignore the frantic beating of my Kteer. “You’re dying!”
No, not my Kteer. My heart was the one pounding against my ribcage.
“You’re doing a lot of fucking around here,” she mumbled, dropping the pillow back over her face. “I’m not dying, Abydos. I’m…” Her words ended in a muffled groan, although this one sounded more like embarrassment. “Nevermind.”
With this, she wrapped her arms around her middle and rolled back over to her side, taking the blankets with her.
And I knelt there, feeling completely useless.
She’s not dying.
“Riven,” I whispered, and allowed my hand to drop to her back. “How can I help?”
“Go away,” she moaned.
Unconsciously, I began to rub her upper back, and she moaned again. Was it my imagination, or did she press back against my touch?
The thought that I was maybe helping her in some way? It made me…proud.
“Riven.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she groaned, burrowing her head deeper into the pillow. “I just started my period. Cramps aren’t usually this bad, but sometimes…” Another moan, and she arched just slightly into my touch. “Waiting for the pain meds to kick in. I’ll be fine—”
Her assurance broke off suddenly, and I could feel her panting beneath my palm as my brain scrambled to keep up.
Her period. Menstruation. That’s the blood I was smelling.
Females of my species experienced something similar, but it had been over a decade since I’d been around one of them, and Riven was the first human female I’d interacted with since the science facility.
I could be forgiven for forgetting about this quirk of biology, but not for my current feeling of helplessness.
This was unacceptable. Riven was in pain, and she thought I would do nothing about it?
Fuck that.
Abruptly, I pushed myself to my feet and turned to stalk from the room. I pulled my phone from my pocket, and as I shut the door to her room behind me, I heard what sounded like a little sob.
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 called Tarkhan instead of one of my brothers. Tark’s Mate was Riven’s cousin, I remembered that from her background check. She would 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 a please?” 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 my Kteer to 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 human female. 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 family sometimes 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 could help.
“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, I rarely cry. 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. Cuddle her? “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.
Why did I not hate the thought of that? Riven was a human, yes, but…strangely, my Kteer was oddly exuberant about the thought of holding her.
Huh.
“Good luck, Abby,” my best friend chirped cheerfully.
And since it was expected, I growled, “Don’t call me that.” I went to punch the end button but paused at the last second. “Sami?” I took a deep breath, surprised the words didn’t stick in my throat. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Abydos,” she said softly, and although I’d never met her, I wondered if her smile looked like Riven’s. “I’m glad I could help.”
She was the one to hang up—to order the promised pizza?—and I stood there in the growing darkness, staring at my phone.
Humans can be full of hatred and violence… But not all of us are like that.
Riven had said that to me that first day, stood up to me when I was angry enough to roar. And I was beginning to suspect she was right.
I’d been desperate when I’d turned to my best friend’s Mate, and Sami hadn’t hesitated to help. Not just her cousin, but me. She said she’d been glad to help.
Maybe I ought to make an effort to meet her, meet the other human females my brothers had chosen.
Later.
Right. Because tonight, Riven was in pain.
I swear to you that when I turned back to her bedroom, I wasn’t really thinking. I was just moving on instinct, which felt strange—as if something else was controlling me—but also right.
“Riven? Are you still in pain?”
There was a little sniff from the dark bed. “I thought you left.”
Right, because she’d told me to go away. “I don’t take orders well.”
The noise she made might’ve been a huff of laughter. By then I was looming over her, and I could see her squinting up at me.
“We’re having pizza for dinner,” I announced. “You’re getting extra cheese, because it’s your favorite, and I’ll order you some chocolate too.”
I watched her expression go from confused to incredulous as she slowly pushed herself up. “Pizza? I didn’t make—”
“I do occasionally eat take out. Can I touch you?”
“What? I mean—” Her hand shook as she tucked hair behind her ear. “Why? We’ve touched before, yeah?”
She had to be getting a crick in her neck from staring up at me, but I didn’t want to move away. Didn’t want to move away from her.
“Tarkhan said that while you wait for the pain meds to kick in, you would appreciate being held.” I wasn’t going to say the word snuggling. “I’m here, you’re in pain, it seems like a simple solution.”
Her mouth opened.
Her mouth closed.
It wasn’t a ringing endorsement, but it wasn’t a no. I bent down, slid one arm around her back, then the other under her legs, carefully listening for any sound of objection. There was none, and then I was standing with her held awkwardly and stiff in my arms.
I couldn’t sit on the bed, that would send the wrong message. I wasn’t trying to seduce my little human, I was just trying to make her feel better. So I turned and strode for the sitting room again.
When I sank down onto the sofa, she moaned a little. Her brow was pinched in pain again, her eyes closed, her breathing too fast. Was this from the cramps or from the awkwardness?
Well, either way, perhaps I could help.
I adjusted her so her legs were thrown over my thighs, and pressed her head against my shoulder. From this angle I could easily rub her lower back, and I did, my large fingers pressing against her skin in rhythmic circles.
This time, her moan sounded almost blissful, and my Kteer preened at the realization I’d made her feel good. What noises would she make when I claimed her? When my mouth was on her—
What in the ever-loving fuck?
My hand stilled, and I shifted her away from my growing erection.
This was my chef. A human who happened to work for me. My employee. I wasn’t going to claim her, bed her, or otherwise bring her pleasure. I wasn’t going to touch her because she was a human.
Except…
You’re touching her now.
Yeah, I was. And my cock was happy about it.
I resumed my massage, and she whimpered again and pressed closer. No, she snuggled closer, her breath warm against the ruined skin on the left side of my neck. She was pressed against my scars, and she didn’t seem to mind.
She never had.
Even that first day, she hadn’t shied away from my scars. She’d told me she had scars too. She hadn’t been afraid of me, like the other humans were.
Whose fault is that?
Yeah, fine. But still, her not being afraid of me didn’t mean I was going to fuck her. That had to be the least-ringing endorsement ever. She was my employee and had shown no interest in me otherwise.
But here and now?
My Kteer was purring, knowing that I was helping her. I was making her feel better, the way she did for me, each time she prepared my coffee or bought me that fancy smoked cheddar or made me a cardamom persimmon chocolate tart just because I’d liked them so much the first time.
When my fingers dug into her tight muscles, I felt her exhaling against my skin, felt her snuggling closer. And that made me feel good. Proud.
Better than I’d ever felt outside of my cock getting involved, frankly.
I thought maybe she’d fallen asleep as she relaxed against me, but there, in the stillness, Riven murmured, “Abydos?”
So I grunted a cautious, “Yeah?” in return.
I felt her lips curl slightly. “Thank you.”
When I turned my head, my face—my lips, my nose—were too close to her hair. I could smell the blood on her, but also…Riven. My little human had been in my home for weeks now, and I knew her scent. Knew her presence.
And I didn’t just not mind it. Her.
I was growing used to her. I wanted to take care of her. So I hummed and shifted her further away from my cock.
“You’re welcome,” I said. And I meant it.