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“It’s nice to meet you all. How long have you been on the app?” Her voice was the sun piercing the foggy morning. It shot right through me, finding a spot of joy inside I didn’t know I possessed.
“We haven’t been on long. What about you? I’m sure you’ve received a lot of messages. You are stunning, Ilya.”
A blush flourished on her full cheeks, and she let out a laugh of light and brightness. “I have received some messages, but your profile caught my attention. I’ve…I’ve never met anyone like you guys before. I’m sorry if this comes off as rude, but I didn’t even know orcs existed.”
Menace grunted again; apparently that was the only thing he was going to do. Saber and I laughed and nodded. Saber answered her. “It’s okay. We don’t feature as much in romance novels. Those shifters and vampires get all the heroines. But yes, we obviously exist.”
That really made her laugh. “Those shifters do steal the genre. I love to read those, actually. Last night after seeing your profile, I searched and found some with orcs though. You’re underrepresented for sure. Still, I found myself downloading a few titles.” She paused. “Your profile has some pictures of mountains. Is that where you live?”
We explained to the female that we lived in a secluded place surrounded by mountains, but that our home was carved into one. There were windows with a view of the outside in our bedrooms but the living areas didn’t have any. She asked about creature comforts and we assured her that we didn’t live like cavemen. We had hot water and a professional kitchen, along with all the amenities. We had spent nearly three years making this place into a comfortable home, while the outside of it told another story.
“Should we talk about the rules?” she asked. “Sorry, that came out callous. I didn’t mean for it to, I just...I’d like to be clear about the expectations of me. Of this arrangement. Your profile said no romance.”
This time, Menace didn’t grunt. Though he hadn’t spoken so far, I knew he would on this subject. Saber and I would be the ones who tried to turn this into a romantic thing, where Menace would be the one to keep it business. Not cold because she wouldbe the mother of our children, but we were never going to fall in love with her.
Though, if she continued being all sunshine and sky, there might be trouble on my end keeping that up.
“We are looking for someone to be the mother to our children. No love. No romance.”
She bit down on her full bottom lip. “No romance but having children. Doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.”
Menace answered, “Trust us, female. Sex with us wouldn’t be boring or cold. Let’s put it that way.” Though we were only video chatting, the tension beneath the surface caused gooseflesh to break out along my skin. He also wasn’t wrong.
“We aren’t heartless,” I added, trying to smooth things over. “We would care for you and provide you and our children with anything that you needed or wanted. You would always be looked after and would be safe among us. Even once the children were grown, you would have a place here with us.”
She nodded. “I’ve had my heart broken once. I’m not interested in another round of that. I think that’s what drew me to your profile in the first place, other than the tusks.”
“Not the greenish skin? You disappoint me, female.” Saber and she seemed to already have candor.
“A sense of humor. Thank the gods,” she said. “How many children?”
We gave each other a look. Of all the things we had discussed, that simple one had evaded our attention. “Whatever the gods bless us with. Of course, once you feel like you are done having children, we will, of course, respect that.”
She bit that lip again. “Then, no more orc sexy time? Damn.”
That made us all laugh. Even Menace. “You aren’t turned off by us, female?”
She deadpanned. “Quite the contrary. I know that this isn’t or can’t be love, but I would have no problem having…relations with you three.”
Well, that answered that.
I had to do something to break the tension. “We’ve been speaking about ourselves the entire time. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Why are you on the app?”
She told us the story. I had to admit, I wasn’t ready for someone so young and happy, who had such light in her soul, to have such a sad story. Men hadn’t been kind to her. She had dated and had some short-term relationships but all in all, the human men she knew were disrespectful, and one even cheated on her.
“You said you are living with your friend temporarily. Why is that? Where are your parents? There are pictures of you and them on your profile.”
I knew the moment I said the words that I’d hit a nerve. She turned her gaze downward and shrugged. When she looked back up, her eyes shone with unshed tears. Shit. Now I’d done it. “I’m sorry,” I added. “I didn’t know.”
I still didn’t know the details, but clearly I’d caused her pain.
“It’s okay. They passed away very recently. I have—had worked for them since I was a teenager and I’d planned on taking over the business. But I didn’t count on my brother. I never saw it coming.”
“We’re so sorry for your loss,” Saber said.
“Losing your parents is like losing a part of your soul,” Menace spoke up. “You honor them with your tears.”
Menace had lost his parents in a war between hunters and orcs when we were teenagers. He knew the pain all too well, and that wound would never heal.
