Page 68 of The Alien's Little Sister

“What else of mine have you hocked?” I ask, snagging the handle from her and thunking the broken bag to the floor. I find the latch which isn’t a zipper or velcro, but some kind of alien fastener. It splits open when I run my finger over it, trying to figure it out.

When the overstuffed sides slam open, I find a couple pairs of my boxers, which had mysteriously gone missing. We’ve been having so much sex I’d just figured they’d gotten flung under the couch or something, and I hadn’t tried too hard to find them. After all, I had plenty in my drawer.

Turns out, I have plenty in here too. The clothes still contained in her bag, hers and mine, are wadded up strangely. And when I reach in, I find it’s because our clothes are wrapped around coffee mugs. Likea lotof coffee mugs.

I slow blink at the crazy woman I’m madly in love with. “Geezus H. Pete, did you clean out thecupboard?”I ask.

“I took them from the sink,” she admits. “Before they could be washed, because I wanted to keep the touch of your lips on them intact.”

“Awww,” the woman named Callie says, standing off to the side of us. She’s holding her son, and her mate stands at her back, his thickly muscled arms cradling both her and his son. And I gotta say this about Inara’s family: they know how to treat women.

I like it a lot.

I catch Inara by her nape and pull her close, giving us as much privacy as we can have in my overfull apartment. “Woman…”

“Are you mad?” she whispers, eyes worried.

“No,” I tell her, planting a kiss on her lips. “I love you even if you’re crazy.”

She smiles at me. “Is it because of that thing I can do with my tongue?”

“That goes a long way,” I agree, enjoying the naughty private smile that stretches her lips.

Tahmoh, on the floor with his wife and baby perched in his lap, groans, sounding ill.“Stop.”He thunks his head lightly against his woman’s back, making her smile and twist to pat him sympathetically. His head still against her, he asks, “Are we reaching the end of packing your things?”

I pull back from his sister, although I keep my hand around the back of her neck. “I’m about done.” I look to Inara. “You want to smuggle anything else?”

“Yes,” she says. “But I can’t fit it all.”

I shake my head at her. “Sweethearts, you’re a nut.”

“But I’m yours,” she returns, sending me a flirty, proud look that, if we were alone, would have her bent over the couch with me on top of her.

But we’re not alone. My mom orders the camera guy’s group, “You three come over here and grab some food.”

The man immediately gets to his feet, looking back almost helplessly at his companions as he starts dutifully marching for my kitchen island, where my mom has a huge spread of food.

“Poor Jonoh,” the girl in the headset laments, quickly rising up to follow him with a grimacing sort of smile.

Jonoh. Jonoh...

I snap my fingers, making all the alien ears in the room shoot straight up, except for Zadeon’s. He looks around at the others and then back at me.

I point to the camera guy. “IknewI’d fuckin’—”

“MATTHEW,” my mother calls sharply enough to make me flinch.

“Sorry, Ma—freaking seen you three before,” I finish. “It was the craft store.” I look to the women with him, who have moved to stand between him and me like he needs their protection, even though he towers over them both by a good foot and a half. “You two were being all weird when you left this guy and went into the bathroom. What was that about?” I turn to Inara. “And why were you getting mad at him earlier?”

“That’s a hob,” she says to me. “The same one I scented when we were craft shopping.”

“He’s an alien?” I ask. Then my head tilts. “The cape and your trench coat.” My gaze flits to his face. Helookshuman. He also looks guilty, and he shoots an apologetic glance at Inara. “I’m so sorry,” he tells her.

My eyes are slits.“Why?And what’s with the long coat fetish?” I slide my gaze to Inara. “What’s he hiding, and what’s he done to you?”

“Wings,” she says. “His species has wings. And I suspect he’s the one who alerted my brothers of my whereabouts. Did you, Jonoh?” she asks. “Please tell me.”

The woman in the headset hisses at her like Inara shouldn’t have asked.

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