Page 71 of The Alien's Little Sister

I give him a thin smile, my brows edging up. “Gee, thanks.”

“You are welcome.” And he didn’t miss my sarcasm. He’sgrinningat me.

It makes me feel like I’m on the road to being accepted by Inara’s family.

And that? I need that. For Inara… and for me too. Family is hugely important to me, and hers is now mine.

We exit the Boss, and Inara moves to her biggest brother, who’s waiting by the ship’s side ramp, still looking deadly as all get out even as he snuggles his toddler.

Inara shows her halfling nephew love before aiming her attention on her sibling. “Do I have permission to fly your ship home?” she asks.

He’s watching her mouth intently, reading her lips. Unlike Inara or her siblings, his ears aren’t twitching and flicking and adjusting, because as Inara told me when she pulled me aside earlier, they might as well not bother—he’s deaf. “Ah, so you do know how to ask,” he replies smoothly. “If only you’d thought to do sobeforeyou stole it the first time.”

“Well,” Inara replies, dropping her gaze, her tail squeezing my ankle to death, “I had every intention of returning it. And as your much-beloved,onlysister,” she wheedles prettily—and effectively, judging by the shockingly recognizable smile that her brother flashes before he hides it—“I believe the term in this special case is in factborrowing.”

Zadeon exhales smoke, and his mate, Callie, tucked under his arm against his side, is biting back a grin.

“Since you deigned toaskso nicely,” Zadeon tells his sister, really emphasizing the ask word with a smile that bares his huge, sharp teeth, “you can borrow it once more to make the trip home in privacy with your new mate. Creator knows, the seven of us are liable to beat him simply out of instinct if we see him touching you.”

I tip my head. “Yeah, my sisters are missing out on this.” I send Inara a reassuring shrug. “Don’t worry. I’ve so got this coming.”

Inara grabs her brother’s lapels and warns him, “Don’t hurt Matthew.” Then she throws herself against his side not occupied by his wife, hugging him. Her little nephew turns his head, watching her quietly—so, so quietly—and Inara reaches for him and pops a kiss on his little cheek. That done, Inara reaches around her brother’s waist to catch her sister-in-law’s hand and gives it a squeeze before stepping back and wrapping herself around me. “Thank you!”

EPILOGUE

INARA

FIVE SOLARS LATER

I am Inara, whelp of Byre and Wagashanu, sibling to seven greats, and the jewel of the Bone Grinder’s Cave.

I am mated to Matthew Shawnessy, former protector of his clan, keeper of the Boss, and sire of our five children, Kashturok, Kauã, Krenu, Maya, and Kritchatorn.

“Inara?” my mate calls.

Carrying my sewing with me, I meet him in the kitchen, where he’s making use of a porous scraping stone and a generous amount of soap to clean the grease from his hands. “Yes, my love?” is my reply as I admire the strong line of his dorsal spine-less back and his fine tail-less backside. Beside him on the counter is a massive rack of mugs, the entirety of our fine collection from Earth. In his back trouser pocket I can see the outline belonging to a pack of chewing gum, something our friend Jonohkada makes with his beautiful family right in their rookery’s kitchen. They make the gum because they know how much Matthew loves to chew it, thereby allowing my mate the opportunity to keep this longtime habit from his homeland.

Casting a warm glance at me over his shoulder, Matthew says, “I told your brother I was cutting out a little early today.”

He means Tahmoh. They own several shops together where they rebuild and customize ships and transporters. And although Matthew normally helms the business side of things, he takes on whatever machine captures his fancy, turning it into his personal labor of passion for the client. He’s been working tirelessly on an S-Class Cruiser calledThe Sky Wolf.A custom racing ship commissioned by Na’rith pirates who plan to gift the vessel to their human mate.

“Oh?” I murmur, smiling and sliding my needle into my work to keep my place for when I return. I’m setting it on the table when Matthew fits himself behind me, banding his arm around my middle.

“Yeah,” he says, and takes the tapered tip of my ear gently between his teeth, giving me a little tug in such a way that pure fire streaks up from my sex. “I have a wife I need to make love to while our munchkins are in school.” He fits his chin over my shoulder and caresses my hip. “Whatcha workin’ on?”

“A mating blanket for our first-whelped,” gently unfolding it so that he can see.

I haven’t kept its creation a secret, exactly, but this is the first time he’s seen the whole of this treasure I’m crafting. A mating blanket is an item of great pride among our people; a courting tool and custom, what a male displays for his intended, with the flashing, lustrous scales of his ancestors carefully sewn onto the fabric. It’s his pedigree, laid out in cloth and scales and string, a thing of beauty fit for his future mate to wear when they join together.

That Matthew’s family has no scales to represent them is no matter. Locks of hair were sent for (a feat made feasible because his entire clan joined us on my home planet some months ago), and I’ve been incorporating them into the canvas, this symbol of our joined lives.

“Inara…” Matthew breathes, unintentionally causing my ear to flutter from his lips’ proximity and his warm, tickling breath. “This is for Kash?”

“It is,” I murmur, turning enough to kiss his jaw. His short-shorn hairs still register to my senses, but they no longer feel strange.

They feel… likeMatthew.They feel exciting and comforting and right.

I’ve been lightly shimmying against him since his arms encircled me, and my efforts have not been in vain. At my kiss, he brings his hips harder against me, and at my lower back, I feel his hardness has taken shape.

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