Page 60 of Matched to the Alien King
He came up sputtering. “I-Is that it? Can I go now?”
“Not quite.” The Killian reared back with his meaty fist and punched him in the face. “That’s for making Bling fall.”
“And this…” I slowly advanced on him. “This is for cumming with yourbinny haall overmywoman’s shirt sleeve, the back of it so she wouldn’t notice. BecauseIsure noticed.”
He flinched and held up his hands to shield his bloodied face as though I were going to hit him, but I would do no such thing. No, this would hurt much worse.
I grabbed him by the balls. “No more cumming on women period unless they’ve given you permission. Do you hear me?”
“Oh god. M-message received. Please.”
Warmth washed over my hand as I released him. “Did you just piss yourself?”
Instead of answering, he started crying.
“Okay,” the Killian said, backing away, “I think his day has been ruined worse than ours now.”
“Seems so,” I agreed.
We made our way back to shore with several camera drones trailing behind. Good. I hoped they plastered Judge’s snot-covered face all over the airwaves and embarrassed him for an eternity.
I found Nera right away, and we gravitated toward each other with the speed and force of a great cosmic collision. We clung to one another, needing the other as much as oxygen. She fit so perfectly against me, even though she was so much smaller than I was, that it was like we were made for each other.
We were imperfect pieces that had reached across the stars just to fit together.
I could go on holding her forever like this.
Eventually, she pulled away, brushed her cheek, and peered up at me from underneath wet lashes. “You plus me plus a boat plus a beacon. What do you think? We could be back before movie night if we go straight there and back again.”
“No stops?” I asked, pressing a kiss to the top of her sun-warmed hair. “Not even at our favorite waterfall?”
“I mean…we could probably squeeze in one stop.” She placed both palms on my chest, her smile too frail and shaky to last. “But I…I need to tell you something too.”
“Okay. We’ll have time.” I trailed my fingers along her jaw and down the long column of her neck. Any excuse to touch her, feel all of her, since I could never get enough. “Everything all right?”
“Yes.” She grinned then, a shimmering collection of the universe’s light. “Now it is.”
I nodded. “Give me five minutes first?”
“Is this about Pete?” she asked, wincing.
“Maybe. Five minutes is all I need.” I leaned down to kiss her, just one taste, though I craved so much more.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She nodded, and I released her to set out for the beach house, scanning for a certain pair of watchful eyes as I did so. The Killian was busy talking to Bling, but I didn’t doubt for a second he would notice me anyway.
After swiping my trusty machete and Space Fleet handkerchief from the weapons table and securing them both to my belt loop, I flagged the closest crewmember down. “The Killian—Miekil,” I corrected, “said he’d help you guys clean up the cornucopia. Bling too.”
“Oooookay,” she said, darting her eyes back and forth like she had no clue what I was talking about.
“The green guy. Use those muscles of his to your advantage. He said he’ll help with whatever you need.” I gave her a half smile. “Youspecifically.”
Her whole face turned crimson. “Oooookay.”
She sounded much more sure of herself as she skipped off in his direction. Whatever it took to keep him preoccupied while I removed the weapon from the upstairs bathroom and put it…where?
