Page 24 of Owned By Two

“It’s all right,” Tentacles said. “Go to her. Go to your mate. She needs you.”

I looked them each in the eye. They were sad and forlorn but there was nothing else for it. Now that I had the Joisa, there was nothing I could do but race to Lizzy as fast as I could manage.

I turned, threw the door open, and bolted out. As the door slowly swung shut, I heard Tentacles say to the others:

“You know, in my species, we can change sex if we meet the right mate and we receive our own Joisa… Are any of you ladies up for a little experimentation…?”

I let the images of that little encounter sink into my subconscious as I turned a corner and hurried for the exit.

11

LIZZY

I letUhti’s words wash over me.

My fatherownedthis place?

Heownedthis mansion?

In fact, he had even been the one todesignit?

And he owned these “priceless” heirlooms too?

And heownedmost of this planet?

Not just the house but thejungles we had flown over earlierand everything else on this planet too?

What had happened to the failure? The loser?

The guy whose businesses all turned to shit?

To the guy my mother had always said would never amount to anything?

Uhti just stared at me, cocking his head to one side with a small smile of bemusement on his lips.

I was panting for air, struggling to breathe, and thought I was going to pass out.

Then Uhti’s expression morphed from one of amusement to concern as he realized I wasn’t taking the news well.

He drifted toward me and held out a hand as I stumbled to one side, having lost all control of my limbs.

I caught myself on a shelf, accidentally dislodging an artifact — what was actually a small electric toaster with a happy face painted on one side — and sent it crashing to the floor where it smashed into a dozen pieces.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” I said, backing away from the mess I’d made.

“It’s all right,” Uhti said. “It’s yours anyway. You can do whatever you want with it.”

“Stop saying that!” I snapped.

“Stop saying what?” He bent down to pick up the pieces of the mess —mymess.

“Please, don’t clean up after me,” I said, immediately dropping beside him to tidy up the fallen pieces.

He reached for the crumb tray at the same time I did and our hands touched.

His fingers froze just as mine had.

There had been something there, something between the flesh of our hands.

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