“And you’ll probably meet some of my siblings. My sisters are Naia and Marin, and my brothers are Morgan and Malic. All live close by with their families.”
I freeze. Four siblings and their families? Holy crap! “How many siblings do you have?” I ask, lifting my hand to nibble on my fingernail now that my nerves have kicked into overdrive.
“Um, last count, there were ten of us. My brothers Neptune and Fisher are the youngest. Our oldest sisters, Ocean, Neri, and Marilla, all moved to an ocean on the other side of Fluxx to find mates over there, so we probably won’t see them when we’re home.”
“But the rest?”
Cas must feel how tense I am all of a sudden. “Oh, baby, what’s wrong?”
“Cas, I’ve never had family until recently, so I don’t know how to do the family thing. Shit, I’ve barely had friends except for Susie. All of this is so new to me, and I guarantee I’m going to screw it up and your mother is going to want to eat me, not to mention all the other krakens in your family. They are all krakens, right?”
He nods. “Yes. There aren’t many pure kraken families on Fluxx. Kraken females are so irritable that most males don’t want to mate with them. All but two of my siblings have mates of other species. They are going to love you, and not only that, but you’re carrying my young, so there is no way they would try to hurt you while you are pregnant. They would wait until after, and we will be long gone from Fluxx by then.”
I think he’s trying to be reassuring, but it’s totally not working.
Before I can say anything else, Bubby interrupts us.
“Lila, we’re close to dropping out of light speed. How about you jump up here and get a feel for flying this thing manually?”
I jump at the distraction Bubby just handed me.
“Yes, that would be awesome, thanks.”
Silac and I swap seats once more. We have to brush against each other to get past one another, and a fresh wave of fuck me hormones rolls over my body at the feel of his chest against mine. I gasp and look him in the eye. His eyes flick between normal and snake eyes, and he hisses slightly before leaning in. His breath brushes across my ear, and I shiver from the sensation.
He clears his throat before whispering, “Lila, Tirrian gets space sick when the flight is bumpy, so if you were to maybe get the feel of this by doing a few rolls and climbs and drops, well, he may have an adverse reaction to it.” He steps back and finishes swapping with me without another word, but a smile creeps across my face as I climb back into the co-pilot’s seat, holding tightly onto the little tidbit of information he just gifted to me. This is going to be fun.
Lila
“You crazy bitch,” Tirrian growls as he’s helped off the shuttle by Cerise. He looks pale and sickly after our wonky descent into the Fluxx shuttle station.
I just smirk and give him a little finger wave before turning it around and giving him the one finger salute. If he’s going to continue to be an asshole to me, then why should I play nice? He growls, and smoke blows from his nose, but he holds his glamour. I fully expected him to dragon out on me, so I’ve got to respect his control.
Caspian insisted I wait until the shuttle emptied. People who are picking up passengers will be in half or shifted form, and he wants me to stay as safe as possible. Eventually, when he gives me the all clear, I give Bubby a kiss on the cheek and thank him.
“I’ll be here for your return trip. Caspian will let me know when you want to return,” he tells me.
“But don’t you have people on Skarr waiting for you to return?” I ask, and he shakes his head, his eyes taking on a sad glint.
“No. I lost my family in an accident when I was in my final year of college. Your father and mother were all the family I had until I lost them too. I have nothing but an empty, dusty house to go home to, so staying in a hotel in Fluxx and enjoying some of the local hospitality is no hardship.”
Poor Bubby. Being Skarrian blows, and not being able to form meaningful sexually fulfilled relationships with people unless you want to bond with them sucks.
“You have no one you want to bond with?” I ask, and he shakes his head as his eyes glisten with tears.
“No. I wanted to court your mother and was going to ask her the next time we returned to Earth. Your dad was all for it and had encouraged me to start earlier, but I made a commitment to your grandpas and had a contract for a few years. I’m sure they would have let me out, but I wanted to save enough money so I could contribute to our family. By the time we returned, though, they were gone. My heart broke, and I haven’t been able to look again. Maybe it’s time though.”
“Over twenty years is a long time to be alone,” I tell him gently. “I’m sure my parents wouldn’t have wanted you to be alone for so long.”
“I haven’t been alone, but you get sick of one or two night stands fairly quickly,” he replies ruefully. “Cas, you know how to get a hold of me. Have fun.” He quickly waves and departs the shuttle, leaving Cas and me alone. I hear him speak to someone outside.
“Who is that?” I ask, and Cas beams.
“My parents are here to pick us up. It’s about an hour drive to our place. Come on.” He tugs on my hand excitedly, so I hurry to keep up with him.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, and I guess I was a little stupid, but the two people waiting for us look to be the same age as my grandpas—how someone looks isn’t a good judge of age in space.
Both of them are wearing their human forms. The woman is short and curvy with purple hair and the same blue eyes as Cas, and she’s grinning widely. The man is almost the spitting image of Cas, with blue hair and a cheeky grin, but he has a finer build than my hulking gorgeous octoman.