Inara moves to my side to press against me apologetically. To her distracted brother, she answers, “To answer your question, Arokh, Matthew’s fish taste even better. They had incredible flavor and flakiness, truly.”
Zadeon, who’s standing with his dorsal spines pressed flat to the wall, taps his mate on the shoulder until she turns in his arms and starts speaking privately with him, him watching her lips avidly to find out what we’re talking about. There’s some gesturing to the fish tanks and a very interested look that crosses his face.
Fuck me.
Tahmoh, sitting on the floor near us with his mate still in his lap, leans to look around his Janet, staring at the tanks like he’s super curious and really hungry. Janet hugs their baby to her chest and stands, whispering, “Tahmoh, don’t even think about it. Why don’t we—”
I stab a finger in front of his nose. “NO.”
Inara gasps and grabs my hand. “Are you insane?” she squeaks to me.
“Let’s get our wonderful, curious aliens back to the ship,” Janet says quickly, patting her baby on the back and stepping between me and her mate, dispersing the tension like a pro.
I turn to my sisters, my mom, and Stacy and her boy. “I guess… I guess this is goodbye.”
CHAPTER 27
“What is this?” Tahmoh asks when I put the Boss in park, letting it idle at the smaller ship's ramp.
My head is starting to throb with a headache. I’m not ashamed to admit that I shed some tears during the painful goodbye with my loved ones—and maybe it’s because I don’t cry very often, but it feels like someone’s starting to jackhammer the backs of my eyeballs.
“Human?”
My gaze snaps up to his. “Matthew.”
He holds my stare, his eye contact steady and direct before he finally nods. “Matthew,” he acknowledges. “What is this transporter you are bringing with you? It is different from the others here.”
“It is,” I confirm, impressed that even an alien noticed. “It’s a Mustang.”
Inara leans over the console, horns missing our car’s ceiling as she excitedly tells her brother, “The people here give cars of this breed titles, and Matthew’s is reverentially called the Boss.”
Tahmoh looks impressed, giving our ride another once-over.
“Matthew completes the upkeep and machine repairs himself, Tahmoh,” Inara adds, the pride so evident in her tone that on a normal day, I could be in danger of blushing.
“Hm,” Tahmoh says. He tips his head to me. “Perhaps you’ll prove yourself worthy after all... Matthew.”
I give him a thin smile, my brows edging up. “Gee, thanks.”
“You are welcome.” And he didn’t miss my sarcasm. He’s grinning at 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 so before you 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, only sister,” 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 fact borrowing.”
Zadeon exhales smoke, and his mate, Callie, tucked under his arm against his side, is biting back a grin.
“Since you deigned to ask so 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 Byrē 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 called The 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?”