Page 9 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin (Alien Fated Mates #1)

9

I stood in Makir’s courtyard, the sun casting a moody red glow over the new construction. The crew, long gone, had taken Makir with them, but I couldn’t shake my restlessness. So, I kept going and going, funneling the buzzing energy into finishing the courtyard now that Makir was safe with my crew.

I’d always admired Balinese courtyards and how their water features and lush greenery created an oasis of tranquility. Tern was beautiful in the way new beginnings were—filled with bare earth, stalky graneth and potential. Still, I missed the plants, trees and water from Earth.

The honeycombed windows spread along the back wall of Makir’s house like lace trim, framing the view of a soon-to-be sparkling pool. In my mind, the leafy gardens would skirt a perimeter dressed in bamboo-like plants and surround the stone walkways that led to private nooks. Would Makir love the courtyard of my dreams? Honestly, the bamboo plants were a bit of a long shot. I hadn’t seen anything of that description on Tern yet. But the rough finish of the walls and bare ground glowed, sunset soft.

I placed my hands on my hips, leaned back to stretch the kinks out of my back, and exhaled. Finally, I’d worn out my body enough to return to the shared sono. I grabbed Makir’s bundle of furs and headed toward the hole in the wall. Tomorrow he would have a door if I had any say in the matter. And I had all the say.

“Makir, are you out here?” Sisip walked through the opening that would soon be filled with a solid door and whistled. “Now, isn’t this something?” Her head swiveled, and the tawny catlike ears all Tigs had on top of their heads twitched. Her eyes widened when she walked outside into the courtyard.

The lead enforcer posed no threat, but why did everyone think they could just walk into Makir’s dwelling uninvited? I plastered on a smile and mentally added a deadbolt with an exclamation point behind it to the long list of items I needed to follow up on.

“Geo?” She seemed confused by my presence at first, then shrugged, not caring one way or the other. “I wanted to catch Makir.” She rubbed her hands back and forth like she couldn’t warm them.

My shoulders tightened, and the muscles in my chest burned as they stretched the bands of fabric around my arm uncomfortably tight. “Yeah, do you normally come by Makir’s in the evening? Is he expecting you?” The filter I’d employed regularly on Earth had shriveled and died since I’d met Makir.

Taken aback, her expression quickly changed to amusement. “Calm down there, hot stuff.” She laughed. “The only thing I’m after are the hand warmers he hinted he could make for my hoverbike.” She rubbed her hands together again. “Looks like we’ll be patrolling the Starry Mountains a little more regularly.” The corners of her mouth turned down .

I stuffed my hands into my pockets, embarrassed by my obvious attraction to Makir.

“Anyways”—she perked back up—“can’t wait to see this dwelling when it’s all done. I might have a few ideas for changes to my place.”

Proud of the hard work we’d done today, I stood taller. “Absolutely. Get in touch with JayJay, and we can schedule a design consult. I’m heading back to the sono. Makir’s spending the night with the crew there.”

My gaze wandered before it found the gaping hole where the roof should be. I wasn’t sure why I’d omitted that he would also be spending the night with me. I should’ve said something along the lines of ‘I’ll tell him to get in touch with you’ but I couldn’t force the words out. My attraction to Makir was so fragile it might snap if vocalized. Instead, I walked her toward the door like an unwelcome guest, as if Makir’s home was my own.

“Anything else?” I grumbled.

“Nah. Tell Makir he’ll hear from me soon.” She laughed and turned to walk away the same way she’d arrived, ambling under the windows along Makir's roofline, oohing and aahing.

To keep myself distracted, I recorded notes in my wristport while I walked to the sono.

“Talk to the landscaper about plants. Speak with Sully on how to use the lamar to create a massive sliding door opening onto the patio.”

The sky turned inky, and I searched for the Big Dipper or Orion among the spray of stars, neither to be found. I swallowed around the lump in my throat, forcing away the thought of my dogs, who currently orbited a different sun in an entirely different solar system. Maybe Ginger would send pics today.

My shoulders slumped with exhaustion, and my stomach growled as I trudged back to the sono. I hoped JayJay had saved me something to eat. Sisip had really thrown me for a loop. Was she competition? If so, I didn’t have a chance. Cameron had flirted with men right in front of me. Would it be the same with Sisip? What was I supposed to think when she’d walked into Makir’s dwelling so casually?

I tripped over the ruts in the road and added ‘Learn to ride a hoverbike’ to my list. In the murky dark, the road heaved and dipped like a freshly plowed field.

With time to think, my self-esteem plummeted as fast as the temperature. I hugged Makir’s furs, and a shiver ran through me while my muscles pulsed and ached from inhaling his enticing fragrance. I didn’t recognize myself anymore. I’d gone from a doormat in my old life to a raging bear in this one. The only thing familiar was that I could still build a hell of a house.

“In-floor heating and a dual fireplace.” I spoke into the wristport, expanding my ever-lengthening list of must-haves. Makir’s gingery smell drifted from the bundle I held, and I nearly face-planted in the dirt.

“Fuck,” I muttered. “Why do I always go for guys way out of my league?” I said to the ground. Even if Makir was into men, what would he want with a short, fat, hairy guy from Earth who had nothing to offer in the goods department? I groaned. The ground dipped, and this time I fell flat on my ass.

“What are you doing down on the ground talking to yourself?” JayJay boomed. He reached for my hand, and the force of his pull launched me straight into him.

“I can’t see for shit out here.” I smacked the dust from my butt.

“Why are you looking for shit?” JayJay, never discreet, asked anyone within a half-mile radius. That included everyone in the sono. Cool night air currently drifted through the wide-open windows along with his voice, which was as subtle as a car backfiring.

I dropped my head to my chin. “It’s an expression, JayJay. It just means I can’t see anything.”

“Why do you walk in the dark if you can’t see?” The light from the doorway lit JayJay’s face enough for his giant grin to lighten the mood.

“Good fucking question,” I muttered. Half-smiling, I followed him inside.

“I was coming to see if you got lost.” JayJay moved around the shared kitchen and placed a bowl of something savory in front of me. The long table was much too high for me. He glanced at his wristport. “It’s two moons. You should have returned long ago.”

Of course he was concerned—the guy was a damn saint. Time on Tern was measured in suns and moons. It had taken me weeks to adjust. There were ten sunlit hours, suns, and ten dark or moonlit hours, moons, in a rotation.

Saliva pooled in my mouth. “Thanks, JayJay, this is terrific.” I polished off a second bowl. All the while, JayJay assessed me as if his eyes had x-ray capabilities. They scanned up and down, but as far as he’d explained, the only superpowers he had were his freakishly large size and strength. His words, not mine.

All I wanted to know was whether Tino and Sully had carved out a nest in the soft soil of the dirt floor so that Makir would be comfortable for the night, but, nope, not asking. That would have violated my promise to not think about Makir. Thinking about Makir was firmly off-limits, especially when he would be in the same room as me all night.

“Since you are stubborn and want to know but aren’t going to ask, Makir’s nest has been burrowed out as you requested. He’s quite comfortable playing cards with the rest of the crew.” JayJay planted his hands on his wide hips. “Now, I must insist you shower and go straight to bed. You’ve done far too much work for the rotation.”

When JayJay launched into maternal mode, there was no messing with him. I forced my aching body out of my chair. I’d put off the inevitable for too long, so with no other choice, I headed into the shared room to gather my pajamas and toiletries.

Instantly, Makir’s eyes sought mine. The lavender lingered for a moment before they swirled to silver, and I froze in place. The other Rock Dwellers disappeared. My shirt felt suffocatingly tight as my muscles pulsed and heated.

Be normal.

“Makir,” I rasped. “Sisip came by this evening and wanted to talk to you about how you could warm her up.”

Rumbling snickers filled the room .

Makir’s brows furrowed and my nostrils flared. The room I slept in was entirely saturated with Makir’s scent. The crisp juniper and warm ginger muddled my tired mind. The low light darkened the shadows of Makir’s strong jaw. His blue mane was pulled away from his face in a damp braid, revealing the velvety tips of his ears. A growl built in my chest. The entire crew could see the tips of his ears. His tail rested casually on his knee as he sat at a table with Tino and Sully, playing cards.

“Hand warmers. She wanted to talk to you about hand warmers,” I corrected.

Makir’s tail switched against the floor.

“Getting a shower,” I muttered before I told a knock-knock joke or something equally terrible.

Makir popped up out of his chair. “About that… JayJay said it would be okay if I used your towel, so it might be a little damp.” His words rushed out, and his tail coiled around his wrist. I envied his tail and its ability to measure the thrum of his pulse the way my fingertips so urgently desired.

“S’fine,” I grumbled before I put his bundle of pelts on my bed for safekeeping and grabbed the damp towel. Tino and Sully had carved out Makir’s nest in the small space that happened to be immediately adjacent to my bunk. Assholes. On legs weakened to the point of jelly, I walked to the bathroom.

The bathroom stall was filled with his ginger and juniper odor. The towel drew me like a bull to a red cape, and I braced my forearm against the tiles before I dropped my forehead on it. “Fuck,” I swore at the wood-slatted floor.

The hot water did not remove the ache from my muscles. It agitated the itchy, tight sensation that occurred every time Makir neared. I soaped up, rinsed off and got out of the hot spray as quickly as possible. I wasn’t prepared when I reached for the towel to dry off. Makir’s scent buckled my knees.

My body shuddered, and my muscles grew tight like they might burst. That wasn’t the only thing that felt like it might burst. With the water off now, my cock stood painfully erect as I rocked from foot to foot, swathed in clouds of steam. A leisurely walk to my bed in my pajama pants with a raging boner was not an option. My eyes laser-focused on the towel through the mist—nothing else existed. I brought the towel up to my nose and inhaled deeply. Makir’s scent annihilated what was left of my senses, and my cock leaked.

Crisp juniper drifted from the towel, and my arm worked automatically, no longer connected to my brain. I rubbed the nubby fabric, slow and rough, over my plumped cock. The cloth wasn’t velvety enough. It wasn’t my favorite blueprint blue. But Makir’s perfume enveloped me like a hug. I smelled of Makir. It was enough for now.

I dumped shampoo into my hand, dropped my face into the towel and inhaled again, then slicked the makeshift lube down my hot length. With a firmer grip, I fisted the fabric entirely around the nest of curls at my base, our scents mixing.

My mind conjured Makir’s smooth blue hands and wrapped them around my iron-hard length. I squeezed my eyes shut. Sex-fantasy Makir worked my erection up and down. His silver eyes so close to mine that my clenched jaw was reflected in them.

I pumped my fist harder. My chin tilted toward the rough-hewn beams on the ceiling. The shower stall walls ended a couple of feet above me. If anyone came in…

Biting down on my lip, I stifled a groan as I came. The fur of his blue chest would drip with ropes of my thick cum. Panting, I leaned my shoulders against the cool tiles, then turned on the faucet to rinse away the evidence. This time I avoided Makir’s delicious aroma and dried off with my T-shirt.

“What the hell?” My pajama top buttons wouldn’t close, and my thighs stretched the seams of my pants. I did a double-take. Yep, they were my pajamas, the same ones Ginger had bought me last Christmas. The ones covered in retro Pikachu and Charizard Pokémon characters.

“Jesus, what’s happening to my body?” I groaned and added a medic visit to my list. Not sure how I could look Dr. Ten in the eyes and tactfully ask why Makir’s scent turned me into an animal or why I found my clothes three sizes too small. I walked back to the shared area filled with enormous bunk beds .

“Ungh,” Makir whined. His lavender eyes moved up and down my body from where he sat on the empty mattress across from mine. They’d been silver a moment ago in my fantasy.

My shoulders curled inward. Exposed, my muffin top hung over my pants, and my hairy chest stood on display for everyone’s eyes, but Makir’s disgust hit hard, a direct punch.

Cameron had continually begged me to wax and cut carbs. My Adam’s apple bobbed.

My body’s fine.

Ginger firmly believed that I needed to come to terms with being happy in my current body. Maybe I didn’t believe the words yet, but it was a step.

I gathered the bundle of Makir’s pelts and blocked out my self-loathing. Then I gently unfolded them, shook them out and lined the nest Tino and Sully had dug for him. His scent covered me everywhere, burning like a juniper-scented fire under my hot muscles. My skin prickled where I uselessly rubbed over them.

Not bothering to suck in my belly, I called out a quick goodnight to Makir and the crew and rolled into my bunk, safely hidden under the covers. JayJay would be pleased. I’d followed his directions to the letter. This day couldn’t be over quick enough.