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His claws carve unintentional hieroglyphics into the sand as my legs lock around his waist. It feels like he's been fucking me for several glorious, aching hours when his thumb finds my clit. My scream scatters seabirds from the alien mangroves.

“Human vocal cords,” he pants into the hollow of my throat as I pulse around him. “Underrated evolutionary marvel.”

The tremors haven’t stopped when his rhythm fractures. I feel his release—hotter than blood—as he buries himself deep.

He collapses beside me, sand clinging to alien sweat, chest rising like tide-swollen waves. It's so strange, so wrong, and yet…

I can't think of anything I could possibly want more than this alien man laying at my side.

CHAPTER27

JACK

The sand shifts beneath our feet as we walk along the shoreline. Vanessa's hand fits perfectly in mine, her fingers intertwined with my red ones. The moons cast everything in a silvery glow.

"I need to send my resignation," I say, pulling out my PerComm. "Though I doubt they'll accept it gracefully."

"Will they come after us?" Vanessa's grip tightens.

"Let them try." I tap out a brief message, keeping it professional despite the circumstances. "I'm done being their puppet. Done pretending to be something I'm not."

"Speaking of which..." Vanessa traces one of my horns with her free hand. "I kind of like the real you better."

"Even with all this?" I gesture to my crimson skin.

"Especially with all that." She smirks. "Though I'll miss the stubble."

I send the message and toss the PerComm into the violet waves. "There. No more Project Veritas. No more studying humans from a distance." I pull her close. "Just experiencing life with one particular human up close."

"So what now? Where do we go?"

"Anywhere. Everywhere." I sweep my arm across the horizon. "There are worlds out there that would make Earth's most beautiful places look ordinary. Art that would make your fingers itch to create. And I want to show you all of it."

"Promise me something?" She presses her forehead against my chest.

"Anything."

"No more lies. No more missions. Just us being real with each other."

"I promise." I lift her chin. "You're my only mission now."

"Good." She rises on her toes to kiss me. "Because I'm not letting you go either."

I leanagainst the counter of The Star Roast, watching Vanessa work her magic. She's explaining Earth coffee to a bewildered Odex man whose furry paws keep dropping the mug

"No, like this," she demonstrates with infinite patience. "The wide part is for drinking."

The café buzzes with the familiar mix of human and alien chatter. The scent of fresh-baked pastries mingles with the aromatic Earth coffee we import at ridiculous expense. Worth every credit to see the faces of newly-arrived humans when they taste their first familiar drink in months.

"Another refugee incoming," I murmur as the door chimes. A young woman enters, looking shell-shocked, her clothes distinctly Earth-style but wrinkled from space travel.

Vanessa's already moving, pulling out a chair. "Hey there. Rough trip?"

"I... I don't even know where I am anymore." The woman's voice breaks.

"You're exactly where you need to be." Vanessa slides a steaming cup across the table. "Earth blend, extra sugar. On the house."

The woman takes a sip and bursts into tears. I've seen this scene play out dozens of times now - the relief of finding a piece of home in the vastness of space.