Page 2 of All You Need is Alien Love (Tentacular Tales #4)
I’m stoked that Kai’s going to stay smoking hot for ages.
I mean, I’m certain he’s gonna be a silver fox with tentacles one day and I’m here for it— hell yeah .
But knowing we can have more time together than most, given how much longer Iyarans and Quintharians live, fills me with all the happy feels.
My only concern is how aging will actually work for me.
Being half-Quintharian and half-human, I don’t know how much of my mother’s alien genetics will be dominant.
We think I’ll have a lifespan nearly as long as Kai’s, but we don’t know for sure.
All I know is that I don’t want to end up in a tragic Heather and Connor MacLeod situation like in Highlander, where I age and Kai stays eternally young and has to go on without me when I end up dying long before him.
That would just be cosmically unfair and I won’t allow it!
I turn to study my mom at the far end of the table, where she’s seated with my dad and smiling brightly.
Every time I see her, it still feels kind of unreal—but I’m also weirdly conflicted.
For half my life, I believed she and my father had died in a car accident when I was ten.
Now they’re both back after being on the run from intergalactic assassins for over a decade, and I don’t entirely know where I stand on all that.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m overjoyed that they’re alive and well and that I get to have them back in my life again.
But at the same time, I have a lot of complicated emotions over the whole thing—anger, sorrow, and maybe a bit of lingering teenage emo-esque angst—that haven’t fully resolved themselves yet.
Benji and I are definitely in the same boat on that one, although I think I’m a lot closer to the shore of forgiveness than he is.
After all, the poor guy raised me when we thought my parents were dead.
We struggled to find our footing and survive their loss.
It upturned both of our lives and left us with a lot of emotional baggage.
We got through it all and things turned out well for the most part, but we had some difficult and challenging times over the years when we only had one another to rely on.
And, of course, the grief over him losing his brother and me losing my parents never fully disappeared.
I’ve had some good heart-to-hearts with them, and I can honestly say the hurt is slowly starting to fade.
For the most part anyway. Benji’s another story though.
I can tell he’s holding on to a lot of anger and resentment.
Someday, he’s going to have to air out some of his grievances with my parents and find a way to move past the lingering pain and sense of betrayal their fake deaths caused him and his parents.
Purging all that negativity is necessary so that it doesn’t fester and eat away at him.
However, tonight is not that time. I’m one hundred percent focused on filling my boo full of dessert and making him blissfully happy on his birthday.
And in making sure he’s in the mood to reward my efforts with a good, hard fucking when we get home.
After all we’ve been through lately, from thwarting an intergalactic assassin to preparing for the Iyaran Sanctioning Ceremony, we deserve this.
I dip a donut hole on a stick in the chocolate fondue I ordered and bring it to Kai’s mouth. He grips my hand and studies me with hooded eyes as he lasciviously goes down on the donut hole, never letting his gaze leave mine.
Slowly, he sucks it into his mouth and begins to chew, licking his lips and moaning as he does so.
“Fuck yeah,” I whisper. “Swallow it whole, baby.”
I never thought watching a man eat dessert could make me so hot. But Kai revs my engine with just about everything he does.
Further indisputable proof that we are meant to be, baby!
“So, River,” Iris pipes up, interrupting the decidedly NC-17 direction my mind was going, “how is your preparation for the Sanctioning Ceremony going?”
My stomach does a good impression of the falling elevator scene in Speed , and I gulp. “Uh, it’s going well…” I trail off, and Kai reaches over to wrap an arm around me, squeezing me reassuringly.
He leans down and whispers in my ear, “We’ve got this. Trust me. Everything will be fine.”
That’s easy for him to say. Now that I’ve learned more about the three-day ordeal I have to go through for this Sanctioning Ceremony, I can’t help but think it’s some kind of bizarre test from the universe—or a weird version of alien hazing—to determine whether Kai and I have what it takes to stick together or not.
He’s promised me one can’t really fail the Sanctioning Ceremony per se, but Iris has definitely been putting the pressure on me to pass with flying colors. She has high hopes for me and her grandson. I only hope I can live up to them.
Since I’m not an Iyaran, I’ve had to solicit some outside assistance from various friends to prepare for the alien matrimonial trials I’ll be undergoing very freaking soon.
I refuse to let Kai do all the work for this.
After all, I fully believe in being an equal partner to him, and I intend to hold up my end of the bargain when it comes to our union.
No matter how weird things are undoubtedly going to get.
Thankfully, both Evan and Nirblob have come through in critical ways for me. With their help, I’m now feeling more confident I can make it through the ceremony and shine like a motherfucking superstar!
I totally want to wow everyone with how perfect I am for Kai, show them that he made the right decision in choosing me as his mate.
Look, I’ve already had to deal with Fuckface Fabio, who thought they could snatch Kai from me.
Anyone else who wants to mess with me better think twice before trying to get between us, or worse yet, put their skanky tentacles on my man. Not on my fucking watch!
Iris narrows her shrewd eyes at me. “The Sanctioning Ceremony is a sacred, ancient tradition among our people. I hope you will do the Genaro family proud.”
Despite her words, Iris has actually been a huge help to me too. She spent several sessions with me going over the details of the three-day ceremony and explaining what is expected from Kai and me during the events.
Let’s be real. I know I’ve never exactly won any popularity contests among humans, but I have a good feeling that I can win over the alien crowd that will be in attendance at this event—and I plan to pull out all the epic stops.
I grin at Iris. “Yes, sensei. I’ve taken all your education to heart, I promise.”
Kai immediately jumps in to further defend me, even though he doesn’t need to. Knowing her, I suspect Iris is just trying to get a rise out of both of us. She’s a bit cheeky like that.
“River will always make me proud and I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I don’t need a ceremony to validate what we have together.”
My chest gets all warm and tight as I gaze deep into Kai’s earnest eyes. Fucking hell, I love this man so goddamn much!
“Lighten up, Iris,” Ellie says, sprawled half across Maddox’s lap and rubbing up against him like a contented cat. “River’s the most amazing grandson-in-law you’ll ever have. Don’t doubt him and his total fucking epicness.”
I’m getting teary-eyed now, for reals.
I seriously lucked out in the in-laws department.
Sitting up straighter in my chair, I look directly into Iris’s slightly intimidating eyes and grin. “Don’t worry, Grams. I’ve got this.”
Her nostrils flare and her lips twitch in a faint grimace. “Grams…?”
I flash her my biggest, brightest smile. “As Ellie noted, you’re going to be my grandma-in-law soon. I figured I should give you a loving nickname, especially since you’ll be my only living grandparent. Well, the only one I have contact with anyway.”
My Quintharian grandparents can get fucked. After all, they tried to have me and my parents killed. To say they suck would be an understatement.
I bat my eyelashes at Iris. “Don’t you think that’s an awfully sweet gesture from your future grandson-in-law?”
She stares me down for a long moment and then throws her head back and laughs. “I like your moxie, River Sullivan. I haven’t known you for long, but I’m beginning to see why my grandson chose you for his mate.”
I glance at Kai, who flushes with obvious pride and puffs out his chest. “River is simply the best.” He speaks those words with so much conviction, and a hint of Tina Turner-inspired sass, that my heart starts to gush with feelings even more sticky-sweet than the caramel coating on a bite of cheesecake I feed him lovingly.
While he munches contentedly, I lean my head on his shoulder and sigh contentedly. “I love you too, hubby-boo.”
Iris crosses her arms and gives me a mock glare. “That said, while I appreciate the offer, a lady doesn’t care to be reminded of her age, and your nickname violates that sacred boundary.” Her eyes narrow. “You’ll call me Iris or get your ass whooped, you cheeky brat.”
I snort and lean down the table to pinky swear. “Okay, deal. But in exchange, you must tell me more about Kai when he was little. I want to know everything .” I waggle my eyebrows. “And I’d especially love to see any and all adorable photographic evidence.”
Iris returns my pinky-shake with enthusiasm. “You strike a hard bargain. Done!”
We grin at each other in perfect accord.
Kai makes a strangled noise and buries his face in his hands. “Save me now.”
Iris ignores him. “You’ll have to come over to Maddox and Ellie’s house sometime soon and I can show you all my holographic photo albums. I just so happened to bring them with me.
” She winks at me conspiratorially. “There are some pictures of Kai’s first swim time that are my personal favorites.
He was too cute with his little tentacles splashing about. ”
Kai moans, and it isn’t the happy kind from earlier.
I rub my hands together gleefully. “Heck, yeah. I will definitely take you up on that.”