Page 27 of My Alien Bughead (Supernova Casanovas #4)

Chapter 27

D’Aakh

Lucía just announced she wants to have sex with me. Miraculously, she doesn’t even seem to hate me. Or maybe she’s just good at hiding it because she likes my cock too much. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t do wonders for my ego. That inherent male pride that was recently reduced to ashes by the dumpster fire my life had become. Being tied to a bed, spoonfed like a baby and treated like an insidious junkie doesn’t exactly leave one feeling good about themselves.

But Lucía is here and she has that I-want-to-kiss-you-but-I-also-want-to-punch-you look she always had before being confronted with my life failures. I should probably be focused more on what she’s saying right now but her earlier statement that we should have sex still rings in my ears. Or maybe it’s the bone-deep exhaustion and pounding headache stopping me from listening. Hard to tell.

“D’Aakh! Are you even listening to me?”

I’m not. “I am. You were trying to use ore to create explosives. Did you actually search GalNet for ‘how to build a bomb’?”

“I did. And I was doing okay. I just can’t figure out how to put it all together.”

Examining the items laid out on the workbench, I’d shake my head but it would cause another bout of vertigo. “This isn’t going to work. This type of grenade can’t utilize the crylonite you have here.”

With a murderous glare, Lucía grabs the nearest component and tosses it across the room. “Fan-fucking-tastic! Fucking perfect. So I’ve wasted a whole day on something we can’t even use. Fuck!”

As she grabs another piece of the unfinished grenade, I stop her. “Wait. We’ll need that.”

“You just said it won’t work! Make up your fucking mind, D’Aakh! This isn’t a game.” She’s pretending to be furious but I can see the deep-seated fear hiding inside her anger.

“Lucía.” Using the workbench to keep myself stable, I move closer. Reaching out to touch her arm, I hesitate, then change my mind. If she starts beating me now, I’m dead. Then I won’t be able to help her. “It’s going to be okay. We’ve done this before. We’ll send those QuantumTech bastards packing, and the UGC will penalize them so heavily they will crumble to dust. Everything will be alright.”

Her shoulders droop as she sighs resolutely. “I just hate being so useless.”

“I know a thing or two about that. Feeling useless is my default setting.”

“You’re not useless. You know everything. Me? I only know how to fix a handful of machines. This…” She waves her hand over the workbench. “I don’t understand any of it. I just thought I’d do the same trick we did in the tunnels and blow some assholes up but it’s not going to work. I can’t shoot, I can’t fight, I can’t do anything. I’m just a glorified plumber and nobody needs that.”

My frail, tired heart is breaking for her. Since meeting her, Lucía has always been so confident in her abilities, about herself, about everything. To see her this dejected is excruciating.

The need to comfort outweighs my self-preservation instincts, so I put my arms around her. When Lucía doesn’t immediately slap me, I pull her deeper into my chest, reveling in how she leans into me instead of away.

Unsure how to properly comfort someone, I ruffle Lucía’s hair a little. “First, everyone needs their toilet repaired. Everyone. Every ship I’ve ever been on, the utilities maintenance crew were the most treasured beings on board.”

Lucía hiccups a sob while chuckling at the same time. “You’re an idiot.”

“We can agree on that. What I’m saying is that even if you were just a, what did you call it, plumber you’d still be needed. Yet, you are so much more than that. It’s one of the reasons I was horrible to you. I actually hated you for being so good at your job when you came onto the Supernova. I was worried Zarkan would kick my stupid ass off the ship and hire you instead.” He might still do that. Especially after he looked so disappointed in me like I was something he’d scraped off the sole of his combat boot.

“I’m not as good as you.”

“You’re close enough and you’re much more pleasant to be around,” I repeat her own words. “Anyone would consider themselves lucky to have you on their crew.” I certainly would. Too bad I’ve burned that bridge so thoroughly. There is no way Lucía would want to set foot on the Supernova again.

Lucía sniffles, more tears soaking into my uniform. “It’s weird to be around you when you’re not being a jerk.”

“Good weird or bad weird?”

“Not sure yet. A bit of both, I guess? Anyway.” Lucía pulls away. Reluctantly, I let her slip out of my arms without protest. I’d much rather hold her in my arms forever but I’m grateful for anything she gives me. She wipes her tears away before scowling back at the workbench. “So, what exactly can we do with all of this crap? You said we can do something, right?”

“Absolutely. You had the right idea. We can use the crylonite you have on the station to intensify the power of explosives, just not this type of explosive,” I say, pointing at the paused video Lucía was apparently following. “Besides, that Aliran is totally lying. Those components are never going to fit together.”

“I said that!” Lucía glares at the screen, then shuts off the device. “Bye, bitch. So, what do we do now?”

Reaching for my comm I call, “Omni, do we still have some of those thermal grenades on the Dart?”

“Probably.”

“Could you bring them to us?”

Omni curses something my translator nodes don’t decipher, merely informing me it’s “extreme profanity”. “I’m busy. Get them yourself.”

“Come on. I’ll buy you a box of warpberry fritters at our next stop.”

Lucía raises her brows. “You’re bribing him with sweets? Give me that.” She grabs my comm. “We have an excellent baker on board this station. If you’re nice, I’ll make her bake you a ton of warpberry fritters. If you continue being a jerk, you won’t get a fucking breadcrumb. Think about it.” She ends the call with a resolute button smash. “That should do it, right?”

“Absolutely. I estimate he’ll be here in less than two minutes. Omni takes sweets-related threats very seriously.”

Lucía laughs gleefully, making me regret not recording it. I’d love to listen to that sound over and over. “Okay, but what are we going to do with already functional grenades? Wait, don’t tell me.” Lucía chews distractedly on her lower lip as she contemplates the possibilities. Even though my body is currently a worn-out, battered mess, that sight has me primed and ready for sex instantly. “We’ll use the crylonite to multiply the explosive effects of the grenades?”

“Huh? Oh. Yes.” Too busy fantasizing about her riding my cock, I nearly missed the question. “Exactly. We just have to be careful not to blow up the entire station.”

Her gaze slides down my body, stopping at the bulge in my pants. “Mmm. That would be bad.”

“Yes. Bad.” My breath quickens in time with hers, my tongue darting out of my mouth to wet my lips. As if subconsciously mimicking me, Lucía does the same.

She steps closer, caging me between her body and the workbench. “Very bad,” she whispers.

I don’t think Lucía’s talking about explosives anymore. My cock twitches, uncurling from its usual position to reach for her but my damn pants are in the way. I cup her cheek and trace her lips with my thumb. They’re as soft as I remember.

A gasp escapes me at the sight of Lucía sucking my thumb into her mouth followed by her tongue circling the tip. My poor heart picks up speed, thundering in my chest as if it wants to jump out of my body. Galaxies. I need to have her, even if it kills me.

A loud thump jerks us both back.

Omni glares at us from the doorway, a large box of grenades on the floor in front of him. He points a finger at Lucía. “I want my fritters.” Then he storms off, his wings rustling.

Lucía clears her throat, looking anywhere but at me. Her eyes fall on the clock. “Three minutes,” she smirks. “You were wrong.”

Since most of my blood is still in my lower regions, it takes a few seconds to realize what she means. “Off by one minute. That’s pretty close.” My muddled brain wants to ask her if she’ll punish me for being wrong but fortunately, the rational part of my mind wakes in time to stop me from making a complete fool of myself.

Faltering a little, my vision swims in front of my eyes. Lucía grabs me by the arm and directs me back to the chair. “Sit. That’s an order,” she adds, mischief dancing in her eyes. My cock doesn’t react, though, a clear sign that there’s something wrong with me and I really should rest for a while.

Leaning back in the chair, I close my eyes. I hear Lucía dragging the heavy box across the room and hate myself for not being able to help her. I’d carry it for her if I wasn’t so sure that I’d pass out. Then, instead of dragging a box of grenades, she’d have to drag my sorry ass to the infirmary and that’s not how I imagine this day ending.

I still don’t know where we stand. Whether she’s just toying with me or she actually wants to have sex. Or…something more? No, that would be too much to ask for. I’ll just settle for being in the same room with her. That’s a realistic, attainable goal.

And if she asks for sex, well…

“D’Aakh?”

“Yes. I’ll have sex with you,” I mumble sleepily. “Just give me a second.”

Her laugh rings through the room. “That’s great. I might take you up on that offer once you no longer resemble a zombie and aren’t falling asleep mid-sentence. But right now, we have work to do.”

“Oh. Right.” Forcing my eyes open, I see that she’s already tidied the workbench and unpacked all of the grenades. Did I really fall asleep? “I’m sorry.” I rub my two functioning brain cells together to wake myself up, then chase away the toxic thought that having a stimstick would be really helpful right now. I can do this without drugs. “Alright. You have to take the thermal grenade apart. First, unscrew the casing and carefully remove the fuze.”