He opens his arms, and I nod. Then he wraps me in a warm, familiar hug, strong and firm but gentle. I inhale his familiar smell that will always spell outDadto me. He kisses me on the top of my head. “We will meet up again tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, Dad. We’ll be here for a couple of days until we need to head out. While we’re all here, I intend to spend as much time as we can with each other. I want you to get to know Gemma better as well.”
“Wonderful,” Mom says, “we’re excited about that too.”
Another round of hugs ensues, and while my mom is embracing me, my father asks and then gives Gemma a paternal hug.
When the hug fest has ended, we see my parents off to their hotel and then make our way back to the ship. We do have two extra unoccupied rooms on the Sleigh Belle, but Gemma and I talked about it beforehand and decided it would be better to have my parents stay at a hotel for this first visit in case I needed a private and safe space to retreat to. However, if this continues to go as well as it has so far, Gemma and I will welcome them warmly onto the ship the next time we meet up.
When we get on board, we find ourselves alone. Gemma licks her lips and studies me with a molten-hot gaze that could burn my clothes off—and I would be totally into that.
“Do you remember the fantasy I told you about during one of our texting conversations, involving you, me, and the engine room?” she asks, her voice sultry and full of sin.
Do. I.Ever.
“Uh-huh,” I squeak out.
Her slow, sensual grin flips a switch in me and has me aching with need so fast I nearly get whiplash.
“Go get into those sexy overalls I like, and I’ll meet you in the engine room with a delectable outfit of my own.”
I book it to my quarters, tearing my clothes off along the way. She doesn’t need to tell me twice.
CHAPTER 21
This guide is merely one of many tools you can turn to in order to improve your dating life or long-term relationship. It is by no means exhaustive. We recommend that you remain open and curious. Consult others. Consider working with a relationship therapist. Don’t stop working on yourself either! The more you love and respect yourself, the better partner you can become. Keep your communication game on point and listen to your lover, whether you’re in a short-term fling or a committed relationship. Know when to establish your own healthy boundaries and comply with any your partner may also wish to create. Loving yourself and loving others requires work. Keep at it and never stop believing in the power of love!
—Afterword,How to Flirt Among the Stars: An Intergalactic (and Interspecies) Sapphic Dating Guide
Gemma
Isaunter into the engine room clad in my lacy black babydoll nightdress that just covers my ass, leaving my luscious thighs on display. The bustier also very provocatively lifts and displays my cleavage in a manner that has Luna staring at my breasts, her tentacles making not so subtle grabby motions the moment I enter the room.
Score one for me.
This is my first time in Luna’s special domain. I’ve only walked by this place a few times, so stepping inside feels like I’m entering a private enclave. The first thing that hits me is the steady hum of the engine itself, and the air carries a faint industrial scent I’d associate with machinery yet is different from what I’m used to on Earth. The temperature is warm and cozy, courtesy of the massive floor-to-ceiling cylindrical engine that looks like something out of a sci-fi nerd’s fantasies. The space itself veers more toward being utilitarian, but I can see signs of Luna everywhere. It’s clean and tidy, and all of her tools and gadgets are neatly organized in a clear, multi-tiered, heavy-duty storage case at the far end of the room. On the wall opposite the engine, there’s a Christmas-themed countdown calendar and a few digital picture frames that display rotating slide shows of what appear to be some of her intergalactic adventures since joining her friends on the Sleigh Belle.
I close and lock the door behind me, then stroll toward a still staring Luna with plenty of sway to my hips. She licks her lips and can’t tear her gaze off me. I’m pleased to see that I’m not the only one dressed to seduce for our little rendezvous. She followed my instructions and put on those sexy black canvas overalls, but she opted to go completely topless underneath them—and fuck if that isn’t even sexier than what I had imagined.
Her tentacles start gesticulating wildly as she looks me up and down, her eyes gleaming with appreciation.
“How come I haven’t seen this little number until now?”
I bat my eyelashes. “I was saving it for a special occasion.”
She snaps out of her momentary stupor—understandable since I am fine as fuck—and one of her tentacles reaches out to land on my lower back and pull me toward her.
They’re super-talented appendages, I must say.
“I know I kind of dragged you here, so I want to make sure I’m not getting ahead of myself. Do you want this as much as I do?” I ask in all seriousness.
My hormones did get the better of me so I’m not one hundred percent sure if Luna’s as revved up as I am. After all, she had a pretty draining but positive reunion with her parents.
“If you don’t, that’s totally okay,” I hasten to add. “I won’t be offended. Lust momentarily superseded logic in my brain.”
She pulls me closer until our bodies are pressed against each other. “Hell yeah, I want this. Today was amazing for so many reasons, but the meetup with my parents went even better than I could have imagined, and I’m feeling good about rebuilding our relationship going forward. It’s like a weight’s been lifted, you know? Also, the fact that they approved of you too made me happy beyond words and willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.” She narrows her eyes. “In fact, if they hadn’t approved of you, that would have been the end of things with them for good.”
My heart skips a nervous beat, and I heave a mental sigh of relief. Thank Thekmis her parents actually used their heads and hearts.
