“Bah, I can nap in between feeding the monsters. Let’s go. I’ll tuck you in.”
Grayson meant that literally. He held her hand as he led her across the hall to her apartment. Shooed her into the bathroom so she could refresh herself. She emerged in less-than-sexy cotton pajamas to see he waited by the bed, sheets turned down, ready for her to crawl in.
He patted the mattress. “In you go.”
“You’re being awfully bossy,” she grumbled.
“Think of it as being caring. You need to be at your best because tired people make mistakes.”
She countered with, “Speed is of the essence.”
“Unless you’re planning to head to Toronto to test the water on a rampaging full-sized alien, you’re going to need to wait until Blue gets a little bit bigger.”
“I hate it that you’re right,” she grumbled, crawling into her bed.
“Ah, the words I rarely hear,” he teased, pulling up the blankets to her chin. “Nighty night. Hopefully, by morning, I’ll have a proper-sized alien for you to test the water on.”
“That would be helpful,” she stated with a yawn. “I still don’t like the fact you’re giving up your sleep to help me, though. Maybe we should both rest, maybe catch that sunrise we spoke of.”
“While I would love nothing more than to spend the night with you, we both know there wouldn’t be much sleeping.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“You can barely keep your eyes open,” he chided, a valid point since her lids sat at half-mast. “I’d like you to be awake when we make love.”
“You sound awfully certain that’s going to happen.”
“Are you, the scientist, denying what is bound to happen?”
Her lips curved. “All evidence points to it being a foregone conclusion.”
“And I’d like for that first time to be memorable and not have me doubting my prowess if you suddenly fall asleep during a crucial moment.”
A soft giggle escaped her. “Very well. No sunrise this time.”
He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her temple with a murmured, “Soon, though, because a man only has so much willpower.”
And with that promise, she fell asleep.
CHAPTER 17
The alien eyedGrayson the moment he walked into the containment chamber, the first time it had shown interest in anyone.
Could it be because it sensed Grayson wasn’t fully human anymore? A fact Grayson struggled with even as he enjoyed the benefits. The training session he’d endured would have sent the old him to the sauna, then a massage therapist, followed by pills for muscle relief. Now? He’d sluiced off the sweat and was good to go.
So good he’d been tempted to crawl into bed with Leila. However, the timing wasn’t right. She truly did need her sleep, the dark circles under her eyes being a big indicator. Not to mention, the dire situation couldn’t have them screwing around. Leila needed a big alien to test, and with Asterion taking a break, that left Grayson to take on the task.
“Hey, you ugly fucker. Hungry?”
Blue tilted its head and hissed. Mini Blue paused its clawing of the glass to stand beside his father—for lack of a better term—and also uttered a noise.
Insane how quick they grew. Blue now reached his knee.
“Hey, Tower, can you dump a quarter cow in the tank?”
No reply, but a blink later, a heap of meat sat in the middle of the space.
Little Blue dove onto it and began tearing at the flesh, but Big Blue went rigid, head tilted back, jaw agape, and its eyes clouded over.
