All I Wanted Was To Become A Scientist But Now I've Got An Alien Boyfriend (Bubble Babes #2)

by Petra Palerno

“It’s okay not to be okay. We’re all working through this fucked-up shit together,” Camille says with a calming authority. She’s the kind of person who can be strong for the group. She’s the one who recommended all of us Earth gals have these group therapy sessions. People kind of just assumed she had some kind of psychology degree because she was so good at getting us to open up. We discovered the truth when someone referred to Camille as “Doctor.” “Oh, don’t get it twisted. I’m not a therapist. Back on Earth, I was a daycare provider. But before that, I was president of my sorority. More importantly, I’m the oldest daughter, and y’all are my little sisters now, whether you like it or not.” Somehow, it didn’t make her help any less valid. Some people are just good at peopling.

I can see a butterfly tattoo peeking out near the collar of her shirt and wonder what species it might be—I have a feeling she wouldn’t know if I asked her, though. Just because it’s your special interest doesn't mean anyone else cares, I remind myself. There’s no worse feeling than being excited to share something you think is cool and be met with bored or annoyed faces.

I had been accommodating the way the rest of the world thought and interacted my entire fucking life. Would it kill anyone to accommodate me?

My face twists in a scowl at the thought of any woman in this room touching my alien. My alien? Fuck, that wasn’t what I meant. Seth, big old Gray Seth. I’m just territorial because he’s my one real friend here. That’s it, nothing pervy…friendship.

“Sorry, your eyes reminded me of the chapel stone for a moment…the green is a very specific color. It's thought to be one of the most beautiful colors in the universe,”

“How flattering, eyes like rocks.” She raises an eyebrow, obviously not understanding that I am hitting on her. I used to assume this was some fun hard-to-get game she wished to play, a human courting ritual perhaps. It didn’t take me long to see she is actually clueless that I care for her.

I hold her in my arms. I know I won’t sleep tonight, but I’m more than happy to be slept on. This is enough for now. I bury my nose into the red curls of her mane and savor the scent of her hair. For now.

“Earthmen sound like f’teeing children. You’re in pain monthly to continue your species, and they feel the need to complain? Are they as weak in form as they are in their constitutions?”

“If I get word that you so much as upset that precious baby angel right there, I will rip your sucker clean off your body. You will catch these hands, am I clear?” she threatens me under her breath. I hold back a laugh. “I said am I clear, Gra’eth?” I steady myself. “Crystal, Your Highness.”

Nuances, the word sticks in my head. There are so many between Seth and me. I’m comfortable with him most of the time. But part of me doesn’t want to give in to the stupid mate bond. I don’t want my life and relationships to be chosen by some divine alien force. Or alien hormones, god, I don’t know. I want to choose. I want my control back.

I fucking love the way this jerk tastes, but I’d never admit it to him.

She looks ridiculous, and I can't help but smile. Despite my mate's emotions running so wildly hot and cold, despite how I still want to murder the duke. This is something I want to hold on to, this tiny moment of bliss on her face.

“Please, untie me,” he begs, “so that I can kneel before the altar of your awe-inspiring cunt. Let me feast on its perfection.”

I want Seth to make me come, and I want to not feel bad about it. I want to trust someone completely again. “I want you to make me feel good. I trust you.”

“You will always be enough.” His face turns serious as I point my body in the same direction as his.

Cocking his head, his nostrils flare as he draws her scent into his olfactory systems. He tucks his hand quickly behind his back. “You’ll excuse the offense. I didn’t realize that you two…” “We what?” Jessy asks, her voice straining. “Well, I can smell him all over you, little human,” he says under his breath. Jessy’s mouth twitches in agitation. Is this some attempt at decency after his former comments? “So, you respect me only because of which man I’m associated with?” Jessy’s voice gets a louder with barely contained anger. Maybe it’s just the duke, maybe the dead body of her former captor, or just seeing all these women needing her help. Jessy isn’t f’teeing kidding around. “Dignitary Whitley, I think you’re confused about our customs here…” “Duke Raf’ere, I think you’re confused about who you can and can’t take advantage of.” She puffs out her chest but grabs my palm tightly. She’s brave on her own—but with me at the ready, she is the electricity, and I am the ground wire. “You will never speak to me or any woman again like you did yesterday.” The duke’s face blanches. “I was told humans were forward sexually, but I didn’t realize they were similarly forward in other arenas.” Jessy’s face shifts and I swear you can hear the final straw snapping as she steps closer to the duke. “Sexually forward? We’re not fucking playthings,” she grits out through her teeth. “We’re victims of this universe’s sick sexual trafficking. The Deenz drugged us to perform, they took our agenc...

“I’m proud of you,” I say. “Thank you for not stepping in, for letting me handle it.” “You seem to have quite the handle on it, and I’m almost sad I didn’t get to break his jaw.” I smile, and Jessy rolls her eyes.

Maybe I do want more with him…There’s something about this gray guy that just grounds me. He makes me feel safe enough to speak my mind again—to stick up for myself and the other humans here on Sontafrul 6. Sex isn’t even as scary anymore because I know when I ask him to stop, he will. He lets me be in control, and it’s exactly what I need.

As much as I want to forge my own path after my rescue…maybe we’re better together? Not in some toxic, codependent way where I need him for everything—but in a way where I want to be with him. Where I can feel his strength even when he’s not there. Something quiet has been growing between us. We’ve blossomed together in ways I don’t think we could have apart. I feel it, somewhere deep in my chest. Looking at his gray hand in mine, thinking about how he didn’t get mad when my anxiety consumed me last night. Oh god, I love Gra’eth.

“Love…the word doesn’t feel strong enough.” Bringing his face down to mine, he places featherlight kissed on my forehead with his downy soft lips. I open my eyes and try to be brave. One look, and I know he’s telling the truth. His face is filled with reverence for me. “You’re my mate. I would burn this planet to the ground if you asked me. Love you? Of course I do, but there’s so much more than that. There’s a feeling beyond love, beyond the mate bond, that I don’t know how to put into words.”

“You’ll need to work up to me, Jessy,” he says with hungry eyes as he steps closer. “Your cunt”—he drags a finger slowly through my wetness—“my cunt”—he licks the shell of my ear—“will need to be stretched for my cock, your cock.”

Fuck, can you come just from dirty talk? Because I am so close.

“Tell me you want me to fuck you again,” he teases, running the tip of his dick through my folds. “Tell me you want your mate to fuck you.”

Stupid fucking Jessy believing that her boss wasn’t trying to grope her in that closet. Stupid fucking me who believed the academic world would respect me. So fucking stupid that I believed Gra'eth was a good man who loved me.

“I know, beautiful, transformative, and brutal.” I don’t tell him the kinship I feel with the winged insects. The bubble, my cocoon, and my metamorphosis to hopefully being a stronger person after my trauma one day.

On that first visit to the crash site, I noticed that the black sand arched in familiar patterns around tiny fragments of magnetics in the ship’s scattered debris. The black sand of Sontafrul 6 has magnetic properties. I speculate it gets its color from iron, but we can’t be sure of that without proper testing. By running the ship’s current through the Faraday core, I have essentially induced a magnetic field for the entire sandbar.

Worst-case scenario, I die…but at least I got them out. And I kept my promise. I jumped.

When I breathe in again, that faint scent I couldn’t place fills my senses. It consumes me entirely. Turning my head to the side, I open my eyes. A pale human face, framed by a short blunt black haircut, is opposite my own. She moans, wincing as she shifts slightly. She smells like the flowers of the ram’bola fruit trees from my hometown…she smells like home.

My mate has a broken heart. Maybe this is the goddess punishing me for Jessy.

“I love you,” I choke out, as he picks up the pace, his balls slapping against me. “You are my entire reason for existence.” He throws his head back. “You are my home. I am a shell without you, and I will keep you safe until my dying breath!”

Then there are people like me, who may never want to have children. I don’t want to have to wrap it up all the time. Sometimes it’s nice to get bred without actually having to breed, ya know?

“Gra’eth…are you dusting me with cinnamon?” “Yes, because if you’re going to force me to lick dairy off your body, I’m going to at least like the taste of it.” He seems pleased as punch as he finishes garnishing me. “Isn’t cinnamon worth a ton of money?” I ask dubiously as I see the amount of the spice I’m covered in. “Yep, and you’re worth more than all the cinnamon in the galaxy,” he says, leaning over to lick the whipped cream off my nipple. I arch my back, feeding the quickly hardening bud into his lips. “Worth.” He licks down my navel. “Every.” He loops his tongue around my belly button. “Damn.” He puts his hand on my hips, pulling me closer to him. “Credit.”

He’s only slightly insufferable, but he’s completely mine. I realize that I’ve finally found my place, and strangely enough, it’s in outer space and in love with an alien. I’m so goddamn happy.