Chapter 6 #2
Gemma’s expression softens. “As if that would ever happen. You, of all people, should know that I have a will of my own.” She grins. “But that being said, wherever you go, I go. We’re family, and we always will be.”
Najar nods approvingly, looking weirdly fatherly if you ask me.
Personally, I’m super glad Gemma wants to be wherever her brother is—because that also happens to be where I’m at. I am now officially a true believer in the magic of Earthling Christmas!
Felix stares at his sister with a mixture of amazement and awe. “I know, but this is such a big ask. Are you really prepared to leave behind all that you’ve worked for?”
Gemma shrugs. “I’ve already quit my job, so I’d say so.”
Felix’s eyes practically bug out of his head. “You what?”
She throws her head back and laughs, and the deep throaty sound makes my tentacles writhe with desire.
I refrain—barely—from tapping my foot in frustration.
Patience has never been my strong suit, and I’ve already been waiting to get my hands, and tentacles, on Gemma since we first met through the ship’s viewscreen.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Gemma explains. “I love helping people as a doctor, but I’ve become really fucking jaded by the American healthcare system.
Prior to all of this”—she gestures to us—“I was seriously contemplating moving to New Zealand or something, try a new experience in a place that might value actual humans and their health over profit.” She shrugs.
“Then the universe saw fit to open up a whole can of whoop-ass, er, I mean guided me on a different path, and I’m totally ready to try it out.
Besides, I can always come back if I want to.
Najar and Khephren have promised me. They’ll even let me keep my memories. ”
I gape at my friends. This is news to me.
Kheph leans closer and whispers, “Trust me. Gemma Taylor is a ruthless negotiator. She could give you a run for your money, Luna.”
Hell to the fucking yeah. I’m so into this side of her.
All sides of her, if I’m being honest.
Gemma continues undeterred, “I’ve told most of my colleagues I’m taking some time off to deal with personal family issues, but I might be back in a couple of years or so. Who knows? They were actually all pretty cool about it. Some of them were even envious.”
The smug, satisfied look on her face makes me want to swoon. A strong, independent woman fucking does it for me. Big time.
“B-but what about your medical license?” Felix sputters.
She holds up a hand and cuts him off. “That’s for me to worry about, not you. I love you, big bro, but I am a full-fledged adult now, and I have been for a long time. You’re not responsible for my life choices.”
You tell him, you fierce, sexy femme!
“I know,” Felix whispers. “I don’t want you to make a rash decision that could leave you unhappy and full of regret. Your happiness is equally as important to me as my own.”
Gemma pulls him back into a hug. “Sure, it’s a comparatively quick one, but not rash. For instance, I’ve asked all your new friends about a million questions in the process of making my decision.”
That’s true. Me, Kheph, Najar, and even Sasha have been thoroughly interrogated over the last week. I don’t know about them, but I loved the experience. I’m already envisioning a scenario in which she ties me up and interrogates me in an even more pleasurable fashion. Mmmm….
“She really has,” Sasha agrees. “It was seriously intense. I was way impressed.”
Same, bro. Same.
“She was even able to intimidate me a little, which I respect as a warrior,” Najar mutters under his breath.
I can’t hold back a dreamy sigh. “I thought it was totally hot.”
Sasha snickers. “Of course you did.”
Gemma grins at Felix. “I’m not the kind of person who’s going to make an uninformed choice over something that affects my life in a massive way.
I’ve done my research.” She gestures to the Sleigh Belle.
“And talk about kismet. This ship of yours didn’t have a medical professional on it, and now it will.
I’ll be responsible for keeping the crew healthy and medically safe during our travels.
” She rubs her hands together with obvious anticipation.
“I’m psyched to check out the high-tech equipment Luna told me your medical bay has. ”
Did I use that as a bargaining chip with her? Fuck yes, I did!
A flirty tentacle of mine playfully twirls one of my pigtails. “I’d be happy to give you a private tour, Gemma.”
Najar smirks at me knowingly, but I ignore him. After all, I’m not going to be an idiot like he was with Felix. Lesbians don’t mess around. If we’re interested, we’re pretty much all in from the get-go. Now that Gemma’s joining us, I’ll be doing my damnedest to woo the hell out of her.
A trembling Felix takes hold of Gemma’s hands, his face a picture of combined hope and worry. “You’re completely sure about this?”
I already liked Felix, but seeing how much he cares for his sister earns him major candy cane points with me!
She smiles at him, affection written all over her face.
“I love you, Felix, and I want you to be happy. You found someone special and you want to spend the rest of your life with him. There’s no way I’d stand for you turning that down because of me.
I refuse to be an impediment to true love, dammit. ”
Once again, Felix sputters. “B-but I didn’t even tell you he’d proposed.”
“Honey, you didn’t need to tell me. I knew you were falling in love with him almost from the start.
Then, of course, Najar shared all the details when he called.
So I grilled his ass like a no-nonsense MRI tech saying, ‘Did you REALLY remove all metal from your person?’ He passed the test.” She glances over at Najar.
“You’re totally Felix’s type, by the way. ”
“Oh, really?” he drawls, a smug look back on his face.
Felix blushes.
Kheph practically squees with delight and hugs Sasha tight.
Our ship is about to become a complete lovefest, but now I might actually get to join in some of the fun rather than suffering as the lone singleton on board.
“When Najar told me what was going on, I honestly wasn’t surprised.” Gemma’s expression turns mischievous. “Besides, you’ve always had a weird fascination with tentacles ever since you started reading—”
Najar immediately perks up at her words.
Felix hastily lifts a hand to cover her mouth before she can say any more.
“Enough of that now. Ahem,” he says, looking all kinds of awkward. Then he frowns at his sister. “What about all your stuff here on Earth?”
She waves a hand dismissively. “I’ve already moved all my bigger, important stuff into storage.
I had your apartment packed up and put your crap in my unit too.
By the way, you totally owe me for that.
I closed out your lease and did the same for mine.
The storage unit’s set on an auto draft, so my bank account will stay active and pay it on a monthly basis.
I’ve got plenty in there to cover that for at least several years.
Otherwise, I don’t have a whole lot tying me down here.
I will miss my trusty Subaru, but I’ve already sold it, and someone’s coming out here later to pick it up.
They’re cool with it since I gave them a good deal.
” She tilts her head. “I’ll have to figure out how I’m going to earn money while we’re gallivanting across the universe, but your friends assure me it shouldn’t be a problem. ”
Gemma is such a fucking smart, sexy badass. She’s going to fit right in on the Sleigh Belle, I can already tell.
My tentacles wave in the air like they just don’t care!
“Damn,” Felix says, shaking his head in amazement. “I haven’t even considered what I’m going to be doing in that regard.”
Her answering grin is full of satisfaction. “Duh. Your head’s been too full of lovey-dovey thoughts for you to think about anything else, don’t worry. But there are options for us. Believe me, I’ve grilled Khephren and Najar on this extensively over the last few days.”
Najar shudders.
“She would have made a skillful Dravethian warrior,” Kheph whispers at me.
Felix turns to study all of us. “You guys would really be okay with my sister becoming part of the crew?”
I’m ready to bust out the champagne and throw a parade over the fact.
Kheph steps forward, chest puffed out proudly.
“We might be an odd band of misfits, but we’re one happy family here on the Sleigh Belle—and we already consider you part of that family, Felix, so your sister was an honorary member before we ever talked to her.
After getting to know her better over the last few days, we’re confident she’ll fit right in, and we’re happy to have her. ”
My eyes sting a little. I’m so damn lucky to be part of this crew. Naj and Kheph have their flaws, but they’re loyal and honest and have huge hearts.
Gemma claps her hands loudly, her expression firm. “Okay, now that we’ve got that all cleared up, let’s get a move on. No point in staying too long out here. We don’t want any randos spotting us, do we?”
That gets our asses moving, and we spend the next fifteen minutes loading all her stuff—and there’s a lot of it—onto the ship. She definitely came prepared to be gone from Earth for a very long time. A thrill of hope and excitement races through me.
When she hands me a box, our fingers touch, and for a moment I fear I might spontaneously explode like a motherfucking supernova.
The wry grin she flashes me is sexy as hell. “I realize this is a total cliché and basically the equivalent of hitching my lesbian U-Haul to your spaceship when we barely know each other, but I hope you don’t mind.”
“You can hitch your vehicle to our ship any day,” I say, my voice coming out breathy.
She licks her lovely lips, and I can’t stop my brain from imagining other things that tongue can do…
Naj appears and grabs the box out of my hands, an arch look in his eyes.
Dammit, I know he’s gonna tease the hell out of me later. It’s only fair play since I’ve been razzing him nonstop ever since Felix joined us and it became apparent Naj had the hots for him.
Once everything else has been removed from her car and taken to the ship, Gemma pulls out a strange tank and a bag holding water and some kind of small aquatic creature.
Felix gasps in obvious delight. “You brought Wanda!”
Gemma rolls her eyes. “Of course, I brought Wanda. There’s no way I was going to leave your beloved pet behind.”
Felix gives her a big smacking kiss on the cheek and grins. “Thank you. You are seriously the best. Wait until you meet Cosmo. I hope he and Wanda get along.”
“The picture you sent me when we texted the other day was adorable. I can’t wait to make friends with him.”
“We also have many wonderful cats aboard our ship, beloved by Thekmis,” Kheph adds enthusiastically.
Today, he’s wearing his Meowy Catmas shirt and a Santa hat like mine. We’re festive as fuck, thank you very much. Earthlings could learn a thing or two from us.
“That’s cool. I like cats too,” Gemma says. “We’re pretty much a pro-animal family.”
I can only hope she’s equally receptive to me and my tentacles when it’s only the two of us.
Gemma places her key in the ignition and closes the driver’s door, leaving it unlocked. “Don’t worry,” she tells Felix. “People will do weird shit to get a good deal, especially on a car these days.”
“You really are on top of things,” Felix marvels. “Nana would be so proud.”
“I think so too.”
We all make our way onto the ship and help Gemma move her things to the room that will be hers. I’m the one who had it prepared for her in advance, just in case. After all, it was a huge, life-altering decision she had to make and with very little time to do so.
Naturally, I was also super fucking strategic in selecting Gemma’s room.
“I’m right next door if you need anything,” I say, licking my lips.
I can’t hold back a shiver of satisfaction when I notice Gemma can’t seem to stop staring at my mouth.
Merry fucking Christmas to me!
Now I need to get her alone so we can make out like there’s no tomorrow—and maybe more.