Alien in the Family

still holding a torch for the idea of me and Chuckie as a couple. It wasn’t really like her to keep on once my decision had been firmly made. I got the impression Mom really wanted me to be positive I wanted to marry Martini because she was worried about more than whether I’d really picked the guy who was right for the long haul.
    Of course, Chuckie’s family were humans who adored me. Though Martini’s parents seemed to sort of like or at least tolerate me. Now. Chuckie’s family also weren’t invading from another planet to pass judgment on me. Maybe Mom had a point. Maybe the invading aliens had a point—I wasn’t exactly Princess Diana material. I did my best to think about flowers so I didn’t give Martini any emotional signals.
    “Okay, fine. What are we supposed to do, though?”
    “Do? Figure out what’s coming and how to stop it while listening to Charles and not getting yourselves killed.” Mom didn’t add the “duh” in there, but it was clear that she’d just exercised impressive self-restraint.
    “Duly noted. We have to listen to Chuckie?” I wasn’t the one who had problems listening to Chuckie, of course, but I felt I had to represent Martini’s interests here.
    “Yes. Unless you resign and all the A-Cs leave the planet. Let me mention that I don’t think that’s a viable option for anyone, nor is it the option I, personally, think anyone should exercise.”
    “Good to know. Any other words of wisdom?”
    “Please God find a decent wedding dress soon, so the rest of us can figure out what we’re going to be wearing.”
    “Thanks for focusing on the big picture, Mom.”
    “Any time, kitten. Love you and love to Jeff.”
    “Love you, too, Mom, and same to Dad.” We hung up, and I felt exhausted again. “Normally talking to my mother doesn’t make me want to sleep for a week.”
    “Your body’s responding to stress,” Martini said, as he stood us up, still holding me, in one fluid motion. A-Cs were super strong as well as super fast. He carried me into the bedroom. “You want to talk about the situation, plan the wedding, or go to bed?”
    I didn’t have to give this one much consideration. “Bed.”
    Martini chuckled. “I meant to sleep.” Martini’s other super skills were empathic and bedroom. He said lust was an easy emotion to pick up, particularly mine. Then again, it was an easy guess, because I was always lusting after him.
    “Oh, so did I. You know . . . after.”
    Martini grinned. “I love how you focus on the priorities.”

CHAPTER 7

    AFTER AN IMPRESSIVE SEXUAL DISPLAY for a normal human, but what was bedroom business as usual for Martini, we fell asleep. I woke up hours later, his arms tight around me. I nuzzled into his chest, and he gave a sleepy growl.
    I estimated we’d fallen asleep an hour or so after dawn. It was still daylight—the internal lighting was on full. But I had no guess as to what time it really might be.
    Before either one of us was fully awake, a voice came through the intercom. “Commanders Martini and Katt, Supreme Commander Reynolds requests your presence at a briefing.”
    “Supreme Commander?” Martini sounded wide awake. “Gladys, what the hell?”
    “He knows you well. Mister Reynolds said that would probably wake you. And to tell you he’s kidding, about the title, not the briefing.”
    “Hilarious guy. Remind me to punch him when we get to the briefing. Fine, Gladys, please tell Mister Power Mad we’ll be there as soon as possible.”
    “An hour,” I shouted. “At least an hour.”
    “I’ll pass that along, Commander Katt.”
    “Thanks, Gladys.” The com went dead.
    “You know, I hated Reynolds enough before I found out he was interested in marrying you. This is going to be sheer hell, having to take orders from him.”
    “He’s just got an interesting sense of humor.” I sat up and stretched.
    “Mmmm, do that some more.” Martini stroked my breasts.
    “Oh . . . Jeff . . . we have to . . . get dressed . . .” My voice trailed off as he moved his mouth to help his hands with the work of sending me to orgasm heaven.
    In light of our upcoming briefing session, he used the speedy approach. I was yowling like a cat in heat, my standard reaction, within a minute and climaxing within the usual two. Martini looked extremely pleased with himself as he got out of bed, picked me up, and headed us into the shower.
    I was always in the Happy Place if we were showering together. Somehow, we managed to fit