Page 67 of 20% Stud 80% Muffin
I could work with Makir learning to trust himself.
I reached for his hand under the water. “If you can learn to swim, you can learn to trust yourself. I believe in you.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “But more than anything…I want you to trust me.”
His lips lifted in a smile.
24
Ididn’t recognize theversion of Geo standing outside his office this morning, but his unabashed happiness had me smiling to match his, and my heart soared.
“Hey, you, stud muffin, come here and give me some love.” A female human with sleek silver-white hair and a black bangs laughed when Geo scooped her up effortlessly. Her tall boots lifted off the ground, and pink dust floated from his puppy doggies, who pawed at his legs. I couldn’t help but notice the dark smudges under her eyes, but dismissed them. She’d spent the last two weeks on a space shuttle, and maybe it was an everyday look for humans. I only knew oneother.
“Quit teasing me, Ging.” Geo’s cheeks glowed as he let Ginger down. Finally letting her go, he swept up his dogs next, and they bathed his face and beard with their little tongues. His eyes sparkled when he turned toward me, and the smile on his face grew even wider, sending my heart into a full gallop.
Ginger’s hips swung as she sashayed toward me.Is this how all Earth females look?A cloud of something flowery enveloped me as she wrapped me in her arms. She was as tactile as an omega, and I immediately liked her. “I don’t know what you’ve done to my friend, Makir, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
She would have had to be blind to not see the hearts in my eyes. If Geo had changed because of me, I’d changed even more so.
I shrugged. “There was nothing to do. He’s always been great.” I might’ve been pushing the truth a little, but making a good impression with the best friend was important.
“What’s a stud muffin?” My lips pursed over the translator’s images—a creature labeled ‘horse’ and what appeared to be some type of handheld bread. Neither reminded me of Geo.
Ginger laughed at the confusion that must have been clear on my face, throwing her head back just as JayJay exited the sono. He stilled with one foot outside and the other planted inside. Geo and I peered at JayJay, who appeared frozen by Ginger’s laughter.
Ginger bent down to pat Charz and Pika, newly released from Geo’s arms. “A stud muffin is a silly expression back on Earth that describes an attractive male with lots of muscles and the good looks to match.” She glanced at JayJay, still in the entryway, then back to me. “Though technically, a stud is the finest male livestock used to breed females and produce strong offspring, and a muffin is a breakfast cake.”
“English is a strange language.” JayJay’s deep voice rumbled. The dogs bounded toward him, and he crouched to greet them.
I tested Ginger’s words. “Hey, stud muffin, come here and give me some love.”
Geo prowled toward me, his hungry eyes eating me up. His alpha pheromones transformed the lighthearted moment. The muscles in his thighs bunched, drawing the fabric taut, and his strut had my tether zinging as he drew nearer.
The predatory look in his eyes turned my mouth dry, and I gulped. Fragrant warm summer fields mixed with Geo’s fresh-from-the-shower scent engulfed me. I purred as Geo’s cheeks flushed and his calloused hands wrapped around my wrist.
The dogs’ piercing cries alerted me to the new arrivals, and I dragged my gaze away from Geo’s and over my shoulder. Bonic and Jast were currently mesmerized by Charz and Pika’s exuberant greeting.
Bonic brushed pink paw prints from his shins. “Enough of that, brother of mine.” He glanced at where I still had my hands cinched in Geo’s shirt. “Or else we will never make it on this adventure you and Geo have planned.” Bonic’s announcement caused Geo’s cheeks to flush further.
Jast and Ginger stood to the side, smiling like fools.
Geo brushed the inside of my wrist, and his calloused thumb sent sparks through my body. I raised my eyebrow at him and forced myself to step away.
“Happy morning, brother.” I rushed to my brother and Jast’s side and wrapped my tail around their already joined ones.
“This is Ginger, Geo’s friend visiting from Earth”— I gestured to them—“and JayJay, Geo’s foreman.”
Geo ushered Bonic and Jast toward the warehouse after greetings were exchanged. “Sully has loaned you his hoverbike for the day,” he said. Sully and his family waved from the doorway. They’d come to the sono to visit their friends for the rotation.
Sully’s younglings ran out to play with Pika and Charz, and laughter rang through the air.
“Are you sure you don’t mind watching them for the day?” Geo asked Sully for what must have been the fifth time.
“You will be lucky if you get your puppy doggies back, Geo. Now go have your picnic.” Sully gazed at Charz and Pika as they jumped in and out of the laps of his younglings, a fond expression on his face.
“Ginger, you’re with JayJay,” Geo said, and soon the hoverbikes were loaded with supplies.
I waved at Janny where he leaned against one of Makir’s loaner bikes in the distance, nearby but never intruding.
“Why does he have a mask dangling around his neck?” Geo asked Bonic.
