Page 22 of Alien Jeopardy
“Shit.” I nod emphatically. “Good pronunciation on that one.”
He beams at me, and damn if my legs don’t try to turn to jelly at the way the smile transforms his face.
“Alright,” I say, making up my mind. My hands fly to my hips, and my mouth scrunches to the side. Overhead, the drone buzzes loudly as it zooms closer. “If I’m here, I’m going to do this. Did I want a mate? No!” I yell, slashing an X with my hands in front of my body. He blinks.
Too loud, okay.
He nods encouragingly, though, and I clear my throat before beginning again.
“No, I did not,” I repeat, because I need to remember that no matter what Little Miss Pussy Galore down below is telling my brain, we are not banging. We are so not banging the hot dragon alien. “Did I know that we would be abducted and put on an alien planet for this show immediately? No!”
“No,” he agrees, just repeating the word like a hot dragon parrot.
I snap my fingers at him. “Exactly. But now that I’m here, am I going to let that stop me from winning?”
“No,” he yells at me, and I nod fervently, pacing and talking with my hands, like I can mime my way into communicating with him.
“So we can’t fly,” I flap my arms at him, and his eyes widen. “And we aren’t going to bang,” I say, doing some very illustrative hip-thrusting. “But we can fucking win!” I yell, throwing my arms into a victory V. “And if there’s one absolutely terrible thing about me, it’s how competitive I am. I will ruin friendships over Monopoly.” I mime throwing dice, still pacing. My tone is increasingly unhinged, but I’m going with it. “And don’t even get me started on Scrabble. If you can’t spell well, you best not take on the queen.”
I place an imaginary crown on my head, then pretend to sit my ass on a throne. Nearly immediately, my thighs start to shake, so I abandon the fake throne pretty damn quick.
He stares at me.
I stare at him.
He blinks, then descends upon me in a flurry of whirling limbs and wings.
“What the fuck?” I squeak, taking a step back and falling straight on my ass.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Ka-Rexsh
My little human mate is attempting a mating dance.
It is clumsy, and it is not the way of my people, but she is enthusiastic and loud. I am thoroughly charmed by her alien efforts.
I knew the people of her planet were primitive, yes, so far behind in the sciences and evolution that they have nearly no skills to speak of, but I did not know that they still used something as strange as a mating dance.
Still.
What else could it possibly be? She is adorable, with her nonsense burbling and her cute hornless head as she squats and touches her temple.
She pauses, her expressive eyebrows quirking up, her brown eyes wide as her appreciative gaze skates over my skin.
I brush off the feeling of awkwardness, and snap my wings to their fullest extension, doing my best to perform a dance that is sure to impress the strange little human.
Spinning on my heels, I advance towards her, trying not to grimace at my clumsy interpretation of what I’m sure isa time-honored mating ritual of her species. What I lack in choreography and precision I try to make up for with sheer enthusiasm.
I close my eyes, losing my inhibitions to movement, and by the time I finish and open my eyes, I know I’ve done my very best. My heart skips within my chest, so eager for her reaction to my overtures in a way she will understand.
My mate stares up at me from the ground, her lush lips round with surprise.
“Whaattheefaack?” she screeches, scrabbling back like a rock crab on her palms and feet.
My eyes narrow.
