Page 118 of Roping Her Alien Ranchers

“It is simply the World of Many Waters.” Kalith was the one to answer my question. “But it goes by other names. I am unsure which, if any, we imparted to you.”

I was being stupid. I knew that. Exhaustion always made me irrational.

“I’m tired and still a little drunk,” I admitted, feeling the lingering effects of whiskey softening the edges of reality. “Are you sure I’m not dreaming you?”

Cyro’s tentacle brushed a strand of hair from my face, his touch sending shivers down my spine. His human hands touched my shoulders and gently turned me. He gave my upper body a gentle push, and I laid down across the cushions without protesting. “We will be here when you wake,” he promised. “And the day after, and all days to follow.”

“We love you, Tammy,” Kalith said the words I needed to hear to succumb to sleep. To trust that this was all real.

42

TAMMY

Alien magic carpet ride, no UFO required…

Iwoke up with a start, arms splaying outward, finding nothing but the sofa’s rear cushions and the blanket I’d apparently pulled over myself before falling asleep.

“It was a dream,” I moaned, lashes fluttering, head tilting from side to side, eyes finding only moonlight splashed across everything around me. I’d gotten skunk drunk again and I’d imagined their return. “I never want to dream again.”

Tears welled in my eyes. I closed them quickly, desperate to fall back asleep, desperate to dream again. But I was wide awake now, hot dampness slipping from between my lids to wet my face.

“Tammy, we’re here.” It was Cyro’s voice.

Just another figment of my grief.

“We came back.” Vantor’s voice.

Fake! Fake words manufactured by a broken heart!

“Open your eyes, Tammy.” Kalith’s voice now.

I couldn’t open my eyes. If I did, I’d have to face the reality that I was alone.

But then I was being gently touched, several somethings tracing the tear tracks, claiming the moisture.

I bolted upright, even though it made my head throb.

Tentacles writhed around me.

And they were attached to Cyro, Vantor, and Kalith.

My aliens weren’t an otherworldly presence any longer. They were here, where they belonged. They deserved to be here just as much as I did. I’d bought Sunflower Hills, but they’d saved it.

“You’ve barely slept, Tammy. We’re here. Try to sleep again,” Vantor urged.

“I don’t want to sleep. I don’t want to miss a moment with you.”

Moonlight spilled through the windows, painting stripes of cool brightness across the worn floorboards and illuminating swirling particles. My head still buzzed with disbelief, but the tentacles that brushed against my skin—cool, silken touches that sent electricity racing through my nerves—were undeniably real. They had come back. They had chosen me.

“I want you all. I want you so badly.” I almost whimpered out the words, sounding pathetic.

But I didn’t care how I sounded. The look in their eyes, concern shifting to outright hunger, told me that they wanted me just as badly. They moved closer. Kalith sat next to me on the right and Cyro positioned on my left. Vantor knelt in front of the sofa, running a human hand up my blanket-covered leg.

“I haven’t showered,” I blurted out, suddenly self-conscious about my tear-stained face and whiskey-soured breath. “I’m a mess.”

Cyro smiled, caressing my shoulder. “Your natural scent is,” he said, his voice carrying that bubbling-brook quality that made my insides clench, “extraordinarily appealing.”

A tentacle brushed my cheek, the gentle suction of its underside pulling slightly at my skin. A wave of goosebumps cascaded down my body in response. My nipples tightened beneath my thin tank top, and I felt a rush of wetness between my thighs that had nothing to do with the remnants of alcohol in my system and everything to do with the three sets of alien eyes fixed on me with unrestrained desire.