Page 37 of Roping Her Alien Ranchers

“We’ve established that I’m female. Are you all… male?” The question slipped from beneath my lips, darting toward them, and I desperately wanted to pull it back inside me. What was the point of asking? Why did I want to know if they were male or female?

The trio exchanged glances, put on a brief light show to rudely talk without me understanding them, then the purple alien—whose color was quickly shifting to something closer to magenta—moved a few feet nearer to me. I automatically pressed my back more firmly into the wall. There was nowhere to retreat. I’d thought I was being so brilliant positioning here so I could see them easily so they couldn’t take me by surprise with a second ink attack… or worse.

“We are the carriers of seed on our world. We are male.”

Why did his words send a thrill through me?

Why did my belly warm and my pulse quicken?

God, I’m not just a little crazy.

I’m certifiably insane.

12

TAMMY

Hide a trio of aliens like Sunflower Hills is Kansas’s very own Area-51? That’s batshit crazy!

Wind caught one side of the stable entrance, and it swung shut with another prolonged creak, sealing us all inside together.

The moment it closed, the aliens' scents intensified beyond anything I'd experienced in the open air. The enclosed space trapped their pheromones, creating an almost visible cloud of scent that filled every corner of the stable. There were hundreds of colors threading through the fog of their natural cologne. Each breath I took flooded my system with their alien musk—that impossible mixture of deep ocean, brine, sweetest lemonade, and something else that made my knees weak and my pulse race.

My body's reaction was immediate and mortifying. Heat swept through me in a relentless wave, flushing my skin and settling low and deep with an insistent throb. My heart lunged like it was trying to escape its cage, each beat sending another pulse of warmth to my core. Between my thighs, I grew embarrassingly slick, my body preparing itself without my permission or consent.

"Shit," I whispered, pressing a hand to my burning cheek. This wasn't normal. This wasn't right. I shouldn't be responding this way to alien beings, to creatures that weren't even remotely human.

But my Omega biology didn't seem to care about the rational arguments my brain was making. It only cared that it recognized a connection in their scent and was responding accordingly. I inhaled deeply, despite myself, and their individual scents began to separate in my heightened awareness. Cyro smelled of murky saltwater and coconut oil on sun-warmed skin; I was suddenly at the beach if I closed my eyes. Vantor carried notes of marshland and swamp milkweed, like rain hitting cattails combined with pink bubblegum. Kalith’s scent was earthier, reminding me of the river and the algae blooms that turned sweet as the days heated. Out of them all, Kalith awoke things in me, simply because the smell of him took me back to sandbar camping on the Kaw when I was a child.

"Why do you all smell so amazing?" The words formed before I could stop them, and I immediately tried to swallow them down, horrified by my own reaction. It was too late though; the words were alive, already carrying over to the three watchful aliens.

"Your secretions have changed significantly," Cyro mused, his translated voice analytical and curious. "Your biochemistry appears to be responding to our presence in unexpected ways. And—” he glanced at his companions— “our own bodies are reacting strangely. I need my mission log. I need to record these observations while they’re fresh.”

Warmth crept up my cheeks. Great. They could smell my freaking arousal. Could probably sense every humiliating way my body was betraying me right now. I turned around quickly, hiding the searing blush. Pressing my clammy palms against my face, I mentally urged my body to chill out.

“There is significant moisture building between her lower limbs. Fascinating.” Cyro’s voice again.

I dropped one hand, pushing it between my thighs, feeling how the slick had soaked through my pants. I could say I pissed myself. Was that less embarrassing? Of course, nothing could hide the fact I’d just crassly shoved a hand down to check for dampness.

Thankfully, I was saved by the bell… or rather the horses.

A nervous whinny sounded from just outside one of the stalls. Seconds later, Mystery came into view. Every few steps, he slammed a hoof down against the ground, making it clear that he meant business. Sassafras, to my surprise, followed in after him. She stood at his back, using his shadow for shield, her large, beautiful eyes studying what was happening inside the stables.

Neither of the horses were outright panicking, and I wasn’t sure what had shifted. Earlier, in the pasture, they’d seemed terrified of the aliens. Eyes rolled white with fear. Nostrils flared wide. Keeping as far away as possible. Yet now, they watched with cautious alertness.

"Your quadrupeds have become remarkably calm," Vantor observed, his thoughts sliding into my mind with disturbing ease. He turned slowly, the tentacles pressed against the ground beneath him carrying him a foot or so closer to the stable where the two horses stood.

"They're not exactly calm," I muttered, watching Mystery's ears pin now flat against his skull. The stallion snorted loudly, pawing at the stall floor. Behind him, Sassafras trembled visibly, her chestnut coat darkened with sweat despite the early hour.

“She is right, Vantor. Cease advancement.” Cyro reached one tentacle out, curling it around Vantor’s approximation of a shoulder. “The animals are displaying renewed fear response. Auditory protrusions flattened. Front limbs reactive.”

Vantor bobbed his bulbous head. “I observe.” He backed away, rejoining his companions in the middle of the stable.

I could practically taste the tension hanging in the air; it settled on my tongue as a metallic-sweet scent. Blood roared in my ears, each thunderous beat threatening to drown out the soft rustle of horses shifting in their stalls nearby. How had things escalated so fast? One moment I was ready to battle them with a blunt farm tool, the next I was fighting the swirling desires of four beings.

My surroundings seemed to vibrate.

Anxiety-laced warmth swirled in my belly.