Earth Husbands are Odd (Earth Fathers #2) - Lyn Gala Page 0,57

for each moment he could bask in Rick’s presence. He was beautiful, flowing past aliens and gliding over a bench to avoid a milling group of gossipers who hadn’t moved out of his way. He was strong and so damn smart. He didn’t need to have boned leg tentacles or a neck to be perfect.

Max pressed his body against the screen, and a vibration ran through the metal. Half afraid of some security measure, Max stepped back. The wall then slid up like a garage door so the camera image of the hearing was projected on the ceiling. Max could see into the courtroom and see Rick charging at him, tentacles waving and his tool hat flopping as it started to slide backward.

Still too stunned to move, Max was knocked backward onto the bench and tentacles were all over him. All over.

“Hey, kids in the room,” Max said. They had agreed that naughty touching would not happen in front of the children, and Rick was violating that in spectacular fashion. For a second, Rick froze. The tip of a tentacle pressed against Max’s hole, and most of Rick’s tentacles were under Max’s clothing. With a breathy raspberry that came very close to a sigh, Rick withdrew most of his tentacles. He did leave one under Max’s shirt curled around his nipple and a few around Max’s waist, but that was almost not inappropriate.

Kohei blew raspberries and stood where Max’s cell joined the courtroom. “What happened? Did we win?” Max asked.

Rick bellowed. “Query. Win what?” There were so many things Max wanted to win. His freedom would be high on the list, as would a guarantee that his family would keep their ship.

Kohei answered before Max could figure out which question to ask first. “Max Father, this was evidentiary hearing. There was no winning. But now the authorities have questions on evidence of husbanding.”

All the air went out of Max’s lungs and his thoughts scattered. Rick tightened his tentacles, and Max managed a weak, “That wasn’t a trial?”

Both Kohei and Rick stared at him.

“Query,” Max added belatedly.

Kohei blew bubbles.

Rick was a little more sympathetic. “If authorities accuse you of wrong doing, a judgment or liability takes many, many months. On Earth television, trials move slow. They keep going and going and going.” Rick and his love of commercials.

“This looked like a courtroom. I thought...” Max closed his eyes.

“Max Father, I am sorries for not explaining,” Kohei said now that he had finished laughing at Max. “Rational creatures cannot judge so fast.”

“Sentient and rational are not the same.” Max noticed that neither of them disagreed with him. “So, did the hearing go our way?”

“Authority believes Max is not moron species. Navigation program is not sold,” Rick said. More and more aliens were leaving the courtroom... or evidentiary hearing room.

“Where’s Dee?” Max asked.

“Other room. Same hearing.” Kohei gestured toward the side Max couldn’t see from his current position.

“We should go find her.”

Dee hadn’t known that Carrington was using her. If the universe was just, Carrington was going to have to pay a fine or at the very least, look like an idiot. Bitch. Max realized both his family members were watching him. Rick was motionless, and Kohei was rotating in confusion. Max stood, or at least he tried to. Rick was heavy. He lifted Rick an inch and then they collapsed back down onto the bunk.

Rick untangled his tentacles.

Max tried to find the words that would allow him to explain why he worried about Dee. From their point of view, it didn’t make sense, but he didn’t want his family to blame her for any of this mess. “She warned me and tried to get me out before the guards showed up.”

“How would leaving Carrington’s ship have made improved evidence?” Kohei asked.

Well, shit. Kohei had a valid point. Max was in the middle of a con, so whether the authorities caught him there or later, it didn’t matter. Eventually they would have found him outside the ship, with or without Dee’s warning. Hiding wouldn’t have improved their legal position, but Max had an instinct to run for home. Max stood and tightened his hold on Rick's tentacle. “Let’s go see if she is all right.”

Rick didn’t say anything, but he did start toward the main room. His tentacles didn’t even curl much. Most of the aliens had left now. Bundy and his entourage hovered near the exit, but everyone else had gone. The judge came off the table once Max stepped into the