His Human (The New Neighbors #2) - M.A. Innes Page 0,1

I failed to notice the marshmallow-throwing tease leaning against my car until it was too late.

“How did you get through the checkout so fast?”

Okay, not the most relevant question I could have asked, but he took it somewhat seriously which was kind of cute. Holding out several tentacles, he smiled. “I am very efficient at self-checkout.”

Barking out a laugh, I nodded. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

His smile seemed to get a bit wicked, but it wasn’t until he started to speak that I realized how right my guess had been. “Additional limbs make us very efficient at numerous things.”

Yeah, he could have been talking about building shit or emptying the dishwasher…but I didn’t think so.

“I…um…” I felt my face heating up, but I wasn’t sure what to say.

If it’d been Cameron and George standing there saying something wicked, I’d have had a thousand dirty comebacks…but this wasn’t George.

This was…

George was safe. He was head-over-heels for Cameron, but I’d never had any of them looking at me anywhere close to that. There’d never been the same level of ownership like the way this guy looked at me. It might have been just me, but I didn’t think I was seeing something that wasn’t there.

“I know.”

Shit.

His face slid back into the pleasant, almost blank expression I was used to seeing from them. I scrambled to fix it. “No, I mean, my friend is in a…well, they’re…I mean…”

I sounded like a moron.

Okay, words weren’t my most efficient form of communication right now. Remembering what Cameron had said, I focused my thoughts on how sexy I thought the man standing in front of me was and how curious I was about him.

Ha. At least I got something right.

The guy’s teasing expression started to return as he must have smelled my reaction to him. It was super weird, but at the moment, I appreciated the simplicity of it. “You are friends with one of us?”

That was a reasonable guess and helped to jump-start my brain. “Um, no, well, kind of. My best friend is in a serious relationship with someone who’s…I mean, he’s one of you guys.”

I’d worded that badly, but he just smiled. “Ah, am I to assume that it is a very…significant relationship between them?”

Nodding, I swallowed several times, trying to decide how to respond. Cameron said that while most vanilla humans might not understand, their relationship was something to be sought after in the alien community.

“Um, they’re in a BDSM relationship…I mean they’re partners…” Shit. What had George called them? “No, George says they’re bonded.”

His eyes widened. “Ah, I have heard rumors of that being possible but have not known anyone in that type of relationship.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of that, so I kept going. “They didn’t realize it was a thing either.”

While it had come as a surprise to Cameron, he’d taken the idea really well. I guess it helped that he had a Dom with a dirty mind who lived for taking control and who might as well have been reading his every thought.

Reading body language was nothing compared to being able to smell desire in a sub.

I must have been thinking about that a little too hard because his smile looked almost wicked for a quick second and a tentacle started stroking my ankle. It was technically a very innocent touch and I was in public with what was usually the most well-behaved species in the universe, so there was no reason to worry, but I had to fight back the urge to moan.

When the tip slipped under the leg hole of my jeans and stroked my calf, I couldn’t hold back the shiver. His face was still pleased and I could see a hint of the wicked side peeking out, but he was too damned relaxed for what he was doing to me.

“What is your opinion on the bonding my people sometimes form?” He had to repeat the words twice before I caught everything.

“I…um…” I swallowed as his tentacle wrapped around my ankle and started caressing it almost like it was my dick. The constant slow twisting motion had me hard and more distracted than I’d ever been just standing in a parking lot.

Fuck.

I was in the parking lot of the grocery store.

“We’re in public.” Yeah, that would’ve sounded better if it hadn’t come out so breathy and low.

He made a sound like he was very pleased with himself and kept up the teasing touch. “Your people’s domination relationships have very specific words to stop physical