You've Got Fail(73)

I snickered. “Confident much?”

“This nerd got skills.” He kissed my hair. “I spelled that with a ‘z’ in case you missed it in the pronunciation.”

“Dork.” I yawned and fell asleep in the safety of his love.



An incessant knocking woke me.

Willis groaned. “What now?” He slid me off him and drew the sheet up around me. “I’ll be right back.” Snagging his pants off the floor, he pulled them on and walked into the living room. It was dark outside, and I had no idea what time it was.

After a few more moments of knocking, I heard the door open.

“Linda, what the hell?”

“What the hell yourself!” The loud clack of heels on the hardwoods cut through the air.

I rose and looked around for my clothes in vain. They were scattered through the living room. I opted for Willis’s closet and threw on one of his nerd t-shirts and a pair of his boxers.

“—you have to make a statement. Say something.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Linda’s voice was excited and far less angry than I’d expected. “Because your book preorders are through the roof, your blog has blown up—I can’t even get on it, too much traffic—and I’ve had reporters calling me nonstop.”

I walked into the living room as Willis sank onto his couch. He held his hand out for me, and I went to him.

“You, too.” Linda pointed. “They want to talk to you.”

Willis pulled me into his lap. “You look so very fuckable in my favorite Transformers t-shirt,” he whispered in my ear.

A blush crept into my cheeks.

Linda rolled her eyes. “Enough with that. I need you two to get your heads out of each other’s nether regions and do exactly as I say. Willis, post on the blog that it’s all true. Put one of those selfies on there of the two of you saying that you’re in love. Have been since the moment you met.”

I gaped at her.

She waved her hand at me. “What? It’s true. It was written all over your faces that day in my office.”

“She’s right.” Willis nuzzled against my ear.

“Scarlet, I’ll need you to book a one-on-one with Jina and spill about the subterfuge, the reasons why, and the romance that sprang from it.” She stared around the room. “Where’s the liquor?”

“Go back to the book preorders.” Willis held up a hand to catch Linda’s roving gaze. “How many are we talking?”

“I got a call from the publisher this afternoon. You’re well into New York Times territory.”

Now it was Willis’s turn to gape. “Are you shitting me?”

“No, but I may be murdering you if you don’t pour me a goddamn drink.”

“You. It’s all because of you.” He gave me the look that every woman dreams of.

I threw my arms around him and squeezed. “Us, because of us.”





Epilogue





Daphne





“She really wore this on a giant movie screen?” I spun around and checked my reflection in Jason’s bathroom mirror. The skeptical expression on my face bled into my tone. “Fangia, a warrior princess wore a bikini-looking armor top, an armored mini-skirt, and thigh-high boots with a five-inch heel? How did she fight?”

“Very sexily.” Willis strode in behind me dressed in a metal breast-plate, matching helmet, and some sort of black tights with knee pads. A crimson cape draped behind him, and his face was painted a deep shade of blue.

“The horns are a nice touch.” I giggled.

“Let me see your fangs.”

I opened my mouth for him.

“Christ, you look way better than the Fangia from the movie.” He ran his hands down my bare waist.

“Don’t mess up the body paint.” I’d been sprayed with a white, iridescent layer.

“It’s dry.” His eyes roved me in the mirror, then he glanced behind him at Jason, who was sitting in a makeup chair and getting a ridge of bony spines attached to his forehead. “That’ll take a while.” He kicked the door shut behind him.

“What are you do—”

“Shh, Fangia. If Commander Reptilian finds out about our secret tryst, he will surely kick me out of the Vocknar Fleet.”

“You must be joking.”

“Would I look like this if I was joking?” He pointed to his blue face.

I snorted.

“Right, let’s get to it before the vampires attack and try to rescue you.” He ran his hands up my thighs and hooked his fingers in my thong.

I dropped my voice an octave, trying to sound more like the movie-version Fangia. “But ScaleyThorn, if the Commander finds out—”

“Let me worry about him. And it’s Lieutenant ScaleyThorn to you.” He slid his fingers along my folds and sank them inside me.

I bit my lip. “Oh, Lieutenant, the commander never touches me like that.”

“He doesn’t have the mating ability like I do, Fangia.” He pulled my wetness from me and spread it to my clit.

I turned around, and he scooted me onto the vanity. Spreading my legs, I grabbed the edges of his cape and pulled him to me. “Show this vampire how aliens deal with their enemies.”