“HIS?! Who died and made him king?” She snorted, slamming the door to her room. “Mind-blowing vacation sex isn’t enough. He wants permanent.” She growled, stalking to the bed and throwing a pillow against the wall.

The room immediately changed color, the walls turning a soothing green. She glanced up and laughed. “You’re a little too late with the soothing colors, babe. I’m going to need much more than moss-colored walls to calm my ass down.”

She sat on the end of the bed and then slumped back, her private area still slick with aftershocks and the remembered feel of Vander’s well-endowed body. Scrambling up, she stopped short at the mirror on the wall in front of her that wasn’t there before.

“Nice. Trying to make me take a look at myself, are we?” she lifted a hand to the ceiling.

Sitting, she took a quick inventory, including her kiss-swollen lips and flushed cheeks. “Okay, you get no argument from me there. The man knows his way around a woman’s body, mine in particular.”

The walls turned a questioning gray and she made a face. “No, it’s not more than that.” She shoved a hand through her hair. “Well, maybe a little. I like Vander. A lot. More than a lot.”

The gray walls thickened to a dull black and the mirror gleamed, making her reflection shimmer as if in water.

“I get it. You think I’m not looking at this clearly.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’m not. I know if I saw Vander with another girl, I’d be upset, but that’s it.” The room lights flickered. “Okay, okay…really upset. Jealous. I want him, but that’s no secret.”

The walls shifted to a pale yellow and Ivy smirked at the ceiling. “I’m so glad you agree.” Chewing on her lip, she got up and paced. “I’m talking to myself and my room is answering. How ridiculous is this?”

A pale blue spread across the walls and floor and Ivy smiled. “Confidence. Yup. I remember that.” She inhaled, letting her breath out in a quick huff. “Vander is unlike anyone I’ve ever met or likely to meet again. He’s funny and gorgeous, but we just met. He can’t expect me to leave everything behind, plus all that crazy talk about this xenos thing. Still, I’ve never felt this way about anyone. It’s like he’s in my blood or something.”

She stalked to the shower. Turning on the spray, she stepped into the hot water, letting it drench her head to toe and everywhere in between. Her mind still raced as she did a quick lather, rinse, and repeat and then grabbed a towel, stepping from the warm tile onto the floor.

A soft knock had her wrapping the towel around her body. “It opens,” she called from the bathroom.

“It’s only me, sweetheart.” Gerri’s voice called from the bedroom.

“Oh. My. GOD!” Ivy screeched

“What? What’s the matter?” Gerri rushed in to the steamy bath.

“What the hell?” A reddish swirl mark had risen on the upper part of Ivy’s left breast. “Will you look at this? I’ve got a rash.” She hissed. “And it hurts, too.”

Gerri crossed her arms in front of her chest and chuckled. “It doesn’t hurt, but I bet it tingles.”

“You know what this is?” Ivy balked. “Do I need a doctor? Is this some kind of space sex STD?”

“No, honey. It’s a marking,” Gerri replied, still laughing. “When a shifter meets their true mate, a mark will sometimes show, but only if it’s meant to be.”

“Holy hell! That goddamned pool! Vander mumbled something about local folklore and your one true mate. Damn!” She hissed, touching it again. “And freaking Kari. Her, too. She went on and on about Vander’s xenos, saying its thing would give a sign, too. Damn it.”

Gerri eyed her. “Stop fussing, Ivy, and calm down. Hysteria never helped anyone. Does Vander have the same mark?”

She shrugged. “How should I know? This just popped up on my skin after I showered.”

The older woman moved closer and reached out a hand to hover her palm over the mark. “You two had an essence pairing. I can feel the leftover power.”

“Something weird happened. Vander called it the same thing. He said his xenos knows me now and wants me or some such nonsense.”

Gerri frowned. “It’s not nonsense, Ivy. This is very significant. It means Vander Kasaval is your true mate. Unless someone else was in that pool with you.”

“No, just us.” Ivy shook her head and sat on the edge of the bed again.

“Why so glum? You can’t deny the boy knocks your socks off, not to mention setting your panties on fire. I’m a shifter, Ivy. From the scents rocketing off your body, you, my dear, have been good and fucked.” She grinned. “I knew you and Vander were meant. It’s why I granted Cassie’s wish and brought you here.”

Ivy’s eyes went wide and she got up from the end of the mattress. “So Kari was right? This was all your doing?”

Gerri shook her head. “No. This was all you and Vander. I only see what’s meant to be. There’s still free will in the mix, but if I were you, I’d think long and hard about this, Ivy. Vander is a good man. A king in his own right, just and fair—not to mention hotter than hell. I said for you to think long and hard, well, he is long and hard, and I know you get my meaning.

“Plus, Cassie is a transport ride away. You’re not going to get that close ever again if you decided to head back to Earth. The royal barge we took is stately and measured, which equates to slow. Maddox needs his pomp and circumstance, so he insisted. You can get to Nova from here in a half hour on a jet transport. Hell, Vander would let you live a Trekkie’s dream and use the intermolecular transport we talked about, if it would help you decide.”

Ivy didn’t reply, just sat with her mouth slack.

Gerri patted her hand. “Just think about it, Ivy. We meet in Vander’s audience room in an hour.”

She snorted. “Wow. Tick tock, Gerri. Thanks.”

The older woman smirked at her sarcasm. “You’re a girl after my own heart, Ivy Grimaldi. Don’t become a fool and let your pride rob you of an opportunity like this. You’ll regret it later. Trust me. You know what you want. You always have. Now, it’s up to you to have the strength to admit it to yourself. Cassie did. Now, it’s your turn.”