Alana rested her cheek against Ice’s chest and snuggled into him and the covers. She’d quickly grown used to sleeping next to him, and the difference between his coolness and the warmth of the bed had become a familiar comfort.

His hand glided up and down her back and hip, and her breasts pressed against the side of his chest. They fit together perfectly. Ice sighed in contentment as both their heartbeats slowed.

Their lovemaking had grown more and more intense the more time they spent together. So much so that smiles and laughter from Ice were part of everyday instead of rare occurrences.

“Wife,” he said softly. “I enjoy thinking of you in that way. My wife.”

“I like it, too.” She kissed his chest. Alana had thought she might never marry—on earth. But when Ice asked her to be his wife, she hadn’t even needed a second to consider what it meant. She’d said yes almost before he’d finished the question. She knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. “I like referring to you as my husband.”

She’d been so touched when he’d wanted to arrange a wedding ceremony that rivaled the ones she’d described to him on earth—where the brides dress up and feel like a princess for a day. He’d wanted it to be magical for her, and she’d been moved by his caring.

But she hadn’t wanted any of that. Having Ice look at her and genuinely smile, his light eyes shining with love for her, had been all the magic she’d needed.

A soft smile graced his face. “I never imagined there could be more to life besides the pursuit of scientific knowledge.” He squeezed her bottom. “But being in love with you, touching you, that has become as important to me as anything I’ve ever done. I’m glad the prime minister sabotaged our ship. If I hadn’t been forced into the quick decision of bringing you with us, none of this would have happened.”

Alana laughed. “No. Because I thought you were either a gay couple or trolling cosplayers. We certainly wouldn’t have spent much more time together.”

Ice held her tighter, as if the very thought of it troubled him. “Then I owe Hallow a debt of gratitude, as misguided as his actions were. How ironic that his attempts to stop humans from bringing out Crimeans’ buried emotions are what actually caused the thing he most feared.”

Alana moved on top of Ice, straddling his hips and gazing down at him. “In trying to sabotage the mission, he made it a success, didn’t he?”

“In part.” Ice’s strong hand cupped the back of her neck and pulled her into a deep kiss. A lifetime of burying his emotions gone, Ice had proven to be the most passionate, eager lover she’d ever had. Alana melted into it and chased his lips when he tilted his head to meet her eyes. “You’re really what made it a success. Through you, we found a way to ensure our future.”

Ice slipped his hand between them and rubbed his knuckles gently across her lower belly. “And through you, perhaps even more changes are possible. Not just Crimeans falling in love with each other and reproducing, but human genes reinjected into our people. Future generations born without having evolved to suppress their feelings.”

A shiver went through Alana at the thought of bearing Ice’s child. As far as she knew, she wasn’t pregnant. Not yet. But as long as Ice was right, that their genetics had remained similar enough that pregnancy was still possible between humans and Crimeans, Alana fully expected to one day be a mother.

She could have asked for prevention. Birth control long ago designed for Crimean women could have been modified for her quite easily, Ice had explained.

Alana had just had a powerful lesson about how sometimes the things one resists can end up being what one really needs after all. By choosing to prevent pregnancy, she could be preventing something wonderful, something fulfilling that would make her and so many other people happy.

So they made love with abandon, and let the fates take care of it.

“The thought of someday carrying your child,” she whispered, grinding her hips down against Ice. “Well, you know what that thought does to me.”

“I do, my love. Why do you think I brought it up?” His wicked smile made her laugh as he rolled them over so he was above her.

“When is launch tomorrow?” she asked, giggling as he nibbled at her neck. The Campania II had been prepared and fitted to be the safest exploration ship Crimea had ever built. Sabotage was much less a worry now that the truth about Crimea had been slowly revealed to the population. The relic told the story of the eighteen humans who’d landed there and slowly populated the planet. When the citizens saw how closely the real story was to the earliest mythologies—eighteen gods appearing spontaneously in the ice and building each person from the coldest waters of the subterranean seas—the reality of their story started to click into place. They’d abandoned those myths long ago, but they knew their race had grown from a small group of people through studying genetics. Everything fit. It was fascinating to watch people discover their origins and take on a new perspective.

More importantly for Crimea, the people were opening up to the idea of emotions and love, especially those who saw the changes in Ice.

Happiness, it seemed, was contagious.

“The ship leaves at lightrise,” Ice mumbled, and licked a stripe up her throat. “Unless Commander Storm declares a mutiny and refuses to go.”

Storm seemed intrigued by Ice’s emotions but worried that his feelings could affect the strength of the military. And he balked at the idea that he should look for a mate on earth. The emperor hand-picked some of the strongest and brightest among all Crimeans to go on the mission, and Storm was one of them. They were both women and men, all tasked with mixing in with humans and learning to feel again.

Storm had crossed his arms and said, “I’m a warrior. I have no time for such things.” But the emperor had merely dropped his chin and stared at Storm until he agreed to follow his command.

Ice chuckled against her shoulder, then kissed the corner of her mouth. “Storm’s going to be a hard case. He got us kicked out of numerous places merely by talking to women. It’s going to take a female of great fortitude and patience to get through his hard-shell exterior.”

“I know a few who are capable,” Alana said, but she was tired of talking about such things. She wrapped her legs around Ice’s hips to pull him down. “But this woman is getting impatient for her husband.”

“Fiery,” he said, then kissed her so thoroughly her toes curled.

Tomorrow a whole new crew of Crimeans would leave for earth to find mates, and Alana would be in charge of helping the humans who returned to understand their roles.

Ice sank into her, making Alana cry out at the pleasure.

If the human women who came here were as lucky as she’d been, they’d be spending their days being loved by men who were just rediscovering the joys of it.

No more bridezillas. Helping humans adapt to their new lives was probably going to be the easiest job in the world.

When Ice groaned into her ear, Alana pushed those thoughts away and focused on the man she’d somehow taught to love. There would be plenty of time to consider the rest later.

Right now, she just wanted to feel.