Chapter Ten
Darak
We’d no sooner entered the green bedroom than Lexi jabbed me hard in the shoulder. “How could you doubt I would go with you to Dakon?”
I rubbed my shoulder. “We’d never discussed that scenario.” Until Mrs. Sutterman’s threat, the possibility of having to leave Earth had never occurred to me. “You would have had to give up everything: your family, your friends, your bakery, your planet.”
“I’d have you.”
Her vehement words and soft expression reassured me, but I was still nervous. I tugged at the constricting collar of my tunic.
“Here, take that off.” Lexi untied the sash and pulled it off then undid the top two fastenings of the tunic. I shouldn’t be nervous. Just say it!
“That’s better. Thank you,” I said.
She undid the next fastening. “Let’s remove the rest.” Her suggestive smile caused my horns to throb, but I couldn’t allow distractions. I had things I needed to say. The Intergalactic Dating Agency assimilation class had advised us to “go slow,” and “give it time.” However, they hadn’t spelled out how slow or how much time.
She had my tunic unfastened to my waist. I grabbed her hands, and grappled for the right words.
“What’s wrong?” She peered up at me.
My heart thudded. “Will you be my mate?”
“Yes.”
“You will?”
“I will. That’s what you were going to ask me at the reception before you tackled Hoodie, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“I’d hoped that’s what it was.” Her grin filled me with light and made my head reel.
When I counted the days since we’d met, it did not add up to much time, but when I consulted my heart, I felt like I’d been with her forever. One more important question remained. I’d sought advice from her brother and sister. He said to “wait a while.” She had suggested I “go for it.”
Lexi and I came from different planets, two diverse cultures with unique ways.
“Will you marry me?” I asked.
“Yes! Yes!” She flung herself into my arms and pressed her lips to mine. I held her against me, breathing in her scent, relaxing into trust, the last vestiges of tension and uncertainty dissipating. I had claimed my mate, and we would be together until the end of our days.
Lexi pulled some metal pins from her hair and shook her head until the strands cascaded over her shoulders and flew wild around her face. My horns throbbed, transmitting tingles clear down to my loins. I cupped her cheeks and leaned in for another deep kiss.
She pulled my tunic from my leggings and splayed her palms on my chest. I captured her hand and placed it over my heart so she could feel it beating for her. Ardor and happiness gleamed in her eyes, an emotion probably radiating from my own as well.
Without speaking, we began to disrobe. I had to help her out of her dress, which fastened up the back with a slider similar to the one on the front of my leggings. Once naked, we tumbled onto the bed, not bothering to kick off the coverings.
Now that she was mine, I wanted to know her again, to recommit to memory the tactile sensation of her flesh, her whimpers of pleasure, the scent of her desire. I stroked her smooth skin, kissing her throat and shoulders before anointing the hard tips of her breasts by sucking on the buds.
She combed her fingers through my hair, teasing my horns with the lightest touch. They throbbed and swelled. When she rubbed her palms against them, a groan of pleasure erupted from my throat.
“You have the cutest damn horns,” she said. “I love how you growl.”
If she kept playing with them, she’d get more than a growl. I pressed a hard kiss to her mouth before breaking away to continue my exploratory caresses. She moaned when I laved her breasts, giggled when I brushed my lips over her tummy, and sucked in a deep breath when I pleasured her between her legs. I wanted to bring her to the peak, but she twisted away and then took my manhood into her wet mouth.
Obah. I fisted the bed covers, the ache of desire spiking to a sharp need. My hips bucked, my body seeking surcease. I grabbed her head, tangled my hands in her hair. My breath came in harsh gasps as hot satisfaction coiled and tightened in my loins. Did she feel this way when I teased her?
She peered at me, the mischief in her gaze revealing her awareness—and enjoyment—of my torment. The lascivious glint in her eyes, the sight of her fondling my manhood threatened to undermine my control. I wanted her body clasping mine when I attained the ultimate ecstasy.
“Now,” I said. “I need you now.”
She scooted toward the pillows, but I flipped her around and lifted her legs onto my shoulders. I paused for an intimate caress to reignite her desire, nudge her closer to the brink of ecstasy. Her back arched, and whimpers tumbled from her lips.
Urgency pounding within me, I guided my erection to her entrance. I hissed as our bodies joined, the clasp of her wet silken channel so much better than I imagined. She matched my swivel and plunge with a thrust and grind. Together, we moved in an intimate dance guided by the music of our moans and whispers. Our bodies recognized what our hearts had decided: we were mates. Husband and wife. The name, the ceremony didn’t matter. Wherever we would go, wherever we would live, we would be together.
Neck arching, her channel contracting around my member, Lexi found completion with a piercing cry. Then I surrendered to my needs, allowing oblivion to claim me in an intense rush of sensation. I thrust into her as if uniting with her were the only thing that mattered. In that moment, it was.
The peaks of physical pleasure satisfied my body, but the intimacy of the aftermath gratified my spirit. Her sigh of contentment resonated deep within my chest.
I smoothed the damp hair off her face and stroked her cheek with the back of my finger. “I never believed I would be this happy.”
“Me, either.” She kissed my shoulder. “I joined the Intergalactic Dating Agency for all the wrong reasons, but I got the best results.”
“The Fates see what we cannot.”
“And a seventy-two-point personality assessment doesn’t hurt, either,” she said.
I didn’t argue. Over time, she would come to recognize the effects of the Fates swirling around us. For now, I had more immediate matters to discuss. “Will you want a mating ceremony like your sister had?”
“Well, not just like hers. I intend the ending to be different.” She laughed.
“Toni and Phillip were not true mates. He would not have walked away if they were.”
“And she would not have left him at the altar.” She thumped my arm. “You’re stuck with me, buddy.”
“I desire very much to be stuck with you.” I kissed her.
She settled back against my shoulder and sighed. “Getting back to your question, I’m not interested in a big fancy wedding like Toni’s. I darn sure don’t want to have it here. I envision a simple, memorable ceremony. A few family and friends. How we get married isn’t as important as being married, being mates.”
She raised up on an elbow and sought my gaze. “The wedding will require a little bit of planning, which will also allow a respectful amount of time to pass after my sister’s nuptial washout. Is that okay?”
I wound a strand of her hair around my finger. “We’re already mates, so waiting to solemnize our togetherness in accordance with the customs on your planet isn’t a problem.”
“I’ll have to invite my mother. I can’t not invite her. Maybe in a few months she’ll be more accepting.” Her grimace confirmed my own hunch: the ice on Dakon would melt before that happened. Some relationships were complicated.
Her expression brightened. “Maybe she’ll boycott the wedding on principle.”
“I wish you could meet my parents,” I said. “Perhaps we could arrange for them to visit Earth—or we could go see them on Dakon.”
“Either one—or both! I want to meet your parents, and I’d love to see your planet.” Her eyes lit up.
“I would like to show it to you. The spaceflight requires three months, so it would take a minimum of six months just for going and coming back, plus time spent there. Can you leave your bakery that long?”
“We’ll make it work. We’ll plan for it,” she said.
I’d left my planet with the realization I might not ever return, so I could accept Lexi’s life and livelihood required us to live on Earth. She was worth more to me than anything on Dakon, but I would still miss my home planet. “Thank you.” I hugged her.
Lexi rolled on top of me. “Now,” she said. “If we’re going to get married, we need to start planning. Let’s rehearse our wedding night again. Once more from the top.”