by Zara Zenia
Her eyes softened, then lit up, then she frowned. She was concocting a web of emotions in her mind, part of which were revealed in the way she stared at me. “What about your people?” she asked in a gentle whisper.
“I will do what I can for my people. I will sacrifice every bit of myself for them if I need to, but I cannot sacrifice another. I would share my life with you, if you would have it, but the choice is yours. I will not coerce or compel you with the weight of my own obligations.”
She looked away then, her hand slipping from mine as her eyes sparkled with moisture. “My whole life, I’ve struggled. I’ve struggled to protect my sister, struggled to eat, to find work, to just make it through to another day. But through all of it, I’ve survived.”
My heart clenched with every step she took away from me, but I said nothing, knowing her decision must be hers and hers alone. I didn’t even dare to breathe.
Silence settled over the room as she stared off into space. Darbnix stepped forward, looking as though he might try to persuade her, but I held up my hand to silence him. This was not his battle, but I owed him a lot for what he did for me in trying to capture Darla and bring her to justice.
And then she turned around. “I don’t want to just survive anymore. I want to live,” she said, smiling through her tears. “Turn it on.” Her voice was strong-willed, defiant, like a martyr.
But before I did, I pulled her into my arms, embracing her finally, content just to stay there, holding her for the rest of our lives. I wanted to freeze this moment in my memory, no matter what happened.
“I love you,” I whispered quietly against her ear so that only she could hear. It was our private moment, and it was the truth.
Before she could respond, I switched the device on and the room filled with the glowing pulse of the scanner’s light, eclipsed only by the radiance of my own happiness. I gasped, then cried, then laughed with joy, all while holding Amy delicately in my arms. The swell of elation sent me on a euphoric trip and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was in that moment. Amy was mine. It was official. The proof was in the glowing illumination of the device.
Epilogue
Amy
“Congratulations, Brother,” Darbnix said, smiling happily as the scanner in Gardax’s hand glowed and trembled with vibrations. I watched it glowing, completely mesmerized and overjoyed to be his match.
“So, is there going to be another alien wedding or what?” Bodi asked awkwardly, earning a chuckle from everyone.
I glanced over at him with a smile. I was over the moon. I held Gardax’s hands as he squeezed me tenderly with enough affection to power the whole party.
Gardax looked only at me. “I don’t wish to leave another moment up to chance. I would make you mine here and now, but I also want to treat you to whatever your heart desires. If you want a grand, elaborate affair to be broadcast to the whole of the galaxy, then, my lady, that is what you shall have.” He gave me a noble bow, and I admired how much of a gentleman he was to me.
I laughed and blushed and blinked back tears all at once. How could this have all happened to me? My heart was exhausted by everything that had happened and my mind was still struggling to come to grips with this new reality. I would be his bride. Him, the man I dreamed about constantly. Those daydreams, those fantasies, were all about to become real. I was still mentally spinning with glee as I tried to come to terms with my new life. The life I had always dreamed of was now mine to embrace.
And I couldn’t wait another minute for that. The glory, the wonderful reality of Gardax as my matched mate, I wouldn’t wait another second to make it official.
“We’ve got our whole lives to throw a party. I’m a simple girl with simple desires, and right now, I just want to be yours.” I smiled up at him, my beautiful, incredible alien prince. It was simple. Our love was pure. We didn’t need flashy frills to declare our alliance and union with one another.
“Then that is what you shall have.” He nodded happily, with a look of some relief, as if he thought I might want to wait another second before my fantasies came to life. My heart was leaping with joy. Everything I ever wanted was finally unfolding before my eyes. It was whimsical and perfect.
The ceremony was short and to the point, exactly as I would have wished it. We repeated the traditional troths and oaths of the Trilyn, pledging our fidelity and love to one another until the end of time and space.
Then, before the handful of Gardax’s brothers who could be extracted from the party going on elsewhere on the ship, Corinne, who was dressed in soft, warm Trilyn garments and escorted by one of the royal doctors, Bodi, Lifiya, and Darla, who was once more restrained and prevented from speaking, we kissed and sealed the ceremony, joining our lives and hearts. It was a magical moment that was both private between us and shared among everyone in attendance.
It was tender and gentle. And then it wasn’t. With everyone looking on, the kiss slowly grew hungrier, more passionate, until finally, Gardax’s youngest brother, Rawklix, coughed loudly, awkwardly breaking us up as we breathed and panted heavily into each other’s ears. We were both staring at each other, lust-gazed and lovestruck.
“Looks like someone has been enjoying my Tora Pollen, after all,” he joked, laughing playfully.
Pulling back from my lips just enough to speak, Gardax answered succinctly, “Wrong. Neither of us has had a trace.” He gazed passionately into my eyes.
Then, scooping me up into the hard strength of his arms, he carried me straight out of the room, earning more than a few whoops of laughter that left me blushing. The wedding ceremony was everything I could have ever imagined, and more.
Later, I knew I’d have to figure out the webbing maze of this place, but as Gardax carried me, my focus was only on him. His smooth olive skin glistened in the starlight that lit the dark passages, and the striking intensity of his yellow eyes never left my face. It was as if he was afraid I’d disappear if he dared look away.
If I’d been capable of speaking, I might have finally gushed about how beautiful he was, how much I’d dreamed of his doing just this, but I was rendered mute by the sheer force of my desire, my passion, my love for him. Nothing mattered right now except for our hungry passion for each other.
I wasn’t really aware of what room we were in until finally, we passed through a set of sheer curtains and I felt him lowering me to an impossibly soft mattress. My body melted into it at once and I let out a contented sigh. I felt weightless, as if I were drifting through the clouds.
I closed my eyes then opened them again quickly. When nothing happened, I pinched my arm and bit down on my lip hard.
Gardax laughed. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve dreamed about this so many times, of being here with you, of being yours, and every time, I woke up alone. I just want to make sure I’m not hallucinating all of this,” I admitted sheepishly. My cheeks flushed with both passion and embarrassment.
“You weren’t dreaming alone,” he murmured, and I was glad I wasn’t standing because I suspected my knees might have given out. His lips curled into a wickedly handsome grin.
He dipped to kiss me again, and while his soft, urgent lips moved with mine, his hands coursed up and down my body, heating me as he touched every part of me that ached for him. I arched my back and moaned, relishing in the reality of his touch, no longer a fantasy.
When his hand snaked beneath the hem of the dress I wore and slipped higher and higher up my thighs until it reached the very center of my need for him, my breath caught and I struggled to find words. I was gasping with desire.
“I–I,” I stammered.
“Yes?” He growled into my neck as he kissed me, showering me with sensual grazes of his lips.
My eyes fluttered closed, soaking in the sensation, until his fingers parted me, touching me where I’d never been touched before, shocking the truth out of me. I groaned with passion.
“I’ve never done . . . this,” I managed. His head lifted and his eyes se
arched mine, and I sputtered, “I mean, I want to. I’ve dreamed of it a thousand times.” I sighed and blushed simultaneously. “I just, I’m not quite a hundred percent sure what I’m doing.” I chuckled apprehensively, even though I was burning with desire for him.
He smiled and lowered his head to my neck, licking the sensitive spot just beneath my ear lobe, then pulled back and studied my face. “We have a saying on Trilynia. ‘Love makes all things new, and all things rough, turned smooth.’” His fingers trailed along my neck and over the rise of my breast. “All things broken made whole, all things dormant shall bloom, all things right, with two hearts so full.”
“That’s lovely,” I murmured, infatuated with him.
“Tonight, my heart is full, and everything between us . . . I’ve never known love like this. To me, it is new as well,” he whispered as he raised my fingers to his lips, kissing each one individually. I giggled and squirmed, relishing in his attention focused directly on me. He was pouring himself out to me, wearing his heart on his sleeve.
Never having swooned before, the feeling was unfamiliar, but for a moment, everything went a little blurry and out of focus. And then I felt his lips at mine once more and surrendered to the demanding aches of my body. It was a natural bliss that I gave in to with awe and captivation.
Peeling my dress carefully off me, his mouth found every inch of skin and claimed it as his. Lying bare before him, I reached out and slid my hands inside the collar of his robes, needing to feel him against me with nothing, not even a thin scrap of fabric, between us. Heat formed between us, igniting a flame of passion and raw desire.
My hand brushed against his hardness as I pulled the clothing off him, and I gasped, surprised and unsure. He didn’t push me, just watched as I explored him with my fingers, tracing the firm line of him, gripping it as the persistent throb pulsed in my hand. His breathing hitched and his eyes glazed as I tenderly stroked, committing every glorious reaction to memory. His girth was profound, wonderful.
Finally, he gripped my wrist and pinned me back, arms above my head, as he parted my legs with his thick thighs and the slick head of him nudged against me. I felt him pulsing with longing. My own insides were pulsing with a burning need for him too.
“I think you got the hang of that just fine.” He grinned as he lowered his mouth to the taut peak of my breast. His breath was icy and hot, a perfect blend against my sensitive, fiery skin.
Releasing my hands, he lowered his own to my center, his long, thick fingers stroking and parting me. When one dipped inside, I felt the sweet tremble of sensation ripple through every muscle. My mouth parted with a soft and sensual moan.
My fingers wound into the dense black forest of his hair, gripping harder and harder as his fingers stoked the coiling pleasure inside me. My breath came in pants, my body heated, and my senses fogged as he focused his efforts at the tight center of my nerves, rubbing in persistent, unrelenting circles until I felt my muscles tense.
In the same instant, everything in me shuddered with release as he brought me to the peak and filled me all at once. My thirst was wild, surging into overdrive.
If there was pain, I was too delirious to register it as he stroked slowly in and out. The ecstasy didn’t abate as he moved with firm control, slowly at first and then with growing speed. Each thrust made me gasp. He was thick and filled me with amazing comfort.
“You burn me,” he gasped as my senses began to crest again, and I moaned his name, sensually running my trembling hands through his hair once again.
Then, with one last surging thrust, my body tensed and gripped him as pleasure rocketed through us both. Fireworks pulsed in my eyes. Ripples of ecstasy shuddered through me as I cried out, releasing my sweet nectar all over his hardness.
My breathing was still broken when he withdrew from me, leaving an unfamiliar wet sensation that made me blush and aroused me at the same time. I was vulnerable, and I loved every second of it. Gardax had taken me. Our relationship had burst through to the next level.
Collapsing beside me, he nuzzled close, and basking in the glow of what we’d just shared, our breathing slowed. I waited until I could hear our hearts beating in unison. It was incredibly peaceful.
He tangled his fingers into my hair, now a collapsed mass of curling waves. His cheeks were flushed in the afterglow of the love we’d just shared.
“I never want to lose you again,” he said, his voice raspy and strangled with emotion. He nestled up beside me and squeezed me gently.
“You never did,” I murmured as I kissed him. I knew it, deep inside. I always knew we belonged together, even if the world had desperately tried to keep us apart.
It must have still been night. I couldn’t tell and didn’t care. All that mattered was that when I woke, I wasn’t alone. The weight of Gardax’s arm slumped over my waist and around my front, holding me firmly against him. I would never have to wake up alone, hungry, or cold again.
His breathing was even and slow, and I smiled, reveling in the rare and incredible feeling of home. I belonged here with him. It was slowly sinking in.
This was the placed I’d longed for, the satisfaction, the belonging that I’d never felt, not even in dreams. I still wanted to pinch myself in disbelief that this was all really happening.
I carefully wiggled around to face him, hoping not to wake him, and studied his face, touching his cheek as lightly as I could. Gently, I dragged my fingers along the defined muscles of his biceps, his massive shoulders, and along the ridges of his abs. His body was my sensual pleasure center. I wanted to explore and discover every crevice.
“And what do you think you’re doing?” he said, eyes still closed, but a smile curled at the edges of his lips.
I smiled and bit my lip, blushing even though he couldn’t see it. “Enjoying the view,” I whispered sensually.
“I may not know everything about human physiology, but I think I know enough to determine you don’t see with your hands,” he said, rolling on top of me with a sudden swiftness I didn’t expect.
“What do I do with my hands then?” I teased and giggled seductively.
“Hmm,” he said, rolling my hard nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “I think I’ll need to do some research on the matter and get back to you. It is our wedding night, after all.”
“Ah, yes,” I gasped as he licked a trail from my breast to my navel. “I suppose we have a job to do.” I gasped at his touch. His lips perfectly grazed against my bare tummy.
“What’s that?” he asked, his voice vibrating against my hip.
“Well, we’ve got a planet to repopulate, right?” I managed as his fingers slipped inside me. I was already puddling for him, expectantly waiting for bliss to consume me.
He laughed and rose back up to my face. “How very royal of you, to be so preoccupied with your duty.”
Feeling suddenly full of sensual confidence, I hooked my leg around his calf and nudged, rolling on top of him in one quick movement that sent him falling backward against the pillows. He stared up at me as if he was enjoying the view and intoxicated by my body.
Then, climbing up and straddling the part of him that was hard and swollen just for me, I smiled. “I’m a very hard worker, trust me.”
Morning came, and it took everything in me to get out of bed, especially when Gardax kept pulling me back in. So, I let him. Twice. I couldn’t stop. I was already addicted to his passionate lovemaking. He had skills, and it felt so natural to be with him.
By the third time that morning, and . . . what? The fourth, fifth, or who knows what round we were on since we’d married the night before, I needed to make sure my legs still worked. I was wobbly and creamy all over.
Gardax showed me the cleansing chamber and just how erotic washing could be. We were lathered up together, bodies pressed against each other. Soapy and sensual, warm, and full of erotic bliss.
But when we climbed out, clothed in thick, fluffy towels and ready to dry each other off, reality invaded
our happy bubble. Our relationship and our marriage wouldn’t always be sunshine and roses and lovemaking in bed all day.
There were still matters to be dealt with, the most pressing of which was named Darla. She was still awaiting a sentence for her crimes. Every time I thought about what disgusting things she’d put me and Corinne through, bile rose in my throat.
Gardax’s secretary had sent me a selection of Trilyn robes and garments that rivaled the beauty of the dress Darbnix had given me. Unaccustomed to such finery, I selected something a bit simpler, promising myself that I’d work toward wearing the more elaborate, intricate fashions with time.
I slipped into a velvety plum dress that draped and hung in ways I didn’t think clothing could on my body, and which, Gardax promised, wouldn’t last on it very long once we were done with necessary business for the morning.
I checked in first with Corinne, who demanded to know every detail of my wedding night and with whom I shared none. I laughed as she proudly proclaimed herself psychic for having predicted that she would be lavished with servants and food galore while I went off and made lots of little princes and princesses.
She was already showing signs of recovery. Her cheeks had a healthy, rosy tint to them, and she was becoming more of her witty self once again. She was in moral, healing hands, and I trusted the medical team handpicked by Gardax.
Satisfied that she was being well cared for, I also checked on Bodi.
“Well, looks like things worked out for ya.” He smiled, though I could sense the vulnerable child beneath. He gave me a simple smile that was laced with the innocence of his youth.
“They really did.” I smiled. “Look, I was thinking. I know you said you wanted to head to San Clemente, right?” I asked.
He nodded a little sadly. “Yep, warm weather and me just make sense.” He shrugged humbly and met my gaze.