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“THAT WAS QUITE a wedding,” Vien said, sipping at his champagne flute with his pinky up. He winked at her—with his third eye. The Xeno Sapien had one Cyclops eye in the center of his forehead and was quite proud to operate it independently of the other two.
Leah sighed. “It was perfect.”
“Trance says he’s on his way,” Vien said, his tone a bit monotone as Xeno Sapiens tended to get when they communicated telepathically.
Vien’s friend, Potierre, had readied a cabin on the outskirts of the city that they could use as a honeymoon suite. He’d taken Trance to it so Trance would know where to take her tonight. For her honeymoon.
A shiver hit her midsection at the thought.
“Now, milady, may I have this dance?” Vien bowed at the waist. She slipped her hand in his—and quite happily. Both he and Potierre were excellent dancers.
Sure enough, he led her around the dance floor effortlessly, her gorgeous white dress trailing behind her. There was clapping all around the room before others joined in more dancing. And in less than five minutes, Trance was tapping Vien’s shoulder to cut in. The Xeno Sapien bowed to her and she was swept up into her husband’s arms.
“Wife.”
“My man,” she whispered. “How did our honeymoon suite look?”
“I didn’t look inside,” he admitted. “I just wanted him to show me where it was. The inside will be a surprise we can explore together.”
“That’s why you were so quick,” she said.
“Every minute away felt like an hour.”
She sighed. “It was such a great wedding.”
“It’s going to be a great honeymoon,” he whispered against her ear. “Are you ready to slip out while everyone’s distracted?”
It wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be. Whoever was in charge of the lights flashed them on and off as they made the way to the door, signaling their departure. Everyone began cheering and following them outside, where they proceeded to toss birdseed.
A hovercar decorated like a carriage waited in the yard. Vien and Potierre acted as footmen, opening the door and helping her inside. Once Trance followed her, he swept her up along with her filmy white overflowing skirts to bring into his lap. More cheers erupted as the carriage hovered away.
The nights were getting cooler. With a touch of a button, Trance enclosed a force field around them so they could still see the sights but the cold air was directed away.
She sighed happily.
“Thank you for marrying me,” he said.
“I should be thanking you. I know mating is the way of your people.”
“I know how important it was to bring the perfect marriage to you,” Trance said.
The hovercarriage stopped outside a cabin. A sign that read Welcome Lovebirds was pounded into the ground. The fine print read: Enjoy your week-long getaway. It sounded more like a threat, like they’d descend upon them if they weren’t back to normal life in a week.
Trance leapt from the carriage and swept her into his arms. She tamped the fluff of white material down, giggling.
“Is it considered improper to want to toss this fluffy skirt over your head and have my wicked way with you?”
“I think it’s expected,” she shivered, pressing small kisses along his jaw.
“Everyone has assured us they will avoid this area of Xenia for one week,” he said.
“Great, my husband,” she teased. “We shall be quite vocal.”
“Wife,” he groaned, pushing open the door with his shoulder. He carried her over the threshold and straight to the bedroom, barely taking in the sights. The ambience of the softly burning fireplace. The soft lighting. More champagne and flutes in an ice bucket.
Her husband was all too ready to take her to the bedroom and make love to her.
The bedroom had crushed rose petals scattered inside, the delicate scent wafting up to her nose. It was so perfect. Who would have ever dreamed that Vien and Potierre, her very first cooking clients, would end up being the perfect wedding planners? When she’d confided to them her dreams of a perfect wedding—never admitting her actual dreams of Trance as her husband, of course—they’d immediately begun research into the process. The gift of the wedding they’d given her and Trance made everyone notice them with a new light.
“Our first time together as man and wife,” Trance muttered. “Out of our dreams. This has to be perfect.”
“It’s always perfect with you. You’re my hero. My savior. My knight in shining armor.”
“My perfect, delicate bride.”
Not really. She had tons of cracked bones that showed up on deep scans. Scars. Memories. Lessons. But he thought she was perfect and delicate and so the fact that she was no longer broken was all that mattered.
He laid her gently on the huge bed, fisting his hands as if he wanted to rip her skirts. “I’m going to assume you want to keep this frothy concoction?”
She laughed. “Zipper’s on the side here. Hidden. See?”
Oh, he saw all right. He gently slid the zipper down and helped her from the dress. Her silvery white satin shoes came next. Carefully he peeled her slip and underthings from her.
When she finally lay naked, he removed his clothes with shaking hands and then covered her with his strong, warm body. Strength she no longer feared because he would never use his against her.
Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. He groaned, and the swelling of his genitals started immediately.
“I love this,” she whispered.
“Love what, baby?”
“That we can lie perfectly still and stare into each other’s eyes while your cock does his thing.”
Sure enough, the attachment gently linked to her clit. Further below at her entrance, she felt his body prodding her. She lifted her hips by tightening her legs around him, but even that wasn’t necessary as he slid into her, filling her with penetrating heat that hardened and thickened.
His groan matched hers in intensity and she twisted them around so he was flat on his back and she was on top of him—slowly, so their connection was never broken.
“What?” he gasped, full of amazement. “How have we never done it this way?”
She smiled, her knees up on either side of his chest as she hunkered down to stare into his eyes instead of sitting up fully. She couldn’t. He was doing glorious things inside her that was taking her breath away.
“I love that expression on your face,” he whispered. “The one before you come.”
“You make me come way too fast,” she chided as he pounded inside her.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he groaned, as his cock sped faster in thrusting through her.
She gasped, her body starting to tingle deep inside. Then it tightened, curling into the now familiar orgasms he brought her.
“Oh, god, Trance.”
“Leah. My wife,” he gritted, exploding inside her as she screamed.
She collapsed onto his chest, panting, her heart racing and melding their heartbeats together.
Slowly she stretched her legs down and he pulled out of her, making her shudder from the sensitivity. Then he was curling her onto his shoulder where she could look up at his perfect face.
But his face froze as he looked up toward the ceiling.
“Trance? What is it?”
He tore his eyes from the ceiling to focus on her. “Nothing. Just a link from the others. Jason and Shawn are heading to Iota Nine to find the manager at The Bella Suites where we stayed. They found out he’s an old friend of your ex-husband.”
Even protected in his arms, in the middle of Xenia, surrounded by friends and loved ones, she shivered. “His friend was that close to us?”
“Close enough to switch your sleeping tabs. Brock wanted your testimony so amped at the trial it wouldn’t have made sense. But they had to do it legally since your blood was scanned in the courthouse. So a huge dose of B vitamins the night before—especially if you were tired from not being able to take your prescribed sleep aid, might have made you ramble senselessly and appear not to be a credible witness. They failed miserably.”
He settled her back down onto his chest, his arm around her, his other hand linked with her fingers.
They remained in contemplative silence, though it wasn’t the terror she’d have normally felt. No, the healing had begun and it was all because of Trance.
“I have a confession,” he said, kissing her temple as he held her. “I dreamed of your ex last night.”
At first her terror sparked before the meaning of his words dawned on her. Trance pulled him into his dream.
“Across all this distance?” she whispered.
She felt the movement as he nodded. His fingers danced in hers. “Apparently it works if I’ve once been in close proximity of a person? Or if I want it bad enough.”
Her voice was a whisper. “What did you do?”
“Something you wouldn’t be proud of. I showed him what it was like to be the weaker sex. The smaller individual. He’ll remember the beating long after he leaves Earth for Mars.”
“You’re wrong,” she said and felt him tense ready to be chastised. “I’m so very proud of you. You’re my protector. My man.” She twisted up to look in his eyes, only to find him looking down at her already.
“I will love you with my last breath,” he said.
“And I’ll be there for it. I’ll be there for every breath you take. Nothing you could ever do would ever disappoint me.”
The world faded as they found each other’s mouths.
