Page 13 of Ready for Her Alien Husband

A giggle reached him. He cracked an eye open. Trixie was kneeling by his wing and nibbling on her lower lip. “Are you okay?”

He covered his eyes with his forearm. “I’m a disgrace, undone in a minute through horn play.”

Bubbly laughter filled the cleansing dome. Then Trixie caressed his chest. “No disgrace here. Horn play is hot. I nearly came again from the sounds you were making.”

That got his attention. Vrixiel pushed himself to a sitting position. “You’re in need again, my bean?”

“Now, now,” she said, patting his chest, “don’t go all soldier-on-a-mission on me. Myneedcan wait.” She got up. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and then go have something to eat. Real food, I mean.” Trixie winked at him in that charming way of hers. “Come on, briefs off.”

Vrixiel’s upper heart stuttered. He couldn’t do it. She had bared her worries to him and he had promised to reveal his fear, but he couldn’t. Not immediately after he had blown his load in his undergarments like an untried Gaenthian. He needed more time before disappointing hisnielaagain.

His wings drew tight as he got to his feet and declared, “I wish to finish bathing on my own. Forgive me, bean, but… You can grab a towel from the panel by the wash basin; just tap on the wall twice. Then go choose clothing from the panel by the bed. I’ll be right outside in a moment.”

Trixie looked stunned.

His wings fluttered. Perhaps if Vrixiel hadn’t said that in a rush… But it was too late to take his words back. He could only stand there and pray the water could wash his failure away.

“Okay,” she said eventually. She quickly turned away from him. “I should probably fix my makeup anyway. I completely forgot I had it on, and now I must look horrifying.”

Trixie made it sound as though all was good, but the expression she’d tried to hide from him did not lie. Her drooping shoulders did not lie. Vrixiel had disappointed hisnielaagain, after all.

Instead of reaching to tap the dome’s door open, he put a hand on her shoulder and bent down to kiss the top of her head. “I won’t keep you waiting for long,” he vowed softly. He hoped with both his hearts that she understood he wasn’t talking about his shower.

“It’s okay, truly.” Trixie placed her hand on his, her back to him still. “Take as much time as you need. I can wait as long as necessary.”

His wings relaxed immediately. She understood. Still, Vrixiel didn’t open the door right away. He planted one more kiss on her pink hair and said, “You don’t look horrifying, my bean. You’re beautiful beyond measure.”

CHAPTER 10

Sticks and Balls

Beautiful beyond measure?Ha.Trixie shook her head as she took in her reflection in her purse’s pocket mirror. Her hair was miraculously almost dry already, but her face was a mess. Yet, she had no regrets about the reason for her runny makeup and wet climber earrings. And she appreciated her alien’s way with words.

Almost as much as his way with mouth and tongue.

Trixie sighed contentedly while fixing her face with the micellar water in her purse, which someone had brought from the landing bay during the hottest shower of her life. Though the ending of that shower had been underwhelming and had left her hurt at first, she had quickly realized where Vrixiel wascoming from. Just because she had been able to open up to him from the get-go didn’t mean he could do the same. Her husband-to-be would share his secrets with her in due time. He would let her in his impossibly tight briefs when ready.

Trixie tittered to herself. Her face now makeup-free, she headed for the panel by the bed in search of something to wear. She felt comfortable in the small fluffy towel she was wrapped in, but she couldn’t wait to see and try on what her mate had prepared for her.

“3D-printed Regency dresses, here I come,” she muttered as she tapped at the wall to the left of the bed.

And kept tapping left and right, because there was no visible outline of the panel Vrixiel had mentioned. The silvery wall looked smooth all over. Were nanoparticles at play here as well?

On the sixth try, Trixie heard a slight hiss. The outlines of a large clamshell appeared in the lower half of the wall, then the panel slid to the side. Revealing a long roll of dresses in every color imaginable. She stepped into the hidden closet with her mouth agape.

“Wicked!” If these dresses were as comfortable as they were gorgeous, Trixie might give up on her plans to wear pants.

She ran her fingers across the materials. They felt silky to the touch but like nothing she had ever worked with as a seamstress. Most were with layers upon layers of skirts, puffy enough for her to float away like a balloon in the wind. There were also dresses with only one underskirt, which Trixie would choose for a fancy cocktail party but Gaenthians probablyconsidered everyday wear. What all the dresses had in common was that they included the color red in some form, whether it was a decorative ribbon on the puffy sleeve or a flower over the modest neckline.

Trixie smiled to herself. Vrixiel had basically put the label “mine” on every piece of clothing he had ordered for her. It might be the tradition, but she still felt fuzzy inside. That helped her choose a dress in no time.

Getting it off the high magnetic hanger proved a problem at first, but then she remembered the bench levitating under the illuminator. A few taps, and that bench with a clamshell backrest followed her inside the closet and turned into a step to her goal.

By the time Vrixiel came out of the bathroom, Trixie was already in the surprisingly light dress that fit her like a glove. Apparently, she hadn’t lost or put on weight since her measurements were taken for the Gaenthian matchmaking programme database some two years ago. At least, that was what she supposed her mate relied on when ordering clothes for her.

Vrixiel looked hesitant when he emerged into the bedroom, but when he saw her, that confidence he usually displayed shone through. So did pride. He might be only in a towel around the waist, but he might as well have been wearing all his medals.Mmm. Trixie loved a confident man who had every reason to be self-assured. And this time, she was one of those reasons.

Smiling confidently herself, she twirled for him in the center of the bedroom. The knee-long red dress lifted in the air, the two puffy underskirts a teasing caress along her calves. The embroidery of delicate flower-forming threads shone under the soft bedroom lights. The short puff sleeves added extra elegance to the whole outfit.

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