Page 21 of Ready for Her Alien Husband

His grip tightened. “No.”

“Why not?” she asked innocently.

“Because if you talk like that,” Vrixiel rumbled, “I’ll be asteroid-hard throughout the ball.”

She bit her lip. “We could sneak off behind a column or a big plant to ease your pain.”

“Niela, you will bring my reputation to ruin.”

Her eyebrow shot up in challenge.

A smile tugged at the corners of his green lips. “I might know just the column.”

CHAPTER 15

Ready or Not

“Holy smoke, this is truly happening!” Trixie bounced in front of the exit hatch twice, giddy with emotions she couldn’t quite name. How could she, when she had never been in such a situation?

A big wing hugged her from behind, feathers brushing along her long sleeve in a soothing caress. “Are you ready, my bean?”

“Am I ready to tie the knot with my alien husband? You bet! But to have that knot tied by a king on another planet in another star system?” Trixie laughed nervously. “Who is ever ready for that?”

Her soon-to-be husband tucked her into his side with a wing. “If you don’t want to do this, I will cancel.”

“Right.”

Trixie looked away from the closed hatch in front of them and up at Vrixiel’s face. He wore a serious expression – as usual in public – but also steely determination in his gaze. He meant every word. He was ready to oppose the will of his king for her. After getting summoned to Gaenthia three days before the end of their honeymate. After being flown here in a single day on the cutting-edge royal ship. After being told that King Xissiel would wed them immediately after landing… Vrixiel was willing to cancel and leave.

Was Trixie tempted to say, hell yeah? Sure. They had planned a small ceremony on the station for the last day of their honeymate. Her guest list included her parents, her three closest friends, and the human women on the station. Vrixiel had invited several colleagues, including his bestie Nitiel who Trixie was yet to meet because of his busy schedule. She was almost ready with the paper flowers for the wedding arch, and Vrixiel had only two more metal hearts to make as little gifts for their guests. The wedding dress, designed by yours truly to combine Gaenthian and Terran fashion, was in the process of being 3D-printed. The wedding cake, made of those tasty sparkly balls and purple leaves that she had been wrongfully skeptical of just days ago, was already ordered.

So, holding another ceremony? One officiated by an alien king and attended by high-ranking representatives of every clanon Gaenthia? With her wearing the most conservative red dress she could find in her closet? Thanks, but no thanks.

Trixie took in her husband-to-be again. With his red kilt and fitted vest on top of a red shirt, and his horns gleaming in the artificial light of the ship, Vrixiel was devastatingly handsome. But it was the tender look he was giving her now that had her heart somersaulting.

“No canceling,niel,” she said firmly. No way would she risk him by raising his King’s and clan’s ire. She took a deep breath. “I’m ready. Are you?”

“To face the King and the entire clan? Never. But for my alien wife?” His wing tightened around her protectively. “Yes. From the moment I met you.”

Before Trixie could melt right then and there, the exit hatch had whooshed open. She would have to show hernielher appreciation later. Now, it was time to meet the King of Gaenthia.

Only, she froze one step onto the landing ramp. The plaza around the ship was packed with aliens. Mostly Gaenthians, but not only. And as she and Vrixiel made their appearance, the crowd began flapping their wings, waiving their antennae, stomping their hooves, or any other version of applause they had in their culture.

“Fuck me sideways,” Trixie muttered. No one but Vrixiel could hear her over the welcoming crowd.

His wing became her shield, and he squeezed her hand in his. “Have no fear, my bean. Ours is the first Terran weddingceremony to be held on Gaenthia and be officiated by the King. There is much excitement.”

That was putting it mildly. In addition to the crowd, there were huge holographic screens around the plaza showing her and Vrixiel resuming their walk down the ramp. Their every move would be on display for the populace in attendance, and not only. Trixie bet the ceremony would be broadcast around the planet as well.

“When you said your clan was important, I didn’t realize it wasthisimportant.” And to think she had been worried about some clan ball.

This was grander than the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Catherine, which Trixie had watched live on TV while munching on popcorn. The plaza looked like the love child of the Roman Forum and Coruscant, ancient and futuristic architecture somehow blended seamlessly. The building Vrixiel was leading her toward could as well be the Parthenon teleported in its full splendor from ancient Greece. And those in attendance represented several planets, if not even star systems.

“It is politics,niela,” Vrixiel explained over the cheering around them. “I am the first of my clan to get mated to a Terran, and at a time when the King wishes to extend his military aid further than the Solar System.”

“Got it. We must be flaunted to garner support for his plans.” At least, those plans were good: he didn’t wish to conquer new worlds but help them and, in the process, findmore of his people’s fated mates. His included. “You want an awesome Trixie of your own, people? Give your leader the thumbs up.”

The joke didn’t quite ease her nerves, but it did make Vrixiel’s lips curl ever so slightly. A smile only for her that the cameras flying around them could not capture. “They can thumb all they want. There is no other in the Universe like my special bean.”

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