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And he bent her backwards in his arms and kissed her shamelessly.

The rest of the evening passed in a whirl. Kara remembered later she had never felt more happy. She had wed herkalehshun, she was surrounded by well-wishers, and she was closer to her mother than she had been in years.

She even caught the President smiling –smiling –during thefestivities. And when Kara inquired as to whether she was having fun, her mother revealed she was rather enjoying themelamak.

Kara was about to warn her to go easy but then thought, what the hell. It was about time the President let her hair down. And anyway, she wouldn’t get a hangover.

If weddings were meant to be one of the best days of your life, then this was definitely up there in her top three. It only got better when Vahn snared her for a slow dance.

He wrapped her in his serpetri and lifted her so that her face was level with his. Then he swayed to the music, holding her firmly against his hard body. His cloak swirled around them like a silver cloud.

“I can’t believe this is really happening,” she said. “I feel as though I’m in a dream.”

“It’s fortuitous then that Vraxians can’t dream. If we dreamed like this we would never wake up.”

“Mother says the negotiations are going well. Will the accords be signed soon?”

“There are just some minor details on personnel swaps and tariff rates to settle. But yes. All being well, they should be ratified in a matter of days.”

“That’s got to be some kind of record.”

“There was tremendous will on both sides. It helps that the leader of Earth is now mykalezeinba.”

“Kalezeinba?”

“Roughly translated, it means ‘creator of the mate’.”

“Yeah, I think she’d prefer ‘mother-in-law’, darling.”

“Whatever you want, beloved.” He stroked a thumb over her cheekbone. “Whatever you want for the rest of your life.”

She kissed his lips softly.

“You look amazing, by the way. I love your silvery scales.”

“And you look…” he shook his head, unable to find the words. “Is it wrong that I want to admire your dress and tear it off you at the same time?”

His eyes darkened to amber and his searing gaze sent a shiver of a primal need through her body.

“Is it too early to go back to our room?” she asked huskily.

“You are the Zhaalini of the Vraxian Empire. You may do whatever you wish.”

“In that case, what I wish to do is…” she whispered into his ear and he gave a low rumble.

“I can make that happen. Several times, in fact.”

“Don’t speak too soon. I have no idea how to get this dress off.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

They made their way to the exit, nodding to guests but deliberately not stopping to chat. Kara did a double take as she spotted Rhyn leading Ela to the dance floor. She desperately wanted to watch what happened but decided she wanted Vahn more.

By the time they reached the entrance to the Emperor’s quarters they were making out like teenagers. He leaned her against the door to their chambers and started kissing her neck. Kara giggled when she caught sight of the stoic expressions on the faces of the guards following them.

“They never react, do they?”

“They are trained not to. The royal bodyguards see and hear things that are never to be repeated to anyone.”