Page 6 of Mate for the Space Cowboy (Match Made in Space #3)

Chapter Six

MELODY

A mere week after Hunter tells me I’ll be his mate, I’m standing in a small room with Jane, Nadine, and a seamstress. They’re adjusting my dress. I’m nervous but so ready and so impatient. Hunter’s mother has just left to go into the area where the ceremony will be held. I met his parents the other day, and they’re so kind.

“What do you think?” Jane asks as she turns me to face the mirror.

I don’t even know what to think as I stare at myself. The dress is made of cream silk that hugs my hips and twirls around my ankles. Nadine has fixed my hair with white flowers in it. As I look at myself, I remember the dingy mirror we had in the house where I grew up. I remember envying those doing a little better and who could buy from the old stash of things to make themselves pretty.

My life here is a dramatic contrast. Here, I bathe every day so I always feel clean, and wear comfortable clothes. Yet seeing myself looking beautiful with flowers in my hair, I almost start to cry.

Jane gently squeezes my shoulders. “This is your life now, and you are marrying the man you love,” she says gently.

My heart starts to beat faster when I think of Hunter. I take a breath to calm myself.

“Are you ready?” Nadine asks from my side, curling her arm around my shoulders.

I turn, looking from her to Jane before I smile. “More than I’ll ever be.”

The seamstress glances over from where she’s putting away her sewing supplies. “You look like a beautiful blushing bride. Now go be one.”

A few minutes later, I walk into the large room where they hold these weddings. I attended Nadine’s, so I know what to expect, but it still feels overwhelming. There’s a rushing sensation inside me. No one is here to give me away because they eschew such a tradition here. Women speak for themselves and pledge themselves freely to whomever they choose.

I choose Hunter.

I’m lost in the blur of his golden eyes throughout the ceremony as he pledges to protect me, to honor me, to cherish me, and to love me into infinity.

Somehow, I manage to repeat the words back to him. I’m finally grounded when his lips meet mine to seal our vows with a kiss. Although Hunter’s touch sends my pulse into the stratosphere, I feel safe with him. When he’s close, I feel even safer.

He lifts his head, his eyes locking on mine. “I love you,” he whispers.

I can’t even speak, but I press my palm to his heart, and he smiles. We are swept into the celebration after this. The food is plentiful, and the drinks flow. It is lovely to be celebrated in such a way, yet I am so impatient to be alone with Hunter.

I know we have our own house waiting for us and a week all to ourselves. At one point, I look up at him and can’t help but ask, “When are we allowed to go home?”