Page 19 of Redondo (Mates of the Mylos #7)
CHAPTER 19
REDONDO
I felt myself flush with embarrassment. “After my brother here,” I tilted my head to indicate Yllip, “decided to request a buddy posting, the AIs in charge of assignments decided it best to send us to the Bride Fleet. Which, by the way, is unheard of for a first posting straight out of the Academy. The Supreme Fleet Commander was notified, which led to the Council discussing its merit. In essence, they decided the AI was correct. That my against all odds childhood survival of the massacre that killed everyone else at the fledgling Dragonii colony I was born at, the discovery of me by my adoptive Mylos fathers, and the subsequent joining of the Alliance by the reclusive Dragonii Empire was all proof that the universe had favored me, that there are great plans, all that stuff.” I swiped a hand down my face. “I thought they were ridiculous, that there couldn’t possibly be a mate just waiting here for me.”
“Well, here I am!” he said, waving at me as if we were just now meeting. ”And geesh, that’s a lot to unpack. You survived a massacre as a little kid?” He stepped closer, throwing his arms around me, folding me into a tight embrace. “I wish I could go back in time and give that little kid you were a big hug,” he said softly. “You must have been so scared.”
I swallowed thickly. “I was.”
A sniffle caught my attention and I saw Ralph surreptitiously wiping his eyes.
“Damn dude. I thought you’d gotten those in a training accident or some shit.”
“No, it was marauders,” Yllip replied grimly. “They burned everything they didn’t blow up, except for the main spaceport building for some reason. And the few they didn’t kill, they took with them, presumably to use or sell as slaves. Neither the Mylos who responded to the distress call, nor the Dragonii ever found out who they were or where they went.”
“Fuck,” Terry swore.
The elevator came to a standstill, and the doors swished open, right into the waiting area of the walk-in clinic portion of Sickbay.
“Awkward,” Tom muttered, as we took in the curious eyes of the four members of staff all staring in at us. He released me, taking a half step back before reaching for my hand and lacing our fingers together. He fixed a bright smile back onto his face. “Come on, babe. Let’s do this. The sooner they finish the test, the sooner we end up alien married and can go back to yours to do the horizontal tango.”
Yllip laughed. “You have absolutely no filter on your mouth, do you?” he asked him.
He shook his head as two of the medics tittered. “Nope,” he replied, popping the ‘p’. “Not unless I have to. I spend so much of my life pretending to be someone else with scripted lines, that I refuse to live unauthentically. If there are little kids or it’s a formal occasion, or some other reason it would be really bad manners to say whatever pops into my head, then yeah, I can keep it low-key.” He gave my hand a squeeze and we stepped out together.
The assistant junior medic came out from behind the counter, meeting us halfway. He held out a tablet to Thomas. “You have to be Thomas,” he chuckled, staring pointedly at our clasped hands.
“Yep, that’s me,” he quipped in reply, taking the tablet.
“There’s a series of ten questions left, so if I can just take a cheek swab as soon as you’re done, we’ll know almost immediately after. Good luck to you both.”
Tom tugged me over to a set of chairs. I sat down in one and then feeling as if I would die unless I could breathe him in, I tugged him onto my lap.
“Hey!” he laughed. “Easy there, big guy!”
That earned us some more giggles. For perhaps the first time in my life, I didn’t care. Test or no test, I knew I had to have him, and I was going to make that abundantly clear right now. I nuzzled my nose against his neck, inhaling deeply.
Tom let out an adorable squeak that made me want to slap his ass and chase him around the room before pouncing on him.
“Okay, okay, I’m hurrying. Um, okay, next question. What is my favorite plant?” He looked thoughtful, and I rested my cheek against his, reading his responses.
Purple azaleas? I made a mental note to look up what they were and how to grow them.
“A walk on the beach, a stroll through a forest, or blank,” he read out loud softly. “Describe your idea of the perfect romantic stroll. Well, fuck. Um…” He looked lost.
“There are no wrong answers,” I reminded him.
He twisted around to look at me. “But what if my answer makes us not a match?”
“Mates don’t have to like all the same things,” Yllip pointed out.
“Yeah,” Ralph piped up. “My grandparents have been married almost fifty years, all happily, and my grandpops could eat Ragu spaghetti sauce over his linguini seven days a week. My grandma though? She thinks sauces of any kind out of a jar is cheating, but she knows the jarred sauce has something her homemade one doesn’t, memories of his mom cooking for him after he came home from football practice. She died in a car accident his first year of college. So, after every football game on the TV, she makes him a big bowl of linguine with Ragu sauce.”
“That is both one of the saddest as well as the most romantic things I’ve ever heard you say,” Terry said, looking at our friend in surprise.
“He’s got a good point,” Tom observed. “And that is so sweet of your grandma. Wish mine was still around.” He typed furiously. Ah. A walk through the park followed by a meal at The Seoul Kitchen if onboard, or anything similar somewhere else.
I filed that away. This was perfect fodder to fill up our time together, especially during the honeymoon celebration period after our human wedding.
“And done!” he said, pushing my hands off of him to stand up. He walked over to the counter quickly and the staff who were obviously here wishing to witness the event in case it was a true match, all crowded around. I got up and followed him, unwilling to have any sort of real distance, no matter how small, between us.
“Wait!” Yllip said as the medic took his cheek swab. “I messaged our fathers and they are on their way.”
“I’ll wait to put in the analyzer then,” the medic replied with a small smile.
“You called your fathers?” Tom asked, eyes round. “My future in-laws are right here, on this ship?”
“We live as a single Clutch, yes,” I replied.
“That’s like a multigenerational household,” Terry explained.
“Right. Just give me a minute. I wasn’t expecting to not only get alien married today, but meet my in-laws.” He looked at Yllip curiously. “Are these your dads, who adopted him? Is that how you’re brothers?”
He shook his head. “No, we met in childhood, during a hospital stay. We became more than best friends then, becoming brothers as we got closer as we spent all our available time together once we were discharged. I joined Ondo’s Clutch formally upon graduation from the Academy.”
The door opened, my fathers spilling out in excitement.
“Are we too late?” Papa blurted out.
The medic laughed. “No. We were waiting for you before I submitted the DNA sample.”
“Oh, thank the stars. We didn’t want to miss the chance of being here when it happened. We never expected to be able to be present as his match occurred.”
“I’ll take it back now.” The medic changed places with one of the female human staff and went through a door into the back.
“Hi, I’m Lyssa. If it’s as fast as my test was, you’ll know in less than a minute or two once he’s set the analyzer going.”
“Thanks,” Tom told her, then still looking decidedly nervous. “I’m Tom, the guy hoping he really is Ondo’s match.”
“You’re mine no matter what they say,” I decided out loud, pulling his back against me. I bent my head, burying my nose into his hair, breathing him in. A soft rumble started up in my chest once more.
“Oh, that test is definitely going to be positive,” Father said quietly.
My kunnarskyn vibrated with a message. I opened my eyes, letting go of Tom only enough to allow myself to tap itn to accept the message. Then, lifting my wrist, I saw the words that every fiber of my being already knew.
“Well?” Tom squeaked.
“I told you, you’re mine.”
The door to the back burst open, the assistant junior medic followed by a couple more who must have been busy in the back.
“Congratulations!” he cheered unnecessarily. “You’re mates!”
The room erupted into congratulations as Tom turned to rest his head against my lower chest, arms around me.
“Let’s blow this taco stand,” he said. “Right now, I want to go find us a place for a private,” his hands fell onto my ass, giving it a gentle squeeze, “celebration if you catch my drift.”
I didn’t know what a taco stand that didn’t exist or why he’d want to blow it up had to do with anything, but the rest of his meaning was clear.
“We’ve got to go. I’m taking him home,” I blurted out, as I all but dragged him to the elevator.
“We’ll find something to do elsewhere, don’t worry!” Papa snickered as the doors opened.
That was definitely a good idea, I thought before bending down to capture my mate’s mouth with mine, the way I’d seen humans do with their mates. What we were about to do, I didn’t want my fathers or Yllip or anyone else to see. Tom’s body was mine, and only mine, to see when in the throes of passion.