Page 17

When they entered the Wilder zone of the ship, she looked around curiously. “So this is where Ziggy lives?”

He laughed, “No, this is where the Wilder live. The Councillor Rothaway and Signy have their quarters in the VIP zone near where you are staying.”

The pod cruised through on a slower track than the commuter units that whizzed past.

“Ah. But these mock forests are their environments?”

“Yes. It makes each race more comfortable to have the environment they were born in represented on the ship. It keeps us grounded, so to speak.”

He reached out to touch her cheek, but he pulled his hand back at the last minute.

She bit her lip. “It is difficult, isn’t it?”

“It is the hardest thing that I have ever endured.”

His lips twisted in a rueful smile. “To think, all those years of flirting and the woman I was destined for was going to walk right up to me.”

The pod continued on its little tour, stopping at the VIP zone and opening to let them out.

When they stood to leave the pod, she had to ask. “Are you sure? I mean really, really sure?”

“I have never been surer of anything in my . . . mmphff.”

Tiera lunged toward him, slid her hand into his hair and pressed a kiss to his hard mouth before he could say anything else.

His body trembled and his wings flicked restlessly. He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him while she continued to stroke his lips with her own, occasionally flicking her tongue against the seam of his lips.

Tonos dragged a deep breath into his lungs, and the hands on her back gripped her, pulling her back to create a distance between them. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he struggled for control.

“Step away from him, Tier.”

Ziggy’s voice was calm, and she was standing next to her mate.

“I believe you have something to ask me, Tonos.”

Rothaway scowled at him.

Tonos helped her out of the pod and down the steps of the platform with one hand holding hers.

Tiera looked earnestly at Rothaway, “Please tell me that he isn’t it trouble. It was all my fault. I kissed him.”

Rothaway nodded. “We know. We saw. He still has to ask me something. He knows the protocol.”

Tonos nodded and stepped in front of Tiera. “Lord Rothaway, may I have the hand of your charge in legal and moral bonding?”

Ziggy was grinning.

Rothaway inclined his head. “Provided that you honour her and keep her safe.”

Rothaway winced as Ziggy drove her elbow into his side. “And you will have to allow my mate unlimited access to your lady.”

“Of course. So, it is approved then?”

“It is.”

“You will act as my second?”

“My mate and I will witness and guard you.”

Tonos grinned. “Thank you for the honour.”

Tiera poked him. “What is going on?”

Ziggy snorted, “Tonos just proposed to you via Rothaway, and my darling husband accepted due to your confirmation through the initialization of the kiss with Tonos in front of witnesses. You said yes, so he has the right to wed you. It is backward from the Gaian standard, but everyone gets their say.”

Tiera blinked. “Just like that?”

Ziggy laughed. “Come along. We will get you dressed for your mating and by then Tonos should have finished the chemical flush at medical that will allow him a normal wedding night.”

The blush that fired her cheeks made her friend laugh. “Wait. What will I tell my mom?”

“Tell her that you are getting married to one of the Nine. She will be upset and probably want to cater a reception on Gaia, but she will get over it if you are happy.”

Ziggy grinned. “Shall we go and make that call?”

It went surprisingly well until Tiera mentioned that she was marrying a Fairy.

“He’s gay, dear?”

“No, Mom. He has huge wings like a Terran dragonfly. I have never actually seen him fly, but I have seen others of his race zipping around the mother ship.”

“I don’t know what the hurry is.”

Tiera debated how to tell her mother and settled on, “It is a tradition of the Nine. We had dinner and a date and now we are getting married.”

“Why can’t you wait?”

“It isn’t the way they do things, Mom.”

An image filled Tiera’s mind of her mother meeting Tonos for the first time with his wings deadly silver and his eyes red. Oh, that would go over well.

“Can we at least meet him?”

“After the wedding, Mom. I will have him make arrangements to come for a visit. Is that okay?”

Her mother sighed heavily. “If you are happy, then I am happy. I just wish I had made his acquaintance before you decided he was the one for you.”

“He is a good guy, Mom, and a medic, so he has a good job.”

Tiera had no idea if that was true, but it sounded plausible.

To one side where Teva could not see her, Ziggy was chortling silently. Tiera looked around for something to throw at her friend and then got an idea. “I can stay up here with Ziggy. She is so lonely, Mom. It’s sad really.”

A cushion flipped and landed squarely in Tiera’s face. Teva grinned on the other end of the connection. “Well, if you girls are having fun up there and you are sure that this is the man for you, we will wait until you can make it down here to have a party, but we will have a reception for you, Tiera, make no mistake about that.”

The threat was in the air, and looking into her mother’s determined face, she knew that if she and Tonos did not make it down to Gaia in short order, Teva and Renault would make their way up to the mother ship, and they would bring the whole neighbourhood with them.

“I love you, Mom. Never doubt that. Thanks for wanting me to be happy.”

Teva smiled, “And if he doesn’t make you happy, Nine or not, we will come up and kick his ass.”

It was Teva’s standard I love you, and Tiera, with tears in her eyes, waved goodbye to her mother.

As the screen went blank, a chirp near the lav got her attention, and she saw the box provided by the delivery chute. The moment that she removed the parcel, the slot closed and became almost invisible against the wall.

“What is this?”

Ziggy took the box from her and put it on the bed. When she opened it, her smile ended in wobbling tears.

“It is a bonding gown for the People of the Air. You get into the shower, and I will lay out the pieces. It will go on better if we can get the layers on in the proper order the first time.”

Bemused by her friend’s knowledge of the clothing, Tiera went into the lav and took a quick shower of light and air.

It was her wedding day, and she wanted everything to go right.