Page 15 of The Interdimensional Lord's Earthly Delight

Almost against her will, Lishelle leaned forward. “Aaaaaaand?”

Trixie shrugged. “I dunno. I didn’t finish that chapter since I already foundmy beloved.”

Sitting back with a huff, Lishelle dropped that line of inquiry while they finished their cake. If she wanted to learn more about Thorkon religiosity, she knew who she could ask.

After the taste testing where they all agreed the third buttercream was the winner, they went to try on their dresses for the final fitting.

“We should’ve done this before cake,” Trixie complained asshe twirled in front of the mirror in the bridal suite.

Lishelle eyed the blonde’s petite frame. “Cake is the best part of a wedding, so I’d rather know that the dress will still fit after I indulge.”

Rayna shook her head. “The vows, the cake—you guys, the most important part of a wedding is the wedding night.”

They hooted at her, and Trixie pointed out, “We already know you’re not a virgin.”

“Touched for the very first time.” Rayna smirked. Over more hooting, she said, “No seriously. Check this out.” She fiddled with her dat-pad…and the rich lavender of her gown faded to a pure crystalline white.

They oohed appreciatively.

“And the very bestest part,” she informed them. “It’s keyed to Raz’s biosignature. Once it goes to white, when he touches it, the extra ruffles ‘n’ shit falloff, and then, every place he puts his mouth…turns transparent!”

They cheered.

“In space, your wedding night never ends,” Trixie intoned.

By the time they were done in the bridal suite, they’d giggled themselves pretty silly, and Lishelle practically floated back to her own rooms in a haze of buttercream and camaraderie.

But when her slippers abruptly stopped without her conscious choice,she realized she was on the verge of the nexus and her heart was beating faster.

Warily, she peeped out of the corridor. The topiaries were their usual well-groomed selves, framing the benches— A large shape in a Thorkon robe moved out from behind the shrub.

Her heart slammed once more against her ribs before she recognized the estate staff uniform.

The gardener glanced over his shoulder. “Evening,Lady Lishelle.”

She murmured some reply, not bothering to correct him about the lady part. She was still glancing surreptitiously around the nexus. But there were no more lush vines, nowhere to hide even a larf, much less a big Thorkon male.

“I thought I better check one last time before heading back to Azthronos,” he was saying, gesturing with his dat-pad sensor. “Odd thing, weren’t it, allthose flowers?”

She nodded. Right, like theflowershad been the odd part… “Do you know what they were?”

“Never seen their like. The bush is evergreen with little white flowers in the autumn time, nothing like those vines and yellow pretties. Must’ve been something dormant in the dirt got all excited by the strange starlight.” He gave her a little bow. “It’ll be perfect for the wedding, my lady.”

“It’s beautiful,” she said automatically. And it was.

Even if she did sort of miss the wild blooming.

She said her goodnights to the gardener and marched onward. But she ended up passing her door and continuing onward. She was too keyed up to sleep. A stiff drink would take care of that.

Eventually, once the station was a fully functional resort, there would be several eating establishments,large and small, as well as drinking areas, in addition to room service and the stocked kitchenettes in the suites, all serviced out of the same commissary. But for the wedding, only the main kitchen and the individual rooms’ food units were operational.

And the bar, of course. They all agreed that needed to be ready to serve.

One drink, that was all she needed. Maybe she’d even find a datefor the wedding.