Page 62 of Right on Time
“I know, I know. It’s that boy’s fault. And someone forgot to mention the young cibiris go cuckoo after eating coffee-like bushes in the Arboretum.” She shot Vrixiel a look.
He shrugged. “Everybody knows that. They are held in a pen for a reason. Thankfully, Nitiel’s wound was small and he recovered in record time, thanks to his niela being by his side.”
“Oh?” Chloe looked questioningly at Nitiel.
He was rubbing over his chest where the bite wound had been. “That explains a lot. A Gaenthian’s body is known to be stronger and faster to heal when he has a niela,” he told Chloe.
“Anywho,” Trixie butted in, “I was worried I had overdone it with the cibiris, so I decided to take Chloe to the ball to check how things with Nitiel were standing. Would I have to keep intervening? I thought from your words, Chloe, and from the sexy idea we came up with, that the HEA was just around the corner… Guess again! Nitiel was on the verge of leaving the station without his niela.”
“I was only out for a flight, to clear my head,” Nitiel assured his Commander. “I hope the enemy’s attack was not part of the plan?”
“Goddess, no.” Siriniel put his empty glass away. “That was an attack that exploited a weakness we should never have allowed. I have already sent patrols in that area.”
Trixie tapped on her glass to bring everyone’s attention back to her. “So, what do you think? Do I deserve to be your maid of honor and the godmother of your babies?”
Chloe bit her bottom lip and looked up at Nitiel. He sought her gaze at the same time. Their eyes held for several seconds.
Her lips stretched into a smile, and his gaze softened.
“It’s okay,” she spoke for the both of them. “I mean, what you all did is nuts. But you did it to help Nitiel, going against the rules when Gaenthians are all about rules. You helped me as well, so… the end justifies the means in this case. I think.”
“Yes!!” Trixie jumped off the desk and rushed to give Chloe a hug. “I knew you would understand! The happy ending is worth the drama leading to it, in every single romance book I've read.”
Chloe laughed and hugged Trixie back. Nitiel and Vrixiel shook pinkies, hopefully in a sign of everything being good between them. Siriniel raised his glass in their direction, a contented smile on his face.
Some time would have to pass for Chloe to wrap her mind around everything the three conspirators had done to get Nitiel hitched, but for now it was enough knowing that he was not getting exiled or punished in another way. There was nothing preventing her from being with the man–alien of her dreams.
A happily-ever-after indeed.
CHAPTER 29
Right on Time
Nitiel looked around as he whirled Chloe on the impromptu dance floor. The back garden was packed with Terrans and Gaenthians alike, engaged in talking or dancing under the fairy lights.
It was unbelievable how things had changed for him. A month ago, he landed on Terra for the first time in his life. Alone. With thoughts of his military career ending. With concerns about his adaptation to life planet-side among Terrans as well as to his new job responsibilities. He was used to enacting military strategies, not talking about them. Could he handle living on Terra and working as a liaison between Commander Siriniel and Terran authorities?
Now, Nitiel called Terra his home. His previous concerns were a thing of the past. Living on a foreign planet had its difficulties, and conversing with Terrans sometimes involved miscommunication, but both experiences were rewarding in their own right. Particularly when at the end of the workday, he was not alone. He got back home to the most precious female in the galaxy. Lady Chloe Davison. His Loe.
It was only after they returned to Terra together 26 days ago that he learned he had been mispronouncing her first name. Nitiel had been convinced everyone on the station but him was getting it wrong, but as he and his niela began arranging their life together on her planet, the shameful truth became clear to him. But did his extraordinary female care? No. In fact, she insisted that he kept calling her Loe; she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Hey, babe. My eyes are down here.”
Nitiel tore his gaze away from the full garden and looked down at Loe. The nickname she had for him was perplexing but borne out of love, so he didn’t mind being compared to a newborn. In a way, he was like a newborn in her world, and she was his guide to knowledge.
“I know where your mesmerizing eyes are, niela.” He gave her a twirl before pressing her body firmly against his again. At least, as much as her puffy formal dress allowed. They resumed swaying to the slow song the three-member band was performing on violins.
“Then why were you looking everywhere else?” Her soft smile told Nitiel she wasn’t upset about not being at the center of his attention. A Gaenthian lady would have been upset about that, but not his Loe. She knew this evening was as much about warming their new house as it was about building interspecies bridges in an informal setting. She simply wanted to know his thoughts.
“I was thinking how lucky I am, Loe. A month ago it was just me, and now I have everything I need right here. A niela, a home planet-side, a job where I get to work for peace in the Solar System… Everything.”
“Everything?” Her eyebrow rose. “How about offspring?”
“I told you already, Loe. I want babies with you, but when you feel ready and when the Goddess wills it after. I am fully content as is. Why do you bring this up again?”
She bit her bottom lip in that sexy way that made him want to taste her lips, guests or no guests. “Just checking. I know how you tend to disregard your needs in favor of mine.” She ran a hand down the inside of his wing, where they had jointly discovered he enjoyed being petted. “I want to be sure you’re happy.”
Nitiel ran his hand down her back, where tiny buttons kept her bodice on. Later tonight, he planned to send them flying as he quickly freed her of the purple dress for the Terran tradition of home christening. “I am happy, niela. Are you?”