“I am heart-happy,tyr’ilof mine. So happy that it overflows.”
We chuckled together at my terrible joke, and Dad looked confused. I’d forgotten that he couldn’t understand what was going on, so I whispered a brief translation while the three priestesses finished the last knot. They gestured for us to kiss, and T’raat gave me the most toe-curling kiss of our relationship.
When we came up for air again, his gaze was so intense that I felt the sudden need to vacate the area and find a nice, secluded place to be alone with him.
“Is there more to the ceremony?” I whispered in English, trying to avoid insulting the officiants. “Like a reception or something?”
“No,” he answered with a grin. “Now the couple consummates the relationship.”
Cool. I could get down with some consummating. “Where? I don’t think I can wait.”
Rather than reply, he scooped me into his arms and carried me back down the pier to the ship. The crowd parted as we passed, raining more color-dispersing petals down on us. I was going to look like a giant Twister board by the end of this—or a Pollack painting.
Once inside, T’raat took me to a different room than the one I’d traveled in, on another level of the ship.
If the bridal room had been extravagant, this was beyond spectacular. We entered onto a small, raised platform with stairs leading down. At the base of the stairs was a huge poolof lavender liquid—Xalanite water—that extended from wall to wall, and on the other side sat another platform with the most luxurious looking bed I’d ever seen, all fluffy and full of satiny bedding and cloudlike pillows. There was just one problem …
“Baby, I can’t swim in this, can I? How am I going to get across to the bed?”
T’raat looked at me like I’d grown another head. “It is Xalanite tradition to consummate in the water. The bed is for after.”
I glanced at the pool again, trying to judge the depth. I suddenly doubted the generations of Xalanite traditions. “T’raat, there’s no way I can stay afloat in this! Am I supposed to take it off first? If so, there’s nowhere to set it so it doesn’t fall in the pool and get ruined.”
He just laughed. “You keep the dress on. It is made ofxliifand is completely water safe. The water will not ruin the dress, and the dress will not sink you.”
Centuries of Xalanite women have been married in this same dress, made out of the same material, in the same kind of pool, but I couldn’t seem to accept those facts when faced with my own mating pool. “You’ll keep me up if I can’t swim in this? You won’t let me drown, right?” That would suck.
His answer, apparently, was to strip. He took off his boots and set them on the platform, then started leading me backwards while removing the rest of his suit with his other hand. By the time we got to the edge of the pool, he was naked, bothn’rilat full attention. Their vibrations shook the steps we stood on, creating a series of ripples in the pool. One more step back, and he’d be in the water—and I’d have to either spend my wedding night on these stairs or get wet.
Time for a trust exercise. I kicked off my shoes and nodded.
T’raat jumped in first. Well, more like took that last step and fell in. I gasped as he submerged, feeling like a dummy when herose and broke the surface, his gills flaring. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about those.
He treaded water with ease as I debated the best way to get in. Somehow I didn’t think sitting on my butt on the top step and easing in would be the sexiest move, so I decided to just go for it.
I held my breath, and I jumped.
The water that engulfed me was warm and inviting. A brief moment of panic struck when T’raat didn’t automatically catch me, but as I scrambled to swim to the surface, he grabbed my hand and helped me rise up. I found it surprisingly easy to kick in the fluffy dress, as though the layers of skirts were somehow moving around my legs like the water itself. They gave no resistance, didn’t get tangled up in my movements. It was amazing.
Rivulets of colored water ran down my skin when I surfaced, and I realized the powder from the petals was running. I worried about the dress for a moment, but it seemed resistant to the color. Aside from my own skin, nothing stained.
I hoped it would come off my skin eventually.
T’raat brushed a wet lock of hair behind my ear with a tender touch. His gaze bore into me, and I felt oddly exposed despite being fully dressed. Our legs brushed against each other as we treaded water. There was something erotic about that, about just barely touching. It was even more intense when hisn'rilnudged my stomach. I looked up at him through my wet lashes with a grin.
“Is this the part where you ravage me?” I teased.
He dipped his hand under the surface and grabbed the hems of my skirts, wrapping the fabric in his fist. “Only if you behave.”
T’raat brought his wrapped hand up and held the back of my neck, pulling me to him as he drew us closer in the water. Our hips met the same moment as our lips, and hisn’rilrubbedagainst me underwater. I gasped and wrapped my legs around his waist, trusting in him to keep us afloat.
His entry was smooth and swift, and I threw my head back in ecstasy as he licked my clit with his other appendage. Each stroke of his legs thrusted him deeper inside me. I gripped his waist tighter and dove for another breathtaking kiss. To T’raat’s credit, we never sank, never even came close to going underwater, no matter how hard I ground against him or where I licked and sucked. I knew by then that his gills were hypersensitive to my touch, and I was merciless in my assault.
My breasts bobbed in the water, and T’raat dipped his head to lavish them with kisses. I wondered if the petal powder had a flavor. While his mouth was occupied, I gave my wrist a tentative lick to test it.
Sweet. Succulent. The wet powder somehow was both at the same time. It had something else, too, an added aftertaste that I couldn’t identify. “What is this stuff?” I asked.
“Miinpollen. It is an aphrodisiac.”
