Over the past few months, his relationship with his parents had improved considerably, in part because of Laila. She was insatiably curious about Zac’s childhood, and had formed a fast friendship with his mother, Sulaan, who had, she admitted one afternoon, longed for a daughter after Zac was born. Unfortunately, they could not have any more children, and she had welcomed Laila to the family with open arms.
She did not know how he’d done it—he must have been planning for weeks—but Zac had pulled it off. Someone had found a red carpet and rolled it out to form an aisle, on either side of which someone had arranged chairs for the guests.
Standing to one side of the garden with Zac by her side, Laila looked up at her new husband, resplendent in his formal Taurean military uniform with a sash of Qu’Rell aqua draped over his broad shoulders. Laila was wearing a dress of the same color, the silken fabric sliding sensuously across her skin.
Zac’s intense green gaze held hers, and she wound her arms around his neck and lifted on her toes to kiss him.
“So this is the man I’ve been hearing so much about?”
Laila pulled away from Zac and spun around, hearing a familiar voice. “Krystal! How?”
Her sister laughed and pulled her into a warm embrace. “Zac arranged my trip as a surprise for you. But not only that, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me—I’ll be working on the Zataras! He arranged it!”
Zac interjected, “We always need talented engineers. It only made sense.”
Laila lifted an eyebrow in disbelief, sharing a glance with Krystal, whose eyes widened almost comically as she stared over Laila’s shoulder. She turned to see T’arq approaching and greeted him warmly, introducing the two. “Krys, this is T’arq, a friend of ours.”
Krystal looked up at the tall Taurean, who approached and offered her his hand, the pair almost comical in their size difference.
“Let me welcome you to Taurus. Would you like to dance?”
Krystal flushed and shot a glance at Laila, her mouth hanging open.
“Go on. He won’t bite,” Laila encouraged.
“Um… ok,” Krystal said, addressing T’arq’s shoes. “I’ll warn you, though, I’m a terrible dancer.”
T’arq smiled, tilting his head to one side. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you.”
Krystal shot one last pleading look at Laila, before hesitantly putting her hand in T’arq’s, her fingers swallowed in his big grasp.
Laila turned to Zac, standing on tiptoes to drop a kiss on his lips. “You can pretend all you want. You did this for me, didn’t you?” She said, gesturing at the retreating backs of Krystal and T’arq.
Zac smiled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Music filled the garden from the Taurean version of a string quartet, and Zac held his hand to Laila. “Shall we dance?”
Laila put her hand in his. “Why not?”
The two stepped onto the dance floor, Zac pulling Laila into his arms. As the music ebbed and flowed around them, Laila lost herself in his gaze. He proved to be an adept dancer, helping her through the more intricate steps by simply picking her up and twirling her around.
As the music ended, they pulled back, breathless and laughing.
The wedding was small, but everyone important to Laila and Zac were there: Krystal, of course, and Zac’s parents, who were talking to Karik Za’Rell and Tomas Fa’Rell on the edge of the dance floor. The team was also there: T’arq was still dancing with Krystal, Domik and CJ were arguing over something that Laila couldn’t quite hear, and Oren and Amelia, were standing next to each other, drinks in hand, pointedly looking anywhere but at each other.
Laila accepted a glass of what looked like champagne from a waiter as she and Zac made their way off the dance floor.
“Laila! Zac! Congratulations to you both.” The enthusiastic greeting from Karik had Laila swallowing her drink more quickly than she intended, and she coughed. She hadn’t noticed the Supreme Commander approaching, nor Tomas who was standing slightly behind him.
“Didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, eyes twinkling.
“Supreme Commander, Sir,” Laila began.
“No, that makes me feel old. Just Karik, since we’re amongst friends,” he smiled.
“We’re glad you could make it, Karik,” Zac said, touching foreheads with his cousin.
“It’s not all pleasure,” Karik said, his lips pressed together.
Laila’s eyes widened. “What are you saying?”
