She laughed, and the sound made something tight unravel in my chest. “That’s all right. I wouldn’t have anywhere to wear it.” She sipped at her wine and looked up at me over the rim of her cup.
“Sarah has said she wishes to hold a party in celebration of our mating.”
“You blush,” I said, stating the obvious.
“I’m… embarrassed.”
“For a party?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Because everyone will know what I did. What we did.”
I frowned then. “No one will shame our union . They will think you brave and courageous, as I do.”
She flushed even brighter, but she smiled.
“I’m not usually so brave,” she admitted. “I usually just let things go, let people have their own way.” She bit her lip and stared down into her wine; the sadness in her eyes made my heart ache. “Especially men.”
“What are you talking about? Men on your world hurt you?” I asked, my eyes narrowing as the beast stirred, upset by her obvious hurt. The beast wanted to kill anything and anyone who’d dared hurt her. Ever. Which was stupid, irrational, and completely illogical, especially when those men were halfway across the galaxy on another planet.
She shook her head. “Not like you think. But I’m not a virgin. I tried—I wanted sex to mean something. But the men I chose, they had other ideas. I was never what they wanted.” She looked up at me then, her deep green eyes haunted by the pain of rejection. Idiots.
My beast growled at the idea of her being used in such a way. I grabbed her cuff, lifted her hand to my mouth, kissed the palm. “Never again. I want you, Tiffani. You are mine. Never doubt my desire for you.”
She shook her head at the vehemence in my tone. “That’s why I went to the Bride Processing Center. I wanted to find the one. To know that the match would be… perfect. She promised you would want me, that you wouldn’t mind—”
“What? Finish your statement.” The beast growled again.
“My size.”
I lifted the wine from her hand and set both cups down on the table. Pulling her to me, I wrapped my arms around her, sank into her softness, and lowered my forehead to hers. “You are perfect. Do not worry that you are smaller than Atlan women. I love your body.”
“I’m nowhere near small.” Her cheeks blushed a deep shade of pink, but she held my gaze. “And you’re the first to say that.”
I lowered my head to her neck, tracing her jaw with my lips, enjoying a gentle exploration, the taste of her, the scent of her skin. “You are soft… everywhere.” I placed a kiss atop her breasts, through her dress and lowered my hands to cup the nice, soft mounds of her ass. “I love how your body yields to mine, the way I sink into you, become one with you.” I kissed her cheek, her forehead, her closed eyes. “I love your body. You are beautiful, Tiffani. Beautiful, and brave. You are everything I ever dreamed of in a mate and I look forward to spending the rest of my life learning everything about you.”
She sighed and relaxed into my arms, as she was meant to. Her surrender calmed my beast as nothing else had since we’d left the containment cell. But something bothered me about her words, something I found completely unacceptable in such a strong, beautiful woman.
A growl rumbled through me as the thought solidified. “You will have to forgive my inner beast, for it is quite protective and possessive of you. I find I share the same feelings.”
“That’s… nice to hear.”
I kissed her, softly, quickly. “But you will never speak poorly of your body again. You will not doubt my desire, or your beauty. If you say such things again, I will take you over my knee and spank you, mate.”
She shuddered in my arms, and I kissed her again, tasting her this time. I took my time, not to take her to bed, but simply to enjoy the way she felt in my arms. “Now, tell me about these men who hurt you.”
“Oh, no. I wasn’t really upset about bad boyfriends. It was just life, Deek. I was talking about bad bosses, bad jobs, bad landlords… I just had a lot of bad. I had to make a choice. Continue on with a dead-end job or do something about it. So here I am.”
“Some of the Earth phrases don’t translate with the NPU. I do not know what a dead-end job is or a landlord. Dax is a warlord but I doubt they are similar. Regardless, I understand what you were trying to say and I still find you incredibly brave.” I kissed her on the tip of the nose. “And very, very beautiful.”
She smiled then, exquisitely and brilliantly, and my beast calmed right down.
“What do you need now, mate? You saved my life. What can I do for you in return?”