Even though Hope joked Viper could see how vulnerable she'd been feeling. Because she wasn't Anguis, she'd been thinking that the mating was a biological prime directive that obligated him. Viper's hand brushed across his mark on her neck. It pained him that Hope had worried or questioned the nature of how he felt about her. They should've talked about this sooner.
"Hope, I couldn't have asked Kadru for a better subeo. You are an amazing female, strong, kind, and wildly sexy." Viper growled.
"I don't know I might have gotten the better end of this deal." Hope ran her hands up his chest. Viper nearly groaned as a shiver worked through him.
"I'm having all but ONE of those tapes we recover destroyed." Viper said with a wink.
Hope punched his arm, but the smile was back on her face.
"Goddess I love it when she rough-houses with me." Viper smiled inwardly.
"So it's decided, as soon my family gets settled we have the ceremony."
"We will combine it with your traditions." Viper insisted. If Hope was going to do this, they would include her customs as well. "Tell me about your mating ceremony."
"Basically the woman wears a fancy dress, and the man wears a suit. The couple stands up in front of their family and friends where they exchange rings and declare their love for everyone to see."
"That is not so different. Whatever you want or need is yours." He'd give Hope the moon and the stars if she only asked.
"Oh that reminds me. I got you something." Hope fished through her bag and pulled out a chain with an ancient Cerradont tooth.
"This is awesome, thank you. Do you know how old this is?" Viper asked as he admired the rare fossil then put it on.
"No, the little old couple said it was antique and from a very big cat." Hope shook her head.
"It's probably about 100,000 years old, at least. These were the last of the gigantic species on our planet."
"Wow, I had no idea."
Hope opened her mouth and touched her own canine comparing the two. Viper laughed as he led Hope out of the conference room. He felt like he was flying, not even the recent security breach and turmoil dampened his mood at the moment. Hope had agreed to be his. She was still nervous, but she had agreed.
Viper looked at his parents and Ophidian talking in the hall.
"Do you all have things handled?" Viper inquired.
"I'm working on it." Ophidian reported.
"Well we have a mating ceremony to plan, find me only if there's an emergency."
Viper couldn't be sure but he thought his mother did a little victory dance.
"Do you think she's going to be as happy when she hears it's going to be a mixed ceremony?" Hope whispered with a giggle.
"You are rotten to the core female." Viper said as he lifted her off her feet and tossed her over his shoulder.
Hope squealed and slapped Viper's ass as they left the community building heading for their private pod.
"Film this, assholes!" Viper chuckled as he stalked across the park, Hope squirming on his shoulder.
Hope
The next few days were a whirlwind. Hope wondered if she'd lose her mind on several occasions. The Purist protests still continued but the announcement that their mating ceremony was only on hold till her family arrived seemed to assuage the bulk of the people.
The amusing and disturbing twist being that a large, very large portion of the male population got off on the idea of a female being wild and mounting them in the bedroom. So not only did they have racist protesters around town, they now had throngs of horny men hoping to catch the eye of a human female. Viper had gone so far as to have a fence installed around the colony.
There were even rumors that a women's lib movement had started up, arguing that females had the right to be anyway they wanted in the bedroom particularly since males could be so dominant. That had Hope grinning. Unfortunately all of it just gave poor Viper and Adder more to worry about, and Hyla another reason to frown at her.
Tara, JP, and Acris helped Hope plan for the ceremony while Viper played interference with all of Hyla's demands. Hope had let her future mother-in-law make a lot of decisions, but Hope still had a few things she wanted to choose for herself. Her dress being one of them.
Ophidian was their regular bodyguard when they went to the seamstress to have her dress made. JP was a great artist, so he was able draw what Hope wanted for the dress maker. Hope was a bit sad her older sister, Faith, couldn't be there, but to get everything done she had to start without her.
"But she's here now, sort of." Hope smiled as she looked at the hibernation unit.
"What was that?" Viper asked as he held her hand.
"Just thinking about all the things Faith has missed. I can't wait for her to wake up and I'm dreading it at the same time."