Flicker by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

measured and confined. She could not help it. She flickered.
    Darven eyed her for a moment. “Control yourself or I won’t be able to get this done. Do you want to go to your mating rituals naked?”
    She thought about it. It might speed up the mating portion of the proceedings. “I will try, Darven. Just move a little more slowly. Try not to startle me.”
    “Done. But don’t move.”
    Darven worked her magic and Seval held still. It was a collaboration that worked out most satisfactorily for both of them. Her formal kimono would be ready that evening and the loose trousers that went under it were ready for her now.
    All she needed now was a mate.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Twelve
     
     
    She was expecting chimes and gongs, but all she got was a quiet tea ceremony in the garden, watching the sunrise. The knelt on the edge of a pool, a tray of tea between them.
    As they watched the dawn, Seval reached out to take Ben’s hand and the words just came. “Vorabenik of Azon, I choose you to be my mate and the guardian of my days. The father of any children I might bear, and the one who dries my tears.” She kept her face to the dawn, tears tracking down her cheeks.
    Ben let go of her hand and stood, then walked into the pond and turned to face her, blocking the dawn and covering her with his shadow. “Seval of Terra, I choose you to be my mate and guardian of my days. I will love with all my heart any children you might bear, and will always be there to dry your tears. I will never leave you, and I will always look for you when I cannot see you. You will be forever in my heart and mind.”
    His own tears were coursing down his face as the truth of the emotion caught them both in its grip. Love was not spoken, but it was all around them.
    He leaned forward to kiss her and she met him half way, ravenous for his taste. A sudden jerk from her had him flying through the air to land on her prone body and she broke the kiss for one more question. “When can we get to sex?”
    He groaned, “The shuttle comes in five minutes to take us to my family’s home. Can you last that long?”
    “I am going to have to.” She writhed against him, their layers of clothing defying her attempts to get out of it. Finally, a shuttle landed in the main courtyard and they ran for it.
    Flower petals were thrown by Kyra and her little girl and it was just like a human wedding back on earth with the couple heading for the getaway car.
    The shuttle driver ignored them as they eschewed seats to cuddle on the floor, spoon fashion, then they were off to his ancestral home. By the time they arrived, they were both vibrating with the effort to keep their public displays of affection to above the clothing. They almost ran into his home and, when they startled a servant, he did not stop. Dragging her by the hand, he pulled her to what had to be his private wing of the house, carried her into the room and locked the door.
    “What do you know about the Nyal mating rituals?” He was walking toward a bed with a chain extending from the headboard.
    “Not nearly enough.” She settled in as he dropped her gently onto the silky bedding and turned to get something off a nearby pedestal. “What is that?”
    “A Nyal mating mask and it is going to allow me to win your trust once and for all.” He took it up and showed it to her. “The eyes have been sealed so that the female cannot see, and it keeps her from trying to run during the mating. Our species engages in the occasional kidnap mating.”
    “And what do you want me to do?”
    “Wear it until I can tell that you trust me completely.”
    He held it out to her and she adjusted it over her eyes and the straps over the back of her head. There was a slight snick as he did something at the back that tightened the mask just a little.
    She did trust him. She trusted him with her life so now she was going to trust him with her body. That trust began right away as she felt his hands caressing her