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Her nerves vanished, replaced by anticipation as she moved forward, concentrating on the man she loved. The great hall with all its alien splendor disappeared until there was only the two of them. He watched her as she walked length of the hall toward him, the connection between them crackling like a live wire. Then she was there, standing before him, close enough to touch.
His eyes blazed like twin moons, and his hands flexed at his sides as if he wanted to reach for her. But he kept himself contained, though she could tell it cost him.
Tradition be damned. She wanted to be in his arms right now. But she respected his culture, so she waited what felt like an eternity but was probably only seconds before Prince Rohn stepped forward.
“Warriors, welcome!” His voice carried the length of the hall. “Today we gather to celebrate a joyous event between one of our esteemed warriors and a beautiful lady from Earth. The Gods have found the warrior worthy and he bears the marks of mating on his wrist, so we are celebrating a true bonding today."
The gathered congregation in the hall erupted into a mix of enthusiastic applause and triumphant war cries, their voices echoing off the cavernous metal walls.
Prince Rohn smiled down at them as he stepped down from the dais to stand before them.
He held out his hands. “Your hands, please.”
Vaarn reached out without hesitation, and she bit back her smile as she slid her hand into Rohn's huge one. Latharian males had no issues with commitment then. If Vaarn's glare at the big prince was any indication, he wasn't going fast enough.
“Blood calls to blood and soul to soul,” Rohn said, his deep voice carrying through the large hall. “Soul calls to skin, female to male, binding the halves of a whole together for all eternity. Lady Sadie Keare, do you take this warrior who bears your marks on his skin to bond-mate? To support and honor him for the rest of his life?”
She slid a glance at Vaarn, finding him watching her.
"I love you," he mouthed.
She looked back at the Prince and nodded. “I do.”
Rohn turned his attention to Vaarn, his expression forbidding but his eyes twinkling with genuine happiness for them. “Warrior Vaarn T'Kaan, do you take this female who has called marks in your skin to bond-mate? To protect her and honor her for the rest of your life?”
“I do.”
Latharian wedding… sorry, bonding ceremonies were so short compared to human ones. She bit her lip as Rohn transferred both their hands to one of his, and wrapped a purple sash around them. Covered their hands and bound them together.
“Then…with the power vested in me by the Emperor himself and as a Prince of the Lathar, I bless your bonding. May it bring much solace and be fruitful.”
Rohn grinned and winked at Vaarn. "Now for my favorite part… Warrior, you may kiss your bride."
EPILOGUE
S'aad had never been to a bonding ceremony before, but he was fairly certain that the part where Vaarn swept his little mate off her feet and gave her a kiss that was practically him making love to her with his mouth alone was not part of the traditional ceremony… for either of their species.
The hall erupted into cheers as the kiss went on and on, and he was seriously beginning to think that he was going to have to throw a bucket of water over them to break them up.
He didn't, of course. Working for the Mate Program, he was more in contact with humans than most warriors, and he knew for sure that you did not draanth with the bride's appearance on her wedding day. He'd gone down a rabbit hole for hours on one human forum where they were talking about cake smashes. He still didn't understand why you would want to push someone's face into food anyway…
Finally, Vaarn broke the kiss and stood Sadie on her feet. She was delightfully flushed, leaning against her new mate. S'aad couldn't help the broad smile that crossed his face. He loved to see new mates together, to know that he had helped bring that about, that he had done something to help save their species from the brink of destruction.
Not that he had any hope of finding a mate himself. His DNA had been in the program from almost the beginning, and there had been no match yet. He knew that was a bad sign. The longer a male's DNA was in the system without even a partial match, then the less likely he was to find a mate. In fact, the only male whose DNA had been in longer than his without a match was the Emperor's himself.
"Hey! S'aad!" He jerked his head up from his musings at the sound of Vaarn's voice. Something hurtled through the air toward him and he reached out to catch it just before it hit him in the face.
"Flowers?" He frowned, looking down at the object in his hands. No, not flowers. He caught his breath and looked up to find Sadie grinning at him.
"You caught the bride's bouquet, S'aad," she giggled. "Tradition says you'll be getting married next!"
