by Sadie Carter
“You painted this?” she whispered.
“Yep. I can easily paint over the name and change it if you don’t like it. The mural would take me a bit longer to change.”
She blinked back tears. “You guys did all this for me?”
“Yep,” Keely told her, grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her forward. “So, we better get free cake for life.”
“You know you would anyway.”
Keely took her through the door behind the counter, which was frosted, so you couldn’t see past it and into the most beautiful kitchen she’d ever seen. It was clean, brand new, with three huge cookers.
“How did you do this?” she asked them. “When?”
“Been planning it for a while,” Marc told her. “Only we didn’t have the money.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Where did you get the money? You didn’t ask Safan, did you?”
“Nope,” Blue told her. “Although he’s a bit pissed that we didn’t go to him. This is bankrolled by someone else.”
“Racar,” she guessed. He would be the only person to do this for her.
“Actually, no,” Blue told her. “It was the Empress.”
“What? Why?” She gaped at them.
“Apparently, she got rather addicted to your cupcakes,” Keely told her. “And she’s been in a bad mood ever since your stall closed. When she heard us talking about setting this up, she told us she was going to bankroll it. And she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And since she’s the Empress, we couldn’t tell her no. She told us that being an empress had to have its perks and getting her way about this was gonna be one of them.”
“Oh my God. But what if I can’t pay her back?” She placed her hand against her stomach, trying to still her nerves.
“I don’t think that will be a problem, baby girl,” Tane told her. “People are going to flock here.”
“Which is why you’re going to have to hire staff to help,” Blue told her. “Now, I’d offer—”
“No,” everyone said quickly.
Blue put her hands on her hips. “You have all got to get over it. It was one lot of food poisoning.”
“So what do you say?” Tane asked. “Is this your bakery, baby girl?”
“This is my bakery.” She looked around at them with a huge smile. “Thank you!”
They all took turns hugging her tight.
“It’s good to see you smiling again,” Keely told her.
“It’s good to smile again.”
Suddenly, the sound of music filled the room. “What’s that?”
“Hmm, I have a feeling that could be for you,” Blue said mysteriously.
“What?” she asked. “Guys, I’m not sure I can take any more surprises. What’s going on?”
“Can’t tell you,” Keely told her. “But I think it’s a surprise you’ll like. I hope so anyway.”
She walked out of the kitchen with some trepidation and followed the music outside, holding her hand over her eyes to shield them from the glaring suns of Zerconia. She blinked, trying to bring her vision into focus as she felt her friends walk up behind her.
“What…what is that?”
“Wow, he really took the concept of grand gesture and ran with it, huh?” Blue said.
“What?” she asked. “Wait, is that Racar?”
It was. He was walking slowly towards them. Behind him were three Zerconians playing instruments, the music hauntingly beautiful, like nothing she’d heard before. They came to a stop but Racar kept moving forward, towards her. Around them, people stopped and stared.
“What is he doing?” she whispered.
He stopped a few feet away.
“Racar?” she asked.
“Ellen Marianna Hanson,” he started to say.
Her heart started to beat rapidly. He couldn’t…he wouldn’t…would he?
“You are the most beautiful, kind-hearted, generous female I have ever met. Whenever I see you, my heart beats a little faster. I know you may not believe me, but I spend much of my time thinking of you, wishing I was with you. I have made mistakes. I have taken you for granted. I have made promises I have not kept. I am not a perfect male. Not even close. But I love you.”
He reached into a pocket and pulled out a ring, which he held up to the light. Around her, she heard people start talking. Some were sighing and smiling, others were frowning and tight-lipped with disapproval. She didn’t care. All she cared about was this man.
“You love me? I thought you didn’t believe in love?”
“Turns out, I was wrong. It sometimes happens.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile.
When he dropped to one knee, many people gasped in shock.
“What is he doing?” one warrior asked.
“Ellie, will you please agree to be my wife? I will promise, and this time I mean it, to always be here for you, always love you, and never forget your birthday again.”
She let out a surprised sob. She took a few steps forward until she was standing in front of him. She looked down at the ring. It was gorgeous. The stone was large, multi-faceted, and it seemed each facet was a slightly different shade of blue. It was like nothing she’d seen before.
“Racar, you do not have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. I want you tied to me. If the mating bond never forms, it matters not. But I do want you bound to me. I want this marriage, because the love I feel for you goes beyond a mating bond. I want you, Ellie. I choose you. Will you choose me too?”
Could she choose him too? Could she take this final step and let down the walls she’d built to protect herself from further hurt? Suddenly, she realized there was never any guarantees. She’d wanted the security of the mating bond to give her the sense of safety and home she’d never had as a child.
But Racar was all she needed. He made her feel safe. He was her home.
She looked around her at everyone watching. He didn’t have to do this here. Didn’t have to make this so public. It was a statement of sorts. He was showing her he meant it. He loved her. Wanted her. Was choosing her. She dropped to her knees, let out a deep breath, and said…
“I choose you.”
15
Ellie didn’t think she’d ever been this happy. Finally, she had everything she had ever wanted.
A man. A home. A family.
And she was getting married. She could scarcely believe it.
She hurried along the path towards home. She’d ended up staying at Blue’s longer than she should have and it was starting to grow dark. Racar wasn’t going to be happy with her for being out on her own in the dark. He had some very set opinions on her safety. And walking around at night on her own was a big no-no as far as he was concerned.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t be home yet.
“Finally, I find you on your own without that pack of pathetic creatures you call friends.”
Ellie froze as someone stepped out of the shadows in front of her. For a moment, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Because why would Gerlica be holding a blaster on her?
“Gerlica? What are you doing?”
Ellie hadn’t even seen or spoken to her since that day when Gerlica had approached her as she’d walked to the marketplace.
“What am I doing? I would think that would be obvious. I am going to shoot you.”
“W-what?” Had she lost her mind? “Why would you shoot me?”
“Because Racar deserves so much better than you. You’re not his mate. Not his true mate. You need to go so he can find her. Someone worthy of him. How could you ever have thought you were his mate? Look at you. A human creature. Tiny and pale and pathetic. You do not even belong here. None of you do.”
What the fuck was going on?
“You could not even do the decent thing and die. The java worm should have killed you. That’s what Jett’s research said. But no, you just had to keep on living.”
What was she talking about? Shock filled Ellie as she pieced everything toge
ther. “Wait? You had something to do with the java worm?”
“Of course I did. My mate studies them. He has some in a special cage in his office. He discovered that they could be poisonous to humans if they ingested them, but put it at a low risk because they only live in the desert. So I took one and put it in the drink I gave you. Stupid fool. Did you really think I would apologize to you? Apologize to a human? Never!”
She couldn’t believe that Gerlica hated her so much she wanted to kill her. And all over an apology? It just didn’t make sense. There had to be something wrong with her.
“The worm should have killed you, but you just would not die. At first, I was furious it hadn’t. But then I found out that there was no mating bond between you and Racar and I felt that was fitting. For you to be humiliated and rejected. He should have pushed you away! Instead, he obviously felt sorry for you and kept you around. So now it has been left to me to take more drastic measures to get rid of you.”
“All right, so you obviously have a few screws loose. What is your problem? It was an apology. That’s hardly a reason to kill someone!”
Psycho bitch.
“And for your information Racar loves me. We’re getting married.”
“Married,” she spat out. “Some ridiculous human concept. How can he be satisfied with that when he could have a Zerconian female mate? You did not think that your marriage had any chance of lasting, did you?”
“Well, it will if you don’t kill me.”
The other woman threw back her head with laughter. Shit. Crap. This was her opportunity to strike. The other woman was bigger, no doubt stronger, and she had a blaster, but Ellie had motivation. And the element of surprise. It was obvious that Gerlica thought she had the upper hand, but Ellie had been trained to defend herself by Tane. Maybe she didn’t like to fight, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t.
She tackled the other woman around the waist, throwing her to the ground. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs as she slammed against the bony, bigger woman. The blaster went flying out of Gerlica’s hand as Ellie straddled her body. She pulled back her hand, balling it into a fist and slamming it into the other woman’s face.
Ow. Shit. That hurt.
It was also damn satisfying.
Suddenly, Ellie went flying as the other woman let out a scream and shoved her off. She slammed against the ground and took a moment to recover her bearings. By that time, Gerlica was on her feet. Her hair was a mess, her clothing stained, the look on her face pure evil.
“Do not touch me!”
Ellie rolled as the other woman kicked out at her. She was just lucky Gerlica didn’t know how to fight for shit. As she moved, she caught a glimpse of the blaster. She rolled twice more and grabbed it. Then she turned, sitting up and directed the blaster at Gerlica. She fully expected the other woman to freeze. But either she didn’t see the weapon in Ellie’s hand or she just didn’t care, because she didn’t stop.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!” she yelled.
Still, she didn’t stop. Ellie didn’t want to actually shoot her. That wasn’t something she needed on her conscience. But she also had no intention of letting Gerlica hurt her. She let off a warning shot, blasting the ground in front of Gerlica’s feet.
“I will kill you!” Gerlica screamed.
“Stay where you are or I really will shoot you, crazy cow.” Without taking her gaze off the other woman, she lifted her right hand away from the blaster and brought her communicator up to her mouth. Her entire body shook with reaction, but she still managed to keep the weapon aimed at the other woman.
“Blue’s mortuary,” Blue answered. “You kill ’em, we chill ’em.”
“Um, Blue. I have a problem.”
“What is it?” Blue asked sharply.
“Gerlica just tried to kill me. And I have a blaster aimed at her.” And she was a few seconds away from completely losing her shit.
“I’ll be right there. Just keep the blaster aimed on her. All right?”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.” She had to yell over Gerlica’s crazed screams. “But could you do me a favor and contact Racar for me?”
He was going to lose his shit.
Blue snorted. “Chicken.”
“You bet I am.”
She watched as Racar paced back and forth across the bedroom, every so often he turned his red, enraged gaze on her. She was exhausted, sore, and wanted nothing more than to go to bed and sleep.
But first, she had to soothe her terrified mate.
Blue had gotten to her quickly. Tane, Safan, and Jack had turned up soon after. Safan had thankfully taken control of the situation, calling Gerlica’s mate as well as Racar. He’d taken her statement before Racar had gotten there.
Which was just as well, because as soon as Racar arrived, she was embarrassed to admit that she’d fallen apart. Racar hadn’t been able to get a sensible word out of her as she’d sobbed against his chest.
When she’d finally managed to calm down and tell him what happened, she had been worried that maybe the Zerconians wouldn’t believe her claim that Gerlica had she attacked her.
She need not have worried. Gerlica seemed to have completely lost all hold on her sanity. She’d been raving about how Ellie needed to die. How all humans should be wiped out. She’d felt sorry for Gerlica’s mate, Jett, who seemed like a really good guy. He’d been horrified by what his mate had done. At how she’d stolen one of his java worms in an attempt to kill Ellie. He’d actually apologized to Ellie and Racar, like it was his fault his mate was batshit crazy.
It had taken a while to sort everything out before Racar had been able to bring her back home. He’d actually insisted on carrying her, and truth was, she hadn’t felt up to walking. He hadn’t said a word for the entire journey home.
But she knew it was coming.
When they arrived home, he’d carried her into the bathroom and stripped her clothes off, inspecting every inch of her. She’d had a few scrapes and bruises from where she’d tackled Gerlica, but on the whole, she was in pretty good shape.
You know, for someone who’d nearly been murdered by a crazy person.
Then he’d climbed into the cleansing unit with her, holding her against him. After they were both dry, he’d wrapped the pale green dressing gown around her then picked her up once more and carried her into the living room, setting her gently on the sofa.
Soon after, her friends had arrived. He had surprised her by not protesting. Instead, he’d gotten them all drinks and hovered close by but hadn’t interfered as they’d fussed over her, each of them needing to check that she was all right. When she’d started yawning, they’d all left.
And still he hadn’t said a word to her. He’d just picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, setting her on the masic.
But then the pacing had begun.
“Racar—” she started to say.
“You should never have been walking around alone at night,” he snapped. “How many times have I forbidden that?”
She let out a relieved breath that he was talking.
“Yes, I know. But I didn’t mean to stay so long at Blue’s. We got involved in the wedding planning. And it was just beginning to get dark when I left. Besides, this place is safe. Hardly anything happens here.”
She knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as it came out of her mouth. His face grew stony, his eyes flashed red. He was furious.
“You were almost killed! She had a blaster aimed at you!”
“Yes, but I’d like to point out that I got the blaster away from her. I’m not hurt. She didn’t harm me.”
“She could have killed you!” he yelled.
“Racar, I’m all right.”
“I could have lost you!”
Her insides melted at his pain. “Racar, I’m all right.”
“What would I do if I ever lost you?” The pain on his face almost broke her. She knelt at the edge of the masic and opened her arms. “Racar, come here.”
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He shook his head, but he moved towards her. She wrapped her arms around him. “I’m all right. I’m here. I’m yours. I’m not going anywhere.”
His hug was so tight, it bordered on pain, but she welcomed it. “You cannot ever leave me.”
“I won’t,” she whispered. “I won’t ever leave you. I love you.”
He shuddered once then drew back to look down at her. The red had faded from his eyes, she was glad to see.
“I love you also, my mate. Always. But never, ever scare me like that again.”
Epilogue
Ellie stood on the balcony and stared at the lake.
Strong arms slid around her waist, pulling her back against a wide, muscular chest. “What do you think of Ulrika?” Racar asked her. He brushed her hair to one side then laid a kiss on the side of her neck.
“It’s beautiful.” She sighed as her body started to stir. They’d gotten in late last night and had just climbed into bed to sleep, both of them exhausted after all the work they’d had to do to get away.
The wedding had been arranged amazingly quickly, but doing something in such a short timeframe had taken a lot of work. Now they had time to relax and enjoy each other. She’d delayed the opening of her bakery until they returned, knowing she wouldn’t have time to get away once it was open. She glanced down at her ring. She was married. She was his wife. And they were on their honeymoon.
“I asked your friends about what happens on a honeymoon,” he said as he reached under her nightgown and ran his hand up her stomach to cup her breast.
“Did you just?” she asked, her breath coming faster as he lightly pinched her nipple. He continued to kiss down her neck to her shoulder. A shiver of arousal ran over her.
“Yes. Keely was most forthcoming.”
She groaned. “I’m not sure you can trust what she says.”
“She said that we were to fuck like bunnies. When I asked her what that meant, she said we had to fuck a lot—”
“Oh God,” she groaned as he twisted her nipple. A mix of pain and pleasure filled her.
