Darak

by Cara Bristol

  “One, step forward. Two, step to the side, three. One…two…three.” I began to hum a waltz and after he picked up the three-quarter rhythm, I showed Darak how to move beyond the box step, and he naturally began to exert control. He moved us into the shallowest part of the pool, and danced me up the steps onto the patio tiles. Now that we weren’t wading hip-deep, our dance became more fluid.

  I began to sing in a low voice, “Moon River wider than a mile, I’m crossing you in style, someday. A dream maker, my heartbreaker. La la la la la la la la la la la …”

  “What does la, la, la mean?”

  “It means I don’t know all the words,” I said. “Two drifters, off to see the world…”

  “La la la la la la…” Darak picked up the tune in his throaty baritone, and our voices blended. We moved together, not perfectly, but smoothly, our hearts in sync even if our feet weren’t always. I should have felt self-conscious, wondering what might be jiggling, but the appreciation in his smile took my breath away.

  Naked, we waltzed in the dark.

  Chapter Eight

  Darak

  “Are you sure you’ll be all right alone?” Lexi said as she led me to the front row of seats. Her silvery-blue long tunic—called a dress when not worn with leggings—left her shoulders bare and flowed over her generous curves to dance around her ankles as she walked. I preferred her naked, but I had to admit she looked beautiful in the garment. She’d piled her hair atop her head, leaving ringlets to curl around her glowing face. Paint applied to my bite mark on her shoulder concealed it until it was scarcely noticeable.

  “I’ll be fine. Go see your sister.” I motioned.

  “Okay. I won’t be long.” She pressed a kiss to my lips and swept back up the steps toward the house. She’d explained females commonly experienced bridal jitters on their wedding day, so she needed to check on Toni.

  The garden had been transformed since yesterday’s practice. A long white carpet led from the house down the steps to the gazebo where an arch decorated with hundreds of white-and-pink flowers perfumed the air with the sweetest fragrance. Ribbons and bows adorned the access points into the rows of chairs, which were filled by people who’d come to witness the mating ceremony. Beyond the seating area, more blossoms and lit candles floated in the pool where Lexi and I had forged our bond.

  Beyond the pool and the garden lay a grassy field upon which a huge white canopy had been erected. Inside, servants dressed in black leggings and white tunics bustled about the tables, finalizing the preparations for the celebration to follow the mating ceremony. Well, most of them hurried. One particular servant slouched against a post and seemed to loiter more than he worked. Another helper who carried an air of authority spoke to him and gestured to a table. The servant pushed off from the post, shoved his hands into his pockets, and sauntered away. I eyed his retreating back with a frown. The desultory way he moved reminded me of somebody.

  I shook off the familiarity I couldn’t place and returned my attention to the gazebo where the ceremony would occur.

  I looked forward to observing the ritual so I would know what to expect. I intended to ask Lexi to be my mate. I hoped I wasn’t wrong about the shift in her feelings I’d sensed after our physical mating and dancing last night. I swallowed. What if I asked her, and she said no?

  I smoothed my hands over the knees of my crisp dark leggings. I was too hot in the loose-fitting tunic called a jacket, and the sash around my neck strangled me, but all the other males were similarly dressed. My friend at the men’s clothing store had chosen well. I recalled swimming unclothed with Lexi in the refreshing waters of the pool. At the first opportunity, I would suggest she and I go there again. Maybe that’s where I would ask her the important question.

  I caught several people staring at me, mostly young females. The mating ceremony witnesses talked among themselves, their voices blending into an indistinct hum, but every now and then my translator picked up snippets of conversation.

  “Always was a rebel…”

  “Caroline must be having fits…” Laughter.

  “Hell, I’d do him.”

  The witnesses ignored the trio of musicians seated under a small white canopy to the left of the gazebo. One of the players plucked at strings attached to a large frame positioned between her legs, while another drew a bow across the strings of a wooden body anchored below her chin. A third musician breathed into a long metal tube she held perpendicular to her face. While foreign to me, the sounds produced were flowing and melodious. Very pleasant.

  I hoped they would play the song Lexi and I had danced to last night. Moon River wider than a mile…

  Conversation behind me ceased all of a sudden, and then a familiar female voice spoke. “Thank you.”

  In a slim-fitting dress of the same pale pink as the flowers decorating the garden, Mrs. Sutterman had arrived on the arm of an usher. Her eyes met mine, and for an instant her composure seemed to slip, but it was so fleeting, I wondered if I’d imagined it. Perhaps it was the glint of the sun. It sure was warm. I slipped a finger under the collar of my tunic.

  She sat second from the end, leaving three seats between us vacant as well as the outside one, reserving it for Mr. Sutterman who would escort Toni to her mating ceremony. Lexi had explained to me she and I would be seated in the section for the family of the bride. The seats in between Mrs. Sutterman and I were for Lexi’s brother, his female, and Lexi.

  “Have you been enjoying your stay?” Mrs. Sutterman asked. “Everything is fine with your room?”

  “Yes, thank you,” I said. “The room is very comfortable. The pool is nice also.”

  “Ah yes, the pool.” Her lips smiled, but her eyes didn’t. “I was informed earlier this afternoon the electrical issue has been fixed, so I expect more people will be using it.” For a long moment, she said nothing, and then her nostrils flared. “You should know sound carries at night.”

  I wasn’t sure what she was hinting at, or why her words sounded like a warning. “All right,” I said. “I’ll remember that.”

  She rose to her feet, and I thought she intended to leave, but she slipped into Lexi’s vacant seat.

  “You might be a nice…man,” she said. With a slight incline of her head, she motioned to a group of tittering females eyeing me from the other side of the aisle. “Judging from the degree of interest, you would not have trouble finding another…mate.”

  “I don’t want another one. I have chosen Lexi.” The Fates had chosen Lexi, but I doubted Mrs. Sutterman would understand or appreciate the distinction if Lexi herself didn’t.

  Her lip curled. “Yes, well, about that…” The bland expression returned to her face. “How much will it take for you go away?”

  “Go where?” I said.

  “Please, let’s not play games. How much money will it require for you to leave my daughter and break off all contact? And before you answer, let me advise you that my attorney can contact the Intergalactic Dating Agency and alien immigration and have you deported to the planet you came from.”

  Give up Lexi? Go back to Dakon? Anger boiled up from the pit of my stomach, but I kept my voice level and low. “There is no amount of money that could make that happen.”

  “Very well, then.”

  “Mother, what are you doing?” Lexi stood in the aisle along with her brother and the female who’d been introduced as his girlfriend.

  “Darak and I were chatting, getting to know each other better. I think we’ve reached an understanding.” Mrs. Sutterman moved back to her chair, and Lexi scooted past her. Her brother and his girlfriend claimed the chairs in between.

  My head reeled. Could she have me sent back to Dakon? Should I tell Lexi what her mother had threatened? How solid were Lexi’s feelings?

  “How’s your sister?” I tried to sound as if nothing was amiss. How should I handle this?

  The mating officiant took his position behind the arch of white-and-pink flowers.
Phillip stepped out in front of it and waited with his best man at his side.

  “She seemed nervous, but that’s pretty much normal. The wedding will be starting in a couple of minutes. Are you all right? You seem…out of sorts.” She peered at me.

  “The sun is warm.” The heat beat down more acutely now, but I prevaricated. I had to tell Lexi what had happened, but minutes before her sister would accept Phillip as her mate was not the right time.

  On my planet, families formed close-knit loving units, and parents rejoiced for their child when he or she found a mate. Disharmony strained Lexi’s bond with her mother, and Mrs. Sutterman’s threats could rend the relationship so severely it could never be repaired. I hated being at the center of it all. If I got sent back to Dakon, Lexi would have to leave the rest of her family—her sister, her father, her brother. Her home. The bakery she was so proud of. I would be the cause of her sacrificing everything.

  If she didn’t choose to come with me, I would lose everything—I would lose her. What if she couldn’t do it? She cared for me, but was she enamored enough to leave with me? Did I have a right to ask her to?

  From the front came a chime, and Phillip withdrew a phone from his pocket and spoke into it.

  Lexi glowered at him before turning to me with a concerned expression. “Did my mother say some—” She cut off her whispered question when the musical trio broke off in the middle of the tune they were playing and switched to “Pachelbel’s Canon in D.” I recognized the music from the rehearsal.

  “We’ll talk after the ceremony,” she said.

  Everyone twisted around. Two little girl kits in frilly dresses with big bows and even bigger smiles appeared at the top of the steps. As they descended the stairs, they flung white flower petals along the path. People smiled. The boy kit who’d chased the little girl kit among the chairs came next, balancing two rings on a lacy pillow.

  In succession, four female attendants marched in, each escorted by a groomsman. The maid of honor followed, walking alone.

  There was a pause.

  Toni, on the arm of her father, appeared at the top of the steps and started down. Phillip slipped his phone into his pocket, and everyone stood up. Mr. Sutterman glanced at Toni, beaming proudly. He patted her hand that rested on his arm. Toni’s lips quivered into a slight smile before her face returned to its solemn expression. The bouquet of flowers she clutched in her free hand trembled.

  “She’s beautiful!” Lexi exclaimed.

  A long dress of shiny material molded her slender form before spreading out in a long wide tail. The garment left her shoulders and arms uncovered, but her head was dressed with see-through fabric and a sparkling ornament.

  She did look attractive, but Lexi outshone her.

  They stopped in front of the arch. Mr. Sutterman kissed Toni’s cheek and came and sat in the empty chair next to her mother. Toni and Phillip faced each other, their attendants behind them.

  “Please be seated,” the officiant said, and we all sat. Lexi threaded her fingers through mine. Her mouth tightening, Mrs. Sutterman regarded our joined hands, the faint mark on Lexi’s shoulder, and my horns, before turning forward again. My stomach knotted. What was I going to do?

  “Family and friends, we’re here today to celebrate the relationship of Antoinette and Phillip and to witness and support their commitment to one another…” The officiant’s voice droned. I should have been listening, but my problems kept a grip on my attention.

  I held Lexi’s hand, wondering if this was one of the last moments I would have with her. Would we be torn apart? Would Lexi and I ever stand before her family and friends and commit to one another as lifetime mates? Or would Mrs. Sutterman have me sent back to Dakon?

  “Do you, Phillip, take Antoinette to be your wife, to cherish in love and friendship for as long as the two of you live, to trust and to honor, to love and to support faithfully through the best and the worst, and if you should ever doubt, to rely on your love for each other and the reason why you came together on this day?”

  “I do,” Phillip said in a strong, confident voice.

  Toni bowed her head. The flowers in her hand shook.

  “She’s so nervous,” Lexi whispered.

  “Do you, Antoinette, take Phillip to be your husband, to cherish in love and friendship for as long as the two of you live, to trust and to honor, to love and to support faithfully through the best and the worst, and if you should ever doubt, to rely on your love for each other and the reason why you came together on this day?”

  Toni riveted on us. She stared for so long, a murmur rustled through the crowd. Then, she took a visible breath and looked at Phillip. “I’m sorry.” She shook her head slowly. “I can’t marry you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Lexi

  My jaw dropped along with everyone else’s. The guests gasped, and then went so quiet, I could hear the buzz of an unseen plane. I clutched Darak’s hand tighter and leaned forward on the edge of my seat. I couldn’t believe it. I’d sensed ambivalence, but I’d attributed it to normal bridal jitters.

  “I don’t think we’re getting married for the right reasons—at least…I’m not.” Toni glanced at me and Darak before continuing. “We deserve romance, moonlight dances, silliness, devotion. We should feel joy and excitement when we’re together, longing and yearning when we’re apart. We should love with abandon, recklessly, wildly, without reservation or calculation or negotiation. I want to be with someone who inspires me to be me, yet who I would follow to the ends of the earth and beyond. We should not be settling before we’ve even started.”

  “That’s unrealistic and immature, Antoinette,” Phillip said stiffly. I didn’t like the guy, but I could feel sorry for him. Being jilted at the altar in front of his family, friends, and colleagues had to rank among life’s top ten suckiest moments. “This would have been a mutually advantageous merger.”

  Sympathy evaporated in a pouf. Did he say mutually advantageous merger? That’s how he viewed marriage to my brilliant, gorgeous young sister? What a cold, bloodless jerk. He didn’t need a wife, he needed a doctor to verify his heart was still pumping.

  Thank mascarpone and the Fates and the great unicorn in the sky, Toni had realized she’d almost married a zombie and jumped ship before the train left the station. Or something like that. My thoughts were as mixed as my metaphors. Much as I applauded her courage, I was still floored.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I peeked at Mother. She was apoplectic, her panoply of composure shattered. Ears red, her mouth thinned to a slash, she mangled her Birkin clutch in a white-knuckled grip. But, the laser of fury shooting from her eyes was aimed at Darak! Thankfully, he focused on his feet so he missed the radiation of animosity.

  Back off! It’s not his fault! I scowled at her. We engaged in a glowering standoff for several long seconds, before she lifted her chin and focused on the front. A moment’s thrill of victory shifted into trepidation. I’d won a tiny battle in a war I feared would be fierce and dirty. I’d never seen Mother’s anger so…naked. It had always been dressed in silk and pearls.

  Toni faced the audience. She held her back straight, her head proudly, and her bouquet steady. “I would like everyone to please stay for the reception. Just because there isn’t a wedding is no reason not to party. There’s a ton of food. I’d like you to eat, drink, and dance. Have a glass of champagne—I know I intend to. If you sent a wedding gift, I’ll be returning it. If you brought one here, please take it with you when you leave today.”

  Eyes on her target, she pitched her bouquet straight at me. I caught it with both hands. Then, she picked up her skirt and marched back up the aisle in a swirl of satin and lace.

  Someone clapped, a couple others joined in, and then everyone applauded.

  Except for me—I clutched the bouquet. Bemusedly, I wondered if the magic it contained would still work if the wedding hadn’t actually been completed. Darak didn’t clap, either. Nor Phillip. Nor
my mother who continued to maim her Birkin.

  * * * *

  “Wow. I never saw that coming.” I slipped into a chair festooned with white-and-pink ribbons next to Darak in the reception tent. “But Toni’s doing well—really good, actually.” I hadn’t realized how unhappy my sister had been until I saw her happy. Stress lines had vanished, and her smiles were wide and genuine. A lovely bride, she made an even more beautiful runaway bride. “Her doubts about the marriage and Phillip had been growing for a while, but the wedding was barreling full steam ahead, and she didn’t know how to stop it.”

  Upon finding her voice, she’d found her footing. Often courage grew out of action rather than action out of courage.

  Darak said nothing, continuing to stare straight ahead.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  “I’m glad your sister is happy. How’s your mother?”

  “Not happy. She pretty much handpicked Phillip for her son-in-law. This is a crushing defeat, and she’s not used to losing.” I’d been afraid to leave my little sister alone with her—at first. Mother had swooped in to shame Toni into submission, but they didn’t call my sister the killer in the courtroom for nothing. When I’d left, Toni had on her big girl panties and her lawyer face and was going mano a mano with Mamazilla. I felt sorry for my mother. Nah. I grinned.

  The reception tent buzzed with conversation. This almost-wedding would be talked about for months to come. The liquor flowed as freely as the conversation. Balancing silver trays on their palms, white-jacketed waiters moved around the tent serving drinks. Other “waiters” hung back and spoke into their shirt cuffs. So much for Security blending in.

  A muscle ticked in Darak’s cheek. “If I had to leave, would you come with me?”

  “You want to leave now? Before my sister gets here?” I narrowed my eyes. “What did my mother say to you?” I’d sensed an odd vibe since I’d found my mother and Darak with their heads together before the ceremony. Then again, nothing about this wedding had gone according to plan, so everything felt odd.