Chapter 39

“What are those little butterfly-looking things called again?” Tinsley asked as they sped over the vast forests of Lorr.

“Uh, what’s a butterfly again?” asked Dante beside her.

He was flying this time, and she loved to watch him at the helm, despite her occasional teasing. He was an amazing pilot, and she loved that he was whisking her away to the other side of his home planet for their honeymoon. She would never get sick of Lorr, and she wanted to know everything about its beautiful flora and fauna in the time they had left there.

“You know, those pretty little fluttery insects that look like they’re drunk all the time,” she tried to explain.

Dante laughed. “That’s one way of putting it.” He grinned at her as they crossed over an indigo sea.

“But you know what I’m talking about. Don’t you?” she asked a little smugly.

“I do. Our drunken insects are called doridoras,” he replied, still smiling. “And there’ll be plenty of them where we’re going.”

Tinsley practically squirmed in her seat, letting out a little squeal of excitement. She still couldn’t believe she got to experience all this beauty, all this wonder, and most of all, all this love. She looked across to Dante again and let her eyes trace the curve of his horns, the edge of his jaw, and the bulge of his shoulders.

“No doubt about it,” she said, smiling at him. “I’m the luckiest woman in the galaxy.”

Dante glanced at her, and with a mischievous grin, he flicked on the autopilot. Leaving the ship to fly itself, he unbuckled his straps and, rising from his chair, leaned over Tinsley.

“Then I’m the luckiest man in the universe,” he uttered with a sexy smile before bringing his lips to meet hers.

She felt the warmth of his kiss, the teasing moistness of his tongue softly parting her lips, and for a moment, she lost herself in him. Suddenly she didn’t care if she never saw another doridora again in her life if it meant this kiss would never end.

But, of course, it did eventually.

“We’re approaching the Sarik Lake Lovers Resort,” Buzz’s voice announced over the Thunder Bolt’s speaker.

She smiled to herself, thinking of her dad’s sense of humor, the one that matched her own. Jeeves would always be her favorite AI personality, of course, but she got the feeling she’d be spending a lot more time with Buzz now that her father had gifted them the Thunder Bolt as a wedding present.

“A little reminder of home,” he’d told her with a warm smile.

It had meant the world to her, and even Dante had understood what a huge gift the ship was.

“Thanks, Buzz,” Dante said as he gave Tinsley one last smile. “I’ll take over from here.”

He made his way back to the pilot’s seat, strapping himself in and switching back to manual flight mode. Soon he was landing the ship in a large purple meadow, and sure enough, a cloud of doridoras erupted from the grass as the ship alighted.

“You weren’t kidding,” Tinsley said, not even trying to keep the childlike awe out of her voice as she pressed her face to the window.

Behind her, Dante chuckled. “Come on, there’s way more to see.”

Tinsley couldn’t get out of the ship fast enough, running down the gangplank into the fresh air that rose off Salik Lake. She could just see the water behind a copse of gorgeous purple trees, and as she had the first say she landed on Lorr, she drank in the breathtaking sight of the Lorr countryside.

“It’s so beautiful,” she cried and turned to see Dante watching her with deep love in his eyes.

“You’re so beautiful,” he told her and pulled her in for another kiss.

This one lingered with a little heat, and Tinsley felt her body melting into his. They hadn’t even made it to their room yet.

“There’ll be plenty of time for that this week,” she told him as their lips parted.

“I just wanted to get a head start,” Dante teased.

Tinsley giggled.

They exchanged another longing look before silently agreeing to head toward the resort rather than just ripping each other’s clothes off right there and then.

It didn’t take them long once they made it to their room, though, and much of their first day was spent making love between the sheets of their enormous room, doridoras be damned.

In fact, that was how they spent much of their entire honeymoon. When they weren’t enjoying each other’s bodies, though, they were enjoying the stunning surroundings.

Tinsley delighted in exploring the surrounding woodlands, endlessly fascinated by the beautiful trees, flowers, shrubs, and grasses. Everything was like a dream. Even the view from their room was more beautiful than the most masterful paintings she had ever seen. The lake rippled in deep blue and purple hues, framed in a spray of violet fronds, the golden light shimmering off its surface.

“Why don’t we go swimming tonight?” Tinsley asked one evening after they’d enjoyed a lazy dinner on their balcony.

“Skinny dipping, you mean?” Dante asked with a grin, proud of using his Terran terminology.

“I’m game if you are,” Tinsley quipped back, and soon they were pulling off their clothes and racing down to the water.

Tinsley somehow found great joy in knowing the other guests were oblivious. Just a small line of trees shielded the other patrons from the naked couple splashing in the water just beyond the resort’s edge.

Another time, they took a boat out onto the water, lazing for hours under the warm orange sky watching the fish glide through the water around them.

“Do you ever want to stay here?” Tinsley asked, looking around at the stunning scenery.

It was hard to believe that on the other side of the planet a Jorvlen uprising threatened to destroy all of this. She couldn’t imagine how anyone would let greed get in the way of such beauty.

Dante sighed. “Of course, but it’s too dangerous,” he replied, a little sadly. “And anyway, I know I can help better from Noxxa than I could from here. I know how much you love it here, though. I’m sorry we can’t stay.”

Tinsley felt her chest expand a little at these words, and she sidled over to the other side of the boat, nestling into Dante’s arm.

“Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be,” she told him. “It could be anywhere.”

She felt Dante breathe in deeply, and she imagined he was breathing in her words, letting them sink into him to become part of him.

“I love you, Tinsley,” he told her, letting out his breath.

Tinsley breathed those words in, and feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin, she imagined that she was, in fact, basking in Dante’s love for her.

“I love you, too,” she said and pressed herself tighter into his warm body.

Dante turned to face her, and soon his gaze met hers. They lay there like that for a long time, just gazing at each other. Tinsley knew fate truly had brought them into each other’s lives, each other’s arms, each other’s hearts.

He was her soulmate. As she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his, she knew she never wanted to be anywhere but in his arms. It was the truest thing she had ever known.