9. Ayla

Triannis drapes the see-through fabric over my head and I look at myself in the mirror. The veil that reaches my thighs glimmers.

Another maid opens the window and lets the sunlight through. It"s my wedding day so I"m allowed to see the world beyond my quarters.

I approach it and take in the alien planet. The plains, the mountains, even the trees, look different. Different shades than I"m used to seeing in nature, but the warm light makes it feel more...homely. More Earthly.

I can"t believe the time"s already up. That it"s time to walk in front of hundreds, thousands, or millions of Vyperians. I"m not entirely sure how many there are but I"m going to be presenting myself before them, and being naked is the least of my concerns.

Being free of clothes, free of fucking bras is easy. Walking to Lofy and giving him my answer? I don"t know how easy it is going to be. Partly because I don"t know the answer myself yet.

The past two weeks Lofy has shown me the wonders beyond my little planet, the wonders of his species, the wonders of pleasure. But are they enough to abandon my planet, and my whole life there?

"Your Highness," say the maids behind me and I turn to find a Vyperian I haven"t seen before.

He stands tall, almost as tall as Lofy, but he's a shade lighter than him. Otherwise they look very similar. Even down to the short hair and the striking aquamarine eyes.

Then again, he doesn"t have my branding on him and his cock appears smaller than my Lofy"s.

For fuck sake, Ayla. Why would you look at that?

"Your Highness," he addresses me and takes a bow. "I"m Prince Cilonicrux, King Lofynyx"s brother and your escort for the day."

Escort? He"s not here to use me, is he? I mean, it"s absurd, but I"m also on an alien planet with different customs, so what the hell do I know about absurd.

"Hi, Cilon...sorry, I didn"t quite catch your name."

"Cilonicrux," he answers and takes another bow. "I understand it may be long and foreign like my brother"s, so feel free to give me a nickname as you have done with my him."

His tail sways from side to side behind him and his gaze remains firmly on me. I have to admit, he"s cute, but he appears so young, even younger than Lofy, and my Lofy—despite appearances—is so much older than me at seventy-five years old.

I wonder how old Cilo is.

"Cilo it is," he replies and I shake my head, clearing my thoughts.

Did he read my mind? He must have read my mind.

"And for the record, I"m fifty-three."

I quirk my lips while dying a little inside. Shit. Way to embarrass myself in front of my brother-in-law.

Wait, a minute. Who says he is my brother-in-law? He"s nobody until I walk down the aisle. Get a grip, Ayla.

"Are you ready, your Highness or do you require further assistance from your maids?" he asks, refocusing me back to the room and the matter at hand, which happens to be my premarital preparation.

I shrug.

"Well, unless you"re hiding a wedding gown somewhere I think I"m ready," I tell him.

Triannis steps forward with a huge smile on her face and gestures toward the partition.

"His Majesty did provide options, Ayla," she says.

I don"t miss the way Cilo frowns at the way Triannis addresses me, but if he has a problem he can say it to my face.

"He did? Why didn"t you say?"

Triannis purses her lips. "You look so comfortable being naked like us I thought you wouldn"t want to dress."

I"m still not sure I do, but it wouldn"t hurt to look, would I? After all, a girl only gets married to an alien king once. Might as well look my best even if it goes against Vyperian tradition.

At the very least it gives me more time to make up my mind because...what the fuck do I do? What the fuck do I say? Can I believe Lofy when he says I can have a life on Earth if I choose so, or is that a fake promise?

He"s so sweet and caring, but I don"t know how much of it is just a facade, if any, and how much is a well-practiced lie to win my heart.

I"ve seen him first hand use his power to influence and sway people. To conceal his true nature. To put me to sleep. How can I know that"s not part of his plan too? Me falling—me feeling so much for him?

Triannis takes me behind the partition where I find not just any kind of dresses, but ones by my favorite designer, Vera Wang.

Agh, Ayla. How can you still think he"s tricking you?

Look at all he"s done for me. All he"s given me. Granted I wouldn"t need all these things if he hadn"t abducted me, but that"s the way Vyperians express their love. And all the other ways Lofy has used. Like the food, the massages, the touching, tail-fucking.

If he was manipulating me, wouldn"t I have witnessed it? He had been so exhausted after the first day of shooting on Earth. Surely, if he"d been using me I would have seen that exhausted side of him eventually. He could have been influencing me all this time, but he"d given me time, he"d given me gifts, he"d taken me back when he didn"t need to.

"I hope my brother has done enough to acquire an affirmative response from you, Ms. Kyle," Cilo says, taking me out of my self-induced torment.

"Are you reading my mind, Cilo?" I peek at him from behind the partition as if it can protect me from his empathic reach.

"It"s impossible not to."

"Well, I haven"t decided yet."

He nods.

"Your little trip has put him in a very precarious position. I would hate to see what would happen if you rejected his proposal."

I sigh and hide behind the partition again.

"I thought no one had found out."

"Nothing stays secret in Vyperion and King Atraxius has his spies everywhere. Breaking your isolation and taking you back to Earth has caused quite the stir in both countries. No one has done that in centuries, millennia I dare say."

I close my eyes and rest my head on the partition behind me.

I knew what he"d done would put him in a difficult position but upon our return he had reassured me no one had found out. Why would he lie to me if he could influence my mind? Why would he care?

That"s because he does. He admitted his feelings from day one. He hasn"t lied to me once. He hasn"t held the truth from me no matter what.

"How bad is it?" I ask Cilo and decide to step out of the partition just as naked as I was when I stepped behind it.

I walked toward the little prince.

"Well, Atraxius wants his head. His country wants him to abdicate so their king can rule us better and the people of Leviathar aren"t sure of his commitment to their safety. How does that sound?"

I offer my hand to him and squeeze it tight.

"That sounds terrible."

He gestures toward the door and I follow him out of the room. I step out of my own accord for the first time since Lofy put me to sleep to sneak me out last time and am immediately overwhelmed by the sight.

We are standing at the end of a long bridge with big arches in intervals. The view outside the arches and up above where there is no ceiling, is majestic. Birds that look like tiny dragons fly ahead, and pink clouds decorate the light purple sky. Several miles below is a glistening river, orbs of lights swimming underneath toward the purple ocean far ahead. The air is chilly but I"m not cold.

"This is Vyperion, your Highness." Cilo extends his arm and waits until I hook mine around his before we move down the bridge.

"It"s beautiful," I tell him.

"Will you choose to make it your home? That is the question of the day."

I bite the inside of my cheek.

"Leaving my own planet and life behind is a big decision, Cilo."

He nods.

"I understand, Ms. Kyle. But marriage to a Vyperian doesn"t have to mean never seeing your home planet again. A quarter of our people are married to species that live across the galaxy and beyond."

So he had been telling the truth. When he told me I could keep my life on Earth as long as I returned to him each night. He hadn"t lied.

"I see."

Cilo smiles and we cross the bridge. When we get to the end we jump onto a floating platform. My feet feel sticky as soon as I"m on it and Cilo explains there"s extra gravity force so we don"t fall off and the floating disc rushes away from the bridge. From the place that has been my quarters for the past fifteen days.

We go through what appears to my human eyes as a jungle before we reach streets filled with people of all shades of blue.

The cheers overflow from every direction along with music, something between tribal and pop that"s very pleasing to the ears.

As the platform slows down we reach a huge stage decorated with flowers of all kinds that look very aesthetically pleasing despite the variety. In the center of it all stands Lofy and three bald women a foot shorter than him.

Cilo steps down from the platform first and turns around to offer me his hand and helps me. The whole time I keep my eyes peeled on Lofy. He"s glowing. Quite literally. His branding has all turned iridescent and the way he reflects the sunlight and all the colors around him make him appear fae-like.

With each step I take I become more and more confident in my decision until he takes my hand and I catch my breath.

"You look wonderful, my iblis," he says and his words warm me like a blanket. Like a hug.

"Thank you, my Lofy," I tell him.

His hold tightens around my hand and I get lost in the ocean of his eyes.

This is the man that risked everything he has to make me happy. He"s the one who branded himself with me even though it could have meant he spends his entire life celibate. Even though it could have made his country vulnerable to the enemy. But he"d done it for me. Because he loved me. Because he cared for me. And because he wanted me out of billions of girls across the galaxies.

Cilo steps to the side and I can see the three ladies circling us from my peripheral vision but all I can look at is Lofy.

How could I have doubted him? How could I ever doubt a man who"s been so open with me since day one? I go through every piece of information I"ve gathered all these days, everything he or my maids have told me, everything his brother confirmed, and I can"t find one single lie, only some questionable but perfectly explained choices.

And then of course there was that proposal. Seven days ago, back on Earth, when he grew tired and sleepy after a whole day of concealing himself. After I'd made him cum.

He proposed to me then even though he didn't need to. Even though it's not what Vyperians do.

"Ayla Kyle of Earth, do you confirm our king Lofynyx of Leviathar has expressed his interest in marrying you by abducting you?" asks the first woman.

What a weird question to ask, but I guess it"s on par for what Lofy has told me of the ritual. That Vyperians abduct as a way of proposing.

"I do," I answer.

The second woman speaks up next. "Ayla Kyle of Earth, do you confirm our king Lofynyx of Leviathar has performed his duties as your abductor to your satisfaction?"

Boy, oh boy has he. He"s more than performed his duties. He"s excelled at them.

"I do."

Lofy smiles and my pussy gets wet just remembering all of our encounters. All the times he"s gone down on me and the time I went down on him.

"Ayla Kyle of Earth, do you take our king Lofynyx of Leviathar as your husband?" asks the third woman and I already know my answer.

I"ve known it for a while but I was too afraid to admit it. Too scared of what it might mean. Of what it might look like.

"I do," I say and my breathing resumes to its normal function.

One of the women steps forward and lifts my veil so there's no barrier between me and Lofy who looks at me in disbelief.

"You...you do?"

His doubt is so sweet. It gives me confidence that I made the right decision.

"I want to be your queen, Lofy. And I want you to be my king."

His eyes go even brighter if that"s possible and his tail wraps around my back and slams me into him, onto his lips as the crowd around us, and I imagine all through Leviathar, cheer.

I put my hands around his waist and breathe into him. He"s mine. All mine. And there"s no way back now. We"re mated for life.

We sure are, my vyperix, he says in my head.

Vyperix?

It means mate for all of eternity.

Hmm, eternity with you sounds good.I close my eyes and deepen our kiss.

My first kiss with my devilishly handsome, alien husband.

I have got to be dreaming!