The news didn’t faze her. “Oh, I know. It’s just good to see someone from home all the way out here in space. And a princess at that.” She grinned at both of us and I couldn’t help but smile back. Her energy was contagious. “This is Mara. She’s just had her birthday a couple weeks ago, didn’t you, baby?”
The little girl squealed as her mother tickled her belly, full of joy. Such a normal, beautiful thing on such a strange, stressful day. “She’s beautiful.”
“I hear her little brother is a handful.” Jessica wiggled her eyebrows. “A Prillon brother to watch over her?”
“Torture her is more like it. He follows her everywhere, crawling around at warp speed. I hate to see what happens when he can walk.”
Jessica chuckled, but I felt lost. What? “I’m sorry. I don’t understand. You’re mated to a Prillon?” I looked at Mara, her round, chubby little face looked one hundred percent human to me. “But, isn’t Mara human?”
Mara wiggled and squealed to be put down, and Chloe complied, watching as her daughter toddled around on remarkably steady feet for someone so small. But Mara was independent and, apparently, fearless. Or, she had a thing for big, mean-looking Prillon warriors, because she made a beeline for Ander and didn’t stop until she was standing between his legs, her hands on him, demanding to be picked up.
Chloe glanced that way, grinned when Ander complied, looking like a giant holding a kitten. Mara, however, had begun talking to the big warrior, her young voice rising and falling as she told him whatever her two-year-old mind found important. Chloe turned her attention back to the selection of shoes on the S-Gen screen in front of her. “Oh, Mara’s half human, half Prillon. Her baby brother’s got way more Prillon in him. Big and fast, he’s my caramel colored cutie.” She sighed. “Ander’s in trouble. She’s in conquest mode. She’s already got Dorian and Commander Karter wrapped around her little finger.”
I stood still as several ladies tugged and pulled at one of the gowns, trying to make it fit. It wouldn’t, but I knew they were enjoying the process. And Ander? Mara had decided to move on, so sh
e crawled up his body—with a small assist from the large warrior—took his face in her little hands and kissed him on the cheek. Done with that, she demanded to be put back on the floor.
Chloe laughed again, our gazes met, and she returned to her search for the perfect pair of shoes.
Ander sat in a chair near the door the entire time, his gaze rarely leaving his mate. And the stark devotion I saw there shocked me to my core. Here, surrounded by laughing females, he let his guard down and seemed to enjoy watching Jessica direct the show. His scarred face and massive body didn’t appear to bother any of the other ladies present, nor scare the little girl. They ignored him. All but Jessica, who stopped every couple of minutes to walk past and touch him. Hand on his cheek. His shoulder. His knee. Whatever was in reach. Like she needed the contact.
Or he did. Knowing Jessica as I did, I wondered that such a huge, fierce warrior would be so vulnerable when it came to her.
I wondered what I would discover if I could run around inside Leo’s head. And did I want to know?
Yes. Yes I did.
When Jessica was in a rather animated discussion with an Atlan female about one of the gowns, I approached him. “Thanks for watching out for us today.”
He inclined his chin, just a bit. “It is my honor, Princess.”
So serious. All. The. Time. No softness in him at all, except for Jessica. Well, and for cute little babies. I’d seen Jessica curled up on his lap like he was her personal teddy bear. He was scarred and scary and… adorable. “You’re a keeper, Ander. I can see why Jessica loves you so much.”
His already dark skin darkened three shades as I stared, fascinated. Jessica chose that moment to appear, laughing, wrapping her arms around my shoulders in a best friend hug. “Oh my God. What did you say to him? He’s blushing!”
Her smile brighter than I’d ever seen it, she stepped into his arms and kissed him. Hard. “I love you, Ander.”
He leaned back and glanced from Jessica to me, where I stood, fascinated, watching them—and the colors that had exploded around them, turning them into a couple of giant glowsticks. Whoa, that whole color explosion thing was crazy. One moment of his attention was all I got, and he was staring at Jessica like she was the only person in the room.
“You are dangerous, female,” Ander growled at his mate.
Jessica turned her head and winked at me. “Earth girls are badass, right Trinity?”
It was my turn to laugh. “You know it.”
We left Ander to suffer alone and dove back into preparing me to impress a planet. When the ladies were finally done with me, I stood before a full-length mirror and saw a stranger staring back at me. My hair was an intricate explosion of twists and curls interwoven with sparkling diamonds as it cascaded in a central river of huge, golden curls halfway down my back. The dress was something straight out of a fairytale book, the fitted bodice a shade that matched my skin, but covered with elaborate curlicues and patterns that sparkled like holographic rainbows when the light hit them. And the skirt of the gown? Dark, vibrant red that hung straight down my body but flared in the back with a train long enough to trip any bride trying to make a grand entrance.
I didn’t look like Trinity Jones, small-town girl.
I looked like a princess.
I looked like my mother.
I looked like a queen.
Jessica rested her hands on my shoulders and peered at me, her gaze solemn as we stared at one another in the mirror. She, too, wore a dress, but it wasn’t like mine. Hers was simple but beautiful. A red that perfectly matched the mating collar around her neck. But that was all. No jewels. No glitter. No fuss.
I wasn’t wearing just a dress. I was wearing a statement. And she hadn’t been kidding about the glass slippers. They weren’t glass, exactly, but they glittered like the bodice of my dress and were so comfortable I could stand in them for hours.