Free Alien Best Man by Amy Redwood Page B

embrace.
    “You shouldn’t have come,” Qay said. “We said goodbye last night. Wasn’t that satisfying enough for you?”
    “ Very satisfying.” I raised my head, sought his slate-gray gaze. His eyes were cool and stern, but he was the most warm, gentle male I’d ever met. And he loved me. I still had a hard time believing it. Grinning, I rose on tiptoe to press a kiss against his chin, not tall enough to reach his mouth. “But you knew I’d come, admit it.”
    “I counted on it.” He freed himself from my tight hold and reached inside his coat.
    “This is for you.” The book he held was as thick as my thumb.
    “Thanks,” I said, taking it. I’d seen a book like this, leather-bound and cracked with age, in a museum once. There wasn’t a title and the back was blank as well. I flipped it open, scanned a couple of pages. “It’s written in high Dezrian. Not my strong suit, you know. What’s it about?”
    “Dezra. The book shouldn’t be here on Earth. It’s against protocol, but we bent a few rules.”
    “Who’s we?”
    His gaze slid away from me , as if I made him uneasy. “I guess here, you would call him the best man.”
    “Well, what do you call him on Dezra?”
    He answered in high Dezrian, saying something I’d never heard before. “What’s it mean?”
    “He has many names.”
    “Well, pick one,” I said, laughing.
    “King.”
    “King?” I replied, stunned. “Are you kidding me? No? But there’s no such person on Dezra. You are Dezra’s elected ruler, aren’t you? Dezra is a democracy, right?”
    “It’s a bit more complicated, Jana.”
    “But he’s our best man?” I tried to stomach this new tidbit about the planet I’d soon call home. “Well, thank him for sending me this.” I grinned, hugging the book to my chest.
    “Goodbye, my heart.” His lips found mine in the same tingling sensation I’d felt in our first kiss. But only now, after spending day after day, week after week together, did his kiss reach my heart as well. I wrapped my arms around him, the feel of his hard body underneath his thick coat making need rise within me.
    “Just take me with you now.” I felt every bit the lovesick fool. “Why do I have to wait?”
    “You know why. Once I’m onboard, my three days of solitude and silence will start. It’s tra—”
    “Tradition,” I said, defeated. “Well, I’ll let Kyra know so she can block out her schedule.”
    He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “It is good that Kyra will fly you to Dezra.”
    “She needs to be on Dezra anyway, being a bridesmaid and all that.” 
    “Listen,” he said, gripping my shoulders hard, as if he wanted to make sure I paid attention, “on Dezra, the bride always gets three days and nights to make up her mind.
    The traditional ceremony, our wedding, won’t happen before the three days and nights are over. Jana, don’t ever think you have to do anything you don’t want to do. Kyra can take you back to Earth anytime.”
    “I love you,” I said, my throat tight. “Why would I want to leave you?” He didn’t answer, kissed me instead, and I stared after him as he boarded. I held the book between my knees and clapped my hands over my ears to block out the noise.
    The platform vibrated as the traveler geared up and pulled away. Within seconds, the ship grew smaller as it navigated toward open space.
    Trying not to feel abandoned, I brushed the back of my hand over my eyes and grasped the book again. I flipped it open, scanned the pages until I spotted the Dezrian word for wedding.
    “ Tra Mar’ge Deflar. ” My tongue tripped over the unknown words. What did it mean? Three joining? The joining of the three? I turned the finely written pages.
    Everywhere, the word three caught my eye.
    My gaze fell on a sharply drawn picture, its minute details clearly visible. A huge bed, probably made from a kind of wood, was at its heart. Atop, a man and a woman—or bride and groom—were adorned with slim crowns and both