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  He frowned. “I thought here would be more conducive to your creativity.”

  She smiled. “Good. I like it here, but I need to have my workshop moved up here. I don’t want any of my work left for the Gaian government.”

  He nodded. “We can send a crew down—”

  “No! I have to go down. I have booby-trapped the hell out of the place. If I am not there, the blast will be devastating and the volcano goes live.”

  Rothaway grinned. “Thorough.”

  “And I want to say goodbye to Emharo and Niika. I don’t have many friends down there, but they are two of the best.” She smiled. “Aside from that, I am done with my home. There is nothing there to keep me.”

  Deniir’s hand tightened on hers. “In a few days, we will return to the surface. In the meantime, I will have a guard placed at all entry points to your home, just in case.”

  “Good. Safety first. Well, safety when you can’t get away without it.”

  He smiled, “Good motto. I will try and work it into our family crest.”

  They all laughed together, and when Deniir’s tension couldn’t be ignored anymore, their group trouped off to the gardens to find the special copse that was open only to mating couples.

  Ziggy hugged her for luck and gave her a quick whispered rundown of the procedure. Ula was not fond of the blood element, but it was integral to the Nine, so she was up for it.

  Deniir took her hand, and together, they entered the sacred space to join their blood and their lives. Their minds and bodies would come later.

  Ula knelt with the knife in her hand as Deniir bit her wrist; she sliced his own skin and their blood mingled on the blade, dripping down her hand to mix with his.

  “I, Deniir of the House of Arkithan, son of Maurikan and Darthuun, do hereby pledge my life, body, mind and soul to you.” To her surprise, he started to glow with a golden tint.

  She blinked. “I, Ularica Forniel, daughter of Ulana and Ricard, do hereby pledge my life, body, mind and soul to you.”

  His light grew and he kissed her, the blade between them. Her wrist throbbed, and she felt warmth crawling up her skin to her elbow, her shoulder, spreading through her body.

  Light started to creep through her; hers was white hot, his was a bright gold. Together, they rose to their feet, and he walked her to the stone where he held her hand as she slide the blade into the receptacle where their bloodlines would be registered as bonded.

  “Hello, my bride.” He was beautiful, glowing with all the energy that she could feel in his thoughts but never quite understand.

  “Hello, my groom. Well, are we going to stay here all day?” She blinked up at him as her light continued to spread.

  He lifted her wrist to his lips, and she jolted in surprise as he licked the wound closed. She shivered as the touch of his tongue resonated in parts of her that had remained dormant until this point.

  When he lifted his wrist to her lips, she could see that the cut was already healing, but she stuck her tongue out daintily and licked away the visible traces of blood. Her mouth felt lit up from the inside as if she had just consumed energy, which she supposed she had.

  He pulled his hand away from her, and she could feel his body vibrating. Without another word, he lifted her in his arms and he headed back down the path, out of the mating garden.

  Ziggy, Rothaway and Darthuun were waiting, but they flinched back as Deniir passed them. With huge sweeps of his wings, he lifted off with her weight in his arms, and a moment later, they were going down the halls with all the decorum of a loose meteor.

  She could see the shadows that were cast in their wake, but her focus was on the winged man carrying her home.

  He didn’t put her down until they were in his quarters and the door was locked.

  She smiled up at him, her arms around his neck and her body pressed to his. “How do we turn the light off?”

  “You will control it…after a while.” He nibbled at her lips, worked down her neck and he released her gown with a few deft moves.

  She shivered at the cool of the air, but he wrapped his wings around her with that strangely comforting flexibility. Ula found and released the closures of his shirt, but she was afraid to pull in case it was hooked on his wings.

  As his hands skimmed over her, she focussed on the heat that her body was generating. When he tipped her to the bed and tossed her shoes aside, his own clothing was not far behind.

  Deniir entered her mind as he entered her body, his wings protected her on all sides as he moved with her, his light and hers blinded them both when they reached climax and his thoughts tangled inexorably with hers.

  He shifted some of his weight off her but remained covering her. He kissed her, “Hello, mate.”

  She smiled and returned the kiss. “Hello, mate. So, how long for the glow to fade?”

  He chuckled. “Give it a week. You will have it throttled back by then.”

  Ula sighed. “I don’t have a week. I have to get my stuff to safety.”

  “Then, we will go down to Gaia with you glowing like the stars. I don’t see a problem.”

  She covered her face and tried to imagine explaining herself to her friends. Mind you, they were mated to members of the Nine themselves, so they had probably seen stranger.

  * * * *

  Niika looked her over. “Well, you will save on power bills, and you can work until midnight or beyond without any problem.”

  Ula crossed her arms and looked at Emharo. She beckoned for an insult.

  “Nothing here. I think you could be a boon for either Niika’s cavern work or my underwater investigation. Where do we plug you in?” Emharo chortled.

  Three shuttles had landed to take her stuff up to the mother ship. A steady stream of men carried objects that were understood only by Ula.

  “You two aren’t upset that I am leaving?”

  Niika put her hand on Ula’s. “You were not happy here and we are no longer at war. If we need your help, I know you will give it, and if I just want to visit, I am sure my other half would be happy to run around in space once again. I am having him do most of the hunting, and it is wearing on him.”

  Ula chortled. “I have seen what you hunt. He is lucky he is still alive. So, does your guy do anything physically weird?”

  Niika gave her an innocent look. “Like in bed?”

  “No, like glowing.”

  “Oh, that, yeah. He turns to living stone when I am threatened. Emharo’s breathes underwater, so he is weird from the get go. How is it flying?”

  “You mean with him carrying me or with my mechanical wings?”

  That led to a chat with the girls about the wings, and it was a good thing she had brought them with her, because they didn’t believe her.

  With her wings in place, she got Deniir’s attention and she pointed up. He nodded. He would be with her in a moment.

  “I have to take the harnesses off my rocs. I will be right back.”

  She set the wings to flapping, and with a few steps and a jump, she was airborne and climbing.

  Bertrum and Eleth greeted her with surprise as she set the wings for a laborious hover that was helped along by the updraft. With some effort, she landed near them and she stroked Bertrum. “I don’t know when I am going to be back, so I am taking these straps off. I know you like them, but if you got hung up on something, I would never forgive myself.”

  She unbuckled the harness and slid it from him before she moved to Eleth. Eleth didn’t want to part with her pretties, but she eventually settled and let Ula slide the harness free.

  “You miss them already.”

  She looked up, and Deniir was perched high on the rocky cliff above her. “I do.”

  He held his hand out. “Come on, you can ride me all you like. You can even use those straps on me.”

  She laughed, and it was a good thing that her wings were not dependant on her ability to speak, because she laughed all the way to the shuttle, her hands filled with leather and he
r mind filled with light.

  The stars were waiting.

  Author’s Note

  My next few months are more hectic than most, but when Return of the Nine…uh…returns…it will be Seeing that we end up in.

  In Seeing, the probe has located something that could lead to the Tokkel fleet or it could be a red herring. A Gaian with an eye for trouble makes her way to the embassy and demands to be taken to the mother ship. She can see the missing now that someone is looking for them, and she will take anyone willing to travel with her on a trip through the stars and into danger.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola Grace

  http://www.violagrace.com

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  [email protected]

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.