Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (53 page)

“
But Prime you gave us the targ and said to give it to Sen Wisteria.” Bewildered, Lyndon, the little boy, asked as he left.

“
What?” Wisteria pushed him backwards. “Bach, you had them put that smelly thing in my bed?”

Laughing
, he pulled her to the bed and fell back, pulling her on top of him as he tumbled. “It is lucky for a bride to find a targ in her bed.”

“
My father is not going to be cross, is he?” Talia’s large green eyes shone.

“
Oh, he’s going to be mad, but not with you.” Wisteria rolled off him.

“
I am sorry Sen Wisteria.” Talia pouted.

Crouching in
front of the girl, Wisteria smiled. “Don’t worry. You’re not in trouble. Prime Bach on the other hand—” She glanced behind her to see Bach now stood on his feet, staring out of the window.

Talia
’s face brightened up as she and her friends scurried away.

Closing the door, Wisteria
noticed Bach was still by the window, seemingly lost in thought. “What’s up?” She strolled up, putting her arms around him.

“
Nothing is wrong. For the first time ever, everything is—I’m not going to say
perfect
, but under control. The thresholds to Earth are sealed, the Thayns are free and my people—”

“
Some of them don’t completely hate humans.”

“
But most still do. After everything that happened—we would have never stopped High Father or Coia without you or the First Pillar’s artifacts. I hoped the bigotry would have ended, but people still have not changed.”

“
Some have. The Fifth and Second Pillars openly welcome humans now and the Third Pillar won’t murder me for marrying you.” She sighed. “I should thank your Father for at least passing the edict, even though he won’t come to the wedding.”

“
Do not talk about him.”

“
Bach—”

“
You saved his life, but he wouldn’t even speak to you. He told me, he understands why I am so fond of you.
‘Wisteria is indeed a remarkable Terran, but you will eventually pass this phase,’
” Bach mimicked his father’s voice. “As for Frieda, my father does not even acknowledge she exists.”

“
He made you the Prime of the Third Pillar, fully aware we’re together. That would’ve never happened before.”

“
He really had no choice with Yordi and Lluc gone.”

She
rested her head on his back while wrapping her arms around his stomach and chest. “Because he wants to show you he doesn’t hold what happened to Yordi against you.”

“
I still don’t understand why you wanted me to stay with him.”

Bach
chose not to return to the Third Pillar, but opted to stay on Jarthan, but he blamed himself for what happened to Yordi, so a large part of Bach would feel like he owed his Pillar for robbing them of their Prime. On a more pragmatic note, with him working with the Third Pillar it made them allies to the humans of Jarthan.

“
You’re father will come around,” she urged.

“
You see that?” He pointed down at the crowds assembling in the courtyard below. “Jason’s estimating there are over 12,000 people here already.”

“
You sound disappointed.”

“
Relieved. When my father remarried, there were almost 100,000 guests.” He shook his head.

“
We can elope.” Tilting her head to the side, she opened a threshold out of thin air. “The Moon Desert is particularly cool this time of year and Merce said we’re always welcome.”

“
And what do we do with our guests?”

“
Jason’s the best man. He will handle it.”

“
No, I need everyone to recognize I chose you and that you chose me.” Leaning toward her as he spoke, his hot breath set her skin on fire. Rubbing the small of her back, he whispered. “And that you will always belong to me.” Each word was filled with a quiet intensity.

“
It almost sounds like you own me.” She managed to let out as she bit at her top lip.

“
I do, but you own me too, Peeka.” Tracing his fingers along her back, then to her neck and up to her face he pried her lip from her teeth. “You own every bit of me.”

“
I do don’t I?” Tiptoeing, she placed one hand around his neck and the other around his hardened waist.

“
Y
ou are so beautiful.” He clenched his jaw as he stared at her.

“
Why do you look so surprised?” It seemed almost as if he’d never seen anything as amazing as her and this wasn’t something she would ever get used to.

“
Because I
am
surprised.” Lifting her up, he rested her between the wall and his body. “My love for you continues to grow as does your beauty.” Leaning her back against the wall, he slowly explored her neck, her chin, and then her mouth with his tongue.

She wanted
it to be like this forever, but this wasn’t the time. “You’re going to make me late.

“
Everyone can wait. We have waited for a long time for this.”

“
Bach, I’ve a lot to do to get ready.” She managed to say breathlessly between his kisses.

Nuzzling
her neck, he lifted up her dress. “Okay, change and we can go down together.”

Laughing, she smacked his arm hard
and pried his hands from her. “It’s tradition where I come from not to see the bride’s dress before the wedding.”

“
I have no such custom. It is helpful for me to assist you with your—clothes.” He put her down gently, but still blocked her, placing his hands on each side of the wall.

“
You’re not being helpful. You’re being cheeky because you want to see me without my clothes.”

“
That is just a coincidence as those two things happen to be related.” Feigning innocence, he shrugged.

“
Leave, so I can get ready. I need to shower and sort out that purple dress.” Ducking under his arm, she raced to a large gothic style gown draped across her sofa. Pausing, she examined the dress for the umpteenth time. She wasn’t happy about the color. White would’ve been better, but the custom among the Famila and the humans here was to wear the colors of their pillar.

“
Still not thrilled about that dress huh?” He rubbed her back. “You can still wear white if you want. It is your day, so do what makes you happy.”

“
I’ll wear the colors of my Pillar. I want the others to think of me as one of them.” She nodded in the direction of the window. “This isn’t Earth, so not all my traditions are applicable here.”

“
You sure?” He brushed her long braids out of her face.

Smiling, she nodded,

He took out a large purple ring on a sliver-ish band. “I got you this.”

“
Wow, it’s massive.” Abruptly, she felt nervous and with her hand trembling, she touched the ring.

“
I’m supposed to give you a ring as a sign we’re engaged. That is one of
your
traditions.” He took the ring from her and dropped to a knee. “Will you marry me?”

Her startled gaze dropped to his face below her.
“There are tens of thousands of people outside for the wedding, so you already know I’m going to marry you.” She reached for the ring.

Bach
moved it behind his back. “You should at least let me ask you properly.”

“
You did.”

“
Not with a ring. Jason said the ring is key.”

“
Okay yes, I’ll marry you.” She snatched at the ring.

H
e leaned back and kept it away. “Come,” Taking her to her bed, he sat her down and again, knelt in front of her. “Wisteria, I would be lying if I said I loved you from the moment I first saw you, because I don’t remember when that happened. The first time I do remember seeing you, I felt terrified I’d lost you and did not understand why. After that, you made me angry for no reason at all.”

“
Bach seriously? This doesn’t sound too good.” She laughed

“
I am being serious…it was like you enjoyed messing with me, but I fell in love with you soon after. I know I haven’t always acted in a way that deserved your love.” Taking her hand, he laced his fingers between hers. “I wish—”

“
It’s okay.” She rested her head on his forehead.

A
couple of her shana spots traveled from her skin onto him.

“
You are my pillar. Nothing in the world will ever make me stop loving you. I will love you for the rest of my life, Wisteria Kuti. I swear my life to you and only to you.”

“
Whatever is left of life and death, promises and curses, till death, I will always be for you. I can’t help it. You’re imprinted on my soul,” Wisteria promised back.

“
Be my wife.” He slid the huge ring over her right ring finger.

She trembled
so much, she didn’t even care that he’d slipped it onto the wrong hand. “Colista-Bren-Navida-Dor-Elson-Elsner-Havash-Razerobar-Calshina-Holan-Visnasu-Ornay-Latarn-Kinta--Barsee-Misnash-Hol-Mikitesh-Maz-Sustin-Loul-Rinta-Aben-Hapa-Roi-Canta—I will.” She managed to recite his entire full name in the Dialect.

His eyes darkened as he rose and placed his lips gently on hers.

Kissing him, she tasted her own tears.

He was
finally hers. For the rest of her life.

Ripples

“Done and done.” A few hours after Bach left, Turia laced up the back of Wisteria’s deep purple wedding dress.

“
You look beautiful.” Penelope Storm, a former Thayn and Wisteria’s recent friend nodded her head at her. “You wouldn’t look any better if it was white. Now of course, if you want to wear white you could because that would look out of this world too. Then maybe out of this world is what you’re going for, since you’re not from this realm and people should see that and accept you for that. Unless, you don’t want them thinking you’re an outsider, then stick with purple. Bach’s wearing black, but he can do that because he’s a guy, which isn’t fair if you ask me. He should wear his Pillar’s colors too—”

“
Enough Penelope,” Turia snapped.” You’re babbling.”

Wisteria smiled at the teenager, she
’d immediately liked Penelope because her fiery red hair reminded her of Piper.

“
Sorry, I’m nervous. It’s my first wedding since we were set free. And it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a human marry one of them.” Penelope signaled to Turia. “I keep thinking the empirics are going to show up and attack us. I guess I talk to cope with that. It’s stupid right? Talking isn’t going to change anything. Still, it's better to get everything out, than keep it bottled inside.”

“
Take a breath Penelope,” Wisteria suggested.

“
But you do look lovely,” Penelope finally concluded.

“
Thanks.” Wisteria examined herself in the full-length mirror as she fluffed the long multilayered gown. This was a nice dress, but white would’ve been better.

“
She hates it,” Turia remarked. “But unless you want everyone to think you are plotting the death of your Famila husband and immediately draw parallels to Daphne and Galahad, you should wear the colors of your pillar. White’s usually worn at funerals or by the Lady of Jarthan.”

“
Turia, the Family isn’t my sole motivation for everything I do. I’m wearing the Pillar color because it’s a symbol of freedom,” Wisteria replied.

“
Freedom?” Turia asked while looking befuddled.

“
The Thayns wore the various colors of the Family Pillars who’d enslaved us. We never had our own, but now we do and as the Sen of the new First Pillar, she should wear our color too,” Penelope explained. “Because we’re her family now.”

Wisteria thought back to her family
on Earth. She hadn’t seen them in almost two years. It all seemed like a lifetime ago. She missed them all so much.

Penelope
screamed. “The mirror moved.”

“
D’cara
,” Wisteria jumped back as the glass rippled like water. “What the…?”

“
What is that? Could it be a threshold?” Turia guessed.

Wisteria felt
unsure because thresholds didn’t ripple.

“
I’ll send word to Nevena to find out—” Walking up, Turia touched the glass and her hand slipped in. Suddenly, her head and upper body were sucked into the mirror.

Dashing toward her, Wisteria caught hold of Turia
’s waist in an attempt to heave her out.