I Married A Dragon (Prime Mating Agency)(8)

“Very well,” I said.

“Please stand face to face and hold each other’s hands,” the human priestess said.

Kaida approached me with determined steps, and I met her halfway. I shouldn’t be so surprised that she wasn’t skittish. After all, she was a UPO Enforcer, a protector of her people, like I was. She cast a distracted glance at the breathtaking view of Oddran. Although it seemed to awe her, Kaida swiftly returned her attention to me.

I liked that.

Lightning struck me when she placed her small hands in my much bigger ones. My mouth went dry, and my throat warmed. The heating chamber located there filled with hydrogen, ready for me to ignite as a loud purr of delight escaped me.

Mortified, I clenched my teeth and swallowed hard to silence the unwelcome sound. Kaida’s eyes widened. I couldn’t say if shock, confusion, or a mix of both had prompted this response. But the way her gaze locked on my throat, I already knew its golden scales were glowing from my repressed urge to breathe fire in bliss.

“Forgive your Shadow Lord,” Councilor Gavyr said in a bored voice. “He’s still recovering from jokraz. The lack of an Ejaya has been torturing him, and now he’s struggling to control his physiological response from the overdue relief your presence procures him. It shall pass in a couple of days.”

My scales burned with humiliation to have the Councilor thus expose my weakness. Worse still, he’d done it in such a dismissive and cavalier fashion. An out-of-control addict was not the first impression I wanted to give my human Ejaya. Our females understood well the state I was currently in, but Kaida wouldn’t.

To my surprise, instead of looking at me in a worried or disappointed fashion, Kaida glared at the Councilor, as if to express she’d felt his comment had been inappropriate—which it had been. She then turned back to look at me with sympathy. She smiled, then gently squeezed my hands in what I could only interpret as encouragement.

A wave of warmth filled both my hearts, even as they constricted with a grateful emotion for my Kaida. She might not know the way of the Ejayas, but she clearly had the soul of one.

“We are gathered here to celebrate the union of this woman, Kaida Daigo, and this Derakeen male, the Shadow Lord Cedros Qhelian, in the sacred bond of marriage. Such union must be entered into freely, with honest intentions, a genuine commitment, and not for financial gains or deceptive purposes,” the priestess said. “Kaida Daigo, do you freely and willingly take this Derakeen male, Cedros Qhelian, to be your lawfully wedded husband, for better or for worse, through good times and hardships, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” Kaida said, the firmness of her voice pleasing me beyond words.

“Cedros Qhelian, do you freely take this woman, Kaida Daigo, to be your lawfully wedded wife, for better or for worse, through good times and hardships, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“Yes. I wholeheartedly do,” I replied with far too much eagerness.

“Kayog Voln, do you bear witness that this human female, Kaida Daigo, and this Derakeen male, Cedros Qhelian, freely committed to be legally married to each other in accordance with human and galactic laws?”

“I do,” Kayog said.

“By the power vested in me by the Clerical College of Earth and the United Planets Organization, I declare you husband and wife. Cedros Qhelian, you may kiss the bride,” Priestess Biondi said.

I knew what a kiss was. I also knew what kind of mostly chaste kisses humans exchanged at the end of their wedding vows. Over the past few days, while waiting for my Ejaya to finally come to me, I had rehearsed a million times how I would impress her with the gentle and respectful way I would kiss her. But the moment she stepped closer to me and lifted her face towards mine, the burning hunger her mere presence ignited in me returned with a vengeance. The second our lips touched, every rational thought fled my mind.

I couldn’t recall picking her up, but the sudden feel of her supple body in my arms drove me insane. I vaguely felt Kaida’s gasp against my mouth as I pressed her to my chest. Her lips were soft, warm beneath mine, and awakened an odd flame in the pit of my stomach. But a greater need superseded my curiosity about this unexpected physiological response to my Ejaya.

Kaida stiffened in my arms, but neither fought me nor attempted to free herself from my embrace. I broke the kiss, rubbed my face all over hers and along the length of her slender neck. Soft… so insanely soft! I deeply inhaled her scent, the divine aroma making my head spin. My heating chamber warmed, and a growling purr surged from my throat as my nezarone hormones began to flow through me. I felt drunk, the throbbing ache in my scales and nerve endings giving way to a blissful tingle.

“My Ejaya…” I whispered in an almost pained voice.

I needed to release her before I scared her away, but I couldn’t just yet. One minute… just one more minute, and I would. To my shock, Kaida wrapped one arm around my neck and gently caressed my hair with her free hand. A wave of peace washed over me as I tightened my embrace around her.

“It’s okay. You’re going to be okay,” Kaida said in a soothing voice. “I’m here, now.”

“My Kaida…”

I spoke the words in the crook of her neck and pressed a grateful kiss against her palpitating artery as a thank you. Summoning all of my willpower, I forced myself to release her. I still felt dizzy, drunk from this far too brief taste of the divine. Instead of immediately moving away from me, Kaida took a single step back and gave me a gentle smile. The worry I felt instantly vanished, and I smiled back. Yes, my little human truly had the heart of an Ejaya, even if she likely didn’t realize it.