The chapel on the Andromeda was nondenominational, per Fleet regulations, suitable
for the basic rituals and observances of most of the thirty odd peoples found in
the planetary systems making up the Sectors. As captain of the battleship, Nikolai
was authorized to perform ceremonies from christenings to weddings to funerals.
Mike stood in his blue dress uniform, grinning
from ear to ear, at the far bulkhead, beneath the stunning vista of the
galactic star fields projected by the ship’s AI.
Feeling a little foolish, as if he’d
stepped from a recruiting holo since he was wearing a dress uniform, he was
flanked by his best man, Johnny, who had never—to the best of Mike’s
recollection—worn a dress uniform before.
And
we’re both as nervous as we were on day one at the Academy and boot camp. Mike took a deep breath, hoping to calm
the butterflies in his gut. This is worse
than any mission behind enemy lines. At least he could breathe, thanks to
the rejuve regenerator treatment. Not even bruises left. And he’d have the
strength to give his princess a proper wedding night. A bed on the Andromeda would be much more conducive
to what he had in mind than the mat and furs on the cave floor had been. He
nudged his best man in the ribs. “You're
sure you've got the ring?”
“For the tenth time, I've got the ring,”
Johnny whispered. He displayed the jewelry in question for a moment, before
stowing it back in his pocket. “I won't drop it.”
Ignoring the small group of wedding
guests, Mike gazed at the empty doorway, impatience making his stomach churn. “What
could be taking so long? You're sure she was all right?”
“When they threw me out this afternoon so
she could try on dresses, she was fine,” Johnny answered. “Calm down before you
have an anxiety attack. Got no medkit on me right now.”
The guests were mostly from Nikolai's
command staff. Everett was in attendance, thin, pale, but looking like a
different person in his dress uniform. Mike hadn’t expected anything more than
a bare bones civil ceremony, but a few minutes ago Nikolai confided that the Andromeda’s Executive Officer’s deepest secret was her
love for steamy romance novels from the holo serial library. “Don’t ask how I
know,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “But when I told her there was
to be a wedding between a princess and a Special Forces officer, with her
challenge being to provide the dress, she went all-out. I promise your bride
will have all the necessary details for her special day, my friend.”
Now, the AI played a processional from the
days of old Terra, which Mike's ancestors had carried with them to their new
home world.
Shalira, walking alone, appeared in the
doorway.
Her beauty took Mike's breath away.
The Story:
An attempted assassination left Princess Shalira blind as a child and, now that she’s of marriageable age, her prospects are not good because of her disability. She’s resigned herself to an arranged marriage rather than face life under the thumb of her cold stepmother. But then she meets Mike Varone, a Sectors Special Forces officer sent to Mahjundar by the intergalactic government to retrieve a ship lost in her planet’s mountains. After Mike saves Shalira from another assassination attempt, she arranges for him to escort her across the planet to her future husband. She’s already falling hard for the deadly offworlder and knows she should deny herself the temptation he represents, but taking Mike along to protect her is the only way she’ll live long enough to escape her ruthless stepmother.
But what should have been an easy trek through Mahjundar’s peaceful lands swiftly turns into an ambush with danger around every turn. Shalira’s marriage begins to seem less like an arranged union and more like yet another planned assassination. The more they work together to survive, the harder it becomes to stop themselves from falling in love. Caught in a race against time, can they escape the hostile forces hunting them and make it off the planet?
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