This time Giselle did sigh, wishing she’d never come. These people were like sticky candy—their words clung to her, clogging up her brain. Even the air in this place seemed to clog up her mind. Suddenly she felt hot and uncomfortable.
“I think you should tell her,” Velor said to his life mate, coming up behind her to place one hand on her shoulder. “She seems confused enough already.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Grania said. “It’s just that I wanted her to see for herself.”
“Well, I don’t see,” Giselle said, growing frustrated. “Please, tell me.”
“You and Jerred are clearly life mates,” Grania said, smiling. Giselle felt dizzy. Was this woman playing games with her? They hadn’t done any tests, how could they know for sure?
“The Goddess tells us these things,” Grania said, replying to her unasked question.
Giselle started, suddenly feeling a little uncertain. She’d never really liked priests and priestesses who claimed to speak to the Goddess. In her experience, they usually wanted money. But this couple really didn’t seem to be asking anything of her.
“The Goddess rejoices at your presence, child,” Velor said, his voice soothing. “We were both able to feel it as soon as we met you. It will be stronger when your Jerred arrives, of course, but there’s no question that you’re newly life-mated.”
“So what does that mean?” Giselle asked, almost afraid to know the answer.
“Well, it means that you and Jerred will probably have very long, happy lives together,” Grania said. “Of course, there will be hard times. But, all in all, the Goddess chooses wisely when she creates mates. You are very lucky to have found each other.”
“What about Jerred?” Giselle asked, feeling even more confused. “How is he going to react to this?”
“Well, I would imagine that once he understands what’s going on he’ll be thrilled,”
Velor said. “Although I wouldn’t be surprised if right now he’s tearing the station apart looking for you. My chief of security tells me that he’s demanding entrance to the temple,” he added, tapping his ear lightly. The man must have a communications implant, Giselle realized. How funny, that a man who lived in a wooden house had a com implant. This temple was an extremely strange place.
“You’d better go and fetch him, dear,” Grania said, turning her head to smile up at her mate. “The poor boy will have a heart attack if we don’t let him know his mate is safe. They tend to get very concerned about these things,” she added, looking at Giselle.
Velor nodded, then quietly left the room.
“He won’t be but a moment,” Grania said. “We have an entrance in back of the house, too. We only took you the long way because we wanted you to see some of the grounds.”
True to her word, Velor was back within moments. Jerred followed him, his face filled with strain. He came up to her and pulled her roughly into his arms.
“Are you all right?” he asked, running his hands over her shoulders.
“Yes,” she said, looking up at him with all the love she felt. She couldn’t quite figure out why he was so concerned. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t left a note.
“Xander told me he’d had a talk with you,” Jerred said, his face betraying his nerves. “He told me you’d gone to the temple. I was afraid you might be seeking sanctuary from me.”
“Sanctuary?” she burst out laughing. “Why on earth would I need sanctuary?”
He blushed, and then looked to Grania and Velor.
“Considering how I originally got you to come with me, I had reason to be worried,” he said softly. “My mind just kept racing through all the reasons you might be trying to leave me. I couldn’t understand why you’d go to the temple, either.”
“It is customary for life mates to have their union sanctified within the temple,”
Grania said. Jerred’s head jerked up, and he looked at her.
“What are you saying?”
“We’re life mates, Jerred,” Giselle said softly, looking up into his face. For an instant, joy chased across his features, and then he seemed to clamp down on the emotion firmly.
“This isn’t a joking matter, Giselle,” he said. “You have no comprehension how unlikely it is that we could possible be life mates.”
“And yet that is exactly the case,” Grania said. “And I think you know that already, young man. You’re just afraid to give in to your happiness. You’re afraid to believe it’s real. But it is.”
Jerred suddenly sagged against her, clutching her so hard Giselle though she’d fall over. He caught himself quickly though.
“This is more than I could have imagined,” he muttered, giving her a soft kiss on the mouth. “Giselle, I love you. Will you do me the honor of sharing my life?”
“Oh, hell yes,” Giselle said. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t suppose you want to open up a bar, do you?”
He shook his head, and started laughing. “Can we discuss this further?” he asked.
“I think we have quite a few things to talk about.”
“Not least of which is you getting out of the spying and smuggling thing,” Giselle said. “Or at least I hope you’ll consider it. I don’t think I can handle another run-in with Josiah.”
He kissed her, his mouth slanting over hers in a gesture that was frankly carnal.
Giselle sighed, allowing herself to fall into the kiss. A second later they were brought up short by a discrete cough.
“As much as the Goddess celebrates physical love,” Velor said softly, “I believe I wouldn’t be overstating my bounds by requesting you celebrate yours in private.”
Epilogue
Jerred landed the small shuttle with a gentle thump and flicked off several switches.
He left the view screen on, though, and Giselle could see a largish group of people standing to one side of the landing pad.
She had never been more intimidated in her life.
“Relax, they won’t bite,” Jerred said softly. “In fact, I’m imaging they’ll be very happy to meet you. You and I represent their hope for the future.”
“You really should have told me about this before we got together,” Giselle muttered softly. “If I had known marrying you included marrying an entire estate of people, I might have thought twice.”
“Why do you think I didn’t tell you?” he asked archly.
He stood up and led her to the shuttle’s doorway, which opened with a touch of his hand. A set of stairs had already extended itself from their ship.
“Come on,” he said. “It’s all right, I promise. They’ll be happy to meet you.”
“Even your mother?” she asked softly. “The thought of her scares me. She looked so stern in the pictures you showed me. Are you sure she’ll be able to handle a daughter-in-law who isn’t Saurellian?”
“She’ll just have to learn, won’t she?” he replied. “Don’t worry about it. She’ll love you. They all will.”
Giselle rolled her eyes, knowing that would be too good to be true. They walked down the stairs, and a young woman broke free of the group, running up to hug Jerred.
“I’ve missed you so much, Jerred,” she said. He squirmed awkwardly, and then pulled himself free of her embrace.
“Giselle, I’d like you to meet my sister, Krissandra,” he said. “Krissandra, this is Giselle, my wife.”
Giselle smiled hesitantly. She extended one hand to Krissandra, but the young woman pulled her into her arms.
“Thank you so much for bringing my brother home,” Krissandra whispered in her ear. “You can’t imagine how happy we are that he found you.”