Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates

Chapter 1-2

“I’ll inform the staff. And the police?”

“Give her five minutes. This is a shock, you understand.” To put it mildly.

Mari rinsed out her mouth and scrubbed off the ruin of her makeup. She did her best to avoid her reflection, because she just didn’t know if she had the strength to stare into the eyes of the woman who got screwed. Hard.

He always seemed to be so glad to be with her, holding her hand even when they were just sitting on the couch watching a show. He smiled and teased her in the sweet, subtle way, like they were the only ones in on a wonderful joke.

Apparently the joke was on her.

Shit. All her money. All their plans—

Were those even real? Had he always been planning to abscond with her pitiful savings, or was it a crime of opportunity? She didn’t care about the money—okay, she wasn’t an heiress. Obviously she cared about the money— but she loathed the dirty feeling that crawled over her. Tomas and Sandria violated her home, her trust and her heart. She felt… wrong, like her mother needed to smudge her aura to clean away the negative energy.

What a disaster.

Joseph handed her a glass as she exited the tiny toilet. Valerian snatched at the clumps of bad energy in her aura.

“Thanks, Mom. I hope this is vodka,” she said, taking a gulp.

“Water, but I understand someone is paying for an open bar. I suggest we put a hurt on the sucker,” he said. He watched her drain the glass, concern evident on his face.

She hated that look on her baby brother’s face. Joseph was the fun, carefree one. She was the responsible one. Everyone said so, especially when they were kids. Joe was a great guy. He’d make someone very lucky, when he eventually settled down. Someone deserved to be lucky.

Sweet celestial bodies, she sounded maudlin. “You sure that was water?”

“Positive.”

“I’ll tell the guest about the change in plans. Take your time,” Valerian said, giving Mari and peck on the cheek and a hug.

Mari leaned into the hug. Mom hugs were the best. “Thanks.” She did not look forward to the pity and condolences of a hundred people, most of whom were her mother’s friends and business contacts.

“And we’re going to eat a very nice meal, eat cake, and dance,” Joseph said. He took the empty glass and handed her another with a sparkling golden liquid. That was more like it.

“I like all those things,” she said, taking a gulp of the sparkling wine like a lady, because she had manners, dang it, and only sputtered a little when the bubbles tickled her nose.

“Do you want to wear the dress or not?”

Mari looked down at the concoction of lace and tulle. At one point, the dress made her feel like a fairy princess, Princess Sunshower in Marigold Fields. “It’s pretty terrible, isn’t it?”

“Keep wearing it. Go for the full Miss Havisham,” he said.

“Nerd.” She didn’t want to smirk, but there it was, a tiny smirk. She’d be okay in the end. Screw Tomas and Sandria. “Do you still think we can find a pair of costume fairy wings?”

“On it.” He already had out his communicator, ready to order. “We can hang out here until the drone arrives and be mysterious.”

“Or we can drink.” Mari waved her empty glass at him, then sighed. “Thanks for footing the bill. I’ll pay you back, you know.”

His dark eyes gleamed. “Don’t worry about it. Consider it your future gift for when you get married for real.”

“That outlook is not good,” she said.

“I mean, I don’t understand the compulsion, but I am 100% behind you.”

“You’d have to be in this dress.” He snorted at her snarky comment. Mari couldn’t really explain the compulsion, either. One day, she realized that she was thirty and felt like she had a clock ticking down in her chest. Living on a busy space station meant that she met tons of people, but relationship material people? Not so much. Joseph seemed to be content with flings, but Mari wanted something with substance. She wanted to wake up to the same face not for a handful of days while they hung about the station waiting for a connecting flight or ship repairs, but for years.

One face for the rest of her life.

She really didn’t think it was that hard of a request, but her fruitless dating life proved her wrong. Frustrated by only meeting men who seemed to have a girl in every port, she signed up with Celestial Mates. The agency introduced her to Tomas, a pilot based out of the station.

On paper, they wanted the same thing, and in person they clicked. He had been charming, sweet and knew all the right things to say. Practice, maybe. Her longing for a commitment made her an easy target, and her desire to see the best in people made it easy to carry on an affair, apparently.

“I should go talk to the cops,” she said.

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Them. Are you going to return the dress or can I order these water guns? Because you’re really going to like my next suggestion.”

She should take the dress off and try to get some kind of refund, or at least sell it to a secondhand shop. “Do it. I’m feeling like I need to make some bad decisions.”

A grin spread across Joseph’s face. “My favorite kind.”

“Cops now. Then cake.” Her stomach rumbled. So much cake. Enough cake to burst the stitching in the dress. “I can’t believe I gave up carbs to fit into this dress.”

Turns out the men weren’t cops.

A Tal man wearing an expensive suit waited, sprawled in a chair like he was at home with one leg over the chair’s arm. His tail swept over the floor, back and forth. Behind him stood two bulky males with grim expressions, obviously kept around for their menace.

“He sent his female,” the Tal man said. He straightened in the chair, then leaned forward to rest his elbow on his knees. “Cowardly. I cannot abide cowards.”

“I don’t know what business you have with Tomas, but he’s not here. He took a ship this morning,” she said.

The man seemed bored by her information. “And where is this ship headed?”

“Do you think I’d be standing here in a wedding dress if I knew? He ran away. He’s not coming back.”

“I have no idea what you humans do or wear,” he said dismissively. “Tomas owes me a considerable amount of money. Mostly gambling, but he does have expensive taste, doesn’t he?” He eyed her in the dress. Mari felt the need to cover herself but remained still. He continued, “I intend to collect. Considering the circumstances, I will forgo my normal interest rate if you can pay today.”

Mari pressed a hand to her forehead, completely unable to process the day’s events. “Yeah, no. He’s not my husband. We’re not legally bound or obligated to each other, thank the stars. So why don’t you go and have a piece of cake and a drink?”

The man stood, tugging the cuffs of his suit. “That’s adorable, but I wonder what gave you the impression that I’m a bank. I want my money.”

Mari craned her head back, as the man stood a good few inches taller than her. “What did you say your name was?”

“Nox.”

“Nox,” she repeated, because of course Tomas had to borrow money from the most notorious loan shark on the station. “I’m sorry. He ran off with all our savings.”

“Yes, and I will have my money. I don’t particularly care how or from who.”

“But I don’t… I can’t. I’m broke.” First the humiliation of having her brother pay the tab for her not-wedding, now this. If she ever saw Tomas again, she'd shove him out an airlock. “I was supposed to be married today,” she added, her voice small.

Nox made a sympathetic sound and patted her on the head. “I can’t help but feel this is my fault. Tomas does enjoy spending money. Unfortunately, he has a nasty habit of running away and leaving his spouse with the bill. I knew that but still gave him my money.” He chuckled, a cold and brittle sound. “He’s done it three times, you know.”

The news of his three other wives rocked Mari. They had talked about past romantic relationships. He never mentioned being divorced, mainly because he wasn’t. He was a bigamist.

“I’m sure it’s nothing about you. That’s just his pattern,” Nox continued.

“I’m not sure if I feel better knowing I was one person taken for a ride or one of many.” The Interstellar Union had inclusive marriage regulations, but poly marriages were only legal if the parties knew about the other people and filed the correct form and they hadn’t filed the proper paperwork.

Paperwork? Really? That’s what she was hung up on? Tomas did her a favor running away before they were legally bound to each other.

“I believe it is best to be exclusive, but perhaps you can find some small comfort with the other wives.”

“Lucky me,” she said, numbly, not believing that for one second.

“Shame he did a runner. There’s not many places he can hide from me.”

Corra. Tomas had wanted to move to Corra after the wedding. He had been talking about it nonstop.

Something like realization must have shown on her face, because Nox perked with interest. “Oh,” he purred, “if you know where he ran, I’d suggest telling me now. It’ll go towards the debt.”

“I’m… He never said, but he talked about Corra a lot.”

The ears on top of Nox’s head twitched and fluttered. “Corra may be outside the IU but it’s not outside my reach. Now, you do look delightful.” He placed a hand on either shoulder and gave her a long look, then tutted. “Humans are so strange. All this white when you’re barely beige. It’s so dull. Must be off. We’ll talk about the debt.”

“I'm not paying,” she said, knowing that if the notorious moneylender had her in his sights, she’d pay one way or the other.

The guests were polite enough to give her sympathetic looks but tactful enough not to mention how a con man charmed Mari out of her savings, left her holding debt to an unscrupulous man, and stomped all over her heart. Oh, and ran off with her former friend.

She asked the guest to take their gifts back, but a few insisted she keep the matching towel sets and new pots and pans. She ate cake, drank her fill of sweet, bubbly booze, and danced until her legs burned with exhaustion. No one questioned the glittery costume fairy wings she wore. Jilted brides were allowed to be eccentric.

In a week, she’d board a ship and head out for her honeymoon. Alone. The trip had already been paid in full, and she intended to enjoy the luxury resort on a sunny island. Real life and untangling the mess Tomas left behind could wait a little longer.

After all, it couldn’t get worse.

Winter“Almost there. We don’t want to miss the show.” Winter climbed onto the boulder and hauled himself to the top. The tinted glasses slid down his nose. They were a necessary hassle.

He and his kit, Zero, hiked through the forest all morning, slowly making their way to higher ground. Behind them, a bot trundled along while the all-terrain treads struggled with actual terrain. The bot navigated its way around obstacles easily enough, but its sensors seemed unable to distinguish the difference between mud and dry ground.

The bot bumped into the boulder, backed up, then bumped into it again. He’d have to recalibrate the sensors.

With minutes to spare, Winter and Zero made it to the overlook.