“Come on, Taya.” He kissed the shell of her ear. “Every harpy in this room wants to kill me. Only you should have this privilege, yes? You did promise me at our first meeting.”
A light moan parted her lips, and the crowd instantly quieted down. She tried to open her eyes, her lids parting slightly, but the effort proved unsuccessful.
Relief and panic colliding, he drew her face toward his neck. He didn’t need her lucid right now; he just needed her feeding. “Drink me, Taya. Drink all you need.” Words he hoped to say to her every day for centuries to come.
She stirred a little more, wiggling against him. Breath snagged as he waited...a stroke of her tongue.
“Yes, love. Yes.”
Fitting her lips against his skin, she fed at last.
35
Roc peered down at the goddess stretched out beside him. And she was a goddess. The granddaughter of Chaos. The daughter of Erebus. The only female in existence who possessed the strength and cunning to challenge the Commander of the Astra and win, claiming him as her very own.
She had fed, her skin glowing with power once more. Stretching her arms overhead, with eyelids flittering open, she graced him with a soft, intimate smile—until she noticed the other harpies occupying the bed.
“How long have you been boning the enemy, General Hussy?” the one named Kaia asked.
Her eyes flared, and she muttered, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Well, why not go with it? Neeka! You owe me answers.”
“Deal with your friend in a minute.” Blythe returned her hate-filled gaze to Roc. “I’m going to ruin your man, Roux. He killed my consort, and I’ll not stop until he pays.”
Was stubbornness woven into the Skyhawk DNA? “I’m sorry for your loss, but I will not let my warlord be punished for defending himself during battle.”
—Commander?—Halo didn’t wait for permission to continue. —The phantoms have awoken, and they’re speaking. Intelligently! They demand a meeting with Taliyah.—
Roc marveled. Her light had healed the phantoms Erebus made? —The phantoms will have to wait. She’s recovering.—
—They don’t strike me as the patient types.—
—Handle them anyway.—
Taliyah sat up and threw a pillow at her sisters. “You guys suck. Get out so I can speak with my consort. When I’m done, I want to have that chat with Neeka. Then I’ll deal with the rest of you and explain everything that’s happened.”
Boos erupted.
“Guys,” Gwen said, dead serious. “You’d better do what General Horny orders or else she’ll give you a stern talking-to.”
Or not dead serious.
Snickers abounded, the harpies remaining in the bed.
—Commander?—This request came from Silver, and he didn’t bother waiting for permission to continue, either. —A group of males known as the Lords of the Underworld and some Hell kings are at the wall, insisting on an audience with you. At least, that is my assumption since they’re attempting to tear down our wall piece by piece.—
—Is Hades among them? No, don’t answer that.—Roc would deal with him soon enough. —Tell the Lords and the kings I’m sending their wives back to them.—As soon as possible.
“Get out, and go visit my phantoms,” Taliyah insisted. “They could use some friendly faces. I can feel them now. They’re going to be all right. I healed them, and I think I might have even...branded them.” She rubbed the scar on her nape. “I’m not really sure how. I didn’t use an iron.”
“You did brand them. Mystically,” Neeka explained with a wide grin. “The symbol I burned into your nape is your own. And I’m so proud of...myself for making it possible.”
Taliyah possessed her own brand?
Of course she did. My goddess.
“Wait. Are the big guy’s tattoos moving?” The entire group of harpies crowded around Roc, studying him as if he were a bug under a microscope.
Taliyah draped herself over him before anyone could relive his memories, shouting, “Get. Out!”
“Okay, okay.”
“Fine! I can take a hint. Even a subtle one.”
“I call dibs on the room of my choice!”
They filed out of the master bedroom, finally leaving him alone with his wife.
When he opened his mouth to inquire about her state, Taliyah pressed a finger into his lips. “Don’t speak until you undress me.”
The command held more power than her sister’s grenade, summoning a tide of passion.
With slow precision, he lifted her top over her head, leaving her bare. Silvery-blond locks tumbled down her arms. He swallowed. As gently as possible, given the strength of his arousal, he urged her to lie on her front.
She obeyed, a willing queen.
“I want to worship you. These wings...” He smoothed her hair over one shoulder and kissed along her spine, nestling against each appendage. Her backside received a few nibbles. When she rocked her hips and gave a rough moan, he slipped a hand between her legs. Wet. Soaking. He thrust a finger deep, filling her with his heat. Gloriously tight. His shaft throbbed as her silken walls squeezed him.
He kissed his way up, up. While licking her brand, he reached beneath her to knead her breasts. “I want to possess you.”
Tremors shook her, her heart racing against his hand. “I want to worship you, too, Roc,” she said, already breathless.
“Anything, Taya.” Everything. “But first I need to touch you more.” He couldn’t stop. How close he’d come to losing her.
“Why don’t we get a little more comfortable, then?” She dematerialized slowly, ghosting through him, chilling and thrilling him. Then she solidified on top of his back. He flashed to face her, there and gone before she could fall. With her mouth just above his, she rasped, “I’ll let you play with me. Make me scream. Your every demand will be my every desire. But then...I get a turn. You’ll do whatever I tell you.”
He groaned. “You want to tease your man?”
“I do and I will. Just know when the time comes, I’ll be playing only as hard as you do.”
“That sounds like a declaration of war, love.”
“Oh, good.” She ran his earlobe between her teeth. “You understood.”
Wicked temptress. No one had ever meant more to him than Taliyah.
He turned his head to kiss the corner of her sexy mouth. “Your own sexual torment is assured, wife.”