He kissed every inch of her body, branding her with more and more and more stardust. From the beginning, his strength and intensity had drawn her. His willingness to do anything to complete a job...his ferocity...his ambitions...his loyalty to his men...his Roc-ness. He’d been made for her, and she’d been made for him.
Could she bring herself to fight him? Taliyah had no idea what she’d do tomorrow or how she would react. But here and now, in this last stolen moment together, it didn’t matter. Roc mattered. Her guiding star. Her final star.
When he positioned himself above her, he slid inside her as slowly and carefully as if they were making love for the first time. Her thoughts fractured, shattering on the jagged edge of rapture. Taliyah felt him in every cell of her aching body.
With his next inward surge, he curled one muscular arm over the top of her head, caging her in the way she loved, holding her too tightly—perfectly. The way she needed.
They peered into each other’s eyes and rocked together. His irises were luminous, an endless night sky. She lost sight of the bedroom.
Roc reached between them and pressed his thumb against the heart of her need, ensuring pleasure lashed her with every move. As she erupted with a devastating climax, he twined his free hand with hers and lifted their arms over her head.
At this angle, she had better access to his throat.
Inhale... Her nipples grazed up his bare flesh. Exhale... The sensitive buds swept down. The friction was indescribable.
She knew he wanted her to feed, but she refused. She wouldn’t weaken him the day before the ceremony. Taliyah kissed him instead. For minutes...hours...an eternity, a blip, they continued rocking together, the sense of connection unparalleled.
Another climax hit, the force of it staggering. She scored Roc’s flesh. He must have liked the sting, because he followed her over, collapsing and rolling to the side.
Out of nowhere, Taliyah burst into tears, ugly-crying, overcome by the emotion of it all. Always before, she’d felt vulnerable after lovemaking. But this? This was full exposure, something she’d never really experienced. She had no defenses against this, no secrets, no hidden agenda.
No hope?
He lifted her to his chest and cradled her tight, giving her the same words he’d given her before. A soothing balm. “Nothing separates us.”
* * *
The next morning dawned as any other. Unstoppable and unavoidable. The rainless storm seethed with untold fury, an accurate portrayal of the cyclone raging inside of Roc. Mere hours remained on the clock.
When the bedroom shook, Taliyah jolted upright, instantly awake.
“It’s all right, love. It’s all right.” He traced a hand down the ridges of her spine. “The wall came down, that’s all.”
The beginning of the end, then.
A curse brewed in his throat as she settled against him.
“Erebus is free to come and go now?” she asked.
“Yes. But he and his phantoms aren’t allowed to fight us.”
“I want to kill him,” she snarled, her little claws sharpening at the tips.
He fell in love with her all over again.
As Roc sent orders to his warlords to prepare for the ceremony, he drew Taliyah closer. “We have hours to go. Shall we study? We might find a last-minute save.”
“No, the time for studying is over.” No emotion laced her tone. “The time for action has come.”
Always in the past, Roc had left the bride locked in her room alone on this day, to mentally prepare for her end. Her favorite foods. Wine of her choice. Whatever she asked for, within the scope of his abilities, he provided. This time, he refused to let Taliyah out of his sight.
“H-how is the rest of this day going to go?” She conformed her body to his, her icy blues stark. “I should’ve asked before, but I don’t think I was ready to hear the answer until now.”
Linking their hands—one or both of them trembled—he told her, “Two hours before the ceremony, my sisters Aurora and Twila will arrive to help you bathe and dress. When they finish, they’ll leave and join Chaos, who will be waiting in the garden. At the altar.” His voice cracked. “At eleven fifty, my men will escort you to the garden, where I, too, will wait.”
“No. I’ll walk on my own,” she said with firm assurance. “Astra guards will give the appearance of force. I’ll not have anyone thinking the harpy General and wife of the Astra Commander is unwilling. I do what I want, when I want.”
Killing me. “You’ll come to the garden on your own, then.”
Inhale, exhale. “What happens next?” she asked softly.
“You walk to me. To the altar.”
She averted her gaze for a moment. “Each of your brides was the fiercest of her species. Some ran. Some cried. Some fought. As your gravita, I will prove myself the fiercest of them all. I won’t run. I won’t cry.”
A terrible choking sound left him. “With my entire being, I wish you would run.”
“Sorry, baby, but that’s not my style.”
He cupped her cheek and kissed her brow. “I know that well, love.”
“Tell me the rest,” she said, though she’d watched it occur to twenty others.
Roc could deny her nothing, not even this. “Usually I deliver the blow at midnight. The death is to occur in that window of time between the first and last bell.”
She nodded. “If I die—” A familiar denial sprang from him. She continued anyway. “If I die, know that I meant what I said to my sisters. I have no regrets. I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything.”
His eyes burned, his line of sight wavering. He pressed his fingers over his lids.
She kissed his cheek. “There’s one more thing. If I die, you are not to follow me. You are to forever compare every woman you meet with me. And make sure they understand why they’re inferior to me in every way. I mean that. It’s not optional.”
His heart broke. Right there, in that moment, his heart shattered into too many pieces to ever weld together. She had never accepted a picture of defeat—until Roc.
From this, he would not recover. Erebus had wanted his misery. The god had gotten it.
37
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Taliyah, her emotions chaotic. As Roc predicted, his sisters arrived with a gown and toiletries. They didn’t speak to him, and he didn’t speak to them, but tension arced among the trio.
Taliyah thought his eyes glinted as he left the room, and she almost broke into another round of humiliating sobs.