I’ve spent so much time complaining about the way things have been, but can I really change it?
Then he looked down and saw Renay wiping tears from her eyes. She was smiling so broadly it was like a light to lead him to his destiny. He hadn’t known it before he met her—but accepting this position just hadn’t been possible until he found her.
Jarek started to close the ceremony and Sasha moved around from the back of the room, making sure she got excellent shots of all the happy people getting ready to celebrate. Everyone felt secure against another attack because Penelope was now capable of hacking everyone’s phone and installing herself the second anyone new stepped on to the ship. She was literally everywhere now, a true expression of “the walls have ears.”
Tyff reached out for Renay and came down the steps, wrapping her in his arms. They didn’t speak. They didn’t have to. Tyff could sense the change in himself becoming even more marked as he held his mate in his arms.
He couldn’t believe he had blocked the Knowing and kept her at arm’s length. Not now that he had finally accepted that not all humans were bad. Logic had been telling him all along that this simply couldn’t be true, but logic had no place where fear had taken root.
All of this happened simply because I could not admit I was afraid. It takes true strength to recognize and admit when you have fear within you. If you can’t face it, it eats you alive.
He pulled Renay into his arms and kissed her, feeling her press herself against him as much as she dared in this public space. She didn’t need to urge him on. He could no longer hold himself back.
Tonight, he would claim her. Finally, they would be together, physically affirming the bond the Knowing had already forged.
Finally, she would be his.
And I will be hers.
Chapter Thirty-Two
After seeing Tyff receive his war master badge from Jarek and Taulan, Renay had a moment of complete and utter shock. She had dealt with everything that had happened to her so far with a gentle acceptance, a countenance cultivated by her quiet years in the safety of her years in a small town and serene library.
It hit her all at once, not just the horrific injuries she had survived and her trials to get here, but the winning of Tyff himself and her new position by his side.
I live on a fucking spaceship… And I’m marrying a goddamn dragon.
As the ceremony was dismissed, Tyff turned to her and smiled as the entire room disappeared for both of them. His strange, blue-green eyes seemed to burn into her, and his sky-blue wings trembled as he came down the short steps to take her hand.
As Renay was swept into his arms and pressed against his chest, she felt a breathless excitement take hold of her. She was trembling, her legs shaking. The moment was too big for her all of a sudden. She couldn’t possibly be here, not plain little Nay-Nay who never went to the school dances or to camp.
Now Tyff was full of confidence and held her firmly with passion. He looked completely sure of himself and Renay felt like prey in his arms, something small and tasty he would devour slowly, bite by bite.
She had been looking forward to the reception so much, but now she found it tedious. She did her part, swirling on the dancefloor, chatting with high-ranked Preor and their mates, and dining with the dignitaries. Throughout it all, she kept her eyes on Tyff and felt his on her everywhere she went.
As the final dance began to play, she let Tyff spin her around the dancefloor one more time. The dance became an intricate work of foreplay, their hands roaming as much as they dared in the room full of people.
Finally, they turned toward the big doors, waving politely and smiling their goodbyes to the guests. As soon as they rounded a corner Tyff grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, making her squeal as he crushed her to his chest and started to jog.
“Tyff, you’re rushing away from the most important day of your life here!”
“No,” Tyff murmured. “I’m rushing toward it.” His lips found hers, and even as he kept moving, he explored her mouth, his hands tightening around her.
He set her down just inside the door, stroking her face gently. His hands moved to her shoulders and the silk gathered there, and with one sharp tug, he pulled the dress down, causing it to fall to the floor in a rushing whisper.
Renay traced her fingers across his chest, looking up at him and then back down to see his beautiful, tanned skin and bulging muscles. She couldn’t believe her first time was going to be with such a magnificent man—that she was going to be bound to him for eternity.
Eternity is not long enough, she thought as her hands traced across his body. No amount of time is long enough to explore him.
Tyff reached behind him and unclasped the cross straps. He let them fall to the floor, but Renay caught them and quickly hung them across a chair.
“You shouldn’t be so careless with your badges of office,” she murmured. “You’re the war master now.”
“I don’t believe it,” he said, coming up behind her. “I’m having trouble believing you’re mine, right now, let alone that I’m in charge of the entire fleet.”
Renay turned to him, a mischievous smile lighting her face. She grinned as she got up on her tiptoes to kiss him while tugging on his pants. As she got them undone Tyff reached behind her for her bra, and her breasts spilled free. Tyff moaned and leaned down, caressing them with his lips. Renay felt excitement shoot through her, so intense it felt sharp in all the right places. She gasped as his strong hands grasped at her, and she began to throb between her legs.
Her breath caught, and she realized words had left her. When Tyff leaned over and grabbed her around the waist, she couldn’t draw a breath, and not just from his grip. She was nervous, and she couldn’t help it, even though she wanted him desperately.
He carried her to the bed and set her down gently on the edge, reaching for her panties. She shivered but lay back on the bed and let him draw them down her legs. All her hesitation began to fade away as she saw the hungry look in his eyes.
He thinks I’m beautiful. He really thinks I’m gorgeous.
Renay had never had anyone look at her the way Tyff was right now. It wasn’t just hunger. There was a hint of reverence in it, as if he wanted to ravish her and worship her at the same time.
He parted her legs gently, moaning as he brought his mouth to her throbbing core. His touch was so soft and gentle, and she was so sensitive she leapt and shrieked as his lips brushed gently across her. Then his tongue slid forward and pressed against her most sensitive spot as sensations of an intensity she couldn’t believe shuddered through her. It was mind bending and surreal.
I’ve been missing out on this my whole life.
No, that thought was false. No man could make her feel like this. She had waited for the right reason.
Waited for the right man.
Tyff increased his attentions, licking and sucking gently at her while she moaned and writhed under him. It seemed as if he intended to slowly pleasure her this way until it became torture, but then her body responded in a sudden, flooding rush.
She screamed as she bucked up and down, grabbing his hair and tugging on it fiercely. She didn’t even notice she was gripping him so tightly. Her body had gone into a series of convulsions, and the shock waves of pleasure obliterated anything else.