A thousand wows.
I gasp.
His tongue works relentlessly—until pleasure explodes in my core, and I arch my back.
A star goes supernova in the nebula around us.
His tongue retraces its route back to my neck, and after another nibble, he lifts his head to gaze down at me. “You okay?”
“Continue,” I whisper. “Please.”
His pupils dilate, and he proceeds, very gently. There’s a moment of pain, but soon, it’s a distant memory. Instead, a pleasure spreads through me that puts anything I’ve experienced before—even the high from vampire blood—to shame.
Bigger and more colorful supernovas erupt in the nebula around us, like fireworks, each one coinciding with my orgasms.
He tenses and then relaxes in my arms to one final supernova explosion, and I hug him tight, though my muscles feel like jelly.
“You should rest,” he murmurs, brushing the hair off my forehead, and I nod, smiling up at him.
We turn, getting into a spooning position, and he wraps his arms around me, holding me like he’ll never let me go as I close my eyes contentedly and fall into the deepest sleep of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I wake up to the realization that I slept and didn’t have a single dream.
Then I remember what had happened just before I fell asleep, and my heart rate picks up. We finally did what I’ve been yearning for from the moment I met Valerian. But what now? What does it mean? Are we—
My stomach loudly grumbles, and I realize I’m so famished I’d probably risk Earth street food.
Valerian is still spooning me, so I gently wriggle out from under his heavy arm and tiptoe into the bathroom. After a shower, I sneak back into the room and put on my clothes.
Valerian opens one eye. “You heading somewhere?”
“Hungry,” I say, something warm and soft filling my chest at the sight of him lying there, all sleep-mussed and sexy.
Yawning, he gets up also and begins to dress.
As I watch, my hunger for food transforms into a different kind of craving, but before I can act on it, Valerian finishes dressing and says, “Let’s go. I’m also famished.”
Oh, well. Hopefully we can get right back to it after we eat.
We locate the cafeteria from earlier, and Valerian figures out how to use the dispensing machine to get two silver cubes and a clear container with water. We take a seat at a table, turn the cubes into trays, and I squirt the food from a tube into my mouth without bothering to ask him to make it palatable. After I chase the paste with a few gulps of water, I finally feel like myself again—and questions from earlier resurface.
“Can we talk?” I ask, heat filling my face.
He puts down his tube, a wicked gleam appearing in his eyes. “What’s on your mind?”
I reach deep for my courage. “It’s about what happened. I just wanted to—”
A loud sound pierces the air, startling the puck out of me.
“Is that you?” I ask Valerian.
Frowning, he shakes his head.
Maxwell rushes into the cafeteria, white as a ghost. “Come with me, now.”
He runs out, and we chase him into a room with a wall covered by a floor-to-ceiling screen. With the exception of Mom and my niece, my whole family is here—all staring at the currently blank screen with grim expressions.
“Did something happen to Chloe?” I ask, my mouth going dry.
“We took her to the daycare in this building,” Asha says. “She’s fine… for now.”
Well, that’s ominous. So much for going right back to bed activities.
Bebe fiddles with some controls. “I’ll show it to you from the beginning.”
The screen comes to life, displaying a feed from a drone that seems to be hovering above the entry gate to Soma.
A person steps out of the gate.
It’s a large male elf with the fiery eyes of the Overtaken.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A tall guard at the gate sends an arc of illusionist energy at the newcomer. The elf looks around in confusion, then dives head first into a nearby moat, breaking his neck in the process.
Before I can let out a relieved breath, another Overtaken steps out of the gate.
And another.
This time, two guards shoot them with illusionist mojo, and the Overtaken start savagely fighting each other.
Another Overtaken emerges from the gate.
And one more. Then two at the same time. And three.
Most of the newcomers are wearing nightwear, and some are armed with things you’d find around a kitchen—tools they cleave and chop each other with, covering the ground with gore.
When there are more of them than there are illusionist guards, the guards raise their guns and begin shooting.
Another dozen Overtaken leap out of the gate and kick their fallen comrades into the moat.
The guards shoot them too.
More Overtaken emerge.
The guards keep on shooting.
One of the Overtaken hurls a colander at the guards before she gets gunned down.
The moat is beginning to fill up with bodies.