“What can I do to help you?” Halo asked.
“I want Vivi.” Her eyes burned, and her vision wavered. “Is there any way you can unfreeze her?”
“I do not think so.” He leaned over, grasped her by the waist and transported her to his lap. “What would Vivi do for you if she were here?”
What could the harpire do? No one knew if Nissa had been too embarrassed of her nymph daughter to admit the truth, or if the General Mother Dearest had kept quiet simply to maintain her title. Either way...
I was unwanted.
Hot tears poured down Ophelia’s cheeks. Embarrassed, she batted at the ridiculous droplets. Breaking down in front of an Astra? And not just any Astra, but hers. No, not hers. Not yet, maybe not ever. Humiliating! But the tears didn’t care; they fell faster.
“I think Vivi would mention how amazing I am,” she croaked. “Loyal. Honest. Dedicated. Rare, wonderful qualities. Ask anyone. And then she’d probably tell me that being rejected by my own mother proves nothing about my worth, only Nissa’s.”
Halo kissed her temple. “Vivi would not be wrong. But harpy? Amazing doesn’t come close to describing you.”
Ophelia sagged against him, resting her head on his shoulder. A position she appreciated more and more. “I don’t believe you. I mean, Vivi knows me, so her speeches work. You know nothing.”
“You believe I’m saying these things, simply to be nice?”
“I know! It’s shocking to me, too.” She drew an X over his heart, mourning the loss of what could have been, if only Nissa had been honest with her. The conversations they could have had. “For starters, you think I’m weak.” Oops. Another tear escaped.
“Weak? Why would I ever think that? Did you not go toe-to-toe with an angry Astra after he shackled you to a bed?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“And did you not force nine warlords to bend to your will?”
“I did do that, yes, and it wasn’t even that difficult,” she said, perking up. She was practically a superhero. After the task, she would be a genuine superhero.
He traced his fingertips along the ridges of her spine. “Did you not give me the most powerful orgasms of my life?”
She raised her head, meeting his gaze. “Really? The most powerful?”
“It isn’t even a competition.” How earnest he appeared, those magnificent irises spinning. And his pupils...they pulsed. Like a heartbeat.
Ophelia curled up against him, soaking in his warmth. He kept saying things that pointed to his lack of experience, yet he played her body expertly. “Be honest. Am I that good or are you that bad?”
He snorted. “Both?” A little smile teased his lips as he smoothed a lock of hair from her face. “I enjoy being sexual with you.”
“You didn’t enjoy it before me?”
“I did not.”
Wow. Just wow. “What about cuddling?”
“This is my first time to do so. Before you, I got in and got out, preferring to be alone.”
What? Never cuddled before Ophelia? And in and out? Wow again. “I hate to break it to you, darling, but your douchebag roots are showing. You didn’t see to the pleasure of your partner? The disrespect!” Never mind that she hadn’t seen to his pleasure in the beginning. They were discussing his faults, not hers.
He combed his fingers through her hair. “I didn’t enjoy touching or being touched. But for a moment, I could be free of my tension.”
Hesitant, she asked, “But you like touching and being touched now?” He seemed to need contact as much as she did. “With me?”
“I do,” he rasped.
Two words. Pure seduction. “Have you ever discussed your thoughts and feelings like this?”
“Never.”
I’m the chosen one. The lover he relished touching.
The action movie soundtrack filled her head without the aid of her earbuds, and her shoulders rolled back. Well, of course she was the chosen one. She was more than amazing; she was indestructible. Strong enough to survive death thrice, with a cunning side that drove her to cross any line to succeed. Even keeping secrets from an Astra.
Ignore the guilt. Her sister was her mother, a fact she couldn’t change. The shock and sting hadn’t lessened, but the despondency was gone, thanks to Halo.
“I want to for real cuddle with you,” she announced. “Not a gateway cuddle to sex but a no-strings cuddle where I can do anything I wish to your body, and you just have to take it.”
He gripped the hair at her nape, tilting her head up to his. Spinning irises blazed with desire. “If I agree to this no-strings cuddle in a location of my choosing, you’ll talk and tell me other things I wish to know?”
“I will if you will. Within reason.” Always have a caveat at the ready.
He rushed to nod, as if he’d hoped for such a response. “The deal is set.” After adjusting his hold, he flashed them to a couch in the entertainment room. A spacious chamber with multiple other couches set in rows. A huge projector screen hung on the far wall, next to a “Rack o’ Phallus” snack machine that was mystically enhanced to never run out of fresh corn dogs, pickles, bananas, or cucumbers. A “Property of Not You” sign hung from the top.