“Would our resident rooster like a cock-a-doodle handy before today’s session ends?” Penelope asked, eyeing the bulge in his pants as she reclined on her throne of immortals. Or rather, acting as if she reclined while hovering over the seat. “Yes? No?”
“I’m going to enjoy killing you,” he told her. The wraiths sucked and sucked and sucked some more. Every inner pull added fuel to the fire of his fury, while also dulling the fire Blythe had stoked in him.
“I’ll take that as a soft no. Do let me know if you change your mind.” The wraith heaved a sigh. “Although, I must say, you shouldn’t come to our home loaded for bear if you don’t want us to offer sexual favors. It’s downright rude.”
“I will kill you slowly,” he grated. He couldn’t be blamed for his condition. A sense of possession clawed at him. His harphantom was considering having sex with him. He couldn’t not stay hard.
“She won’t survive, you know,” Penelope said, as if sensing the direction of his thoughts. “Our pets can move between the natural and spirit realm with ease. She’ll have no means of escape.”
“She will find a way to win.” She must! He needed her well. Not for Roc. Not for Taliyah. For himself. Because she might be...his. The knowledge cemented in Roux’s mind. She was. She was his. His female. Hisgravita. Stardust wasn’t needed to prove it. He knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
From the very beginning, he had reacted to Blythe the Undoing in ways he’d never reacted to another. First, her beauty and grace captivated him. Then her touch entranced him. Now, having tasted of her teasing sense of humor...her unexpected gentleness... How could he resist her?
What had begun as physical attraction had ripened into a bone-deep awareness. And really, they weren’t as terrible a match as he’d once assumed. Their jagged edges just...fit. He struggled with his emotions, but she felt everything in spades. Confidence was never an issue with Blythe. She knew herself, and she reacted to situations accordingly.
This morning, when she’d promised to rock his world, she’d even helped him figure out whathefelt. Eagerness. Excitement. Anticipation. The stardust would come. It was only a matter of time.
I have a female. Me.The clone.
Joy burst through him. A ray of light in the darkest recesses of his mind.
“Are yousmilingnow?” Penelope made a disgusted noise.
“Will you demand your turn tonight?” he asked, ignoring her question.
“While you look like that? How can I do so now? The first bite a diner consumes is with the eyes, and I’m not currently digging your flavor.” She scowled at him. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Astra, but you and your brethren are weird.”
“You’ve known more than one of us?” Some of the wraiths wrenched away from him, as if the tang of his happiness repelled them. The rest followed.
“I might have. Then again, I might not have.”
Roux checked his mental clock. Blythe’s heat shouldn’t begin for another thirteen minutes, eighteen seconds. Enough time to ferret out a bit more information for his task.
“Whomight haveyou met?”
The queen of wraiths shrugged. “Perhaps I followed Silver for a time, without his notice. It would have happened before I was sent here, of course. He’s a hot piece, that’s for sure. Has even more hatred than you. Perhaps I’ve also conferred with Erebus a time or twenty.”
“Did the Dark One send you here?” Roux rolled his head over his shoulders, straightened his spine, and flexed his hands, checking the extent of today’s damage. His internal defenses were compromised but holding steady. His limbs weren’t a hundred percent, but they weren’t going to give out on him, either. “He usually only deals with those who will affect his war with the Astra.”
“Oh, I’ll affect his war with the Astra, all right, but he’s not to blame for dragging me to this land, kicking and screaming. My mother is to blame for that.” A note of bitterness crept into her voice. “The Dark One appears to me upon occasion, that’s all. He’s quite inventive, isn’t he? And kind of delicious, if you’re into evil villains who can only be counted on to betray you. A particular favorite of mine. I mean, who else would think to use a—oh, oh, oh. Sorry, Astra, but I won’t be spilling my secrets that easily.”
Erebus, able to speak to those in Ation. Upon occasion. Without visiting. How? For that matter, how had the god gotten Blythe here? She’d mentioned her father’s betrayal. At the time, Roux hadn’t questioned her further because he’d known he couldn’t trust her. Now he wasn’t so sure. Would she tell him the truth?
After their first round of sex, or perhaps the third or fourth, they’d probably cuddle, and he’d have an opportunity to find out. Maybe, after a dozen climaxes, she’d be more inclined to help him rather than harm him.
“There you go, smiling again,” Penelope muttered. “Can’t you wait to unveil it after you leave? Honestly, Astra, it makes my stomach turn.”
Twelve minutes, twenty-seven seconds until Blythe’s battle. “Shall we bargain for information, wraith?”
“We shan’t. You have nothing I want.” She ran her gaze over his body. “Well, almost nothing.”
He waggled his jaw. “What of your freedom from this world?”
Her eyes brightened, as if she suddenly glowed from the inside, but the light dulled in a snap. “You believe you’ll escape. You’re wrong. Why do you think Erebus stays on the other side of his doors when he—” She pressed her lips together in a thin line. “Well, well. Look who tricked me into saying more than I planned.”
The god comprehended how to open doors into Ation. A tidbit. Roux had only to figure out how Erebus did it, then reverse the process. Maybe. His task for tomorrow. After he devoured Blythe.
“Smiling again.” The wraith tsked. “Don’t you dare rush off,” she ordered when he tensed to leave. “Maybe wecanbargain. After all, I know other things concerning your enemy. Many, many other things.” She purred now. “In return, you can give me the same show the harpy gave you this morning.”