The Warlord (Rise of the Warlords 1)

“And you’re mine.” Taliyah panted, a twinge of pain there and gone. Her heart raced, rapturous heat flooding her from the inside out. “Give me more, Roc, or I take it,” she vowed. Rolling her hips, she tested the new sensations. “Oh. Oh.” With the next roll—

He gripped her waist, pinning her to the mattress. He kept his other arm draped over her head, ensuring his body covered every part of hers. Then...he thrust.

Ecstasy! She mewled. Another thrust. She cried out. Another. Harder. Again. Harder! Restrained by the male she craved. Covered by his strength. Filled with his girth. Straining together, becoming lost in the throes. Consumed by indescribable bliss, pressure mounting.

“So close. So close,” she said with a keening moan.

With his next thrust, he pinched her pierced nipple, propelling her to a new pinnacle. Just like that, all torment morphed into rapture, cascading through her.

As her inner walls clenched around his length, he continued hammering into her, hard, harder. Faster. “You’re not done yet, wife.”

Just as her spasms tapered off, the evil male nipped her lower lip, reached between them and strummed his thumb over her sensitive clitoris.

Satisfaction fled. “More,” she commanded. The pleasure robbed her of all sense, all thought.

“Never letting you go. Never. Never. Now drink from me, wife.” He fed the words into her mouth. “Drink all you need.”

Taliyah hesitated only a moment before thrusting her tongue into his mouth...and sucking, drawing in a tendril of his soul. The heat she’d experienced before? Nothing. The power? Less than nothing. The drunkenness? Not even a blip. His energy hit her full force, and she erupted into the most frenzied orgasm of her life, whipping beneath him. Bright lights exploded behind her lids.

“You...you’re...” Roc bellowed loud enough to shake the palace, following her over the edge, filling her with lash after lash of his heat and, and, and—

“Yes!” The heat, power and drunkenness overwhelmed her. The lights behind her eyes brightened, blinding her to anything else. Contentment like she’d never known infiltrated every cell.

As he collapsed on her and rolled to the side, sliding out of her, the light remained, attempting to carry her away...

No! She fought to stay awake, unwilling to miss a single moment of this literal afterglow. Never had she felt like this, and she wasn’t ready for it to end.

Groaning, Roc pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. He was panting. Wheezing, really.

I did that. I exhausted the Astra Commander. She wanted to see him. The light...

“Sleep, Taya.”

How could she refuse him anything? Even this? “Just gonna take a little nap, okay?” she muttered, finally letting the light carry her away.

32

Different emotions swelled inside Roc. At the forefront? Astonishment. This had truly happened? He had truly claimed Taliyah, willingly handing Erebus a weapon to use against him and his men? The harpy had truly fallen asleep atop him, trusting him to keep her safe, accepting him as her beloved consort? She truly glowed as bright as a sun, blazing as he often did, because he had fed her a soul whirring with pleasure and power?

A smile broke free, pride puffing his chest. Roc had many names, but he thought this one—Consort—might be his favorite.

To his surprise, he had loved nourishing his phantom. Warming her from the inside. Sharing his strength. Knowing a part of him flowed through her now... Want this every day for the rest of forever.

He had expected weakness and cold to accompany her suckling—the first true feeding they’d shared. Instead, he’d experienced only delight, feeling as if she'd caressed every inch of him at once. Nothing at all like a typical phantom meal. Because of her parentage? Or had Erebus and his brother engineered other phantoms to consume souls sloppily, just to cause Astra more aggravation?

Hate him. The male had to die, and stay dead. Soon! The curse needed to be circumvented. Roc must save this woman. This contentment wasn’t something he could give up. No wonder Solar had fought so hard to rescue his own gravita.

Roc hugged Taliyah close. Worth dying for.

He rubbed the spot over his heart and peered up at the ceiling, a strange desire surfacing. He thought he might want to show Taliyah what he’d done to Solar. She had trusted him with her secrets, and he’d only wanted her more. Shouldn’t he have the courage to trust her with his secrets?

That was what family did. They exchanged secrets and offered support.

Family. The word echoed in his mind, and he fisted his hands. Chaos owed him answers. Owed Taliyah. Why had the man not protected his precious granddaughter?

Though his heartbeat had yet to slow, Roc kissed Taliyah’s smooth brow and rose from the bed. Did a grin hover at the edge of her mouth?

He grinned in turn as he strode into the bathroom to clean up. When he finished, he gathered the things he required for his wife, then cleaned her up, as well. Though he had much to do, he couldn’t resist crawling under the covers and curling around her once more. She nuzzled closer, sinking her claws into his chest to keep him in place.