The Warlord

by Gena Showalter

  He said nothing. Neither did she.

  Taliyah pivoted, relocating the bulk of her attention to a new captive. Someone she recognized from drawings in history books. An infamous warrior named Dove who’d once fought alongside Tabitha Skyhawk, counted among the number to die by Erebus’s hand.

  Another of Taliyah’s research projects: find a way to fix the harphantoms. If father had broken them, surely daughter could patch them.

  “Hello,” she said with a gentle tone. As always, the harphantom paid her no heed. “I’d like to help you. Soon, Roc will cave, and you’ll dine on immortals.” Truth. So far he’d refused, unwilling to give anyone under Erebus’s control added strength. Which was understandable. She kept pushing anyway.

  Nothing. No flicker of intelligence inside Dove’s milky eyes.

  “T-bomb,” the harpy named Athena called. Miss Four-stars herself. Taliyah had finally learned everyone’s names. “We demand to speak with your manager. Our new neighbors suck.”

  “I’m working on it,” she vowed. And she was. Harpies could assist Roc with his war, if only he’d let them. She’d revisited the topic twice, but he had yet to soften.

  “You think you can fix these phantoms,” Roux said, speaking up for the first time. “You are wrong.”

  She knew his words conveyed a double meaning. You cannot fix yourself, either.

  “Roux,” she said, turning away. She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t bet against me. I tamed the Commander of the Astra. I can do anything.” Maintaining a sedate pace, she left him stewing.

  Do you truly believe that? She must. The alternative was intolerable.

  Taliyah stalked to the master suite, where she crouched on the balcony railing to watch Roc. A chilly wind blew her hair around her face, and she shivered. Another storm brewed in the distance, approaching steadily. The sky had already turned a deep gray.

  Energy charged the air as the Commander chiseled at a furious pace. Any vestiges of civility had been removed from his features. He was a man overcome by frustration, strain and anger, his control in tatters.

  The steps were complete, the platform set. Only the altar remained. Already he had repaired the cracks he’d caused in the midst of anhilla. Huh. Maybe the deepest, most primal part of him considered the meteorite an enemy?

  An acute pang left her panting.

  Lightning flashed, and for a moment, Roc looked like a possessed man battling all his inner demons at once. Her heart raced, desire for him surging, never far from the surface. She longed for him, all of him. She always longed for him. Taliyah coveted every experience life offered, nothing held back. But...

  But what? Never accept a picture of defeat.

  The mantra beat through her head, unleashing a new flood of righteous indignation. Why couldn’t she have everything she wanted? Just because she didn’t have solutions for her problems didn’t mean those solutions didn’t exist. The problems were not insurmountable. Nothing was.

  If she fought hard enough, she could forge a new army of harpies. And she should!

  Want something different, do something different.

  This was an opportunity for harpies to choose their own futures. To stick with the old ways, what they knew, or reset with different—better—rules. They knew what aided, and what hurt. Those who decided to follow her could. Those who opted out shouldn’t. She could rule her own army and have her man. Her...consort.

  The truth infiltrated every cell, and she could deny it no longer. Roc Phaethon was her consort, her man, and she thought she might be falling in love with him. The unshakable warlord who shook from bad dreams and his woman’s touch. The Commander who’d always craved a family of his own.

  Satisfaction took root inside her, no longer a fleeting thing but a permanent part of her makeup. It grew and grew, internal cracks quickly filling, broken things mending.

  This was her path. She knew it was. Never had she been so certain.

  She and Roc were only doomed if they gave up.

  Thunder cracked, pulling her from her thoughts, and more lightning flashed. Taliyah straightened, perfectly balanced on the rail as wind danced her hair around her face.

  Roc had ceased chiseling. He leaned his head into his hands. A position of agony. Of despair. As much as she needed him, he needed her. She required this man, and she would have him.

  Decision made.

  There was no need to worry about a possible pregnancy: harpies were only fertile at certain times. The only question now? Tell him about Erebus before or after?

  The man she’d grown to admire wouldn’t fault her for her parentage. He just...wouldn’t. But either way, he deserved to know before they took this final step together.

  Why wait? She wore a halter and pleated skirt; she was ready for war. No matter her foe.

  Though she battled apprehension, Taliyah stepped from the railing, falling, falling, landing in a crouch. The time had come.

  * * *

  Roc sensed Taliyah’s presence. He always sensed her presence. He always wanted her and he always needed her, and he’d grown to hate himself for it. Asking her to abandon her dreams had been wrong. Especially when he’d found no way to circumvent the curse. No way to escape this living nightmare.

  The more time he spent with the woman, the more he liked her. The more he liked her, the more hopeless their situation seemed. And he had no one to blame but himself.

  He remembered how confident he’d been with Chaos. I will kill her.

  How could he ever bring himself to kill her?

  Keeping his back to her, he called, “This isn’t a good time, Taliyah.” The past few days, Erebus’s message to her had played on constant repeat in Roc’s head. Give up her dream. And for what?

  “I don’t care. I will have you. All of you. I’m done waiting.”

  What? Roc whipped around, the tool falling from his hand. The next flash of lightning revealed a harpy warrior with ocean-water eyes set aflame. “All?” No. Pick up your tool. Turn around. Do your work. Don’t make her choose between her future and yours. Let her grow to hate him? No. Then he’d hate himself more.

  “All,” Taliyah confirmed. “But you gotta take all of me, too.” She shifted, as if uncomfortable. “I...I’m ready to tell you my connection to Erebus.”

  In his chest, old cracks spread, creating new ones. Since their date, they’d spoken only of innocent things. Moments in their pasts, teases and taunts. “You can tell me,” he assured her. Whatever she said, he wouldn’t care. Nothing mattered but the woman herself. A woman who demanded her right to him...

  Am I truly to have her? “Tell me.”

  “He...he’s my father. He possessed his brother, and they were with my mother. Together. They’re both my fathers. It’s complicated. The reality is confusing but true.”

  “Possession,” he said, with a nod. He should have guessed. The brothers had always been close. But this meant... Roc went rigid. Chaos had willingly sacrificed his own granddaughter.

  The father who had refused to abandon his son, no matter the vileness of his crimes... The mentor who had refused to pick between his son and his guards... The god Roc had faithfully served for eons had thrown his own family to the wolves.

  If he could do such a thing to the indomitable Taliyah, what would he do to the Astra?

  “I promise I’m not working with him,” she said in a rush. “I’ve only spoken to him once, and you already know what we discussed.”

  “I trust you, Taliyah.” He fought hard to temper his rage, lest she mistake the source. “We aren’t our parents. I despise my own.”

  “So...” She glanced at him through the thick shield of her lashes, almost shy. “You still wish to be with me?”

  “I want to be with you more than anything.” He took a step toward her, then stopped. “But your dream...” How could he steal it from h
er? How? “I never should have asked you for this. I’ve taken so much already. I can’t take this, too.”

  “You’re not taking anything. I’m giving. And I’m going to be harpy General. I’ve decided I can bed whomever I please.”

  His chest threatened to burst. Magnificent female. No lovelier sight.

  Nothing could stop Roc from closing the distance. The moment he reached her, he clamped her by the nape and waist and yanked her against him. As she gasped, he fused his mouth to hers.

  * * *

  What the—

  Roc had let his beast out of its mental cage, and Taliyah loved it. For a moment, she stood stunned as he kissed her; she was defenseless against the frenzied, sensual onslaught. He was a starving man who’d finally stumbled upon a meal.

  As lightning flashed and thunder boomed, she gave herself fully to the kiss. To Roc. They devoured each other, exchanging breaths. When the first raindrops fell, splashing against their hot skin, she lost all control.

  With one hand, she sank the tips of her claws into his scalp. With the other, she tore at his belt until his rock-hard shaft filled her hand. He hissed. She moaned.

  “I’ve been without you too long.” He picked her up and flashed her to their bedroom, easing her upon the bed.

  He kissed her hard, harder, kneading and plumping her breasts. Beneath the fabric, her nipples puckered. Her next inhalation sent an arc of pleasure from piercing to her core.

  “Roc!”

  He ripped her top, shredding the garment as easily as paper. Her skirt fared no better. When she lay naked beneath him, he wrenched from the kiss to lift to his knees and admire what he’d bared. His fierce gaze worshipped every inch of her, and she fought a moan.

  Being nude while he still wore his pants acted as a titillating aphrodisiac. She shivered, her airways thickening.

  He cupped and tugged his testicles before stroking his length with languid ferocity.

  There was no stopping her next moan.

  “Is this what you crave?” he rasped.

  “Every inch.”

  His pupils pulsed. “Never has there been a lovelier wife. And you’re mine. Only, ever mine.”

  He leaned over, flicking a stiffened tongue against the bit of metal. As she gasped and writhed, he glided his hand up her inner thigh.

  As he penetrated her with two fingers, never relinquishing his languid pace, his intensity remained barely banked, different muscles quivering. Taliyah nearly came, the sensations maddening.

  “My Taya is soaked already.” He pressed the pad of his thumb against her clit and thrust his fingers with more force.

  Another gasp, this one ragged. Another moan, the herald for a hundred others. The pleasure he elicited... Her mind shut down gradually, one light going out at a time, until a single thought remained: more.

  “More, more, more.” Never had she been so greedy for it.

  He sucked the piercing harder, her every pulse point pounding, pounding. The constant rubbing and thrusting and sucking pushed her to the edge faster and faster until—

  Taliyah’s body bowed, a scream barreling from her as a swift, violent climax tore through her. But, just as swiftly as it hit, it dissipated. She crashed from the high, need resurging and redoubling. Control? She had none.

  She cupped Roc’s face and drew his mouth to hers. Their tongues met in a wild tangle. Outside, the storm continued to rage, raindrops beating against the balcony. Lightning struck near the window, flashing through the air.

  Amid the dance of light and shadow, her consort lifted his head. Lust boiled in his eyes as he panted. His pupils pulsed continually. “I wanted you. I won you.” He stood. Moving more slowly than before, he removed his weapons. “Now I will have you.”

  Glorious male. A proud warlord, fierce beyond compare. A true god among men. And he’s mine.

  He crawled up the bed to fill the space between her legs. More lightning flashed, momentarily setting him ablaze. She gasped at the seething intensity in his expression, at the alevala frozen on his skin.

  He smiled at her with panty-dropping carnality. “Now we begin.”

  Begin? Hot tremors shook Taliyah.

  “Today, I’ll show you the benefits of choosing a warlord whose stamina is unparalleled.” With the warning ringing in her ears, he set out to make her lose her mind. And he succeeded!

  Roc was merciless. He kissed and licked every inch of her, his mouth searing. Anytime she neared a second climax, he stopped what he was doing and selected another part of her body to torment. Rapture beckoned alongside crazed desperation. She panted and she thrashed, soon muttering incoherent nonsense.

  “I love the way your body warms for me,” he praised.

  Her head whirled with fragmented thoughts—a condition only he inspired. Her body pulsated with sensations. Nipples throbbing. Belly fluttering. Her heart beat out of sync. Between her legs, the ache grew and grew and grew. “Give me what I want. Give me... Now, Roc!”

  “There’s my little commander.” Sweat trickled from his temples as he rose above her. He draped a forearm over the top of her head, an authoritative hold she couldn’t break with her wings pinned underneath her. Strain etched his every feature. He looked like a wild man, an animal barely caged. “You want this, Taya? You want me? We’re in this together?”

  Panting, she peered up at him, meeting his gaze. “Together.”

  A thousand emotions stared at her as he positioned the head of his shaft at her opening. Anticipation and dread coiled. He was so big. So...aggressive.

  She sank her claws in his shoulders, preparing for a siege. “Do it.”

  With a slight push, he breached her an inch, maybe two. There was a twinge of pain and a promise of pleasure, but he went no further, leaving her suspended and gasping.

  “More,” she demanded, marveling at the incredible rush of heat.

  “I’ll always give you more.”

  When he rocked his hips with verve, sinking deeper, stretching her inner walls, she experienced a sharper twinge. But still pleasure beckoned.

  “So tight. So wet.” He rocked, gaining another inch.

  Oh! That one had more bite than the others. Not enough. He had more, and she wanted it. Needed it. “Give me.”

  His lips peeled back over his teeth. “Just...give me a minute,” he gritted out. “Don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’m hurting without you.” She undulated, stealing more of his length. The stinging intensified, but Taliyah hardly cared. She needed her consort seated firmly inside her. He wasn’t the only one staking a claim here. “Give me more. Give me everything. I can take it, baby.”

  He lifted his head to meet her gaze. Eyes like starlight. “Caused you so much pain already. Only want to make you feel good.”

  He decided to indulge his guilt now? “Roc! Snap out of it, okay?”

  With his next slight surge forward, her sex squeezed him, the fit tight enough to empty her lungs. But the ache...oh, the ache! This partially in, partially out business only made it worse.

  Wait. What was she doing? She was a harpy General in the making, and she took what she wanted.

  Determined, Taliyah hooked her leg around his waist, sank her claws deeper and yanked him down while lifting her lower body. He plunged the rest of the way, impaling her with his shaft.

  Roc hissed against her lips before steadying himself, remaining motionless as she adjusted to his invasion. Sweat dampened his skin. “You’re mine now.”

  “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 ev
ery 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.