She lay, panting and just a little contorted.

Gideon rose up from his labors. His woman’s torso was twisted to the side and she panted. Her eyes seemed unfocused, just the way he wanted them. He saw his work and it was good. He smiled.

He glanced down at his cock, which once more stood at attention. There was nothing like her pleasure to get him worked up.

At last her arms and legs grew slack. She rolled to stretch out and finally looked up at him, her wrists still tight in the ropes. “Thank you,” she murmured. She blinked a few times. “That was amazing.”

“We’re not done, just so you know.”

She chuckled and smiled. “We never did seem to quit too early in the game, did we?”

“The usual was at least three rounds, but who’s keeping score.”

He straddled her and walked up the bed with his knees. He could have mentally untied the ropes but he wanted his cock close to her face so that he could tease her a little more, as he slowly undid the knots. He let his fingers do the looking because he knew Elise and he wanted to watch her. She liked having her mouth on him and he wanted to keep himself just out of reach.

He watched her lips, her tongue, trying to get to him, so he shifted this way, then that, just so he could watch her mouth open. He wanted to see himself inside her, but this was a good way to begin.

When she finally released a frustrated huff, he freed the ropes so that she could now move her arms and hands and put them wherever she wanted them. He rose up just enough and touched the head of his cock to her mouth. With her hands now on his hips, she met his gaze as she opened wide and he fed her, slowly, one inch at a time.

At the same time, she slid her hands over his buttocks and began to knead his flesh.

Holy shit.

If his mouth on her felt anything like this, then he understood why she enjoyed his tongue as much as she did. He closed his eyes and savored as she began to move her tongue over his cock and to suck, then lick, then suck. He drew himself out of her slowly and she sucked just a little harder until a stream of air left his throat, something close to a hiss.

He was torn. He wanted to keep doing this, but he was already a little too far gone—but then he usually was when he took her blood. Still, he didn’t tell her to stop, and now there was a soft warble in her throat. His hips began a slow pump and her mouth moved with him.

His gaze fell to the left side of her neck. He wanted more of her. Her black hair lay fanned out on the pillow beneath her. He could see the pulse in her neck. His mouth flooded with saliva, which always happened when what he wanted was inside her vein.

Her fingers worked the muscles of his buttocks and she’d begun moving her head up and back so that she could stroke part of his length with her mouth. He closed his eyes and gave himself up to the pleasure for just a few more seconds. Just a few more. Oh, dear God.

But when his thighs tensed and his back started to bow, he pulled out of her mouth, slid backward, leaned down, and planted a kiss on her lips. “Next time,” he murmured. “Right now, I need something different.”

She arched her neck and kissed him back. He remained where he was for a long moment as he gazed into her eyes. Would it be so bad, being with her, long-term? Could he? Could she?

The thought of coming home to her each morning after a night of battling death vampires drew his heart into a hard, hopeful knot. Shit, he shouldn’t be having these thoughts. These decisions had already been made. Right?

She slid a hand to the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. She kissed him again, warm and deep. She looked at him. “Don’t fret. Not right now. Just make love to me and make it good. We’ll worry about tomorrow … tomorrow.” She smiled.

That was something she’d always done; she’d always known the right thing to say to put him at ease.

He had just started sliding down her body, ready to finish what they’d started, when his phone rang.

“Shit.” He maneuvered to the side of the bed and folded his phone into his hand. “Give.”

“Hey, don’t bark at me,” Seriffe said, but he chuckled. “Sorry to disturb, but we’ve been summoned to the palace.”

“The palace?” He turned and looked at Elise, who was leaning up on her elbows, still beautifully naked. “When?”

“The next ten minutes. Can you be ready?”

He looked down at the missile that was his cock and sighed. “Sure.”

“Get a patch through to Jeannie at Central for the fold.”

He dropped his phone onto his jeans.

“What’s going on?” Elise asked.

“It’s your ascension ceremony.”

“I thought I had to endure a series of attacks for three days?”

He shrugged. “The sequence was wrong for your rite of ascension. Leto should have offered you the choice first before the death vampires attacked. Endelle probably forced COPASS to give her this concession. Hey, don’t worry. This is good news.”

This timeshe looked at his cock and sighed.

Chapter Seven

Elise stood in front of Madame Endelle, in one of the large white marble rotundas of the official Second Earth palace. She was waiting for Her Supremeness to start the ceremony. She might have been awed by her surroundings if she hadn’t been completely overcome by the reason for her presence in the massive, formal dwelling.

She was ascending.

Endelle had argued her case before a hastily convened COPASS, stating that because Elise hadn’t been offered her choice of alignment before the attack at the White Tanks Borderland, the attack had been completely illegal.

Greaves had agreed to permit the ascension without further repercussion. It was that, or the actions of one of his generals would be brought to trial and the general could risk execution for violating COPASS law. So, naturally Greaves conceded.

So here she was, at Madame Endelle’s palace, at nearly midnight, with Duncan standing off to her left side and serving as a witness. Gideon stood behind her and to her right just a couple of feet. He wore a formal military tunic in black silk and a sleeker version of the usual battle sandals. He had a purple cape flung over one shoulder. Again, ancient Rome came to mind.

Elise wore a simple black dress for the ceremony and basic black heels. She’d worried that she wouldn’t be dressed appropriately, but frankly, Endelle hadn’t seemed to notice what she was wearing or anything else about her.

Her Supremeness smoothed a hand the length of her earring—the same feathered earring that Elise had seen in one of the visions she had recently shut down. The feather was very long, a foot perhaps, and narrow, with the coloring of pheasant. Endelle wore a black ceremonial robe that reached to what Elise knew to be some of Her Supremeness’s favorite footwear: black stilettos. She held a large book in one hand and with the other flipped through the pages.

Elise felt dizzy and overwhelmed. She was ascending, beginning a new life in a new dimension. She would be free to explore her powers in the open and if the itching up and down her back was any indication, she would develop wings in the near future. She couldn’t wait.

“It’s late,” Endelle said, “and my thong is bugging the shit out of me, so let’s get this done.”

Elise couldn’t suppress a spurt of laughter, but Endelle truly didn’t seem to care. She read straight from the book in a voice that bordered on a drone. A woman, in a place of authority, who was nine thousand years old, had probably done this one too many times.

Despite the woman’s disinterest, the words meant something to Elise, of the ascended world, of the community she would soon enter, of service, great service, to Second Earth. She would be given special duties that would align with her preternatural powers and in due course she would receive the gift of relative immortality. She would receive her fangs this very night and, yes, she would one day mount wings and fly.

At the end of the reading, Endelle posed Elise several questions about dedicated service, limiting her involvement with Mortal Earth, and asking her to pledge her loyalty to Endelle. Elise responded in the affirmative each time. Endelle waved her forward as she folded the big book away.

When Elise drew near, the ruler of Second Earth put both hands on Elise’s jaw. Her hands were very warm and that warmth increased until her fingers felt hot. A kind of vibrating energy began to flow into Elise’s face.

“I hereby imbue you with Second immortality, all the qualities which will allow for long-life and the sharing of blood and potions. May you bring peace to our world.”

The earlier dizziness increased. Elise closed her eyes and power poured through her, an exciting wave of sensation that jolted her shoulders, arms, torso, and legs. She felt wonderful, at ease, almost peaceful.

She drew in a deep breath, as though new life flowed into her lungs and healed every secret, lonely place that had haunted her throughout her childhood. This was the true gift of ascension, a sense of being fulfilled, empowered, and brought into a community of like beings.

Endelle released her and commanded her to open her mouth.

Elise put her fingers to her face. She felt different, especially at her incisors and with just a thought she made her newly created fangs emerge.

“Good. Very good. Not everyone can do that shit right away.” She then snorted and looked at Gideon. “Looks like you’re in for a ride tonight. Oh, and look, I’ve made your woman blush.”

Elise knew her face was hot, but the sudden flush wasn’t about sex or embarrassment. She met Gideon’s gaze. “I’m ascended now.”

He nodded. “Yes, you are.”

She felt very strange, very different, like something in her mind had opened, broadened. She reached out for Rachel with her thoughts and found her camping beside a river, the same river with two bridges. “I can see Rachel,” she whispered.

“Who the fuck is Rachel?” So much tact from the ruler of the world.

Elise met Endelle’s gaze. “Gideon’s sister.”

“Oh, that Rachel.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, kids, I’m outta here.” She lifted an arm, then lowered it. She turned to Elise and after offering a strange little grunt, she said, “Welcome to Second Earth. I hope you like it here. Ah, fuck, whatever.”