Gates of Rapture (Guardians of Ascension 6)

And he would not wait until morning to do it.

* * *

Back at the palace, Endelle was having a great time. The hour was past ten, and the celebration of such a profound victory, without one casualty, was one of the most pleasurable moments of her life. Marcus and Havily already had the Web full of the stories of obsidian flame’s ability to do a mass fold, which also featured a video that showed the folding-away of the entire spectacle event, including swans and geese, followed by Greaves’s illegal bombing of the empty parade grounds.

Endelle had asked that the video be kept on a loop so that at any time she could look over her shoulder at the monitor and laugh.

Fighting a battle without a single loss, and at the same time bringing over to her side half of Greaves’s army—well, damn, she was in a state of bliss.

She had her own bottle of Silver Patrón and filled her shot glass to the rim for about the tenth time. She stood up and lifted it high. “This toast is for Grace, for coming back to us, for taking her place as obsidian flame, for coming up with the most awesome strategy ever, and mostly for having the courage to enter my own twisted soul and pluck my mass-folding ability right out of what she says is a blue flame lock, whatever the f**k that is. To Grace.”

All her warriors were present, all nine WhatBees. She’d freed up the rest of them from Borderland duty so that she could celebrate with her elite Warriors of the Blood, the men who had kept Second Earth safe for all these centuries.

The men, as well as the women bonded to Kerrick, Marcus, Medichi, Jean-Pierre, and Thorne, all gained their feet and held up a variety of glasses in Grace’s direction. The woman blushed at all the praise.

“To Grace” resounded to the top of the dining hall rotunda, then back again.

The sound, made big because of so many masculine voices, pleased Endelle’s soul.

She sipped her tequila, smiling as she drank. Goddam but she felt good. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this fantastic, this free, this satisfied, and sex hadn’t been involved at all. But this had been as good as a good lay, flying like that, knowing she could pose for the cameras and show off her costume, heading up her army, leading obsidian flame. Yeah, damn good.

But that fold! Especially while in full-mount and not one feather out of place once she hit the ground. Shit, that had been something else. The power had rolled along the parade route starting at the back, like an all-encompassing wind that passed through her body yet caught her up at the same time, and shunting her in a quick ride through nether-space. Her wings had held—another miracle provided by obsidian flame. No way in hell would she try it on her own. Wings could get thoroughly trashed during a fold, and that kind of destruction would hurt like a motherfucker.

She glanced at Grace. The woman had truly surprised her in about every way possible. That she’d left the Creator’s Convent in Prescott Two to shack up with Casimir-the-Hedonist on Fourth Earth had been one of the shockers of the century. But that she’d come back so changed was another shocker, wearing loose clothing, lots of makeup, and her hair curled. A lot of her restraint was just gone. Maybe Casimir had done that for her, or maybe being with Beatrice, or maybe it was the breh-hedden.

So Grace was back, the third leg of a now über-powerful obsidian triad, and all cuddled up with Leto. Endelle had extended her hearing a couple of times, because eavesdropping was just plain fun. Grace kept whispering to Leto that she wanted him to “go beast.” Endelle was pretty sure she knew what that meant, and if she’d been in Grace’s shoes, she would have done the same thing.

She sipped her tequila, then laughed again, no less so when Leto called out to Thorne, “Hey, how about having Jeannie fold us back to my cabin.”

Thorne frowned slightly. “The cabin in Seattle?”

“Yes,” Leto said. “The colony is secure, and I’m going to create my own dome of mist over my property.” He glanced at Medichi and smiled. “Besides, I think the villa will be crowded tonight.”

Medichi laughed. “Very crowded.” He leaned close to Parisa and kissed her full on the lips.

Thorne opened his mouth, probably to argue with Leto’s request some more, but Leto already had his tongue in Grace’s mouth again.

Endelle met Thorne’s gaze, but she understood the need for some alone time. “I’ll add my own dome of mist over the cabin.” She then called out to Jeannie and gave the order.

Leto and Grace vanished.

Endelle was almost tempted to open her voyeur window and have a brief look-see at the couple, but she really was trying to work on her boundaries. Alison kept preaching to her about them, and she supposed she was right. So, instead, she poured another shot of Silver Patrón and savored the moment.

Tonight had been a major victory, maybe not the final one that would end Greaves’s plans for good but a solid step in the right direction. She had no doubt that the little peach would retaliate, but she doubted it would be in the next few hours. Would he want a straight-up battle, now that he’d lost half his force? She honestly didn’t know.

* * *

“Go beast for me,” Grace whispered, licking at Leto’s neck.

Leto was in agony. She’d gotten him worked up at the palace, but each time she said, “Go beast for me,” he swore he almost came.

Maybe it was the way she said it, kind of pleading with an ache in her voice. He could also feel just how aroused she was, her ni**les in hard beads against his palms. So strange to feel her sensations at the same time he pressed his hands into her br**sts.

He leaned against the wall by the fireplace, and she leaned into him, her h*ps pressing upward in a sensual roll, stroking the full length of him with her body.

“Go beast for me, Leto.”

He wanted to, but he also wanted to take his time with her. “You were wonderful tonight,” he said. “You were amazing.”

She stopped licking his neck and looked up at him. Her gold-green eyes glittered. “It was an incredible experience,” she said. “Have I thanked you for supporting me like you did? I’m not sure I would have gotten through it without your help. You calmed me enough to get the fold done.”

He kissed her. “You’re welcome … again. For about the hundredth time.”

She smiled and kissed him back. “Don’t you think I deserve a reward?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” But he pressed her bottom with both hands and flexed his hips.

She hissed, and her h*ps responded so that she rolled over him again. She licked his neck, but this time she began to suck. A shudder went through him.