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She was floating in the present, and she was safe.

Her mate's arms were around her, holding her close. They were nestled together in bed, warm, relaxed. He was hardening against her ass, and she loved how it felt.

The smell of his sweat and cologne was already making her aroused. Then he was spreading her legs, sliding into her from behind, filling her, stroking deep, fast. Her body responded instinctively, rolling back against him. She was tightening, feeling pleasure shocking up her spine.

She couldn't stop moving, she was almost...

Nїx woke on a gasping moan, "By-Byron!"

He was already pounding himself deep against that glorious spot in her. Her core contracted hard.

"Angel! Ohohhhyes, yes, yes please, UH!" Her eyes rolled back. "Oh, baby!"

Her mind registered another lightning strike shake the house when she hit her peak. Heady bliss flowed into every limb and cell of her. Her mind numbed and purred satisfaction.

When was the last time she'd woken with this? She couldn't remember.

"Mmmm!" She giggled a sigh over her shoulder, "Good morning, my reaper."

His soft firm lips were on her ear. That touch shivered her brain when his baritone chuckled deliciously. Byron was stroking every sensitive inch of her figure, whispering, "Good morning, goddess."

Another afterquake left her breathless. She commanded, "Byron Dekker, you will give me that glory every morning!"

"Yes ma'am."

Phew... She reached around to stroke his jaw, "Better than Folger's, hm?"

She loved feeling his body shake with humor. "My wicked beautiful girl. I wish I'd broken that godsdamned law months ago."

* * * * *

She swiveled around in the bed to gaze at him and Byron lost his breath. He shook his head in wonder. "This isn't a dream. You're really here."

Nїx wagged her eyebrows at him. "Mmmmm. Well, I was dreaming. But then, something came up."

He rubbed his face against hers, seeking an apology. "Sorry. Did I interrupt?"

Her eyes flickered silver in her pupils, delighted. She shook her face gently. "Uh-uh. Never apologize. Interrupt me like that, anytime."

With this woman, absolutely. He quirked his head slightly, curious, "Remind me. What do the laws say about an immortal and a goddess being mates?"

"You're not the deity of your kind, but you are the first to be returned. Thus, that qualifies you as a primordial." She rubbed her face over his. "Even some of the goddesses themselves have mates who are 'merely' immortals."

"Ever-Knowing," he marveled.

Nїx winked.

For a few moments he rubbed her body slowly, letting her nerves awake with each tingling sensation. Then he murmured, "We need to go see about the wyrms. Maybe find out what's going on. Any glimmers of foresight?"

Her face crumbled. "I don't want it back. I don't want to see that, angel."

The woman had been worried about him before he'd ever even existed. She'd been making power moves to protect him. Save him. But he wanted to save her.

There had to be a way.

He tucked her against him. "We'll find our way through it. You've been drawing three a lot?" She nodded. "Let's drop this hand, draw five and up the pot. Maybe there's a hand in there you haven't seen in awhile. A royal flush."

Nїx nodded, purring against his lips, "My reaper will go the distance."

She stood and walked over to the chest, wearing the robe Chest had given her. The robe was a perfect fit, and she was in absolute love with the cute box. When she bent at her hip, she glanced over her shoulder.

Byron's eyes were now lingering on her thighs and ass. She knew he could see everything else in the front as well. She let her legs splay slightly out, just to see his mouth drop open.

"Still want it long?" she giggled.

He shook his head fiercely. "Hell, no, beautiful. You're my hallelujah to and from God and your parents." He glanced over. "And thanks for listening to her, Chest."

Chest jumped again, delighting her. He was pleased. The box had become something of a friend, even if it couldn't talk to him.

* * * * *

She gave her instructions. Within minutes, she'd slid on an aerie lacy purple thong, a purple support bra that was gloriously soft, and a pair of skintight denim jeans. Then came calf-high fur-lined black leather boots with side zippers. Finally, a baby-soft cotton t-shirt and a deep royal purple turtleneck sweatshirt that molded perfectly to her curves.

She swiveled around to see Byron staring at her in awe. Nїx gave him a sashaying pose. She flipped her now-disheveled sable tresses around.

"You like?"

The way he gazed was more fulfilling than any thanks, gratitude, or worship she'd ever receive. Byron's murmur tickled over her. "Much, much more than."

Something shivered inside her and she checked herself. That pressure she'd been having of late was increasing. Her power font was growing stronger, or was it growing more focused?

She couldn't be sure. This uncertainty of what was going on, it was something she didn't like living with.

Byron broke out his cocksure grin, his head propped on one palm. "Are you sure I'm not dead?"

The words stilled her introspection. Instantly she was on alert, her eyes flickering around, hand to her heart. Her reaper rushed to hold her in scarcely a second. She snuggled into his bare chest, shivering. His voice was a murmur in her hair, "I'm sorry, beautiful. It's just an expression."

Nїx clung to him. "I'm not letting you die. I won't allow it!"

Her reaper was silent a moment, then he asked, "But babe, what if it costs us the mortal realm? Or your sanity?"

She put her head into his chest, pounding against his ribs softly. "It's not fair, Byron! It's not! You're my realm!"

Over three thousand years of waiting... twenty-five hundred years witnessing his end. She couldn't breathe! Byron held her the way she'd always dreamt, covering her.

He whispered over her ear. "And you're mine, angel. But we have to take stock now. I don't want you sacrificing the rest for me. And I don't want you following, either."

She beat against his back several times. "No! No, you can't ask me to! You can't!"

"I can," his tone hardened, but his fingers were soft when he tilted her chin up to gaze into his eyes. What she saw there made her want to bawl.

Solemn reaper! I said no!

"I'm asking you, Nїx."

She choked.

He let his gaze tell her she was priceless, but he made his voice firm. "I am begging you, babe. I've been watching from the sidelines long enough. You're the goddess holding the line. The rest haven't figured it the fuck out. The Lore needs you. So, don't stray from what you feel will be best. I trust you."

Nїx sucked in a sharp breath. Power unlike any she had before flooded through her. Her mind opened with a harsh mental slam. The smell of his blood.

He was dead, there was too much of it! Her soul wailed at the loss. She slammed the door in her mind shut, "NO!"

"Angel???"

She crushed herself into his chest. "It's happening again! Don't trust me! Don't!"

He shuddered a breath at her words. Millennia of knowing, she knew what she was in for. She was hurting him. She clutched his body.

"Freya, please! Byron, I don't want to lose this. Please don't trust me, not all the way! I want to stay here, now! Keep your aura up, baby."

Her reaper squeezed his arms around her, quivering. "You can't promise you won't give up the mortals?"

"Can't!" She shouted fiercely. "You come first!"

Byron wanted to shake his fist at the Almighty. What the fucking Hell, Father???

All he ever wanted, craved, was hearing that from a female. His female. His woman! Now he couldn't tell her how much or she might lose herself?!

The silence left him in a rage. Then the revelation hit him, I have to hold the line here and now. He clamped down and focused. God, I trust this one, but please help me cover her.

It took several minutes for his aura to remain. Damn it. Why? Why couldn't he just love this glorious woman like he'd been meant to? He gazed off at nothingness for a few moments.

In her own mind, Nїx felt her powers and gifts recede. Slowly it was scampering away, its tail between its legs. Her heart stuttered painfully at the separation. Her power font wasn't just an ability, it was a piece of her. But her male was even more.

She peeked mentally, testing the door. It stayed shut.

When her eyes cast back up into Byron's face, he was looking off in the distance. Her reaper was searching for answers. Then when he looked down, she saw his focus return.

Nїx needed that solace.

Tears sparked her eyes, her face twisting with her grief. "I know. I know, I'm selfish, but just once in my life I want to be my own woman, godsdammit!"

Byron shook his head, not judging her, instead cradling her cheeks. He rubbed his thumbs under her eyes, wiping the few lingering tears there clear.

"You always were, gorgeous."

"Not really!" She rubbed over her mate's heart. "I was always trying for others. For you! I thought if I helped everyone else out, eventually it would change."

Nїx pulled back to look up into this young but wise face and let out her anger. Her misery. "Something had to do it, I thought! And still, that godsdamned vision stayed, Byron!" Terror choked her hard. She put her fist over her lips, "It fucking sucked, baby!"

Byron inhaled, rage and grief mixing inside him. He forced down the stinging tears that threatened to erupt from him. The bitches had been doing this to her for all this time, and he hadn't been there for her.

He kept rubbing his palms over her cheeks until her gaze reconnected with his.

He resolved himself to a singular goal.

When I find the ones who did this to my goddess... I will murder them. Pantheon law be damned.

This woman needed, deserved, protecting. "I know only a thing or two about that." He stroked her hair softly. "But you are the best goddess in the Lore to keep trying this long and hard, my Phenїx."

* * * * *

Nїx whimpered on the heartache. When would that fate happen?

She'd just met this male. They were perfect. He was exactly what she needed. Now the clock was ticking on when Death would lose a reaper. Her reaper.

When he tilted her face to him, she didn't hesitate kissing him back. She craved it. This caress wasn't heated passion, but slow. Lingering strokes of love. Communication without ever a word passed.

Eventually, the pain subsided with the pleasure. By the time he'd finished, her tears were gone, and her heart felt full for what felt like the first time ever in an eternity. His voice flowed through her ear, "Let me get dressed, beautiful."

She nodded and watched while he walked to his closet. Then she followed.

It was almost impossible to believe that they could be so in sync about this. She'd barely known him a week, but he seemed to operate on her level instinctively. Like he'd been here before.

The wardrobe he had didn't take up a quarter of the closet's space, but it showed a big piece of who he was. Zegna, Rubbinaci, Oxford and several other tailors lined the racks. She sucked in a breath.

My reaper likes style.

He slid on a pair of deep blue silk boxers. She clocked him looking at her, the same way she had him over Chest. Nїx smiled, holding up curled claws.

"You might need to ask Chest for a few hundred more pairs, darling."

Byron's wicked grin flared, "I'll keep it in mind. But Chest being such a good sport, I could always buy'em back on Earth and bring'em here." His gaze burned downwards. "And you'll need more thongs and cheekinis, too."

That stoked a delightful shiver in her. She slid her hands over her hips and gripped. "You would dare to rip off a goddess' panties, young reaper?"

"Every second of every day for the next nine thousand years, my Phenїx."

Her core shivered. "What's stopping you now?"

He swallowed, summoning up inner will, then turned back to the wardrobe. "Wyrms, angel. We have to go see the wyrms."

Spoilsport. "Mmm. True. After?"

Byron grinned. "It's a date, gorgeous."

Not such a spoilsport! She giggled.

Then he began pulling on the rest of his items. First came black silk socks, then a deep red silk shirt, then one of the Zegna tuxedo pants. A black leather belt looped through.

He snagged up a black silk necktie and flung it over his head, Windsor knot already made. He straightened it and pinned it in place with a gold tie clip. A pair of leather Chelsea boots went over his feet. Finally came the coat, black as well, two buttons made of gold, but he left one undone.

He turned to face her.

Nїx wanted to rip the whole thing off him just to see him put on a new set all over again. She was panting just from witnessing her male get dressed.

"That's one of the sexiest things I could ever witness." She opened her mouth wide enough to let him see her flick her fang. "And this time, I'm glad I never foresaw it."

He smiled and slid a pair of tinted black shades on. Her claws curled instantly. There went more of her heart. Byron's voice rumbled, "Let's head out." Then he held up a finger. "Wait."

He walked past her slowly, rubbing a hand over her hip. It was just enough to make her lean into that wanton grip. Gods, he loved that she wanted his touch that much. And she loved giving the touch back.

He wandered into the bedroom, "Chest, opal grey Sentaler coat with the alpaca fur, and an opal grey fur cap to match, please."

Her heart thumped when he retrieved the coat with his customary thanks and held it open for her, the hat perched on his shoulder.

"Here, angel. Gets cold where the wyrms are, sometimes."

The fact she would soon be an impervious goddess? She couldn't give a single damn about it. She let him wrap it over and on her like it was a royal robe.

"Tell me you'll do this always, my reaper," she whispered over her shoulder.

He lowered the fur hat over her ears. "Always."

She rolled her eyes skywards. Mama... I found my heaven.

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