Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
The makeshift war council plunged into a flurry of strategizing and preparation, each Zodiac pooling their knowledge and celestial gifts to forge a path into the mirror realm. Sagittarius pored over an ancient, glowing star chart, his brow creased in concentration. ”According to these astrological mappings, Dark Gemini is already en route to the mirror realm”s fractured dimension,” he announced grimly. ”We”re running out of time to intercept her.”
A tense silence followed his ominous words before Virgo spoke up. ”Then we need to calculate the optimal window for slipping through the portal undetected,” he mused, adjusting his glasses as he pored over a cascade of astral data. ”The mirror realm aligns most closely with our sun”s orbit in approximately six hours. We should aim to open the bridge during that period of solar proximity.”
”The sun”s blinding light may be enough to mask our entrance from Dark Gemini”s prying senses,” Scorpio added, his obsidian eyes glittering with calculation. He turned that penetrating stare on Pisces. ”Provided we have sufficient power fueling the portal bridge.”
Pisces met the scorpion”s intense gaze steadily. ”Then we”ll need to combine what power we have, won”t we?” Her eyes swept over her celestial allies, silently imploring them to rise to the occasion.
”We”ll pool our celestial essence,” Leo rumbled, rising to his full, imposing height as he paced toward the center of their staging area like a leonine king surveying his territory. ”Focus it through my animalistic channel and bend the cosmic forces to our will. Nothing can stop us when we move as one embodiment of primal mastery.”
Taurus let out a low chuckle, the deep timbre vibrating with a good-natured challenge as he shot Leo an appraising look. ”You sure have a flair for the dramatic, kitty cat,” he rumbled, earning a warning growl from the lion Zodiac. “We can’t pool our powers. Some of us need to remain outside the realm to keep the portal open.”
Before the sparks of masculine bravado could ignite into a full inferno, Libra drifted between the two powerful males with an aura of soothing grace. ”Peace, my friends,” she murmured, her luminous gaze flickering between them as her delicate hands extended in a placating gesture. ”We”ll need to harness our strengths in harmony if we hope to overcome the darkness ahead.”
Pisces felt a surge of affection for the serene female spirit. Libra”s presence reminded them of the balance they strove to defend—the cosmic scales that must remain eternally even, no matter the turmoil and chaos thrown at them.
As the plans continued to take shape, Aries drew Pisces aside, his calloused fingers lacing through hers in a solicitous grip. ”A moment?” he rumbled, the tones of his deep timbre sending a quiver of awareness through her nerves.
She nodded and smiled, allowing him to lead her from the bustling staging area to a secluded alcove within the celestial compound”s inner sanctums.
As Aries boxed her in against the curved iridescent wall, Pisces felt her breath hitch. His arms braced on either side of her as he scanned her features with eyes of molten obsidian.
”Before we go charging into that fractured hellscape...” he began gruffly, then trailed off—a rare hesitation clouding his expression as he struggled to voice the unspoken tension crackling between them.
Pisces reached up, her fingertips tracing the sharp angle of his jawline with a feather-light caress. ”We may not get another chance like this,” she murmured, understanding bleeding into her words as she held his blazing stare. The obstacle of her mortality hung like a cloud over them, and while she could see the desire in his eyes, there was also that hesitation, the fear he might hurt her.
Pisces put a hand on his chest as an idea sprang to her mind. “Wait right here.”
His brow creased, and his arms refused to uncage her.
With a laugh, she pushed him harder. “Wait right here, and I’ll be back, I promise.” A growl of disappointment was his answer, but he let her go, and she ran down the hall back to the war room. Poking her head in, she quietly caught Aquarius’ attention. The lithe Aquarian strode toward her, her curiosity piqued.
“I need your help,” Pisces said, biting her thumbnail. Aquarius raised a brow and followed Pisces’ gaze down the hall where Aries waited. A knowing look came over the water carrier.
“It’s complicated like this,” Pisces offered, referring to her mortal form. If Aquarius could lend her power once to bring Aries back to life, perhaps she could infuse her with enough strength to withstand the full force of Aries’ energy now.
A seductive smile played on Aquarius’ lips. “I would be happy to help.” Her amber eyes twinkled with an ethereal light as she cupped Pisces’ face in her palms and painted her with cosmic strength. When Aquarius was done, she smiled. “That should do it.” She departed with a wink, and Pisces ran back to Aries, who snatched her and re-caged her in his arms.
Sensing the shift in her energy, the power borrowed from Aquarius, a dark smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “Clever, Starfish.” He lowered his head and let out a low, ragged growl, his breath fanning her flushed cheeks. Then, with all the smoldering intensity of a cosmic supernova, he crushed his lips to hers in a searing, desperate kiss.
Pisces melted into his scorching embrace, parting her lips to deepen the kiss as their passion ignited an unrestrained fire. Aries’ powerful frame pinned her to the arched bulkhead as his hands roamed the supple contours of her body with admiration—as if committing every dip and swell to memory. “A goddess,” he breathed.
Then he effortlessly lifted Pisces into his arms, her slender form cradled against the hard planes of his chest. Her fingers tangled in the thick waves of his dark hair as their kiss deepened. Twin flames of desire burning brighter with every shared breath.
With purposeful strides, Aries carried her through the winding corridors of the celestial citadel, bound for the sanctuary of his private chambers. Though urgency laced his movements, he handled Pisces with the utmost reverence—as if she were the most precious celestial artifact.
When he reached his chamber, Aries nudged the door open with his boot and swept inside, kicking it closed behind them. In the soft, ethereal glow filtering through the arcane windows, he lowered Pisces to her feet and lunged for her neck. Her back arched as his burning lips blazed a molten trail along the slender column of her throat. Pisces surrendered to the dizzying onslaught of sensation, clinging to the ram”s powerful frame as waves of cosmic energy pulsed through her reinforced form.
Aries’ hands roamed with fervent purpose, stoking the raging inferno consuming them both, and he tore at her dress, ripping it in two and letting it drift to the floor. His hands continued to roam over her body with fervent purpose, claiming her breasts, the small of her back, and her entire body all for his own.
Pisces’ knees shook, every nerve ending alight. The tightening of her core and the wetness between her legs lured him like a siren’s song. He hooked his fingers under her panties and tore them away, then dropped to his knees, worshipping the sight of her.
The blazing warrior who knelt for no one was now on his knees before her, and when he looked up, she saw the unyielding devotion in his eyes. This was more than mere physical desire—it was the cosmic merging of two celestial beings reunited after an eternity adrift.
Pisces smiled at him, her body laid bare as he raked his eyes over her while she ran her fingers through his hair. The room was filled with the finest mist of stardust, and the scent of smoke and fire filled the air as his energy and his desire increased. “You don’t have to be careful with me now,” she whispered, feeling the power of Aquarius bolstering her strength. “Do what you will, warrior.”
There were no more boundaries, no shadows of past grievances to haunt them. A dark, dangerous smile lifted the corner of his mouth, and he sprung to his feet, hovering over her. “Careful, Starfish,” he breathed into her hair, sending shivers across her shoulders. “You don’t remember what I’m truly capable of.”
Her mortal body instinctively reacted to the predator surveying her, but her mind wanted to play with fire. She gave him her own devious smirk, looked into his eyes, and said, “Then remind me.”
The reverent demeanor fell away like a mask ripped off as Aries backed Pisces toward the raised, celestial dais at the center of his chambers. He stalked toward her, pulling off his boots, ripping his shirt over his head, and unbuckling his belt. The sound of metal on the stone floor echoed when he tossed it, and he unbuttoned the top of his jeans, roughly pulling at the closure to reveal the etched triangle below his sculpted waist.
He pursued her, forcing her back until her legs hit the frame of the high wooden bed. Then he threw her onto the plush, satin sheets, the tendons in his arms corded, his muscles flexing as he stood before her.
Aries drank in every arch of Pisces’ lithe body as if seeing her for the first time. Despite his predatory gaze, beyond it, Pisces saw the true depth of his devotion. This was his destiny made flesh, his guiding constellation finally revealed after thinking he’d lost her forever.
But a primal growl and a blaze of heat pulled her from those depths, bringing her back to the surface of his inferno. “Open your legs,” he ordered, watching intently as she raised her knees and moved her feet apart, giving Aries a full view of her.
Flames consumed the pupils of his eyes, and he licked his lips before dropping between her legs and roughly clutching the flesh of her thighs so tightly it made her cry out. Before she could breathe, he plunged for her depths, his mouth making contact with her sensitive flesh, sucking on her as though she was the sustenance he needed to survive.
She cried out again as his tongue dove into her, plunging in and out before sliding along her length to land on the bundle of nerves at her apex.
Pisces didn’t need to look out the window to see the stars, they were appearing before her very eyes as he ate her up with unearthly intensity. She strained against his grip, pulling at the sheets, but his fingers dug in harder, causing a dizzying mix of pleasure and pain to grip her.
With a rumble of hot breath against her skin, Aries rose, and, clutching her hips, he flipped her onto her stomach, then pinned her beneath his weight. Pisces gasped at his sudden dominance but surrendered. She was his to do with what he wanted.
The ram”s calloused hands roamed the feminine curves over her body until he grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head. When his smoldering lips found the sensitive band on the back of her neck, Pisces shuddered—utterly at his mercy.
A deep, primal growl reverberated from Aries’ chest as he nipped at her flushed skin with restrained ferocity. ”You”re mine, Starfish,” he rumbled, the words both a stark promise and desperate plea. ”My infinite constellation, my unity in this cold, fractured cosmos.”
Pisces lifted her head and turned, seeking his blazing obsidian stare over the arch of one bare shoulder. What she found there stole her breath—a molten infinity of cosmic need pooled in those fathomless depths.
”Yours,” she whispered fervently, offering herself in absolute surrender. ”Always yours.”
Emboldened by her vow, Aries gently clutched a fistful of her hair, jerked her head back, and captured her lips in another searing, all-consuming kiss. His large hands roamed with fierce possession across her throat and chest, igniting cosmic wildfires wherever they caressed. Pisces surrendered to his impassioned onslaught, craving his touch like a scorching supernova craves the icy dark.
Unlacing his fingers from her golden-white hair so her face fell back to the bed, he covered her with his body, moving himself between her parted legs. She heard his pants fall to the floor, and with his warm, powerful, vibrating flesh pressed to hers, she felt the length of his hardness stroke the wet apex of her thighs.
She could hear his heavy breathing, feel the heat of his desire intensifying. She wanted to feel him inside her. To have him consume her completely. She clutched the sheets between her fists and buried her face in the mattress when he finally thrust his hips, entering her with a force that made her cry out.
Her mortal body resisted his power as he slid in and out, stretching and pulling her to a limit beyond her comprehension. But the pain was nothing compared to the nerves firing inside her as the tip of him reached the very zenith of her core.
“Fuck, Starfish,” he growled low as his body rippled and thrust on top of her.
She was nearly biting the sheets, frenzied with the power of his thrusts, when he suddenly flipped her onto her back and fell over her like a collapsing fortress. His large hand brushed golden strands from her face before his mouth came crashing down on hers, stealing her breath while he drove his length into her once more.
“Aries,” she gasped between his fiery kisses and demolishing thrusts. Her legs wrapped around his waist, drawing him closer, flesh to burning flesh, as his energy whirled around them like a tornado.
The intensity of his movements increased as he grunted and pinned her arms above her head again. She rolled her hips with him, wholly devoured by the fiery warrior. No part of her was her own as he claimed every inch of her flesh, inside and out.
“Oh, my gods,” she cried, feeling his fire start to pool within her core, and as he dragged his teeth along her neck, her orgasm detonated, expanding through her like a million tiny stars through the universe.
Aries released her hands and rode the waves with practiced intensity as her body tried to seize his length inside her forever. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life as he plunged with the force of a supernova, and when he finally exploded, she cried out as another orgasm wracked her body to the point of total oblivion.
As his movements finally slowed and his fire receded, he rested between her legs and scattered hot kisses along her sensitive flesh.
Her chest heaved for air, pressing her breasts into the molded planes of his chest.
When they finally parted, exhausted and bodies slick with sweat, Aries rested his forehead against hers. His eyes shone with a vulnerability that was new to her— as if he had just revealed a piece of his innermost essence to her alone.
”No matter what fresh hells await us...” he rasped in a low, ardent rumble. ”I will always find my way back to you, my celestial siren. This...” He trailed off, pressing another lingering kiss to her swollen lips, ”...is my cosmic vow.”
Pisces could only nod, rendered breathless and weightless by the magnitude of the promise imbued in his words...and the harrowing implication that they may not survive the battle ahead to honor it.
They eventually emerged from his chamber with reluctant, leaden steps. Straightening their clothes, they rejoined the others as the countdown to their journey to the mirror realm continued.
Pisces felt exhilarated, anchored by Aries’ unshakable devotion...but she couldn’t ignore the persistent, gnawing sense of foreboding lending a bittersweet edge to the all-consuming moment they”d just shared. There was a very strong chance that one of them might not make it out intact.