Chapter 30

This chapter is for everyone (including me) who still loves a certain pairing and (secretly) wishes they were still together. :-) I hope you like one of the most enjoyable scenes to write in this entire book!

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Warren knew it was a dream. Lucid dreaming was the term. How he knew, he did not know. He couldn't recall ever having a lucid dream. After Ettwanae had come in to wordlessly comfort him, they cuddled together for a long time and obviously fallen asleep.

He took in the surroundings. A beautiful mountain valley with a gurgling stream running through. Tall, snowy peaks rose to dizzying heights and encircled the tall-grass vale. Colorful wild flowers swayed rhythmically in a gentle breeze. It was a beautiful spot, and he sighed in the soul-deep peace of it.

'A perfect dream.'

Then a nudge told him someone else was there. Scanning, he quickly caught sight of a figure that wasn't present moments ago. Tall. Broad. Black-crimson highlights reflecting the sun.

"Ztar!"

"My Archangel!" The man's deep voice resonated surprise and delight.

Warren sprang up into the air, beat twice, and landed at the man's feet. "You're here?"

Ztar looked uncertain. "I think so…I shouldn't be…where are we?"

"You're in my dream." Warren frowned. "I think that's what this is." He reached out to touch the Turzent's chest. Solid. He looked up into the dark chocolate-brown eyes. Flecks of gold glinted. "If this is a dream, it's extremely well detailed."

Black eyebrows shot up. "Indeed!" Ztar's hand came up and his fingers ran through Warren's hair. "I feel you. You are with me. But I think this is my dream, not yours. I'm asleep in the palace."

"As I am on Volu. Still think it's my dream, though. The subconscious giving me what I've been denied."

Ztar cocked his head. "What is that?"

"A chance to say good-bye." Tears welled up instantly, and he wouldn't fight them.

Ztar pulled him in for a gentle hug. "My soul wished for that, as well. I was trying to reach you telepathically, but you're too far away."

Warren smiled through the tears. "Then we both got our wish."

Ztar decided if the gods were blessing him with a conscious dream, he would accept it as magnificent substitute. Life was too short to toss away such a gift as cruel illusion.

"I will always love you, even beyond death," he whispered into the golden locks.

Warren snaked his hand up Ztar's back and shoulder and snared the thick hair. "I know, big guy. I think I loved you more than I was ever willing to admit – even to myself. Sorry about that."

"Do not apologize. Not for that; not for anything. Our time here is for things more beautiful." The Turzent gently pushed Warren back to stare down into his face. "I will not waste time as we don't know how much we have. I want to hold you one more time, my Archangel, and make love to you before destiny brings us to an end."

Warren's chest tightened. "Ettwanae? Jharda?"

"What we dream, we dream. This is not reality and reality's rules do not apply."

He considered for a moment. It was true. In the realm of dreams, even the laws of physics were void. Maybe here Ztar could live. Maybe here, unjust death was not a payment demanded. Acute pain swelled and swamped Warren with such swiftness, he shuddered.

"Don't die, Ztar," he cried out softly, gripping the powerful arms. He could not care less that Ztar's living could doom a galaxy. Not in that moment…not with the man to whom he'd given so much standing next to him. This was a dream and in that realm, Warren could bare his soul and not worry about ramifications.

Strong arms hugged tightly.

"It is as it should be, Archangel. If my life must end to save all others, then that is what must happen. My penance, perhaps, for lives I've taken and sins I've committed."

Warren pushed back angrily. "No! You're wrong. This is my fault. The soulbinding is my fault. You will die because of me!" Guilt grabbed hold. Jharda was going to have her husband-to-be taken from her because of him. Their child would never know his father because of what he had allowed to happen out of ignorance.

Old frustrations ignited at the needless taking of blame. So like the man. Ztar clamped hands hard around Archangel's upper arms and gave him a small, quick shake. "Listen to me! Do not place this on yourself. If anyone is responsible, it is me. I took you from your home. I forced you into my life. I pressed and pushed and prodded us into a coupling so intense that powers neither of us understood were unleashed."

The self-directed ire lessened ever so slightly in Archangel's features. He released a hand to push back the rumbled, golden hair from the face he'd trade his soul to see smile again. Gently, Ztar tilted the beautifully handsome visage to look into the pain-filled, crystalline-blue orbs. "If I go to my grave knowing you carry this misplaced guilt, my soul will be forever tortured. Please, I beg you, let those thoughts go."

Warren wasn't certain. Was his subconscious right? Should he release the guilt? Easier said than done, but what if the dream Ztar was correct? What if the man died with deep remorse? But then again, this was a dream and Ztar would never know of Warren's feelings. Or would he?

He stared into the large, dark eyes that were searching his own with such intensity. It almost felt as if dream Ztar was reading his thoughts. Of course, he could. Ztar was a conjuring of his own mind. Yet if the man were truly in front of him, Warren knew he'd be saying exactly as the dream version. Did it really matter that he wasn't real? It was what the Turzent would want…it would be one of his dying wishes.

Warren collected himself and drew a hand up to touch Ztar's cheek. "You're right…to a certain extent. Neither of us is to blame for the soulbinding. No one is. What happened, happened by a fluke of nature or metaphysics or something more. You must let go of the guilt as much as me. Promise me you will." The dark eyes closed and a single nod indicated agreement. "Then if we have all that settled, my Emperor, I have one last request." Ztar's eyes reopened and locked to his. "Make love to me."

A slow smile crept across the handsome features. "As you command."

Ztar's palms caressed slowly up Warren's ribs, then seductively toward the wing bases. He trembled in anticipation of where those skilled hands were heading. Closing eyes, he felt the man move in, and then the full lips were brushing against his, but did not take his mouth. Instead, a tender kiss was planted on his right cheek, then his left, followed by the forehead.

Large hands closed the remaining inches to the wing bases. Skilled fingers immediately went to work and massaged those perfect points. Warren's breath hitched as he shuddered and knees nearly failed. In a swift move, Ztar swept him off his feet and started walking.

"Where are we going?"

Ztar pointed his chin forward. "There. Dreams are powerful and provide what is needed."

Warren twisted around and saw a downy bed, complete with a canopy and curtains. He let out an amused snort. "What do you know! The dream gods are even pandering to my feral side."

Ztar chuckled. "They are wise."

Breaching the veils, Ztar lowered Archangel to the soft depths and quickly joined him. Clothing melted magically away as he came down for a long, deep kiss. Familiar mouth, familiar taste – passion ignited, burning white-hot instantly. He drank in the man's kiss, encouraging the fire, craving all the raw lust they once shared. Having the winged man quivering with need beneath him once again was more than Ztar could have hoped in his wildest dreams. 'This precious gift I will relish, draw out, loiter in for as long as the gods allow.'

Leaving the sensual mouth even though Archangel attempted to continue kiss, Ztar worshipped in the body he knew better than his own. Perhaps even better than Jharda's. Up and down the Human, he bestowed kisses and nips; licks and bites. Archangel moaned in bliss, spreading wings wide across the silky sheets.

Ztar rose up to take in the sight. "So beautiful," he whispered with awe.

Archangel's eyes immediately sparked. "The view's not too bad from here either!"

Ztar tilted his head and raised a single eyebrow at the cocky Human. "Not too bad? I think your Emperor takes offense."

"I think the vain Emperor needs to focus on the task at hand. His bedmate doesn't have all night!"

Warren was glad he headed down the feisty path. It was something Ztar always enjoyed. If they were going to have a final romp in the hay, Warren would do all he could to make it memorable, even if it was only a dream.

Response was swift and decisive. Ztar snared the flippant lips and assaulted the sweet, moist mouth in a kiss meant to snatch any more words and the very breath from the Human. He was certain he achieved the goal, but as guarantee, he combed fingers through the feathers of one wing. The quivering appendage and Archangel's deep groan said he had indeed succeeded.

Warren was already reeling in the delights only Ztar could elicit. A fleeting thought to Ettwanae caused him to amend that conclusion. The Turzent's delights were singular, just as Ettwanae's were…or at least as hers promised to be. If they survived the Dark Coming and became soulbound, then he'd know with certainty.

Soul pain threatened again with the knowing that for him and Ettwanae to bind, Ztar's death was the price. For the sake of the beautiful fantasy unfolding, he cast aside despairing ruminations and threatening pangs of infidelity. 'Focus on Ztar and his joy.' A last gift…a last, symbolic good-bye…

Ztar wanted to meld with Archangel, to join on every level. Frustratingly, the dream realm didn't include telepathy or empathic senses. Wasn't that odd? Ztar felt handicapped – he'd come to rely on one or both abilities to ensure his bedmates were fully satisfied. He would have to use other senses to gauge his performance. Then he realized with a start that the situation put him on equal footing with Archangel. Was this truly the Human's dream after all? Perhaps he was nothing but a construct that must play by the rules of Archangel's subconscious. Was a non-telepathic Ztar a scenario the Human had secretly desired?

'Enough thinking, Emperor. Enjoy. Relish. Do not waste this precious gift with analysis.'

The encounter grew rapidly more intense and feverish. Warren wanted to give as much as take from the other man, but as always, he felt he received far more than Ztar. The man simply excelled in bed. Warren was good, and he'd learned a lot about lovemaking from the Turzent over their years together, but Ztar was masterful.

For a moment, Warren detached and observed clinically as the man kissed each fingertip of his hand, then his palm, a flicking tongue trailed down wrist to inner elbow. Then a dart to Warren's chest and the hard nub waiting for Ztar's delicious ministrations. Warren was driven nearly orgasmic with just those small things despite the attempt at detachment.

Ztar paused in his journey across Warren's abdomen to look up between locks of black-crimson hair.

"You're very still."

"Observing the master."

Ztar grinned mischievously as the gold flecks twinkled. "Ah, but it is the subject who inspires the master."

Warren returned the grin. "This subject is getting antsy – the master best get back to work!"

Ztar's laughter sent contentment to Warren's soul. He missed the big guy. Likely always would. If the end of the galaxy was averted and by some miracle Ztar could be spared, what would change if their soulbinding were broken?

With a mighty shove, Warren pushed down thinking. He'd not waste any more time with thoughts of what might be, and instead bask in the glory that was Ztar's lovemaking.

On sudden impulse, he grabbed Ztar's head, one hand to each side of the face, and pulled himself upright while pushing Ztar backward to his knees. He clamped down on the sensual mouth as he scooted himself into Ztar's lap. The man's erection sprang up and Warren teased it with his backside. The man moaned into his mouth. Bringing wings forward, Warren cocooned their entwined bodies in feathery whiteness. He moved up and down slowly, sliding along Ztar length, encouraging the member to fullness.

Wrapping arms around the object of his deepest longings, Ztar tended to the wings as his lover attended him. When Ztar hit the most sensitive of erogenous spots, the appendages unfurled in a swirling of wind and feathers to splay gloriously, catching up the veils surrounding the bed. Slices of flowered valley and blue-purple mountains were exposed. Ztar wanted that wildness to envelope them. Archangel's basal nature may prefer remaining hidden, but he desired to experience his feral lover within the man's natural environment – mountainous expanse. As soon as he thought it, the veils turned to mist and dissipated.

Warren looked around at the open valley, then at Ztar.

"I didn't do that."

"I'm guilty."

"But this is my dream."

"Do not be so certain," The Turzent smile salaciously. "And since I can do that, then you had best prepare yourself."

Warren cocked his head and eyed the man. "For…?"

"If I said, it wouldn't be a surprise. Now, back to the task at hand, my muse."

Warren laughed. "Have to admit, never pictured myself as a muse."

Ztar nuzzled an ear. "Oh, indeed you are. The sexy and feisty variety."

Warren bit down on a broad shoulder garnering delightful shivers. "I could complain my masculinity is in jeopardy."

A strong hand suddenly grasped his manhood, sending quivers of delight from head to toe to outspread wing tip.

"I don't think there is any danger of that happening."

Then the time for banter ended. Warren refocused on the long, hard shaft of the Turzent. Slowly, almost without Warren realizing it, Ztar had him prone once again. The weight of the man pressed him deep into the downy depths. The delight of weighted pressure…of being willingly captured beneath…fed feral yearnings.

Time lost meaning as they kissed and fondled, stroked and caressed, tempted and nipped. Ztar never wanted it to end. When the scene around them morphed into crashing ocean waves on a rocky coast, he smiled at the timing of Archangel's change of scenery. The wild, surging surf mimicked the intensity of lovemaking.

As Ztar eased himself into the warm, tight depths of his lover, he moved the bed to the heavens with a pulsating sun on the verge of exploding. Each pulse of light echoed his thrusts, while a moan or inner squeeze from Archangel punctuated the rhythmic motion. He was in bliss, and the Human looked equally enrapt.

Climax edged closer. Ztar's eyes were fixed tightly on him as often had been the case when they were together. Warren was usually inclined to close his eyes and take in the experience more tactilely. Casting the man a delirious smile, he did so then, as fire and ecstasy grew exponentially in his mid-section with each heavy plunge. Small cries and gasps escaped as bodies desired release, but minds didn't wish euphoria to end.

The man was too beautiful…too perfect. How he longed for them to still be a couple. As much as Ztar loved Jharda, it was Archangel who truly satisfied him sexually. Jharda came close, so very close to matching the intensity of lovemaking he found with Archangel, but it would never eclipse what the two men shared.

Warren was in heaven. He hadn't felt so sexually satisfied since the last time he was on Sat'rey when he and Ztar spent the better part of a night having sex. As Ztar's shaft hit The Spot, bliss burned in his core, almost painful in intensity, coiling through his innards, only to leave him wanton for the next hit. Fingers dug into the powerful arms that held the Turzent above him, he knew there would be bruises. He also knew Ztar wouldn't mind. It was a dream after all.

As Ztar rode his former lover, prolonging the inevitable, he could not say he'd give up Jharda for Archangel. No. He loved the woman to the depths of his soul. The difference being that Archangel was part of his soul. Jharda could never be that in quite the same way. But the Human could never be a permanent part of Ztar's intimate life. And so the best Ztar could hope for was that Archangel would continue to be some part of his life.

Like an assassin's blade, harsh reality struck sudden and deep. He had no future. Ztar lost his thinning hold on protracting time within the deep recesses of his partner. Sexual crescendo sent him reeling as the illusionary star went supernova.

Dazzling light shown through Warren's eyelids, and he snapped them open as Ztar's seed poured into him, triggering his own release against the man's abdomen. Release – euphoric, mind-numbing, searing release.

Ztar collapsed gently atop Archangel. He did not want to die…to never again have glorious and blinding sex with the Human. He did not want to never again hold Jharda in his arms. He did not want his child to never know him. His soul screamed its anguish. 'Gods of Sat'rey and beyond – why do you demand this of me?!'

Warren felt the Turzent tremble. "Ztar?" He tried to look into the face of the man, but he turned away. "Are you okay?"

'You're a Turzent, a former soldier, the emperor. Act like one!' Ztar demanded of himself. Pushing grief aside, he turned to Archangel.

"Yes. I am no longer use to how powerful things are between us." He smiled for the Human as he worked himself to one side. With a deep sigh, he rested his head against the crown of the wing. Feathers caressed the length of his body; their sensual stiff-yet-silky feel was enough to nudge him toward arousal all over again. In the dream world, could he lie atop the wing forever?

Warren eyed Ztar, but then decided not to push. Likely, dreamtime was nearly over. Already wisps of nothingness were creeping in around the edges of what was once again the mountain valley.

"Thank you, Ztar. For everything tonight. His hand searched for and found the Turzent's. "We're quite the pair, you and I. Having you in my life is something I'll never regret."

Out of the corner of his eye, Warren saw more of the valley disappear.

Ztar studied Archangel, trying to burn every nuance to memory. Time was running out. "That I had you in my life will always leave me amazed. And grateful. I will always love you as I've loved no other." Tears threatened. Ztar swallowed hard.

Warren saw the moisture in the dark eyes. He squeezed the hand in his. The valley was nearly gone. "I won't let this be good-bye, Ztar. I vow to you." The man was fading before his eyes. "I will save you!" Then there were only wisps of white. "ZTAR!"

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"Ztar!"

Warren bolted upright in bed scaring Ettwanae half to death. She scrambled to her knees.

"Warren! It was just a dream. Only a dream. It's okay," she cooed, trying to calm him. The man was shaking and damp with sweat.

/ Volu, light, please. / Soft illumination filled Warren's bedroom.

"I have to save him!"

She didn't know what else to do, so she took the man she loved into her arms and hugged tightly, rocking back and forth, murmuring softly into his ear.

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Warren recovered quietly in Ettwanae's embrace. The dream had been so real it frightened. Yet it also comforted as he recalled their conversation and the beautiful lovemaking. Drawing arms around Ettwanae, he accepted her consoling and loving presence. If God granted them miracles, perhaps they could save the galaxy and Ztar as well.

Then he noticed something caught in his fingers. Pulling at what was likely one of Ettwanae's long hairs, he paused. Then looked more closely. It was a hair, but not of gold, but black, and as he moved it in the light, crimson glinted off the shaft.

'What in God's name just happened?!'

"Ettwanae, Warren," Volu's gentle tone broke the quiet. "We have arrived."

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Okay, the question is going to come up – did the Warren and Ztar scene make them cheaters? Wouldn't a lucid dream about making love to someone else be the same as infidelity? I worried about the implications, but my research said not to. According to several psychologists who discussed the matter in internet articles or in response to questions, occasionally fantasizing about other partners is normal…as long as you aren't doing so on a regular basis while having sex with your real life partner.

Quoting Seth Meyers, Psy.D.and clinical psychologist: "I explain to each member of the couple that no one person is going to meet every need the other has, sexual or otherwise. I encourage the couples to learn to allow each to remain an individual inside the relationship, and accepting that your partner may fantasize about others can be very healthy. You give your partner a certain freedom in doing so. Don't put pressure on your partner to only be attracted to you."

And so the answer to our question appears to be 'no.' A relief, because the Warren in my world would never cheat on Ettwanae. Hope you agree and enjoyed one last Warren/Ztar interlude.

Next chapter, the final battle begins.