Aurora's Promise (18 page)

“Fucking hell,” she ground out as she strained under him. “What
are you waiting on? You wake me up and tease me until I’m fucking
asking
for it and now—”

He rocked forward and the head of his cock parted her slick,
swollen folds.

“Yes,” she hissed. Closing her eyes and pressing her head
back into the pillow, she threw her legs around his hips. “More.”

At her sudden movement his cock slid further into her
welcoming cunt. He groaned as a shudder racked his body, his muscles locking as
he fought to hold steady his control. With a low growl, he battled the rising
tide of demanding need whipping through him and pulled back a fraction instead
of plunging in deep and hard like he wanted to. Ruthlessly he reminded himself
that as wide open and willing as his mate’s body was at this moment, he wanted
more.

The man drove her certifiably insane. On any scale in any
world he’d set the standard for Most Able to Irritate the Hell Out of You. It
wasn’t her fault she’d woken up on top of him damn nearly purring. It was the
pirate’s fault. He’d left her fantasies to find solid footing in her dreams.
She’d been dreaming again and—
oh god!

Connyn started to rock, shallow thrusts that kept him barely
lodged in her entrance but had a devastating effect on her ability to do
anything but desperately crave what he kept just out of reach. Her body ached
with a violent and consuming need, twisting through her and binding her in a
sensual thrall. She arched her back hard, pushing up toward him and trying
desperately to force him deeper inside. For a blissful second, his cock slid in
another inch before he countered the movement by leaning back.

She collapsed back onto the bed. “What? What do you want?”
she demanded.

He stilled over her. A dark calm emanated from within him
and molded itself around them until they hung suspended together in the moment.
Suddenly, she wished she had never asked the question. She could read the clear
answer in his eyes before he said, “You.”

Her lungs froze, the world tilted and her life compressed
down to the emotion engulfing her in a rising tide of desire for more than her
just body’s fulfillment. In the deepest part of her heart she wanted all he
offered wrapped in the fantasy of forever. A fantasy he continued to build in
her mind, holding out promise after promise until she was actually starting to
believe it was all true, believe that it could really happen.

She’d always enjoyed and appreciated good sex and had been
content to leave it at that. Now Connyn was utterly screwing that up by making
her want a lot more than an orgasm. Something amazing in and of itself since
the man could deliver the best damn orgasms she’d had in her life. Why the hell
did she want more than that? Especially when wanting more could seriously cause
major problems once Ellen finally did arrive.

Before, she had reacted on impulse when she said she
accepted him as her mate, flying high on the feelings he inspired and the
adrenaline pumping hard from the fight and flight they’d been involved in from
almost the moment they’d met. And then he’d immediately taken her over the edge
of lust and any retreating she might have done was incinerated by the explosive
sex that followed.

But each day now he continued to complicate things and throw
in hazards that were never considered in the carefully laid plans that had been
discussed. She closed her eyes and tried to get a handle on her runaway emotions.
Shit
.
What was wrong with just having
sex
?

The warning in Connyn’s growl had her opening her eyes
quickly. She realized she had whispered her last thought aloud as she saw the
anger flash the blue flecks in his gray eyes to the color of hammered steel.

“I just meant…”

Her words faded as he lowered himself down on her, slowly
pushing in until he was fully implanted inside her, the pinning weight of his
body matched and exceeded only by the feeling of being stretched to her limit
from the inside out. He continued to settle over and around her until his chest
had flattened her breasts against him and his mouth was next to her ear.

Whisper-soft and more breath than sound, he said, “There’s
nothing wrong with just sex, Aurora. But this isn’t
just sex
.” He flexed
his hips and she gasped as he sank deeper. “I want you. All of you.” He pulled
back and looked down at her, his eyes no longer hard with anger but teeming
with emotions much, much more dangerous. “You are the promise the gods taunted
me with every day of my life and I’m never going to want less than everything.
Do you understand?”

Aurora swallowed. She understood all right. Too much. “Yes.”

He waited, but when she said nothing more, he kissed her.
Expecting the hard crush of his mouth on hers, she was nearly undone by a kiss
so slow and enticing, so sensual and gentle that it struck at the foundation of
the confidence she’d had in the rightness of all she was doing. Again and again
he’d brought her to the brink of all she knew to be true and challenged her to
weigh it against the life he continued to offer her. The life she was beginning
to want with a desire that curled around her most cherished hopes and dreams.

A cool breeze brushed against her side, merging the wild
sandalwood scent of Connyn with the smells of dew-touched earth and morning
flowers. The heady aroma swelled the soul-deep longing of wanting him until it
crashed over her in a sudden, unexpected wave. With a soft whimpering moan she
returned his kiss passionately, tangling her legs with his as he started to
rock. Squeezing with her thighs and cunt, she matched his rhythm as he moved
slow and heavy over and in her. Friction, heat and the forceful slide of his
cock had her aching again for release in a matter of seconds.

His slow, controlled thrusts tightened her lust to the point
of shattering. Flexing her fingers around his, she strained toward ecstasy
until her muscles started to shake. The silky wet slide of his tongue against
hers and his cock pushing into her incredibly wet and slick cunt held her
mercilessly in a state of anticipation so acute every inch of her body felt
consumed by him. Each hard thrust filled her and possessed her, stirring her
magic and streaming blazing cords of pleasure through her. Cords that
multiplied and grew under her skin, weaving together a shimmering, sensual net
that caught her in his spell and made her restless to reach fully for him. Made
her want to give him anything he asked for. Made her willing to tell him—

With a frenzied panic she clenched her inner muscles as
strongly and as quickly as she could, squeezing and releasing his cock in a
tight, hard set of contractions. A groan vibrated out of his chest at his
release while her climax broke over her, a swift sharp snapping of the chords
that had held her in a fiery abeyance. The countless filaments shattered in a
blazing burst that tossed her through the universe as easily as a tornado might
sweep away a feather. She gasped out his name as the unraveling threads whipped
a stunning pattern of ecstasy through her body.

Her heart thundered from her orgasm as much as it did from
coming so close to the edge of revealing too much. Of becoming vulnerable
enough to trust a man she’d been well warned of. As Connyn rolled to the side
and tucked her against him, tenderly stroking her back as they both caught
their breath, she knew she needed to gain more control during sex. His ability
to strip away her defenses was unstoppable when he was in charge. No matter his
reasons, she couldn’t lose herself so much in the moment that she’d do anything
for him, say anything. That was too high a price for her to pay at the moment
even for ecstasy.

She pressed her hand against his chest. A tearing surge of
emotion swept through her as she felt his heart still hammering hard. It wasn’t
only
her
emotions,
her
life at stake here she reminded herself.
Others were relying on her to keep her promises. And she would. Some promises
were worth all the world—or worlds—to keep. Even worth the cost of one’s own
heart.

Closing her eyes against the pain, she pushed away the
craving that grew day by day to have him be completely hers. To be completely
his.

* * * * *

Aurora pulled her hair back from her face in a tight
ponytail at the back of her head. Since Connyn had left, she hadn’t had the energy
to explore the rooms that made up the private bedroom suite they apparently
were to share. After a cursory glance through the adjoining spaces, not even
their unique luxuriousness or oddities could hold her attention long enough to
banish the nagging despair that had plagued her since this morning. She was so
afraid that the plan she’d put so much hope in was about to come crashing down
around her.

Since she was unable to put her finger on the cause, she was
unable to solve the problem at the root of this
premonition
or whatever
one chose to call a feeling this strong. Unchecked, the emotion was left free
to roll through her in one suffocating wave after another. The sheer weight of
those waves when they peaked and crashed down over her made her doubt everything
she had trusted in up to this point.

Splitting the ponytail into two sections, she grabbed one in
each hand and yanked, pulling it painfully tight. Cait had come in to draw her
bath and help her dress. Even her lively banter hadn’t dispelled the gloom that
hung over her for long. Cait had noticed, but when Aurora had assured her that
she was simply feeling a little overwhelmed in her new home, she had left it at
that. Cait was a wealth of information but grew worried when pressed about how
portals worked between worlds. Not wanting word to get back to Connyn, Aurora
had quickly drifted to a different topic. However, she had gained an invaluable
piece of knowledge that fit with what she had learned previously from an
offhand comment from a seamstress during their marathon fitting session. Now
she just had to find a way to use it all.

A soft melody floated through the air, announcing that
someone had arrived and was waiting outside the main door. It was, in her
opinion, a great improvement over most doorbells she’d come across in her life.
But the beautiful music still managed to set off a case of the jitters since
the only visitors she was expecting were Bethany and Brooke. She’d have rather
put off those introductions a while longer, at least until she got her footing
more stable in this place, but Connyn had arranged it without her input.
Surprise, surprise.

Since she’d sent Cait away for the afternoon, she headed for
the door to answer it herself. Having no idea how this first meeting would go,
she didn’t want an audience for it. Reaching for the door, she saw once again
the jagged scratch left by her ring when Connyn had taken her so hard and
suddenly there. It had indeed done what he’d anticipated. Not once had she gone
through it or even looked at it that she didn’t remember exactly how that mark
was made.

When she’d tried to rub the mark away yesterday before they’d
left for lunch, Connyn had stopped her, telling her that the metal their rings
were made of was the only substance hard enough to scratch the stone once it
had been polished and that it couldn’t be removed. He’d traced the mark on the
stone and then touched her face. The kiss that had followed nearly made them
late for the meeting with his parents.

Instead of reaching for the stone to open the door, she
found herself tracing the mark as Connyn had. Once again the despair rose and a
sob nearly choked her. Suddenly she knew. Clamping a hand over her mouth to
muffle the cry, she leaned against the door for support.
Shit.
She’d
fallen in love with him. Almost as soon as the emotion raced through her it was
pushed aside by a flood of anger. What the fucking hell was wrong with her? She
couldn’t be in love with the man. Not only had she not known him long enough,
he was too arrogant, too infuriating and too damn sexy.

She wasn’t in love with Connyn Kilth, First Heir to the
Third House of Ilyria. She was simply insane.

The music came again. No time for soul searching with people
waiting to meet her. Taking a deep wits-collecting breath, she touched her ring
to the red stone and stepped back as the door slid open. Two women stood there,
both with wavy auburn hair and expectant smiles. And bright jade-green eyes.

They both stood motionless for a moment, staring at her in
surprise, smiles frozen in place.

The taller one asked, “Aurora?”

Aurora nodded. The shorter one laughed and then hugged her. “Sorry,”
she said. “We were expecting red hair and green eyes. It seems to run in the
family.” Letting go she gestured to herself and then to the other woman. “I’m
Bethany and this is Brooke.” She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head
to one side. “Wow. The rumors are true. You are gorgeous.”

Brooke smiled. “Finally. Someone to give Shyrana a run for
her money.”

Aurora’s smiled faltered. “Excuse me?”

Brooke waved the comment away. “Never mind. You don’t look
like I thought you were going to, but my most recent memory is over twenty-five
years old. And honestly, I just remember a head of curly red hair.”

Aurora licked her lips and looked from one to the other. “My
hair darkened as I grew.”

“Dear god,” Bethany said. “We’ve only just met you and
already we’re making you nervous.”

“No, no. You’re fine. Come in. Please.” She backed up and
gave them room to enter. “This isn’t exactly the normal family reunion and I’ve
been nervous about meeting you for a while.”

Bethany laughed again. “I gave up on normal the moment my
husband turned into a big black cat.”

Aurora nearly stumbled on the rise of the bridge she was
crossing. “A what?”

“A
kyltar.
A mythological beast that used to roam
through ancient Ilyria.”

“The same
kyltar
that’s on the floor of the porch?”

“Sort of. Though that’s called
The Kyltar
and my
husband turns into
a kyltar.
One of many manifestations of the magic we
carry in our blood. Apparently, how it manifests changes from heir to heir and
generation to generation, constantly shifting and mixing the gifts.”

“I’m pretty sure you lost me with the ‘my husband turned
into’ part.”

“Don’t worry. It takes some getting used to, but you’ll
catch up,” Bethany replied. Suddenly her eyes rounded as she got a good look at
the courtyard. “This is beautiful! I’m going to tell Wyc we need a fountain in
the front courtyard.”

“You have fountains in nearly every room already,” Brooke
said.

“I know. So what’s one more? Besides,” Bethany said running
a hand over her swollen stomach, “I’ll tell Wyc the sound helps calm me down
and that it’s good for the baby.”