Aurora's Promise (9 page)

Connyn’s jaw clenched as Aurora’s cunt squeezed his cock.
With a low groan he ground in deeper and let his orgasm roll through him. When
her cunt contracted hard again he nearly lost his breath with the incredible
pleasure of coming deep inside Aurora while she climaxed around him. Each time
he pushed into her body he felt as if he’d been created to live for that
moment.

The sheer rightness of having her, entering her, taking her
made all the previous difficulty of locating her seem as nothing. The years of
searching shrank down to a trivial price for the treasure of finding.

He ran his hands over her gorgeous ass as she came down from
her climax and his own breathing returned to normal. From the moment he saw
her, he’d been surprised at how easily his control slipped at least around her.
He knew how important it was to stay focused and alert. Nothing could be
allowed to hinder their return, yet in the last two days he’d been too often
distracted, his thoughts circling Aurora. Their lovemaking, instead of blunting
his need as he’d expected, simply sharpened the hunger he had for her.

Regaining the lock on his control wasn’t helped by the view
of her naked and bent over in front of him with his cock still deep inside her.
A fine sheen of sweat highlighted the sexy curve of her back and her long black
hair was splayed around her head and over the seat of the chair in a wild
tangle. He felt the warm stirrings of lust buzz through the base of his cock
and he pulled out of her slowly. As much as he’d love to have her again, she
was exhausted and she was going to have a lot to deal with tomorrow with the
portal opening at noon.

Though she moaned in protest when he completely withdrew,
her body reacted to his caresses and her trembling began to slowly subside. He
hadn’t meant to take her so fast. In fact he’d been looking forward to drawing
out her pleasure, laying her out on the bed and learning and enjoying her body.
Ever since she put on that lacy lingerie set this morning, he’d been thinking
about all the different ways it could slowly be removed. Ways that would
tantalize himself and tease Aurora.

Then when they’d gotten to the room, she’d wrapped her leg
around him and kissed him like her next breath depended on it. His entire plan
changed in a moment and all he wanted to do was to get inside her. After the
tension between them all day, he needed the release as much as she did.

Knowing that it would take time for her to understand her
place, to accept it and adjust to new ways and traditions, he’d held on to the
hope that she would be a quick learner and not nearly as stubborn as her
sisters. Today however had irrevocably proven that she’d gotten more rather
than less of her mother’s legendary stubbornness. The knowledge gave him a
sense of perverse pride while simultaneously pricking at his refusal to be
crossed by anyone, let alone his mate.

Aurora struggled to right herself, but her expression was
dazed and her movements weak and flailing. He gently helped her straighten.
Accepting his help, she leaned heavily against him, her head falling back on
his shoulder. When he scooped her up into his arms, she let out a startled
squeak and her hands flew up to grab his shoulders.

“I have you,” he reassured as he cradled her against his
chest for the short walk to the bed. In a matter of minutes he had stripped her
completely and she was curled up under the covers watching him undress. He was
pleased by the interest and lack of self-consciousness evident in her gaze.

Suddenly her eyes widened, focused on his cock and she
popped up on one elbow. “No way can you be ready to go again so fast.”

He tossed his jeans over the chair and climbed in bed beside
her. “You’re surprised after I just ran my hands over your body, took off all
your clothes and have you naked in bed next to me?”

A slow, sensual smile spread across her face as she snuggled
into his embrace, letting him adjust her body next to his. “Well,” she said
with a sleepy yawn, “when you put it like that…”

He kissed her temple and tucked the blanket in closely
around her. “When I put it like that doesn’t change the fact that you need some
sleep.” Resting his hand possessively over her hip for a moment, he fought the
urge to slide it between her legs. Instead, he moved it up to her waist and
closed his eyes. “We both do.”

A moment later, his eyes flew open and his entire body
tensed. He’d left the table lamp by the TV switched on and it had just turned
off.

“What’s wrong?” whispered Aurora.

Listening to the silence beyond their breathing, reaching
out with all of his senses to detect danger, he found nothing. Heard nothing
but the night and traffic outside their window. He pulled her tighter against
him before willing the tension from his muscles. “Nothing.” He could feel her
heart beating faster beneath his hand. “A bulb burned out, that’s all. Go to
sleep.”

After awhile, Aurora’s sleep-heavy body sank against his and
her breathing turned deep and steady. But rest didn’t come for Connyn for a
very long time.

* * * * *

“Tonight, my sweet captive, I am going to teach you a new
way to please a man.”

Phoebe’s hand froze around the goblet of wine she’d been
about to lift to her mouth as she stared across the small table at Captain
Kilth. After she’d accepted her terms for her freedom two nights ago, she’d
learned more about the ecstasies her body was capable of than she’d ever
thought possible. And aside from the sharp pain that had marked the end of her
virginity, nothing her jailer had done had in any way physically hurt her.

The look in his deep gray eyes sent a riot of shivers
down her spine. She wouldn’t even try to fool herself into pretending that the
shivers were from fear rather than instinctive anticipation.

She was a practical woman and could live with the choice
she had made. Even before the deal he had offered, she had known that the
possibility of making a good match with a respectable gentleman would be quite
impossible after being abducted by a pirate, regardless of whether she had been
molested or not. The moment she was carried away, her reputation was sure to
have suffered irreparable damage.

Her best hope was to survive, escape and live a quiet
life as a spinster tucked away in the country. An option that she had
previously settled on anyway once she had discovered just exactly whom she had
been sold to by her uncle for her dowry. She just hadn’t been able to inform
her fiancé before having her life interrupted by a pirate.

Picking up the heavy goblet, she took a long drink that
drained the remaining wine. She would not offer any encouragement. The rogue
already found enough pleasure in her unwilling but uncontrollable responses to
his handling of her body. After replacing the cup on the table, she folded her
hands demurely in her lap, returned his gaze without flinching and waited.

Something akin to irritation passed through his eyes but
was quickly extinguished. He gestured with his hand for her to stand before
him. “Remove your clothes,” he ordered.

Whether to remind her of his dominance or of her “willing”
acceptance of the deal she had made, every night started with the same command.
Repetition had made the act of disrobing before him slightly less difficult,
but the flush of embarrassment still flooded her cheeks as her final piece of
clothing slipped to the floor. She was intensely aware of the rasp of her own
breath since the only other sounds in the cabin were the normal creaking of the
ship’s timbers and the soft brush of fabric against fabric as the layers of her
clothes fell.

He watched her in silence, his stony expression
unchanging. Sprawled out in his chair with one hand resting on the table and
one on his thigh, Captain Kilth had not moved as she completed the commanded
task. In this position, she stood taller than the height of his head and could
keep her gaze level without directly avoiding his eyes. She focused on the top
deadbolt he was always careful to lock once he retired for the night.

“Kneel.”

Phoebe blinked at the sudden order. She frowned, unsure.
This wasn’t the way he had begun the previous nights. “What?”

He pointed to a spot in front of him. “Kneel. Fold your
dress to cushion your knees.”

Licking her lips nervously, she lowered herself to the
floor as she followed his directions. When she was kneeling before him, he
unfolded his large frame from the chair and stood before her, his groin
directly in her line of vision. With his feet spread shoulder-length apart and
his arms crossed over his chest, he towered menacingly over her.

“Release me,” he ordered, his voice rough and low.

Her heart thudded in her chest and her mouth went dry as
her brain finally processed what it was he expected her to do. Reaching for the
front of his breeches, her fingers trembled as she struggled to untie the
leather laces. In her inexperienced fumbling, she kept bumping his erection
though she was doing her best to avoid the hard swelling beneath the fabric. He
didn’t offer to help, even though it became obvious she was becoming flustered.
Suddenly the laces slid free, the leather parted and his cock sprang free. She
gasped and jerked her head back.

“Touch me,” he growled.

She glanced up to see the muscles of his jaw bunch tight
as he watched her. Determined to make it through this night as she had the
others, she took a deep breath and returned her gaze back to his erection. She’d
never seen a cock up this close before and although she’d felt it inside her,
she hadn’t realized how large it truly was. Tentatively she ran her fingers
from the base to the head, surprised by the softness of the skin that covered
such hard flesh. She traced around the head and up and over the small slit in
the middle, then back down. The musky scent of his sex teased her closer, and
in spite of her awkwardness, she found her curiosity piqued.

Tracing a vein from the head to the base of his cock, she
was intrigued by the combination of silky smoothness and solid heat under her
fingers. She feathered her fingers around the skin stretched tightly over the
head of his cock before skimming them down to the springy dark hair at the
base, so different from the texture of the long hair he kept tied behind his
neck.

Kilth’s groan startled her. She dropped her hands to her
sides. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You’re doing fine,” he rumbled. “Just killing me is all.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared up at him. “If you were
expecting the expertise of a courtesan, you were bound to be disappointed.”

“Give me your hands,” he said, holding his out for hers.
After she placed her hands in his, he wrapped one around the base of his cock
and slid the fingers of her other hand under his balls. “Cradle and stroke them
gently,” he instructed. “With this hand, stroke like this,” he said guiding the
hand on his cock up and down. His hands loosened over hers as she gained
confidence and found a rhythm that appeared to please him. “Yes. Like that.”

Amazingly, his cock seemed to grow longer, harder and
hotter under her hands. His balls started to pull up and she ran her index
finger over the seam that separated them. When a groan rumbled out of his chest
again, she repeated the action, feeling especially pleased that she was able to
affect him in some small manner in which he had been affecting her since the
bargain she’d struck with him.

“Take me into your mouth,” he ground out.

She froze. “What?”

His hands tightened around hers and guided them back into
action. “Your mouth. Put it on my cock.” The words were harsh, hissing out into
the quiet cabin.

“But I don’t know—I’ve never—I just can’t—”

“Are you rescinding your part of the deal?” His gray eyes
had darkened to the color of fierce thunderheads rolling before the fury of a
late summer storm, the angles of his face cut sharp by lust and shadows cast by
the flickering candles.

“No.”

“Then put your mouth on my cock.”

Nervously, she licked her lips and opened her mouth.
Leaning forward, she took the head partway into her mouth and was stunned by
the heat of his cock against her lips. Instinctively, she swallowed and her
tongue pressed over the slit, enhancing the musky scent with a salty tang.

Captain Kilth growled low in his throat and his long
fingers slid gently into her hair at the temples to hold her head steady. She looked
up to find him watching her with an intensity that released a surge of desire
inside her. The way he stared down at her, with such a blatant hunger and
arrogant superiority, made her feel simultaneously powerful and vulnerable. It
amazed her that naked and on her knees, she could so fiercely feel the strength
of her femininity. She closed her eyes and focused, experimenting with a
sucking motion while swirling her tongue around the head. Trying to find a
rhythm she could hold with both hands and her mouth. She had finally settled on
one when his testicles pulled up and tightened in her hand.

She glanced up to see if her explorations were suitable
to his requirements, but the expression on his face left her no doubt that for
once in this game of his, she wielded the reins of control. A sensual power
surged through her and she allowed it to goad her actions as she leaned forward
to take him deeper into her mouth. His fingers tightened on her head and his
desperate groan was as sweet as a victory chant in her ears. But she wanted
more—

Aurora’s eyes flew open, her heart beating fast and her body
warm and flushed from her dream. The dim light of early morning slunk in
through the bottom of the drapes and washed the room in a cold gray rinse. They
had shifted during the night and Connyn now lay sleeping on his back with her
head on his chest. He had one arm thrown over her shoulders and she had her arm
wrapped around his waist. A sudden craving to complete her dream pushed all
remaining vestiges of sleep from her mind.