Dark and Damaged: Eight Tortured Heroes of Paranormal Romance: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set (109 page)

“Are you a local?”

Aurora folded her hands before her. “No. My last home was a prison cell in an ogre’s home.”

“A cell?” Helen grew pale.

“I’m a slave.” Her glance at Robert was filled with resignation. “No matter how it’s couched in polite terms, that is what I am.”

His temper rose, but he curbed it. “That word is forbidden in this pack and on this property. I will not permit it. Do you understand?”

Blood drained from Aurora’s face and she gave a little nod.

“Rob, I’m sure she didn’t mean…” Guy began.

He gave his beta a sharp look and Guy shut up.

Then Robert forced a note of calm to his voice as he looked at Guy. “Does Aurora have everything she needs?”

Before Guy could answer, she spoke up. “I’m very self-sufficient. I have mostly everything I need in my luggage. When it gets here, I’ll be fine.”

He frowned. “When is your luggage supposed to arrive? Or am I to contact Cadeyrn about that?”

A loud whistling cut through the air. Helen shrieked as two large suitcases suddenly came hurtling out of the sky and dropped onto the grass near the lanai. Guy cleared his throat. “It’s here. Guess he heard you.”

“Air mail,” Robert muttered, as a helpless smile touched her face. “You know him. Strange sense of humor.”

He looked at Guy. “Assign someone to store Aurora’s things until she can pick them up later. I’m taking her on a tour.”

Robert put his hand on the small of her back. “This way.”

A flagstone pathway led from the lanai to a bricked walkway that threaded through the property. Robert went to the right, away from the stables and the abandoned barn that stored hay and feed supplies. The path snaked through well-trimmed grass, past the Olympic-sized swimming pool with its bricked patio, pool house, and tables with colorful umbrellas and comfortable chairs. Pine trees ringed the property, like green sentinels guarding the property.

After a few minutes the path forked again, the right trail leading to the fields holding acres of tropical plants and flowers. He took the left one, leading to the tall iron gate separating the private property from the public areas. The gate was unlocked when the store was closed, so he lifted the latch and they walked through, continuing down the walkway and through the garden.

Colorful air plants clung to the trees flanking the walkway, and various potted plants swung from the overhead branches. They walked on a wood bridge over a pond filled with water lilies.

Robert had personally designed the gardens, putting in the pond and flowers to attract the tourists, which distracted them from the distant fields accessible only to certain pack members. The tourists were usually impressed by the lavish gardens and seldom asked about the nursery far to the back of the pack’s property.

They reached the white gazebo in the garden’s center and climbed the steps.

“We host weddings here. For the pack and sometimes for the public, on special occasions.”

“It’s very pretty and serene. A lovely spot for a wedding,” she told him.

As Aurora gazed around the gazebo, he had an image of her standing in a flowing white gown, clasping a bouquet of flowers.

“This is where we’ll be mated.”

“When?” A muscle ticked in her cheek.

“The full moon. Another four weeks.”

“Oh! That long?”

Amused, he shook his head. “Eager to settle down?”

Her perfect mouth twisted in a wry smile. “I’m eager to get on your health insurance plan. Slavery has limited benefits.”

He started to smile, then stopped. This witty Mage could wrangle his heart, twist him around her finger. His responsibility remained to his people, and that was his sole purpose for mating with Aurora. His heart remained buried with the pack members he’d lost, forever cold and dead. Breed a new heir? Yes. But he would not fall for Aurora, when he must remain vigilant and devote all his attention to his pack.

He pointed out a turquoise building towards the front of the property. “That’s the store where we sell plants to the public, and there’s a small café where you’ll eventually work. We have four short-order cooks, several wait staff, and a café manager, Susan. She manages the daily business and oversees the main meals when we eat together as pack.”

“Susan?”

“Your new supervisor. My sister.”

Interest flared in her eyes. Aurora turned around and pointed to the distant fields and green houses. “And your botanical gardens and the fields where you grow plants? Do you ever open those to the public?”

“No. Those are private.”

In the distance, silver-white smoke rose on the horizon. Damn. Robert tensed as Aurora craned her neck. “Oh no! You have a wildfire.”

“It’s just workers burning the sugar cane on a nearby farm.”

“Maybe we should check it out. It looks close.” She pointed to the back fields.

Wariness filled him. No Mage would ever access those again, not after how Caroline had poisoned the land. He took her hand, feeling the connection flare between them once more, and tugged her toward the gazebo’s front, away from the sight of the botanical gardens. “There’s nothing to worry about. And the back fields on our property are forbidden to all but a few select pack members. There are dangerous snakes and poisonous spiders. You’ll be working in the lodge’s kitchen at first, and then at the café.”

“But maybe I can help with cultivating the trees back there. I learned from the ogre-”

“No!” he growled deep in his throat and she backed away, her face paling. Robert drew in a deep breath.

“Do not question me on this again, Aurora. Understand? It is for your safety.”

She gave a shaky nod, glancing over her shoulder at the distant fields, but he firmly guided her down the steps and toward the grotto, to complete the blood oath.

Aurora would never discover the secret on his pack’s property, the dark secret that kept them fed through hard times and protected the pack from harm.

No matter what it took, he must ensure the survival of his people. And himself…

Her master was so young for all the responsibility he carried. So much weight rested upon those muscled shoulders.

She could not think of him as anything but her new master, nor herself as anything but his slave. Bondage had been her reality for too long. And no matter how kind he seemed, she knew better than to trust a man who wielded absolute power over her.

Just like the witch had.

She’d hoped he’d be kind, but he’d growled at her when she’d asked about working the fields. Another reminder to distrust this powerful wolf.

Aurora cast a sideways glance at the Lupine who would become her mate upon the next full moon. Nearly a month away, and only weeks from Em’s twenty-first birthday, the deadline she faced for saving her sister

Time was running out. She had to complete the task Cadeyrn had demanded of her, or Emily would die. Her sister must live, no matter what.

Tension mounted in her, and she slowed down, trying to distract herself. Trying to enjoy the scent of the flowering trees, the freshness of the air. And the cedar and spice aroma wafting from the male who walked slightly ahead of her.

Robert had the wiry strength of a long-distance runner, not the bulk of other muscled male Lupines. With a panther-like grace, he followed a gravel-lined pathway leading to the east side of the property. The rolled-up sleeves of his blue shirt displayed dark hair dusting his forearms. Her gaze flicked downward to his jeans, the tightness of his ass as he walked.

Such grace in his stride. Aurora wondered how he’d perform in bed, all that power and smoothness as he opened her legs and buried himself deep inside her…

A flush heated her cheeks. Time enough for that later.

He stopped, waited for her to catch up. She hurried ahead.

“Everything here is natural. We are organic farmers, and use no pesticides. Even the ground cover allows for natural filtration of rainwater to the earth,” he told her, guiding her toward a thicket of bamboo trees.

The greenery was lush, the land fertile. Such methods had worked well. The ogre, with his insistence on using commercial fertilizers and pesticides, could learn a thing or two from these Lupines. “Did you always farm organically?”

A shadow crossed his face. “No.”

Robert put a hand on the small of her back. The warmth of his touch radiated through her shirt. So lovely, such warmth… she cherished warmth. Always the cold, the damnable cold cursing her…

Once she’d been warm, like him.

No! Aurora put the thought out of her head. She shivered, wondering if the training she’d received as a child could help her fight ancient, long-buried instincts. No one in this pack must ever know her true nature because she could never fully belong to them.

She’d walked alone too long to belong to a pack.

He steered her on a path leading to a copse of thick bamboo. Grapevine draped a wooden trellis that created a doorway to a small grotto.

When she entered it, Aurora’s interest flared. In the center was a stone planter taller than herself, with colorful bromeliads growing out of openings on each side. The planter was covered with moss, and ringed with small, smooth black pebbles.

A bed of soft green moss cushioned her footsteps. The entire grotto had an air of secrecy and ancient magick.

Robert walked over to a white stone chest on the north side of the grotto, and lifted the lid. The chest had intricate runes carved upon it. He removed a container the size of a shoebox, closed the stone chest and set the box upon the closed lid. Through the pungent smells of damp earth, moss, and trees, Aurora caught a tendril of another scent. Cedar wood.

When she saw what rested inside the cedar chest, her heart clenched in fear. Robert removed a silver dagger, a clean white cloth, a goose feather quill and a scroll of parchment.

“I must have your total consent for the oath.” Intent blazed in his eyes as he held out his hand. “In blood.”

She stared at the silver knife in his hand, the hilt woven with intricate, ancient Celtic whorls and runes, matching the ones on the stone chest. This commitment was serious, and would change her life for good. If Robert’s pack didn’t contain the key she needed to free her sister, Aurora was royally screwed. She’d never have another master.

“Aurora? Do you do this of your own free will?”

What free will? What choice had she?

This wasn’t giving her consent, for any choice had been taken from her the moment she’d sworn to protect her sister’s life with her own. Cadeyrn had not given her to this powerful male on a whim.

“Yes.”

“Give me your right palm.”

As she did he glanced at her. “This will sting.”

The slash he made across it burned like fire. Aurora didn’t flinch or cry out, for the witch had hurt her far worse. She watched her life’s blood well up on her palm. Then he made a similar cut across his own palm. She noticed he already bore a slim, but distinct scar there.

Had Robert made a similar blood oath in the past?

He set the knife down upon the ground, and then clasped their bloodied palms together. Warmth filled her, such warmth that her toes tingled. She felt alive, aware and extremely sensual. Aurora bit her lip and closed her eyes to keep from moaning. She couldn’t help the undulation of her hips as desire coursed through her.

She opened her eyes to see Robert’s body tensed, his arousal tenting the front of his jeans. Their mingled blood dripped to the earth, then vanished, as if the very ground siphoned their life force. “Look,” he told her. “The match of our blood is a good one. We are now bound together sexually.”

The hilt on the knife glowed red. Robert growled. His eyes glowed with an amber light, then flashed silver and suddenly she was afraid.

He released her palm. “This test is the only foolproof way to be certain.”

“Certain of what?”

His gaze smoldered as he studied her. “That you can safely carry a healthy child of my blood.”

Good to know.

Next he dipped the quill into his blood, scribbled his name on the parchment, and then she signed her name the same way. Robert rolled up the parchment, set it back into the cedar box, then replaced the box in the stone chest.

The next time he spilled her blood would be in his bed, when he took her virginity. Aurora rubbed her palm, though it no longer stung. The delicious heat had faded, leaving her empty and a little scared of what was to come. But there was no turning back now.

He approached her, his manner terse. “Turn around and lift up your hair.”

Wondering what came next - did he have to cut off her hair in some odd Lupine ritual? - she did as he commanded. The warmth of his fingers brushed against her nape and she shivered with anticipation.

Robert’s fingers fiddled with the clasp on her slave collar. She heard him swear softly, which was followed by more fumbling. And then a deep sigh.

He turned her to face him. His nearness made her breath hitch. Everything about this male triggered her dormant sexual needs. The rugged bristles shadowing his strong jaw, the full curve of his mouth, the deep green of his eyes, the dark brows set over those verdant eyes. His intoxicating scent of cedar and sandalwood teased her senses. She looked down at his dusty boots.

Robert lifted her chin with the tip of a finger. But he stared at her collar and nodded. “That’s why. Magick moon runes. Your collar is embedded with them. I can’t remove it until the full moon.”

The warmth of his palms blazed through her thin shirt as he clasped her shoulders. “When I remove your collar, you will never wear it again. I promise this.”

But he didn’t have the power to destroy the collar, only remove it. Anyone could find the collar and slap it back on her. Anyone in this pack, even. And if that happened, Aurora wouldn’t have to worry about wolves tearing her apart. With enough presses of the button, the collar would squeeze her throat until she strangled.

“Our bargain was my freedom if I mate with you and give you a child.”

“And you must be free to do so.” His gaze turned stormy. “I won’t force you.”

She remembered his kindness when she was fourteen and he’d given her the water. Instinctively, she sensed Robert would not force her. As he dropped his hands, she touched his sleeve. “I believe you.”