Aurora's Promise (14 page)

Aurora murmured an
okay
into the kiss, her muscles
heavy and unresponsive. The trip between worlds must have a fatiguing effect on
a person’s body.

Struggling to open her eyes, she found Connyn still leaning
over her, watching her. He skimmed his fingertips over her cheek. “Remember,”
he whispered as her eyes closed again. “Remember that no matter how deep I am
inside you, that’s not the half of how deep you are in me.”

* * * * *

“Your Majesty?”

Aurora yawned and stretched, struggling to wake up and
respond to whomever was speaking. “Oh…” she moaned as several muscle groups
protested the movement. Until she met Connyn, she’d thought she was in pretty
decent shape. Not hiking-up-a-mountain-in-the-middle-of-winter-and-enjoying-it
good shape, but for god’s sake, she’d been a lingerie model and her body had
been her livelihood. You
had
to keep in good form for the camera.

She shifted again and her inner thighs added their two cents
into the aching chorus her body had become. What the hell kind of exercises was
she going to have to add to her regimen to keep her in fucking-with-Connyn
form?

There was a polite throat-clearing noise. “Would you like a
hot bath?”

Aurora’s eyes flew open. Above her was an ornate canopy of
sheer, creamy white fabric whose sides were wafting gently in the cool breeze.
Turning her head, she found a young woman waiting expectantly for an answer. “Who
are you?”

The young woman’s smile lit up her face making her brown
eyes sparkle. “Cait. Queen Kaia assigned me to you to help you get adjusted,
find your way around and answer your questions.” She paused, her smile
disappearing. “If that is agreeable to you.”

Aurora sat up, holding the blanket over her breasts.
Sunlight streamed through the curved bank of open windows at one end of the
room. It was another beautiful room, though surprisingly feminine considering
what she knew about Connyn. The walls were made of the same muted golden stone
as the outer room had been, though the
rythra
veins throughout it were
of the palest rose. White, cream and pink flowers were spilling out of at least
a dozen large vases and urns set around the room. The curtains, bedding, rugs
and cushions were fashioned from soft, creamy whites that gave her the feeling
of sitting on a cloud.

By the time her eyes came back around to the girl standing
beside the bed, Cait was looking worried and had begun to fidget with the side
of her dress.

“Yes,” Aurora said. “I would love your help.” Cait’s face
radiated joy. “But,” she continued, “please call me Aurora, at least in
private.
Your Majesty
is going to take a lot of getting used to.”

“As you wish. First, I’ll prepare your bath and then call in
the seamstresses to finalize the measurements for your clothes.”

“What clothes?”

“A full set for all your needs. Of course you could not have
been expected to bring a wardrobe with you, especially any of the formal attire
with the
rythra
stones set in. Those will have to be finished quickly.
The Council is meeting in three days and it is rumored that His Majesty is
presenting you then since all the Elders and Prophets will be in attendance.”

Cait stepped back as Aurora made her way out of the tangle
of bedding and floating canopy. Not an easy feat to do gracefully while keeping
a blanket covering all vital areas. Looking Aurora up and down contemplatively
Cait said, “It’s a good thing they left the hems undone. You’re a lot taller
than your two sisters.”

“You know about us? All of us?”

Cait had started across the room but stopped and turned
around to answer. “Everyone knows. You and your sisters are legends. If the Heirs
hadn’t been able to find you…” Cait’s voice trailed off. She shook her head and
offered Aurora a smile, though it wasn’t as bright as before. “Well, it doesn’t
matter now. You’ve all been found and only Ellyna has not arrived. But we’re
all sure she’ll be here soon.”

She turned back toward the archway she’d been heading to
before Aurora’s questions had stopped her. “If you’re hungry, I can have a meal
sent up for you since it will be a bit of time before lunch and we have a lot
to do.”

* * * * *

“I just think it would be better to wait until Ellen is here
as well before I go parading in front of the entire council of bigwigs.”

Connyn rubbed his hand over his eyes, ignoring Aurora’s
continuing rant. Fortunately, lunch had gone much better than any of the other
meetings he’d been in all morning. If he’d been concerned about Aurora’s
ability to uphold her social duties as required of a Royal, she had put all
fears to rest this afternoon. Though it hadn’t been a fully formal occasion,
his mother had nonetheless
not
set out a simple, intimate lunch as he
had hoped. Several officials from their home territory had been invited and
interest in his mate had been high and the questions constant. He’d been
extremely proud of Aurora and the way she had effortlessly and artfully handled
the polite inquisition, enchanting all with not just her beauty, but her
intelligence and charm. Something she wasn’t remotely trying to employ now.

He watched her pace the small private garden off the walkway
between his parents’ quarters and their own. The Ilyrian style of dress she’d
chosen complimented her figure magnificently. The soft, flowing fabric of the
gown clung to her body in a gentle caress that hid nothing and yet remained
completely modest. When he’d returned to take her to lunch, she had stolen his
breath. If it had been anyone other than his parents who’d requested their
presence, he’d have kept her in their bedroom all afternoon. Her hips swayed
and the fabric brushed her thighs, molding to their shape one moment and the
next floating away.

“Are you listening to me?”

Connyn’s gaze traveled up to Aurora’s face. “No.”

Aurora blinked in surprise. “You’re at least supposed to
say
you are, even if you’re not.”

“Why would I do that? Besides, you are arguing over
something that has been set, so there is no purpose to this conversation.” Her
furious reaction was immediate and he was surprised and impressed to see how
quickly she tamped it down. His mate might finally be learning not to contest
his words. Turning, he took her by the hand and began walking up the path back
toward their quarters. “Come. Cait said that your clothes would be ready for
final fittings once we returned.”

Digging her heels into the tiny pebbles that marked the
path, Aurora took a deep breath and spoke in a voice one used when explaining
something to a child. “There is no reason to rush things with the Council. I’m
already here and we’ve already done the Matching Rite—”

“Mating Rite,” he corrected brusquely as he dropped her hand
and turned to face her. “The Matching Ritual is done when the female is a year
old. Your mother left before you were of age.”

“Whatever. The point is—”

Anger flashed in Connyn’s mind, fueled by the fear that he
was missing something or had done something wrong. “The point is,” he ground
out, “that I can’t connect with your mind.”

Aurora raised her eyebrows. “So? You’re not the first male
to wish he could read a woman’s mind and not be able to.”

“Not just any woman’s.
Yours.
My mate’s. And it’s
more than just reading your thoughts. It’s a vital connection between us. The
only reason I can find that it has not been established is because our union wasn’t
blessed by the Council.”

“Why do we need the Council’s permission? Why can’t we just
leave things as they are? It’s working out.”

“Working out?” He advanced on her, emotion hot and pushing
through his blood. The reports that morning he’d pored over with his father and
captain rolled through his memory. Lately the Sleht had gained new ground in
all territories of the Five Houses, but some of the most severe losses had been
in their own lands. Again. The prophecy had to be fulfilled.
Had to be.
“It’s
not enough for it to work out. It has to be completely
right.
For us and
our people. For our son and—”

“Whoa! Wait just a damn minute.” Aurora’s face blanched to a
ghostly white and her hands waved in front of her, as if warding him off. “I am
not
getting pregnant. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever. But certainly
not
now
. That was not part of the deal.”

“What
deal
?” Anger colored to rage and pounded inside
his skull. “You are my
mate.
We have claimed each other.” He grabbed her
hand, held it so that the ring flashed in front of her face. “You wear my ring
and sleep in my bed.” He lowered her hand but still kept it locked firmly in
his own. “Together we bear the burden and privilege of securing the future for
our people.”

The shock and panic that flooded Aurora’s face only
increased his temper. For a moment, she stood motionless, staring up at him in
stark, unblinking disbelief. Her voice was hoarse when she finally said, “No
one said anything about children.”

A tremor ran through the hand he was holding and his anger
dimmed. She looked away from him and bit her lower lip. Another telltale tremor
coursed through her body as she took a deep breath. “I mean, we barely know
each other—”

“I know you very well,” he interrupted, his low whisper
relaying the intimate meaning of his words. He lifted her hand to his lips and
kissed the back of it. “And even if you were to conceive right this moment, we’d
still have the better part of a year to learn more of each other.”

Aurora glared up at him. “Like any woman wants a man to get
to know her when she’s a raving, swelling, hormonal lunatic.”

Impassively, he raised his brows and countered her glare. “And
I’ve told you before that I am well able to handle your emotional variability
and irrational outbursts. Something you should well know by now.” Her jaw
tensed and the hand he was not holding curled into a fist. He was quite sure
she wanted to fly at him and her only hesitation was deciding on the best form
of attack.

Stepping close to her, he cradled her head against his chest
and dropped a soft kiss onto her hair. He knew she hadn’t been expecting his
sudden gentleness. But regardless of how she infuriated him, he was surprised
to discover that more than winning an argument or making a point, he wanted her
to be happy. Not angry. Not afraid.

She was as supple as a block of stone in his arms but she
didn’t try to pull away from him as he’d thought she’d might. Unreasonably
pleased at that, he brushed his lips over her hair again and glanced around the
garden wondering if it was private enough.

“I need to talk to Ellen,” she said, interrupting his
thoughts.

“She will be here eventually.” He ran his hand down her
back, cupped her ass.

“I need to talk to her now. Today. Or tomorrow. I could
return through the portal and—”

“No. It ‘s too dangerous.”

Stepping out of his embrace, she looked up at him. “But it
is possible.”

“Whether it is or not does not matter because it is
not
possible
to keep you safer there than here.” He knew it was too much to ask for instant
acquiescence on her part, but the determination swimming in the depths of her
dark eyes sent a chill down his spine. An irrational fear he banished with the
knowledge that all portals to earth were guarded heavily.

“You promised to meet all my needs. I
need
to talk to
Ellen.”

His muscles tensed at the accusation in her tone. “My
promises are not broken by ensuring that you are alive to see them fulfilled.
In due time.”

Before she could launch into her next protest, he closed the
gap she had created between them and wrapped both of his arms around her. “I
understand your desire to see your sister again. I promise it will be soon. But
you have no reason to fear even without her here. You are my mate, Aurora.” He
tightened his embrace. “Nothing will happen that I will not support and protect
you in. Through life and death.”

* * * * *

Aurora remained silent the entire way back to their rooms,
even when Connyn slowed down and quit half dragging her behind him. By the time
they’d reached the inner courtyard, the numbing shock had receded and she could
hear the calming splashing of the fountain. A great improvement over the
throbbing pulse of terror that had consumed her for much of the trip up here
despite all his assurances.

A large crowd of servants was waiting to attend her once they
entered and Connyn left her in their capable hands with an abrupt nod. She did
not protest, but neither did she acknowledge his leaving with so much as a
blink.

The throng waiting for her in the room she had awakened in
had been talking quite animatedly when they arrived. Their sudden silence and
their surprised expressions filled the room with an awkwardness that Aurora had
no hopes of alleviating in her present frame of mind.

Cait separated herself from the group and rushed over. “Perhaps
you would prefer to rest after lunch. There is nothing that needs to be done
now that can’t be accomplished later.” She turned and gestured for the servants
to gather up the items they had brought, but Aurora put a hand on her arm to
stop her.

“No, wait.”

Halting in the middle of the orders she was rolling out,
Cait turned. “It’s not a problem, Your Majesty. It is entirely my fault for
pushing too many things at you before you have had time to adjust to your new
life here.”

Her concern was so sincere and her words so wrong. It
certainly was
not
her fault she felt close to a breakdown. Aurora found
herself smiling and realized she was quickly beginning to rely on Cait for far
more than help picking out the right clothes for occasions she’d never dreamed
of before. “Actually, I think having an entirely new wardrobe fitted just to me
is
exactly
what I need.”