Aurora's Promise (3 page)

“Why I-10?” she asked, looking at him but keeping the phone
on her ear. Whomever she was calling didn’t seem to answer fast enough to suit
her, since she frowned, pulled the phone away from her head and punched a
different set of buttons. Once it was replaced against her ear, she looked back
at him with eyebrows arched. “Are you going to answer my question or continue
this abduction in silence?”

Silence? Did she honestly think that was a possibility with
her in the car? “It was a rescue if you remember right and I-10 is the fastest
route to Colorado.”

“Colorado!”

Never in his life had he seen a pair of eyes get so big, so
fast. Though not the expected Ilyrian-sea green like her sisters, in his
opinion they were far more expressive than theirs. Before he could respond,
someone answered on the other end of the call and the Colorado argument was
saved for a later time.

“Ellen! Are you ok? I called Amy but she didn’t answer. Is
Chloe all right?” Aurora stilled as she listened and then brushed a strand of
loose hair off her face “You saw Amy go with Chloe? So she’s okay too?” The
tension in Aurora’s voice dropped drastically with her last two questions and
she eased back a little more into the bucket seat.

Connyn kept an eye on the highway signs so he wouldn’t miss
his exit but listened intently to Aurora’s conversation. The simultaneous
attack by two Predators on a target was unheard of in all the years the Sleht
had used them to hunt and kidnap or destroy Mystic females.

Bred by Ilyria’s enemy, the Sleht, for the sole purpose of
ensuring there would be no Mystic females left to mate with the final
generation of Kilth heirs, Predators were extremely territorial and never
shared a prey or reward. So for twoto show up within seconds of their
finding Aurora and Ellyna went beyond coincidental. None of the scenarios that
made that a possibility left him with a warm fuzzy since the only ones who knew
they’d be on the Riverwalk that evening were part of a very small group. The
list of possible traitors within their company had just been fine-tuned. And he
was pissed.

He glanced at Aurora. Whatever Ellyna was telling her on the
other end removed the panicked look from her eyes.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m with Captain America and we’re on our
way to—”

Connyn grabbed her cell phone and tossed it out of the car.

“What the hell!”

He ignored her shout and watched in the rearview mirror as
it crunched under the tires of traffic behind them.

“That was my phone!”

“And you were about to give away our position. Plus there’s
always the possibility that you could be tracked by its signal.”

“Listen, Mr. Cloak-and-Daggers Wanna-be, that was
my
phone
and
my
business. You will—”

“Keep you safe. Yes. I will. And do whatever I feel
necessary to accomplish that.” He paused to let that sink in. Arguing about a
cell phone was pointless in the larger scheme of being pursued by creatures
genetically designed to hunt and destroy her and her sisters. Once she calmed
down enough to be rational, he was sure she’d realize that. “Besides, you had
all the information you needed.”

“
What?
” Aurora’s eyes were round in disbelief, but
under the flashes of streetlights it was clear that her color was definitely
rising to a heated blush he didn’t think was due to her falling face down
against his groin.

He turned back to the road. “Ellyna and Chloe are fine.
Correct?”

“Yes, but I have other questions—”

“I will answer them.”

“What if I want to talk to Ellen and not you?”

“You will have the chance once you are both returned to
safety in Ilyria. Who is Amy?”

“What?”

Connyn took the I-10 exit and once he had merged into the
flow of traffic again he said, “You tried calling Amy first. Why?”

Aurora looked away when he turned to her, choosing instead
to stare at the headlights reflected in the passenger-side mirror. She slumped
back in her seat and crossed her arms. He’d not spent much time with the first
two of her sisters to be located, but it was obvious that the streak of
stubbornness he’d seen exhibited by both Bethany and Brooke ran its strong line
through her as well. He appreciated a woman who stood her ground, but he would
not allow her to stand against him.

“Answer my question. Who is Amy?”

“My friend.”

He frowned. “What kind of friend?”

“A very good friend. Of mine and Ellen’s.”

“Why did you call her?” When she remained silent, he glanced
over at her. She was chewing on her bottom lip. Doing his best to ignore the
spurt of lust that little nervous habit of hers triggered, he focused on
changing lanes. “Esraina—”

“Aurora.”

“
Aurora
, who exactly is Amy and why was it important
for you to call her immediately?”

She sat up straight in the chair and twisted around in the
bucket seat to glare at him. “She’s Chloe’s mom. I was watching Chloe for her
while she did some shopping. If something had happened to her…” Aurora sank
back down into the seat looking like a blow-up toy that had just been punctured
as Connyn, stunned, simply stared at her.

An angry horn blast jerked his attention back to the road. “You’re
not the child’s mother?”

“No.”

“Do you have any other children that were not with you at
the café?”

“No.”

Relief swelled in Connyn’s chest. All was as it should be
with his mate.

“Why does that make you so happy?” she asked.

He glanced at Aurora and found her studying him closely. “Anyone
would be glad to discover that their mate had not had a child by another man.”

“And if your mate had?”

He shook his head. “It’s not worth contemplating since it’s
not a consideration.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that in the time you were lost from your rightful
place in your homeworld, you did not birth a child that would tie you to the
wrong mate or to this world. You are therefore free to complete your primary
destiny.”

“My primary destiny, huh? What if I like this world? What if
I have a lover I refuse to leave?”

Rage and denial rose like boiling lava within Connyn, a
primal fire that threatened to incinerate every shred of civilized restraint
and loose the elemental male that lived within every Kilth when it came to
taking, keeping and defending his mate. The Royal Houses had initially evolved
from a single clan that had been the greatest at protecting their line against
all and any threats. The ability that had arisen and been honed in more
barbaric times might hide under a present veneer of modern sensibility, but it
was as strong in him and his cousins as it had been in his ancient ancestors.

“Do you have a lover you refuse to leave?” The question was
simple, the emotions rolling through him anything but.

“What if I said yes?”

“This is not a game of hypothetical questions.” His voice,
though still low, cut with the razor-sharp edge of a tightly restrained fury. “We
are talking about the fulfillment of a prophecy to ensure the survival of
thousands of people. Do you have a lover?
Yes or no
?”

They were now on the outskirts of the city and Aurora’s face
was illuminated solely by the dashboard lights. Even in their dim glow her dark
eyes flashed bright with anger. He was just about to pull the car over to force
her to answer him when she said, “No.”

Connyn took a deep breath and the wave of fury receded back
beneath the surface façade of calm. “Then, again, it is as it should be. And
from this point out, if I ask you a question, you are to answer directly and
immediately.” He ignored the icy silence of outrage radiating from the passenger
side of the car and continued, “You are now my responsibility and I will have
your cooperation to see you safely returned to your people and world.”

“What if I refuse to go with you even though I don’t have a
lover here?”

“I will change your mind.”

“You sound awfully confident for someone who doesn’t even
know me.”

“I don’t have to know you. I know me. And I know that I will
do whatever it takes to return you to Ilyria and confirm you as my mate.”

Silence ruled for several long minutes. He allowed it as he
passed a minivan and two tractor-trailers. As he settled back into the
right-hand lane, he glanced at her profile. Staring straight ahead into the
night, her expression was grim and her glare harsh.

Adjusting to a more comfortable position in the body-hugging
bucket seat, he said, “I have spent my entire life searching for you. I will
not apologize for my questions or responses. Unlike you, I was born and raised
in Ilyria and understand the weight of what fulfilling the prophecy means. I
have seen firsthand what the curse laid on us by the gods can and will do.” He
paused, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel. With a conscious effort,
he loosened his grip. “I also know the men and women as well as the children
who will die if we are not successful.”

He felt Aurora’s gaze as she considered his words. After a
moment, she turned back to face forward. They were well out of the city before
she spoke again.

“And what about the family I have here? Will they be able to
come to Ilyria with me? Will I be allowed to return to visit them?”

“You have no family here. You were the last of your sisters
to be found and the rest of your relatives are already in Ilyria.”

“But if I have friends that have become as important as or
more important than family to me?”

“Nothing is as important as family.”

“If you refuse to directly and immediately answer my
questions, you cannot expect me to answer yours.”

He sighed. She seemed determined to be difficult. “No. I’m
to return with my mate. And most portals for inter-dimensional travel will be
closed once all the Mystic daughters are returned.”

Aurora’s complete and extended motionlessness after so many
emotional outbursts kept him uneasy for the next fifty miles. The only sounds
breaking the interminable silence were the engine’s low, smooth purr and the
tires eating up miles of interstate. He finally broke the quiet himself by
asking if she was hungry. She answered with a mute shake of her head. Deciding
she simply needed time to mentally adjust to the situation, he let the silence
stand.

With a straight road ahead and no close traffic, he allowed
himself the freedom to take a more detailed inventory of his mate. The way she’d
pulled her hair back set off her high cheekbones and sharpened the delicate
angles of her face. Her bottom lip was back between her teeth as she stared
steadily out of the windshield.

She was taller than either Bethany or Brooke and with the
much darker coloring of her eyes and hair he wondered if perhaps she’d had a
different father than her sisters. Though her skin was the same ivory coloring
as theirs, her basic shape was different. Her breasts were similar in size to
Brooke’s but her legs were longer and hips narrower than either of her sisters.

The way the seatbelt cut across her chest emphasized the lushness
of the curves he was ready to enjoy as the memory of the black lace she wore
underneath her sweater marched unbidden through his thoughts. For the good of
his people, he would have mated her no matter her appearance, but he offered up
a prayer of gratitude that he’d need no fantasy other than Aurora running
through his mind to complete the Mating Rite and begin the fulfillment of his
part of the prophecy.

“What if the child had been mine? Would I be expected to
leave her behind to fulfill this destiny you’re so sure about?”

Her sudden question startled his gaze back up from her
breasts to her face. She was still looking straight ahead, focused on some
distant thought that had nothing to do with the highway in front of her.

“No. Of course not.”

She closed her eyes. “And no one else but those agreeing to
mate one of you guys is allowed in Ilyria?”

“That’s the only reason we’re here. To retrieve the ones
destined from birth to stand and reign beside us.”

Something shifted over her expression. Set. A determination.
“Okay.”

Her response should have relieved him. It did anything but.

Aurora let the miles wash by her as she considered her
options. She didn’t have many. If anything, in most aspects she was a practical
woman and long ago had accepted that fact that there were things you could
change in life and there were things you couldn’t.

She glanced over at Connyn. He stood solidly in the “couldn’t”
category. For the time being. At least he wasn’t hard on the eyes even though
he was a major pain in the ass. But she’d worked with enough male models to
know how to handle the type who thought the world owed them their every whim
simply because they had gorgeous hair and cut abs.

Turning back toward the road, she blinked as the lines
blurred. Good god. As strongly as she believed in fate, it was still difficult
to believe she was on her way to Colorado with a stranger from another world.
She couldn’t remember a time her life had ever been exactly normal, thanks to
her mom, but her mother was gone and she would cling to the last bit of family
she had with everything inside her. Even if it meant promising to mate an
alien.

Things could be worse. The aliens bent on retrieving her
family could have looked like rejects from the Star Wars bar scene with slimy
skin, tentacles or googly eyes sprouting from various parts on their bodies.
According to Ellen, Ilyria was similar to Earth, just located in a parallel
dimension crossed by portals. Apparently that meant that the people were “human”
to a large extent with various powers exhibited by the rulers to guard the
general population from their enemies, though Ellen had been fairly vague in
referring to said
powers.

As far as the Predators, Ellen hadn’t known much about them
either. Her information was limited to two basic facts. They belonged to a race
called the Sleht and she knew exactly how to kill one, a piece of knowledge
that had come in handy at least once for Amy. Soon she’d need to know more
about these Predators, the Sleht and Ilyria, but right now she just wanted to
sleep.

She shifted again, trying to stretch her legs. They’d been
driving for hours, stopping only once for gas and a dinner of prepackaged
snacks that they ate in the car. At least they were in her car with the bag she
had packed for the weekend in the trunk. Unfortunately for Amy, so was her and
Chloe’s bag. But more important than an extra set of clothes and makeup, Ellen,
Amy and Chloe were all safe. For now.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against the seat and
shifted her hips, trying to find the most comfortable position. She loved her
car, but she hadn’t bought it with long road trips in mind.

A bump brought her jerking awake suddenly. Regardless of the
discomfort, she must have drifted off. Straightening in the seat, she looked
out the window at a flashing bright pink Vacancy sign.

“So we’re not driving to the ends of the earth tonight?”
Aurora turned her head side to side, working out the stiffness.

Connyn turned off the engine. “Do you have a suitcase with
you?”

“Yes. Wait—” she grabbed his arm as he started to get out of
the car. “Where are we?”

“Outside Lubbock.”

“Lubbock, Texas? I thought you had your drawers all in a
knot to get to Colorado.”

“I don’t want to get to Colorado too soon before the portal
opens back to Ilyria.”

That got her attention. “But aren’t we meeting Ellen in
Colorado?”

“No.” He pulled out of her grip and got out of the car,
closing the door firmly behind him, leaving her in the dark in more ways than
one. The man really knew how to piss a person off.

She flung her door open, slammed it shut and stomped to
where he was unloading her suitcase from the back of the car. “What the hell do
you mean,
no
?”

He glanced around the parking lot. “Keep your voice down. We’ll
discuss this in the room.”

“Whoa. In
the
room? As in one room for the two of us?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out her red leather
carry-on, not even glancing at Amy’s army-issued duffle bag. Shutting the trunk
with a controlled
froomp
, he headed toward the motel. For a moment,
Aurora’s world flashed red and before she thought to stop it, the magic she’d
been born with snapped into life and two light bulbs in the vacancy sign popped
and sputtered out.

Shit. She had to be more careful. The abilities passed down
to her from her mother’s family could flare out of control when she was angry. Forcing
herself to calm down enough not to blow up the entire sign or draw unwanted
attention to that particular secret, she consciously quashed the surge of power
boiling inside her. Plus, there were obviously some things Connyn didn’t seem
to react well to. No point in testing the limits in that arena. But this macho
be-a-good-little-woman-and-do-as-I-command nonsense was going to stop now.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her voice high enough to be
heard over the wind and said, “I swear by all your Ilyrian gods that if you don’t
stop walking away from me this instant, Mr. Heir to the Third Royal House, I’ll
scream so loud it will wake the dead from Maine to California.”

Connyn stopped. Even from the back, the anger that snapped
through his body electrified the air and Aurora glanced at the midnight sky to
check for stray lightning bolts headed her way. Her suitcase hit the ground
with a dull thud. Slowly he turned around. His eyes had darkened and narrowed to
a feral intensity, his mouth set in a grim line. Light spilling through the
motel’s front windows outlined the massive shoulders squared on her position.

Though it only took a couple of steps for his long-legged
strides to bring him back to within inches of her, everything suddenly seemed
to shift into slow motion. For a brief moment, she wondered if perhaps it was
normal for time to turn into decidedly measured seconds before one’s own death
so that every last heartbeat could be felt and heard as it thumped in your
chest and pushed the blood through your ears in one roaring wave after another.

The flashing pink neon from the motel’s sign cast Connyn’s
features into sharp angles and shadows, erased them for an instant with the
darkness, then with the next burst of light brought them to eerie psychedelic
life again as he moved closer. The gravel crunched loudly under his footsteps
and the west Texas wind was doing its level best at filling the night air with
a lonely, ghostly moan. With his hair now freed from the restraining braids, it
whipped around him in the relentless wind. All in all, Connyn created quite an
arousing and terrifying picture, reminding her of paintings she’d seen of
ancient gods sweeping out of the heavens on clouds of fire, wielding in their
hands the power and will to avenge and wreak indescribable havoc.

Aurora glanced down at the man’s hands. Even in the dim
light, they looked strong and well able to wreak the havoc of ecstasy on a
willing woman’s body. A streak of lust went through her, which she did her best
to ignore. Thoughts that teased her erotic fantasies were not helping her
concentrate on getting to Ilyria.

If the plan she’d come up with in the car was going to work,
she’d have to be careful not to let her smartass mouth screw it up. Especially
when she was pissed off.
Especially
since it looked like pissing people
off was this man’s specialty.

By the time he stopped, she had to tilt her head back to
maintain eye contact. Propping her hands on her hips, she returned his glare
and held her ground. If he wanted a fight, she sure as hell could accommodate
him. All she had to do was funnel all this sexual tension he kept stirring up
in her and focus it into an angry confrontation. She’d had lots of practice on
focusing
thanks to the unique abilities passed down through her mother’s bloodline.

Connyn was so close, she could feel the heat from his body.
The temptation to lean into it was strong and her thoughts took a quick little
side trip imagining running her hands over his broad chest and pressing her
breasts against that wall of solid muscle.

For a moment, she thought he was just going to try to stare
her down. Braced for some form of assault, she was totally unprepared when he
reached up and brushed his fingertips down her cheek. Shocked by his action,
she flinched back from his touch. He frowned and slid his hand around the back
of her neck, holding her gently but firmly. The staring contest ended when his
gaze roamed over her face and his thumb gently stroked the side of her face.

“Aurora.”

The way he said her name, a deep rumbling like a whispered
roar, made her feel both wholly protected and completely vulnerable at the same
time. A very unnerving sensation.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Mentally, she
pulled away from the emotions he had pinging around inside her like a pinball
machine on full tilt. She needed to keep her balance through this if she
intended to—

All thought flew out of her mind as Connyn’s mouth settled
over hers in a kiss that sent electric heat zinging through her body, riding
currents of lust that converged between her legs with a desire so strong she
wondered if he hadn’t drugged her at some point. His mouth moved over hers and
her knees threatened to give out. In a reflexive attempt to keep upright, her
fingers dug into his leather coat. Until now, she hadn’t even realized she’d
been hanging on to him.

His hand moved up her back, holding and supporting her as
his tongue slowly but lightly traced the line between her closed lips. It was a
gentle, sensual caress that sent a full-body shiver through her.

He pulled away from the kiss but enveloped her in his arms,
hugging her close. “It’s too cold to be out here without your coat.”

Aurora was enjoying being pressed against the heat and solid
muscle of his chest too much to inform him that it wasn’t the weather making
her shiver. “About the room…” she mumbled against the soft cotton of his shirt.
He even smelled sexy. Something close to warm sandalwood but with a wild edge
she’d never associated with that scent before.

Setting her back from him enough to look her in the eyes, he
said, “We’re staying in the same room.”

The warm fuzzies still floating through her stomach from his
kiss immediately did a nose dive and fizzled out. The man might have noble
intentions, but he sure as hell could use some etiquette lessons. She was not
about to let him think that he could mow her over whenever his gears flipped
into Mr. Macho Man mode.

She opened her mouth to protest his high handedness but he
cut her off. “I will not argue when it comes to your safety. In that regard,
you will do what I tell you to do.”

His last words were hard and clipped, leaving her with the
distinct impression he expected her to snap to attention and bark out a
yes,
sir!
Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows
at him.

“And if I don’t?”

Holding her gaze with a look that reminded her of Superman’s
heat vision searing through solid metal, he leaned into her space until his
wide shoulders blocked the light and put her completely in his shadow. “You
will.”

The steely, whisper-soft words growled out of the dark mass
before her. Though the expression on his face was lost to obscurity, the set of
his jaw backlit by the hotel’s flashing sign clearly indicated he meant what he’d
said. She’d been wrong. Pissing people off wasn’t his specialty. Intimidation
was.

Without another word, he turned and walked into the hotel
lobby, picking up her suitcase on his way. She could stand out here in the
parking lot, but it was cold and getting colder. And what would be the point?
There wasn’t a doubt in her head that after he checked in he’d bodily take her
to the room if that’s what it took. She could possibly get him arrested for
kidnapping, but if she went there, getting to Ilyria went out the window.

She sucked in a long breath of cold air and cleared her
thoughts of all the prickling irritation his behavior left behind. She’d dealt
with assholes plenty of times calmly and logically and with not even close to
the stakes she was playing for here. Returning to the car, she grabbed her
purse and coat and followed him inside. Intimidation might not be her forte,
but there were other methods of gaining the upper hand. She had a few tricks of
her own up her sleeve.

Or in her case, tucked into the cleavage of her favorite
black La Perla Balconnet bra.

* * * * *

Aurora stood in front of the bathroom’s mirror and rethought
her strategy to squash Connyn’s I-am-lord-of-all-I-survey tendencies.
Originally, she’d planned to keep him off balance by sexually teasing him. It
was a talent she’d polished to perfection and used successfully over the years.
From the way she’d caught him looking at her like she was a tall, cold beer and
he’d just come in from a hard day’s work in the sun, she knew she could have him
twisted in knots with barely any effort.

The walk across the parking lot and around to the room had
cleared her head and cooled her libido. After tossing her purse onto the bed
and hanging up her coat, she pulled the scrunchie from her hair. She’d started
the tease right then. Standing next to the bed, taking a deep breath which
lifted the lacy edge of her bra just past the low neckline of her sweater, she
tilted her head back and finger-combed the tangles from her long hair. Without
even looking at Connyn, she felt the tension in the room ratchet up and knew
she had him.

And then she made eye contact to ask him a question.
Suddenly raw lust slammed through her, overriding any calculated manipulations
as the tiny room with a big bed brought her breathtakingly close to a man whose
sex appeal rating flew off the charts.

Every word she’d had on the tip of her tongue disappeared.
The heat in his gaze as he stood stone-still and watched her burned through her
prepared machinations like a flame-thrower through a pile of dried twigs. His
lust, the want for her he was doing nothing to hide, hit her on a deep,
gut-wrenching level that spurred a purely primitive response. It made her feel
fiercely female as the power of his desire ignited her own.