Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (43 page)

The touch was not like the dragon's back against her and the
difference in sensation stilled her. Aurora felt the same touch on her other
ankle and watched as hands came out of the water, sliding up her legs.
Following the hands were golden, muscled arms. The hands reached her knees and
gently pushed them apart. Finally the water broke and a head, powerful
shoulders, and a chiseled chest rose up between her opened knees.

Aurora's mouth opened, but no sound came out. The eyes that
stared back at her from a stunningly beautiful face had the color of her
dragon's. Water streamed from dark hair that hung to his shoulders and across
full, soft-looking lips. She couldn't resist touching him. Her fingers slid
through his thick hair and then traced along the curve of his cheek. He tilted
his face slightly to tuck it against her hand and she felt his hands sliding
further up her legs until they held her hips.

"Hello," he said softly.

Aurora laughed quietly, tears starting to burn in the
corners of her eyes.

"Hi," she replied.

He tightened his hold on her hips and slid her closer to
him. Their breath mingled between them and for a moment neither moved. Aurora
lifted her other hand to his face so that she cupped it in both palms. He
leaned toward her and their lips touched. His mouth lingered so that it pressed
against hers only gently, then lifted away. Aurora nudged her nose against his
and he captured her mouth again, encouraging it to open beneath his.

Aurora complied with the insistence of his kiss, parting her
lips and welcoming his tongue against hers. She was so lost in the taste of him
that she barely noticed his hands come to hers and take them from his face. He
wrapped her arms around his neck, then returned his grip to her hips. She felt
him lift her off of the boulder and bring her against his body so that her legs
wrapped around his waist. The water rose up around them and their kiss
deepened.

There was no hurry as they kissed. Instead, he explored her
mouth with his tongue and ran his hands from her hips along her thighs and back
as he let his lips play languidly against hers. Aurora stroked her hands down
his neck, then over his shoulders so they ran across his back. She could feel
the slight difference in texture on his skin where she imagined the back ink of
the wing tattoo was embedded.

Finally she pulled her mouth from his and looked into his
eyes.

"What's your name?" she asked softly.

"Arach."

She could already feel the pull of the dream ending around
her and she clung tighter to him, wanting just another moment of being in his
arms.

"I'm Aurora."

"I know," he said and touched another gentle kiss
to her lips.

"You know?" she asked, confused.

Arach nodded and kissed her again, plunging his tongue into
her mouth. She reciprocated hungrily, moaning against his mouth as he slid her
down his body and she felt that he wore nothing beneath the water. He pushed
her skirt up her thighs so that it gathered her hips. She rocked them against
his stomach and he complied with the invitation, slipping a hand beneath the
elastic of her panties. His thumb stroked through her sensitive folds and
within seconds she felt herself crashing into a dizzying orgasm. Arach's fingers
delved into her and she contracted around them in a series of tremors that left
her gasping.

The image around her was fading, and she knew the intensity
of the experience was waking her. She kissed him a final time before tucking
her head against his shoulder so she could breathe in his scent and listen to
his heartbeat as she woke.

"Goodnight, Arach," she whispered and the darkness
took her.

A moment later Aurora woke in her bed, tears streaming down
her cheeks. Around her the world had darkened to an even bleaker shade of grey.

****

"Mom, I need to talk to you," Aurora said two days
later.

She was again sitting across the patio table from Sara who
sipped coffee cautiously from a china cup. Aurora hated that cup. The delicate
pink roses that crept along its sides were lovely; but they were flat,
lifeless, and artificial. They reminded her too much of what she was becoming
for her to find it pretty.

"Yes, soon-to-be Mrs.?" Sara nearly sang.

Aurora cringed.

"Please don't."

"What's wrong, Aurora?" Sara asked, the delight
draining from her face.

Aurora looked up at the housekeeper who stood dutifully by
with the coffee pot. The grey-haired woman took the cue and settled the pot
onto the silver breakfast cart before disappearing into the house.

"Does the word 'Killington' mean anything to you?"
she asked as soon as the patio door closed.

Sara looked like Aurora had struck her. Her hand shook as
she lowered the cup back to her saucer.

"No," she said, but the tremble in her voice told
Aurora she was lying.

"Don't lie to me. I found Dad's file."

The nervousness on Sara's face turned to anger quickly.

"How dare you go through your father's desk?"

"I saw you going through it after I mentioned my dream
the other day. He showed me his secret drawer before he died. You must not have
known about it."

Sara was visibly shaking and Aurora would have backed off if
she couldn't still feel Arach's lips against her neck from her most recent
dream.

"I don't want to ever hear you talking about that
again, Aurora. Do you understand me?"

"Don't talk to me like a child. I'm supposed to marry
someone I don't love tomorrow because I made a promise to Dad, but I have been
dreaming of this dragon every night, and I deserve to know what that
means."

Sara stood up so sharply she nearly knocked the table over.

"You don't deserve to know anything. You will marry
Greyson and you will be a good wife to him. He will follow in his father's
footsteps and you will both make things happen for each other. That is the way
it is going to be."

Her mother started to walk toward the patio door and Aurora
stood.

"I've fallen in love with him," she said, bracing
herself for the reaction.

Sara turned to her, the look in her eyes so intense Aurora
took a step back.

"Excuse me?"

"The dragon can become a man. His name is Arach."

"Stop it, now."

"He is just like the ones in Dad's file. It said
'Killington' on it. What does that mean?"

Sara came close to Aurora and grabbed her by her arms.

"Your father died because of what was in that file. It
is your duty to marry Greyson as he promised his father. It is the only thing
that will keep you safe."

"I don't understand," Aurora said.

Sara's hand tightened painfully around Aurora's wrist.

"And you never will."

Dragging Aurora along behind her, Sara rushed into the house
and down the hall to the small library tucked beside her father's office. She
pushed her inside and Aurora heard her calling to the housekeeper.

"Angela, watch her. Keep her awake. Do whatever you
have to do, but do not let her fall asleep."

"You can't keep me in here until tomorrow," Aurora
protested.

Sara looked at her for a long, sickening moment and closed
to door. Aurora heard the door lock and she pounded against it, screaming to
her mother. Panic rose in her chest. This was more than she had even imagined.
Her father had told her that marrying Greyson was about uniting families that
had been longtime friends and supporting Greyson's political ambitions while
giving her the life that would enable her to pursue her own goals. Now she knew
it was so much more than that.

If only she knew what.

Aurora paced around the library frantically for the rest of
the day. She could hear her mother moving around the house making last-minute
preparations, but no matter how much she screamed, Sara did not come to let her
out. More than anything she wanted to sleep, but Angela would not allow her to
rest. She didn't understand. Even if there was more to the dragons, she only
saw Arach in her dreams. Her wedding was less than a day away and then she would
be bound to Greyson by law and loyalty.

"Angela," Aurora finally spoke as she stared
through the window at the stars, "Do you know what's going on?"

Angela had been the family's housekeeper Aurora's entire
life and she was desperate for some type of reassurance from the woman who was
oftentimes more a part of her life than her own mother.

"Please don't ask me, Aurora."

Aurora turned from the window and stared at her.

"You do know. Tell me."

Angela shook her head. She held the tin of crackers Sara
kept in the library for her occasional afternoons of reading in her lap and
looked down at it rather than at Aurora.

"Your mother would never forgive me."

"This isn't about her, Angela. This is about me. I'm
getting married tomorrow. I am literally giving away my life because of a
promise to my father. If there is more to it than friendship and politics,
don't you think I deserve to know?"

There was a long moment of silence and then Angela reached
onto the table beside her to pick up a glass of bourbon she had poured from the
cut crystal bottles arranged on the table beside what used to be Lee's favorite
chair. She drank the contents of the glass in one long swallow and placed the
glass back on the table.

"When I was a little girl my grandmother used to tell me
stories about dragons. She would read me fairy tales and describe these
tremendous creatures with massive wings and huge claws that could breathe
fire."

She paused and Aurora lowered herself to the floor beside
her.

"Yes?" she asked, encouraging Angela forward.

"I thought they were just stories, until…"

"Until?"

"Until you were born."

"What do you mean? I'm not –"

"No. You aren't, but…" she trailed off and gazed
at Aurora with a blend of sadness and fear in her eyes. "I can't tell you
anymore. I'm sorry. Please, Aurora. Just marry Greyson. He will give you a good
life and you won't ever have to worry about any of this again. Just be a good
girl and marry him."

Angela touched her cheek and Aurora felt tears pooling
between her skin and Angela's hand. Outside the window the stars had
disappeared and the darkness was fading into dawn. It was her wedding day.

****

By the time Aurora made it to the bridal suite at the
country club she was weak with exhaustion. She hadn't been able to eat and her
body was shaking as she sat at the vanity allowing stylists to do her hair and
apply her makeup. The eyes that stared back at her in the mirror were empty.

Her mother scurried around the room delegating tasks and
ensuring everything was perfect. More than ever Aurora felt like the roses on
the coffee cup; all faded pink, flat petals, and useless thorns. When Sara helped
her into her dress and tightened the corseting behind her back, she felt the
final bit of hope slip away.

"You look beautiful," her mother whispered as she
lowered Aurora's veil over her face, her voice carrying no hint of
acknowledging the night before.

Aurora didn't respond, but picked up her bouquet of red
roses and let Sara guide her from the suite. They walked outside to the
ceremony site in silence. Aurora thought about her father and how she always
dreamed that she would hold his arm as she walked toward a groom that made her
heart flutter rather than sink. Music rose around her and hundreds of
unfamiliar faces turned to her. Each step felt like she was sinking further
into the ground beneath her. Finally she made it to the arch of white flowers at
the end of the aisle.

Greyson offered a smile, but Aurora couldn't return it. She
could hear the officiant talking and the words disappeared around her. They
meant nothing anyway. Out of the corner of her eye she could see slim white
tapers flickering on a table set up just on the other side of the arch. She
turned her gaze to the flames and felt the familiar tears pooling in her eyes.
Across from her, Greyson was repeating the vows the officiant read out to him.
They were meaningless and impersonal, but she still didn’t want to hear them.

Suddenly Aurora heard whispers rippling through the rows of
guests. For a moment she thought she had missed her vows, but then she noticed
Greyson was looking into the sky. A low, rhythmic sound finally registered above
the whispers. The guests were staring up at the sky, searching for the source
of the sound.

"Keep going," Greyson said, turning his attention
back to the officiant.

The officiant started reading Aurora's vows, but she held up
a hand to stop him.

"Wait," she said.

Dark shapes had appeared over the tree line and were
approaching rapidly. She saw one of the bodyguards who was a constant presence
at every event she and Greyson ever attended put his hand to his hip. A few of
the others followed suit and Aurora looked at her mother in the front row. Sara
was looking at the approaching shapes in horror.

A moment later the shapes were close enough that Aurora
could see them clearly. She gasped, her heart surging forward so hard she felt
a pain through her chest. The guests saw the same thing that she did, and there
was suddenly chaos.

Arach landed at the end of the aisle amid the frantic crush
of screaming guests trying to run from the ceremony site. He spread his wings
and turned to his face to the sky, roaring as flames shot from his mouth. Two
other dragons landed nearby, trapping the guests near the tangle of overturned
chairs.

"Aurora!" Sara screamed, launching herself
forward.

Aurora stepped away from her mother's reach, but felt
Greyson's hand clamp down on her arm.

"Say your vows, Aurora!" he shouted at her over
the deafening sounds.