Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (45 page)

Arach drew in a sharp breath and Aurora took the sound as
encouragement to continue. Still stroking him, she knelt in front of him and
let her tongue slip past her lips so that the tip of his penis stroked across
it with each long glide of her hand. He let her continue this way for a few
strokes, then took her by her shoulders and brought her to her feet.

Aurora complied willingly with his hands as he led her onto
the bed and turned her body so her head rested on the pillows. He climbed up
toward her and she could see the dragon in the power of his movements. Bringing
his lips to hers, Arach stretched his body over hers so they touched from their
chests to their toes. Aurora put everything into her kiss, letting him coax her
further and further into her overpowering desire for him.

She drew her thighs apart beneath his, causing him to settle
between them and the tip of his erection to touch her opening. The sensation
made her gasp and she looked into his eyes, holding his gaze as he pushed
slowly forward, sinking deeply into her until his hipbones rested against her
and her body felt full and fulfilled. She pulled the leather strap from his
hair, releasing the silken strands so they fell around his face and onto his
shoulder blades.

Aurora buried her fingers in his hair and brought his mouth
back down to hers. She flicked the tip of her tongue against the inside of his
bottom lip, encouraging him. His hips rolled against her and she whimpered,
relaxing against the feeling to let her hips open further to him. Each long,
deep stroke massaged her and she used her hands on his lower back to guide him
into a faster rhythm. As he thrust into her she could hear growls of pleasure in
his throat.

Sweat beaded on his skin and Aurora lifted her head to lick
the drops off his shoulder before bringing her mouth close to his ear.

"Let go," she whispered.

Arach released the sounds from his throat and started moving
at a faster pace, each stroke hard enough to elicit a cry. Aurora felt herself
spiraling out of control and just as her body contracted around him, Arach gave
a final, intense thrust and groaned loudly. She could feel him pulsing within
her, spilling hot stream into her body as her tremors milked him.

Aurora kissed along his shoulder as he dropped down onto her
and tucked his head in the curve of her neck. War was coming. She knew it. All
that mattered to her in that moment, though, was his heartbeat against hers and
knowing that when sleep overtook her, she would remain in his arms, just where
she was made to be.

THE
END

The ground beneath her was damp and cold, and Vivian shifted
against it uncomfortably before opening her eyes. Above her, stars so vivid
they were like shattered glass sparkled against a deep, velvety sky. Her body
felt heavy, pulled down toward the ground as if she didn't have control over it
yet, as if she was still dreaming.

"Vivian?" a familiar voice called from somewhere
in the area around her.

The ability to move seemed to flow back through her body
along with the words and she pulled herself up into a sitting position to look
for the source of the voice. A strange, foggy cool rushed against her back as
she sat up and she felt a shiver ripple across her skin. In the distance she
could see a figure step into the milky silver moonlight that pooled across the
ground.

"Aurora?" she asked, meaning to yell but realizing
her voice had only come out as a soft, powdery sound.

The figure started jogging toward her and when it came
within a few yards she could see Aurora's face glow in the moonlight, the pale
beams creating a shimmer in the coppery hair tumbling down her shoulders that
made her look almost ethereal in the light. She wore a long dark dress that
concealed her feet, making her seem to glide as she came closer. In her
confusion Vivian struggled with grasping what was happening and began to fear
that Aurora had, in fact, died and that somehow she was visiting the plane
where her best friend now existed.

Vivian climbed to her feet and took a cautious step toward
Aurora. A moment later Aurora swept her into her arms in a tight hug and the
solidness of her body told Vivian that she was still alive and that this
moment, as distant as it still felt from her grasp, was reality.

"I'm so glad you're here," Aurora said into
Vivian's hair.

Vivian gripped her more tightly, afraid that when she let
her go she would disappear again.

"I am, too," she said, then paused, "But
where exactly is 'here'?"

Aurora laughed. The sound was clear and honest, the most
genuine laugh she had heard come from her best friend in months, possibly a
year. She finally sounded relaxed and calm again after so long of being tense,
uncomfortable, and grieving. Though she had rarely said anything to her, Vivian
had seen the pain and devastation in Aurora's eyes and watched as the girl she
had known since they were in elementary school faded away into the artificial
image her father and Greyson had created for her.

"This is Killington," Aurora said, stepping back
from their embrace and taking her hand so she could lead her toward the path
through the forest where she had first appeared.

"Vermont?" Vivian asked, feeling even more
confused with each step.

Aurora laughed again and squeezed Vivian's hand.

"Not quite."

They stepped into the forest and Vivian was immediately
taken by the intensity of the space around her. Plants gleamed with a glaze of
new-fallen rain and she filled her lungs with the pure, earthy scent. Beneath
the smell of the rain and the leaves was a light floral note that seemed to
dance around her, sometimes stronger, sometimes fainter, luring her as they
followed along the path.

Vivian suddenly stopped and turned to Aurora, holding her by
her shoulders and looking directly into her wide blue eyes.

"Everyone thinks you're dead, Aurora," she said
sternly, enunciating each word to ensure the other woman understood exactly
what she said.

The smile on Aurora's face faltered slightly and she lifted
her hands to hold onto Vivian's arms so that they gripped each other tightly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What happened at the wedding?" Vivian asked,
skirting Aurora's question.

She knew that she would have to tell her everything soon
enough, but for now she needed as much information as she could gather. Aurora
glanced up the path and then back at her.

"What do you remember from the wedding?" she
asked.

"I remember standing up at the altar and Greyson saying
his vows. Then everything went completely chaotic. Three men in black suits ran
down the aisle and grabbed you, and then Greyson chased after you."

Aurora nodded slightly and looked deeply into Vivian's eyes
as if trying to connect with her on a level beyond the existence where they now
stood.

"I need you to think about it again," she said
softly, "Think about the wedding again and remember what you actually saw.
Those weren't men that came in the middle of the ceremony."

Vivian narrowed her eyes at Aurora, confused by her words,
but her best friend kept nodding at her as if guiding her into her thoughts.
Continuing to stare at Aurora, Vivian forced herself to think back to the
wedding two days before. In her mind she could see the pristine ceremony
location, the long white aisle runner, and Greyson standing at the end. She saw
Aurora walking down the aisle and taking Greyson's hands in hers. Somewhere in
her thoughts he said his vows, but the words didn't come through, just the
muted sound of his voice overtaken by a steady, deep rhythm in the sky.

"Think about it, Vivian," Aurora whispered to her
as if she could see what Vivian was seeing in her memories.

Vivian saw the three men running toward the aisle, and then
the strange sound in the sky got louder and louder until it was all she could
focus on, all she could perceive. When the image in her mind clarified again,
the men were gone. In their place were three massive creatures. The one in the
middle straightened and spread powerful wings, tilting its face to the sky and
releasing a stream of fire that darkened the clouds and the smell of smoke and
singed earth.

"Dragons," she gasped.

Aurora rubbed her arms and offered a gentle smile.

"Let me introduce you to my clan."

******************************

Aurora pulled on her arm until Vivian started walking again,
following her down the path. Her mind was reeling with everything she was
trying to process. The memories of the wedding were bolder now, clearer than
before as she came to terms with what she had actually seen. For the two days
since the wedding she had believed, as the others had, that she had watched her
best friend torn from her fiancé's arms by three men who crashed through her
ceremony and carried her away.

Now she knew that that memory was a lie, fabricated by her
mind to cover the horror that was the actual massive creatures that had
descended on the wedding. She could see what actually happened now. Her mind
saw Aurora running toward one of the dragons and tearing the gown away from her
legs before she climbed onto his back and let him take her into the sky.

"Why am I here, Aurora?" she asked as they walked
further and further from the place where Vivian had awoken.

"I knew you were probably worried about me and I wanted
to let you know that I was alright. I want you to meet Arach and the rest of
the clan."

"Arach is…"

She trailed off, unsure of how she was going to continue
that sentence. None of this was making any sense to her. All of their lives she
and Aurora had confided completely in each other. Now she felt like she was
chasing after some flight of fancy that was unfolding with each step.

"He's my partner. I was made for him."

"I don't understand."

"Do you remember that I told you I started having
strange dreams right before the wedding?"

"Yeah."

Vivian could see the end of the path now and a massive stone
house a few yards across a large open area around it. She could smell fire and
burned herbs making the air thicker.

"Those were Arach connecting with me. I fell in love
with him through those dreams."

"He kidnapped you," Vivian said.

She was horrified with what she was hearing. Aurora had
always been the most in control and level-headed person she had ever known, but
now she sounded as though she was speaking in whimsical code.

"He didn't kidnap me. He rescued me."

They stepped out of the forest and an instant later Vivian
heard the deep, rhythmic sound from the wedding. Aurora looked up and smiled
seconds before a huge black dragon landed on the ground ahead of them. Vivian
recognized it as the infuriated, fearsome creature that breathed fire and flew
away with Aurora on its back.

Aurora released Vivian's hand and jogged toward the dragon,
standing up on her toes to take its massive head in her arms and nuzzle her
face against his. Before her eyes could register what happened, the dragon
disappeared and in its place stood a man with glossy black hair and an intense,
startling gaze. He wrapped his arms around Aurora's waist and caught her mouth
in a kiss, drawing her against his body protectively.

Their kiss broke and Aurora gazed at him for a few seconds
before turning back to Vivian.

"This is Arach," she said in a voice that sounded
purely happy.

"Arach, this is Vivian, my best friend. I wanted her
here for the wedding."

That brought Vivian out of her contemplation of the sudden
change from the dragon to the man.

"Wedding?" she asked.

She watched as Arach and Aurora nuzzled each other's faces
again, their smiles so contented it made her chest ache with the realization of
just how miserable Aurora had been for so long.

"Speaking of the wedding," Arach said, stepping
back slightly to hold both of Aurora's hands and look into her eyes,
"There's still a lot that needs to be done and what I found out today
might make that a little more difficult than we anticipated."

Vivian saw the happiness drain out of Aurora's face and her
hands tighten on Arach's.

"What happened?" she asked.

Arach glanced over at Vivian and Vivian suddenly felt
uncomfortable, as if she had intruded on a very still and private world that
only existed for those who could see it in that moment. Part of her wanted to
close her eyes so she couldn't see it any longer, so she could make it go away.
Without that world, however, there would be no Aurora, and that was not
something Vivian wanted to even consider.

"Does she know?" he asked, lowering his voice
almost conspiratorially.

"I caught on to the fact that my best friend is
apparently engaged to a dragon two days after scaring the living hell out of
everyone she knows by leaving her perfectly good human wedding," Vivian
snapped, the frustration and fear building in her as she felt more and more
disconnected from what was happening around her.

Aurora's eyes widened and she took a step toward her as
Arach's shoulders squared and his spine straightened in the same aggressive way
he had straightened in his dragon form at the ceremony.

"Vivian, stop," Aurora said softly.

"No, Aurora. I don't understand what's going on. What
the hell is this? He's gorgeous, I'll give you that, but you have known Greyson
for –"

"I know how long I knew him," Aurora said, her
voice dropping.

"Ok, so what? You start having weird fantasy dreams
about a dragon who turns out to be a real boy and so you leave everything
behind for him? Greyson could have given you the life you have always
wanted."

Aurora stepped up within inches of her so fast Vivian caught
her breath.

"Greyson killed my father," Aurora said harshly.

"What?" Vivian asked, barely able to force the
word past the tightness in her throat.

"Greyson killed my father," Aurora repeated,
slightly louder, "So I killed him."