Aurora's Promise (33 page)

Her fingers tensed around his wrist. “But you—”

“Shhh,” he interrupted with a frown. “You need to just
listen for a moment, and then I’ll let you make your choice. Agreed?”

Her expression clearly stated that there wasn’t anything he
might say that could change her mind, but she nodded and relaxed her death grip
on his arms.

“Yes, I was angry. Very angry. Since the day I met you, you’ve
turned my world upside down and inside out over and over. You drive me crazy,
you keep secrets from me, you put yourself in danger and jump into other worlds
without letting anyone know.” He took a deep breath. “But that’s not the point
now. We accepted each other as mates—”

“But the Council—”

“Approved.”

Aurora’s jaw dropped. “They
what?
”

“Approved our match. With their blessing. My parents adore
you and,” he said, his voice growing rough as he placed a hand over her
stomach, “apparently the gods approve too.”

Knocking his hands away she said, “Is all this about the
possibility of a
baby
?” Her voice cut through the warmth he had wrapped
around them and filled the air with a decided chill.

“It’s more than a possibility,” he said. “And I’d be willing
to bet my kingdom you know it.”

“It’s too early to tell,” she insisted.

He smiled. “Maybe on Earth, but not on Ilyria. Stepping
through a portal feels like stepping through a very thin layer of fabric. Time
and space rip around you for a brief second. That’s all there is to it unless
you’re a pregnant woman and then it makes you feel incredibly ill, or so I’ve
been told. Common belief holds that it’s because one isn’t allowed to go
through a portal without his or her will in agreement, and a pregnant woman
carries her child through on her own will. But that’s an argument better left
to the Elders and Prophets.”

Threading his fingers through her hair, he brought her closer
again. “So tell me, how were your trips through The Gateways’ portals?” He
skimmed his thumb over her jaw and could feel the muscles bunch there as she
gritted her teeth.

“Well, you don’t have to worry. If I do happen to be
pregnant, I’m sure we can come to some agreement about custody—”

“Let me finish.” Anger was not the direction he’d intended,
but the woman had the unique ability to press him past his well-honed control.

“Fine,” she snapped, back on the defensive. “Finish your
lecture and then leave.”

“This has nothing to do with our child—”

“Right.” Once again she stepped away from him, crossing her
arms in a defiant gesture as her eyes iced over in a cold glare. “Like you’d
even be here if you didn’t think I was pregnant. You know what? I’ve decided I
don’t
care what you have to say. Save your breath and just leave now. I’ll be
sure to send you a birth announcement should the need arise.”

“Enough!” Taking her by the shoulders, he gave her a quick,
firm shake. “You will be quiet and listen. The reason I came for you is because
you are my mate. With or without a child, you are mine. I didn’t know about the
baby until Brooke told me just minutes ago.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly recovered and
frosted over again. “I see. That explains all the yelling.”

He brushed her comment aside. “Do you know where I went
after you stormed out of the Hall? Why I took so long to come for you?” He
waited, but she refused to respond. “I stopped by my father’s house to return
the regalia passed down to me when I became old enough to rule. I would sooner
give up my place in my father’s house than you.”

“You gave up your place as Heir to the Third House?”

“I tried. But my father wouldn’t hear of it. And a Mystic,
even from another world, is still considered a Mystic by the Elders and
Prophets, something you proved to all beyond a shadow of a doubt. But even if
they hadn’t approved you as a Royal’s mate, it wouldn’t have mattered. I know
that now.”

With his finger, he gently traced a damp track down her
cheek that had been left by her tears. “I was expecting the Council to give us
what we already had the power between us to gain together.” He rubbed the damp
path gently away with his thumb from first her right cheek and then her left. “What
you saw on my face in the Hall of Council, Aurora, was the realization that all
I had lived and searched for up to that moment was the price I was willing to
pay to keep what I had found in you.”

“Connyn—”

“I know what I want. My
vystra.
”

“But what about the mind link? Doesn’t that prove—”

“Open your mind to me, Aurora.”

“What? I don’t know how.”

Sliding his fingers into her hair at the temples he said, “You’ve
been using your magic to keep me out. Try using it to let me in.” Then he
kissed her. Long and deep, breathing her in, tasting his mate and holding her
close. Waiting. Opening his mind to her, he let her take from him what she
would, what she could.

She returned the kiss, stroking his tongue with her own and
easing in closer to his body. She softened against him, her body fitting in its
perfect place against his. And then he felt the petal-soft touch of her mind
against his.

He stilled, not pushing the connection but offering her
utterly and unconditionally the full sweep and scope of emotions he held bound
to her in his soul.

The touch came again, stronger, more confident. He could
feel her surprise, her hesitation as she grazed against his thoughts. He held
nothing back but opened himself fully to reveal his love and ultimate
commitment to her. Her mind skittered back in shock and then leapt forward. Her
arms reached up to wrap around his neck as she dove deeper into the kiss,
deeper into his mind. With a gasp, she arched into him, surging against his
body with a white-hot desire that flashed to flame instantly.

Lifting his head, he said, “Time to leave.” Unwinding her
arms from around his neck, he took a deep breath and a step back. Still, he
couldn’t completely release her And so kept his hands resting lightly on her
arms.

She blinked up at him incredulously, her brown eyes dark and
shimmering with lust. “Now?”

“Now.”

“But I’m not done.”

His arms snapped straight to keep her from pressing her body
against his again when she reached for him. He might have laughed if he didn’t
need to be inside her so desperately. “You are until we get home. I refuse to
make love to my mate on my cousin’s bed.”

* * * * *

“Yes,” Aurora whispered, letting her head fall back as
Connyn’s hands closed over her breasts. His wickedly erotic caresses were
slowly erasing the awkward trip back to the Third House’s sector. It had
started with trying to explain her sudden shift to her sisters-in-law. Though
both Brooke and Bethany were gently restrained by their husbands and so couldn’t
rush her the moment she exited the bedroom, worry had clouded their eyes as
they searched her face and repeated invitations to stay with them for as long
as she wished. She’d been warmed by Bethany’s and Brooke’s staunch alignment
with her and she’d had to swear she wasn’t in any way being coerced by Connyn
and was returning of her own free will.

Even as she reassured them, Connyn had propelled her toward
the door until they were through the front gates and surrounded by his guards.
As a unit they moved rapidly through the streets, the bulk of the soldiers
blocking most of the interested stares. Word of her abilities had spread
quickly and Connyn had warned her that many were excited to see a woman with
manifested powers, something unheard of in recent memory.

Connyn squeezed and pushed her breasts up. When she looked
down, she saw the crimson
rythra
pillowed between the two pale white
mounds. Once they’d reached their own private rooms, her mate had efficiently
stripped her of all clothes and accessories save the heritage stone she wore
around her neck. Jewelry and clothing littered the inner courtyard and a good
part of their bedroom as he was even less mindful of where his own clothes had
landed than he was of hers.

Stepping closer, he bent down to kiss her neck as her arms
went around his shoulders. The heat of his body generated an instant yearning
within her own and when his cock pressed into her belly, she moaned softly,
wanting that heat and hardness deep inside her.

She didn’t wait for Connyn to encourage her to open her mind
to his. Eagerly, she reached for him with her thoughts as well as with her
arms, using her magic as a connection rather than a shield. Feelings,
sensations, even specific words rolled through her consciousness that were
separate from her own.

Untying the leather thong holding the two thin braids in
place that bound back his long hair, she worked his hair loose while his thumbs
flicked over her nipples. He lowered his head to tease her breast with his
teeth as she continued to run her fingers through his hair until her fingers
slid through the strands unhindered. Whispering his name, she cupped his head
and let the magic flow between them, not trying to control or guide it.

Instantly the power between them rose like a hot tide and
she saw the magic from Connyn’s perspective. A shining, golden mist that flowed
through her and swirled around her mate. Melding together the physical sense of
pleasure, the rising arousal and the mental joining of mutual enjoyment. She
felt as if she were swimming in a glittering sea of ecstasy. But it didn’t
simply surround her—it saturated her, pervaded every atom of her being.

His mouth moved to her other breast. She wished for the
scrape of his teeth and immediately he was gently biting her nipple, dragging
the sharp edges of his teeth over the peak before sucking it deep again.
Suddenly new vistas of possibilities opened up before her. A soft moan wove
between them. It came from her, from him. A blending of their thoughts,
yearning together for each other.

“Connyn,” she murmured. Curling her fingers into his hair,
she urged him up, wanting to kiss his mouth, to feel his body fully against
hers, wanting him
inside.

“Soon.” His whisper brushed over her breast and then he
knelt before her, his hands sweeping down her back. His blatant craving for her
taste shot through her with a shocking eroticism as he blew a cool stream of
air over her mound, parting her curls and making her shiver. Suddenly she
wanted the heat of his mouth to rid her of the faint chill.

His tongue pushed between her folds and circled her clit.
Sensation collided with the
knowing
of being wanted. Of understanding
that his fingers stroked a fiery pleasure across her skin for his pleasure as
well as hers. His hands pressed into her curves out of his own need to have
them filled with her flesh while he ate at her, his mouth greedy, his tongue
hot and rough.

Not enough. More.
Her. Him. His hunger fed her own
and she rocked against him, gasping as her swollen clit grazed his teeth.
Pleasure streaked out from her center in barbed streams, hitting the limits of
her skin and rolling back onto itself. It filled her with a supplicating
emptiness, a willingness to prostrate herself before him, for him.

She tried to step away, take a breath, find her balance.

He refused to let her, holding her in place with one firm
hand splayed over her lower back while sliding the other down and between her
legs to push two fingers up inside her cunt.

God! That feels so—

Wet. You’re so fucking wet for me.

Her knees started to buckle and she would have fallen
forward but he countered the pressure with the unyielding pressure from his
mouth. The slick smacking of his fingers against her pussy as he pushed them in
and out twisting and flexing summoned her to the edge of release within
seconds.

A deep tremor in her muscles signaled the onset of her
orgasm and she threw herself open to embrace it and found herself airborne as
Connyn’s hands wrapped around her waist and threw her backward. The heavy
rythra
thumped against her sternum and then slid sideways onto the bed.

Landing on the bed spread-eagle, she was immediately trapped
beneath him. With his knees forcing her legs wider apart, his fingers threaded
through hers to pin her hands to the bed beside her head. His mouth came down
hard on hers and with a single powerful thrust of his hips, he fully embedded
his cock deep inside her. Rocking against her body, his groin pressed on her
clit, his cock filling and stretching her, his tongue possessing her mouth.

The blending of their souls was in the kiss. Her taste, his
taste. Separate but united. A blending that bound and drove a deep channel
between mates. Awareness flowed through it as her cunt squeezed him and she
arched under him, tangling her tongue with his in a desperate bid for
dominance, for balance or leverage.
Anything
to keep herself from
unraveling completely at the surge of emotion that slammed through her at
Connyn’s abrupt onslaught.

He lifted his head and filled her vision with a face fierce
with insistent desire, eyes stormy and features already handsome honed to a
warrior’s harshness. “Wrap your legs around me and don’t block me with your
magic.”

With her mind reeling and her body rioting, she knew that
even now she could resist. As deep as he was, she could push him back. With or
without her magic, she could choose to close herself, accept him only on
certain levels. She realized that it would always be her choice to keep her
heart in some part protected, safe from the tearing that could rip to
frightening depths lightning fast.

She hesitated for a moment that reached across time,
vulnerable and open beneath him, with her life, her body, her love. And yet,
not. Not yet. Not all.

Connyn shifted his weight so he could cup her face. “Aurora,
I trust you. Trust me.”