by Bonnie Dee
A thousand years was almost over, the protection spell already breaking, and her metaphoric wings were about to unfurl and spread their shadow across the land.
With a guttural croak, the raven lifted off the tree branch and flapped her wings to gain height before following the oblivious lovers on their tour of the city.
“Tell me more about the woman for whom the tower was named,” Aurora begged. “She must have been a remarkable person for a building to bear her name after so many years.”
“The legend goes that Queen Brea’s father was the king of the underworld and her mother was a simple miller’s daughter who became queen by accident. There’s a bit about spinning straw into gold and a journey to the underworld and some kind of bet. I only vaguely remember the story from when I was a kid, but apart from the fairytale aspect, Queen Brea was real enough. They say she ushered in an era of prosperity and peace.”
Joel clasped Aurora’s hand and swung it lightly. When was the last time he’d spent a day like this on what normal people would call a real date, simply meandering along and looking at the city in which he lived?
“What happened to her?” Aurora prompted.
“History’s sketchy. There was a long, bleak period after her reign. Things fell apart. Warlords representing various factions clashed. Information and records were destroyed. No one really knows the exact causes, but the so-called Golden Age ended and chaos ruled for quite some time. But eventually science and reason helped us achieve not only useful inventions but a better way of governing ourselves—democracy over dictatorship.”
“Now your government officials are elected?” Aurora’s fine brows puckered as she mulled over the history lesson. God, she was adorable when she was serious.
“Yes, at least in this country. And yours,” he added. “No monarchy in Schlaushagen for many years.”
“And no magic,” she added. “No one believes in spells or conjuring, wizards, fairies or magical beings any longer?”
“No. There’s no sign of it in this world. I’ve never seen anything remotely paranormal up until a few days ago and those crazy vines.” It had crept up on him, this slow belief in her story, not just because it was the only theory that fit the available facts, but because of her. Because of last night’s relaxed closeness. It simply wasn’t possible to spend all night in Aurora’s arms and still think her insane. He’d never even mentioned the hospital to her.
“I wonder where the magic went and why Valborga still has her powers? Perhaps one has something to do with the other.” She looked up and froze, transfixed by an enormous, colorful billboard across the front of a building. The moving ad displayed a clip from a current theater musical. Aurora smiled in delight at the flashy dance number. She was even more adorable when she was happy.
“What is this? Can we see it on the television too?”
“No, that’s a live show. I can buy tickets and take you.” He spoke without thinking of anything besides seeing more of that enraptured expression on her face.
She turned to him, her face so radiant it practically burned him. “Truly? That would be wonderful.”
“I’ll see what I can do about getting seats for tonight.” Joel was amazed at how much he wanted to please her. He wished he could do something bigger, greater than buy a couple of theater tickets, or the pretty necklace they’d seen in a shop window this morning. She made him want to be heroic or commit some grand gesture to prove his worthiness—like some ridiculous knight errant jousting with his lady’s handkerchief tied around his arm. What the hell had come over him? He was losing his pragmatic self more with every moment he spent in Aurora’s company.
Joel looked away from her. “Come on. We’ll take a ferry ride so you can see the city from the water.” As they walked to the waterfront he busied himself with making reservations by phone for the show and for a trendy restaurant. He’d show Aurora a good time, all the while keeping his eyes open for another attack from the mysterious force that seemed bent on hurting her. But he wouldn’t become too attached. If sex was binding them closer and closer, he should sever that connection. He couldn’t deal with the emotional bond that seemed to be entwining them as surely as the thick vines that had barred their exit from the castle. Such strength of feeling frankly scared the hell out of him.
Keep it light, Joel. Show her a good time, get her set up in the world, and then walk away. You have too much work to do to become involved with this girl.
But as Aurora excitedly gripped his arm and called his attention to the amusement park on the wharf, Joel feared it was already too late. He was, to use an old-fashioned word, smitten. Struck hard by the desire to cherish and protect this innocent yet wise young woman who’d bloomed in his life like an unexpected flower shooting up from a crack in the asphalt.
By the time they’d ridden the carousel, the Ferris wheel, which left Aurora breathless, and a rinky-dink rollercoaster that left imprints of her fingers on Joel’s arm, he decided they’d had enough excitement for one day.
However, there was more to come, for as they began to stroll toward the exit a child, who’d somehow managed to free himself from his safety harness, stood up on the still-spinning merry-go-round, crying for his mother as he stumbled into the hardness of brightly painted horses and fire engines with flashing lights.
Although the youth in control of the ride immediately put the brakes on it, the child wouldn’t wait and tumbled off the platform before anyone could reach him. He fell heavily, screaming with fear and pain. Since the woman who was clearly the boy’s mother rushed to him immediately, Joel felt no need to intervene. Aurora, however, bolted across to the scene, her compassion, presumably, outweighing her knowledge of her own uselessness in such a situation. She was a pampered princess who hadn’t been able to dress herself until two days ago. How did she imagine she could aid an injured child?
Nevertheless, Joel felt his heart warm to her instinctive desire to help. She really was adorable when she demonstrated her caring. As he strolled forward in her wake, he realized that not for the first time he’d misjudged her. The child’s mother knelt by his side, her hands tugging at her hair while she screamed for an ambulance. It was Aurora who stroked the boy’s hair and spoke to him in low, soothing tones that calmed him, while with her free hand she felt his arms and legs. Joel realized she was asking him about where the pain was, and receiving answers that she seemed to understand.
The mother stopped screaming too.
“I think his arm’s broken,” Aurora said to her quietly. And certainly it lay at a very peculiar angle. “A physician must set it.”
Tears still streamed down the boy’s cheeks, agony glared out of his terrified eyes and twisted, trembling lips. Aurora, still touching his arm, frowned in concentration, then suddenly jerked it.
The boy gasped. His eyes widened and a smile lit his face like the sun after a storm. “That’s better,” he said.
Aurora smiled from him to the stunned mother. “Not broken,” she said. “Just…” She struggled for the right words. “…knocked out of place.”
“Dislocated.” Joel supplied the word, staring at the kid in wonder.
“Oh,” said the mother, understanding dawning on her relieved face. “Thank you so much, miss. You’ve saved us a doctor’s bill too.”
“How did you know?” Joel demanded when he managed to drag Aurora away. He was ridiculously proud of her and yet only too aware of the harm that would have come both to the child and to Aurora if she’d been wrong in her snap diagnosis.
“It didn’t feel right,” Aurora said airily. “I felt around it and knew where it should be. And then I realized the bones all felt straight and unbroken. The same thing used to happen to my father’s best hunting hound. I watched once, as its keeper jerked the leg back into place. The next time it happened, I did it.” She laughed. “My mother said bone-setting was not a suitable occupation for a princess. She said the same about midwifery when the kitchen maid…”
As if struck, s
he stopped in her tracks and Joel had to pull her along by the arm. “Do you have female physicians in this age?” she asked.
“Yes, of course.”
She said nothing more, but for some time after, her face wore a thoughtful expression that Joel found it hard to look away from.
At last she said, “And doctors must be paid. You paid the doctor in Schlaushagen, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“But you are wealthy. That woman, the boy’s mother, she would have struggled to pay if they’d needed a doctor?”
“Maybe. There are ways of saving, but many people do still struggle. Actually, that’s one of the issues I want to bring before the Assembly—a reform of our health service to make it fairer and more accessible to all.”
He stopped, wondering if she would understand what he was talking about, but she nodded, hugging his arm to her side and smiling at him with all the force of a sunbeam. It felt like a reward before he’d even done anything, and his rebellious loins stirred.
After the excitement in the park, rather than ride the tourist ferry, they returned to his apartment to rest before going out again.
He knew he was in trouble from the moment they hit the door. His desire for her had been growing all day as they did the sightseeing thing. In fact, he’d dragged her beneath the boardwalk near the amusement park and they’d made out for a while. Joel had felt like a teenager again, frantically groping, dry humping and kissing in a semi-public place because he and his girlfriend had no place else to go. But he wasn’t a kid anymore. He did have a home to return to and by the time he reached it he knew his intention to put a stop to sex with Aurora was going to be impossible to adhere to.
They were both stripped bare before they reached the bedroom, a trail of clothes strewn throughout the apartment. Joel tumbled her back on the bed and dove into her outstretched arms. Her hands tangled in his hair, pulling his head down for a kiss. He groaned as he sank into her softness and tasted her sugary mouth, sweet from the slushie she’d drunk at the pier.
They kissed as if both were starved for oxygen only the other could supply. Joel’s cock pressed insistently into her belly, but he didn’t enter her yet. Right now it felt good simply to tussle on the bed, rolling over, limbs twining, hands grasping for flesh. His every molecule felt more alive and vibrant whenever he was with her, not just when he was enjoying the pleasure of her body crushed against his.
Joel flipped them over so Aurora was on top. She pulled away, her flaming hair curtaining both their faces, and gazed into his eyes. “Joel,” she murmured and the sound of his name spoken in that husky, hungry voice sent a shaft of lust spearing through him.
“Woman, you are a witch,” he muttered as he slid his hands down to cup her rear and adjusted his cock so it aimed at her entrance.
She smiled quite wickedly and slid onto him slow and easy, enveloping him in heat and wetness. “You give me power,” she whispered back. “Every time we do this, I feel like the most powerful magical being.”
He chuckled and lifted his head off the pillow, reaching for her mouth again. Their tongues swept around each other as she rose and fell on him, setting a leisurely pace. She drew him deeper and deeper into her—not only physically, but mentally. She filled all his senses until he lost his perception of himself and knew only her.
He stroked his hands over her smooth skin, marveling at the miracle of her youthful femininity. She felt damned toned for a girl who’d been in hibernation for a thousand years.
Joel released her mouth with a gasp and dropped his head back against the pillow. His eyes nearly closed as Aurora rode him faster, sitting straight and bouncing on top of him. Her pert breasts jiggled in an enticing way that drove him crazy. He focused on them with his slitted gaze and on the unbearable friction heating his cock.
Aurora whimpered and bounced and, when she came, her body spasmed around him, her inner muscles clenching hard. She cried out, “Oh, Joel,” and this time hearing her call his name put him over the edge. He thrust his hips off the bed and filled her deeply once more. His release shuddered through him with the strength of a summer storm, bursting out of nowhere to leave the parched land drenched.
As he came back into himself, Joel opened his eyes and beheld Aurora sitting above him, watching his face.
“You appear to be quite in pain when you”—she hesitated over the word—“come.”
He grinned. “It’s a good kind of pain.”
“Yes, it is.” She smiled and lifted up to let him slide out of her.
They lay side by side in the aftermath, facing each other and not speaking for several long moments. Joel reached out and brushed bright strands of hair from her sweaty forehead, then caressed her lips with his finger.
“Such a soft, sweet mouth.”
She nipped his fingertip, then drew it into her mouth and sucked before letting it go. Her light hazel eyes were so open and direct. “Joel, have you…” She paused and licked her lips before continuing. “That is, were there many… Have you had many women?”
He shook his head. “Nu-uh. That’s a loaded question. No one ever really wants to hear the answer.”
“That many?” she said dryly.
“I’m over thirty and a single man. In today’s world, we don’t usually wait for marriage to have sex.”
“Of course. I don’t believe men in my time waited either. Only women are supposed to be pure on their wedding night.”
“These days women take what they want too. No one is expected to be a virgin much past puberty. And sex often doesn’t have anything to do with love.”
“Oh. I see.” She looked at their laced fingers on the sheet between them. “But don’t you feel something special is lost if you give yourself away to anyone whenever you feel…aroused by them?”
“I’ve never thought about it.” That was true. He hadn’t believed in love for so long that considering emotions hardly occurred to him.
“What about Vee? I suppose you’ve—”
“We can stop talking about this any time,” he interrupted. “I don’t want to discuss my past relationships with you.”
“I was only curious.” She pulled her hand away from his and rolled onto her back.
Perhaps it was best to make sure she realized the truth about him right now before she grew any more attached.
“Aurora, I’ve told you I don’t get involved. My work is all I have time for. That’s why an arrangement with someone like Vee is perfect for me. I don’t want to hurt you,” he said gently, “but you must understand, as wonderful as these past few days have been, our time together can’t last. My vacation is almost over. I have to return to my regular life, my responsibilities.”
There was a long pause before she answered. “I understand. I’m part of your holiday, a temporary diversion.”
“It’s the way it has to be. I’m sorry. But I’ll help you get settled into a place of your own and give you whatever money you need. I won’t leave you alone in this world.” I just won’t be with you.
Silence fell between them, so profound that he could hear the refrigerator’s soft hum floating all the way from the kitchen.
“I do want to protect you from Valborga,” Joel added after some time. “I’m not sure how we can find out more about her or how to stop her, but I won’t leave you to fight her alone.” If the fairy was even real. The attacking vines and fluke fire seemed less magical now that he was back in his own apartment in his own world. Perhaps they’d been freakish anomalies with some physical explanation.
Aurora nodded. “I’d appreciate a little help learning to live in this modern world, but I’ll be all right on my own. It’s time for me to grow up and live my own life at last.”
Her voice was a cool breeze blowing through the room. It chilled Joel even lying beside her warm body beneath the covers. He should be glad of her attitude. She’d taken his words well. No tears or protests that they were meant to be together. She was still a young woman despite her thousand ye
ar sleep and could have been overly emotional and clinging. He should be grateful she was acting so mature and calm, almost regal.
Instead, his heart felt like stone as he rose from the bed to take a shower.
A somber mood infected the rest of the evening. Aurora appeared to enjoy the restaurant and the stage musical, but her appreciation was tempered by a sense of aloofness. The joyous, excited girl from the amusement park was gone and Joel spent the evening trying to find her again. He couldn’t break through Aurora’s new layer of reserve and knew he shouldn’t even try. After all, he’d asked for this. He was the one who’d put up a barrier between them.
They shared his bed that night, but not their bodies. Aurora turned her back to him and went to sleep, or pretended to. Joel stared at the back of her head and longed to touch the soft nape of her neck revealed between auburn tresses. But he couldn’t reach for her and pull away from her at the same time. It wasn’t right or fair. At last he turned away, rolling onto his side to stare at the glowing numbers on the bedside clock as they marked the night’s passing.
Chapter Ten
“You must try this on. It will look marvelous on you with your coloring.”
Vee smiled at Aurora, and the hair on her nape rose. She couldn’t figure out why Vee set her so on edge. The woman was more than kind and charming without a trace of sarcasm as far as Aurora could tell. That was precisely what continued to bother her. Vee didn’t display any jealousy or much curiosity about the stranger who’d entangled herself with Joel. That lack of feeling—coupled with the fact that Joel had certainly had sex with the woman—was enough to drive Aurora mad.
