Chapter 21 – Aurora
It’s been a few weeks since Rorik fucked me for the first time and gave me two orgasms.
He’s been busy doing official vampire duties that Layla says are part of his punishment.
He’s absolutely miserable too. After videos of him ‘kidnapping’ me went viral, people obsessed over the beautiful, tortured vampire who’s been reformed.
So, Vara put him on television. He has fans.
Vara says the more he appears on TV and flashes his fangs or winks his sparkling blue eyes, the more humans will realize monsters are of no danger to them.
So, yeah, he’s been busy, which means I don’t see him as much as I’d like. I need more sleep than he does so sometimes he’ll return home and curl up in bed with me. When I wake, he’s gone.
He’s keeping me at a distance, and I’m not sure if it’s because of what he admitted to me a few weeks ago or because he’s scared to lose me.
Or maybe he’s respecting my decision not to bond.
I want to. I do. But I still don’t feel complete without all my memories.
He thinks they’ll return if we mate, and I do plan to accept the mating bond. Just… not yet.
I’m not ready.
Plus, it feels like Rorik is hiding something from me. My gut is telling me. Or maybe it’s something the bond senses.
My phone buzzes with a text message. Farrah wants the girls to hang out this weekend. I text back that I’m down, then tuck the phone away.
We haven’t been able to hang out much since the night of the reveal.
All the supes are busy doing press or attending human integration events.
Things have gotten better though. After the humans realized monsters weren’t going to eat them or harm them or try to capture them, most dropped their guard.
Monsters who had to work 9 to 5s under the guise of a human are now showing up in their true form. Human nightclubs are full of winged and fanged creatures dancing alongside mortals.
Rorik left me a note this morning saying he’ll be out all night making appearances at nightclubs across the city. I said I wanted to go with him, but he refused.
He’s worried that my mother saw the video of us on the news a few weeks ago. While Rorik wants to find her, he said he didn’t want to put me in harm’s way. He doesn’t want to make it easier for my mother to take me away from him, no matter how many bodyguards he hires to protect me.
After eating my breakfast, even though it’s more like dinner—since I’ve been keeping to a night schedule because of Rorik and my monster friends—I head to the hidden office in the main bedroom.
I’ve been going through my mother’s belongings again, hoping something will spark a memory. Anything that could help me remember or get my magic back. I’m supposed to begin spell classes with Evangeline and her mother next week. They’ve all been too busy until now to do it sooner.
The entire room hums with magic when I enter. Every day it gets louder… more potent. I’m not sure how many times I’ve revisited the ancient books, papers with spells, potions, and herbs. It’s all so familiar.
Giving up on the book in front of me, I stand, walk to the middle of the room, and close my eyes.
Something has been calling to me the entire time I’ve been in here. I thought it was something we’ve already unpacked or an item in a box that was left to sort through.
Nope.
It’s something else.
I move around the room, following the signal. When I near a wall, my necklace lights up. It’s been quiet since the day we first found it. I wear it as much as I can. It hasn’t been glowing when Rorik and I are together either.
It seems almost sentient. Like the glowing is its way of communicating.
Now it’s telling me to go to the wall.
I stand before it. There’s magic back there.
I place my palms on the wall and push. Nothing happens. I do it again and close my eyes while reciting a spell.
A spell!
I remember.
It’s a simple spell used to unlock closed doors or unveil hidden passageways.
Magic spreads through my body, my veins, and after I recite the spell’s words three times, a small door clicks open.
It’s a cubbyhole. Big enough to hold a few boxes.
There’s one in there.
I take it out and place it on the table in the office. I gasp upon opening the lid. There’s a phone in here. It’s dead, but I have no doubt it belongs to me. There’s also a lease with my name on it for my shop in New Orleans.
And a black purse.
What the fuck?
Did Rorik hide all this from me?
I open the purse to find a wallet, some keys, ChapStick, and other random things.
Keys.
My keys!
A memory returning!
Aside from the lease, these are things I had on me when my mother found me. She caught me leaving my apartment and incapacitated me. The next thing I remember is waking up without my memories, imprisoned by the hunters.
Inside the wallet are a few credit cards, about $50 in cash, and an ID with an East Village address.
“My apartment!”
I don’t think twice and grab the purse, stuff my wallet and keys in there, and leave.
In the lobby, I walk quickly past Lloyd.
“Miss Aurora!” he yells, but I ignore him.
He’ll just try to stop me. I’m sure he’s already on the phone with Rorik.
It’s dark when I step outside. The late August night air has a chill to it.
Traffic is bumper to bumper, so it’ll be faster to take the subway. I bring up the maps app on my phone, and it shows me a station only a few blocks away.
I start walking, glancing over my shoulder every few steps because I know he’s on the way.
Minutes later, I spot the green globe to indicate the subway station’s location and nearly scream with joy that I’ve avoided capture.
“Aurora!”
Ope. Maybe not.
The deep, booming voice makes me jump. It’s not close… but it’s not far away either.
“Fuck!”
The subway station is feet away, but a crowd of people is coming up the stairs. They’ll just slow me down.
I need to run.
I hate running.
I don’t run.
But I’m going to run from him.
Central Park is across the street so that’s where I go.
It’s a stupid move, but my body lights up with excitement.
It wants to be chased.
I can’t remember the last time I ran, and my forty-three-year-old body is not a fan, but the adrenaline keeps me moving.
A soft chuckle tickles my ear, and I scream. But I don’t stop running.
He’s playing with me now.
Hunting me.
The predator chasing the prey.
Goddamn if I don’t find this hot.
But I’m angry at him for hiding the box.
I’m not giving in to him yet.
The park isn’t crowded at this time of night. I’ve only passed one person who was jogging. And as I run further into the park, the fewer people I see.
Until there’s no one.
An owl hoots off in the distance, and a coyote howls.
What the fuck? There are coyotes in Central Park?
Maybe it’s a coyote shifter.
I run through a tunnel bridge, plunging me into darkness.
“Aurora.”
Rorik’s voice echoes around me, and I come to a halt.
My labored breathing is the only sound under this bridge.
A figure steps into the light at the other end of the tunnel.
“Giving up so easily, my little captive?”
“Fuck you!”
I turn on my heel and dart out the same way I had just come from. I veer off the sidewalk and into the trees.
My body is too tired. I’m slowing down. I’m not sure how far I make it into the trees before I stumble over a fallen limb and fall to the ground. Something cuts into my knees and palms, and I grunt at the sharp pain that follows.
When I manage to get myself upright, I pause and listen.
He’s close. I know it. My body knows it. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to hide. He can hear my fast-beating heart. My wheezing. The creaking of my knees.
A burst of wind blows my hair off my sweaty neck.
It’s not a windy night.
Another burst of wind, this time on my left side.
I try running again, but my feet catch on a root. I fall to the ground.
“Gotcha,” Rorik says, grabbing my hips, flipping me over, and pinning me underneath him.
I shove at his chest, but he’s like a fucking brick wall.
“Fuck you, vampire! You hid a box from me!”
He sits himself between my legs and grinds his cock into my cloth-covered pussy. I bite my lip to hide my groan.
“I did,” he says, running his nose over my jaw.
“That’s the same as lying to me!” I scream, trying to push him away again.
He presses his lips against my neck.
This time I can’t stop the whimper that follows.
“I didn’t want you to leave me.”
I huff. “I wouldn’t have. But I will now!”
“Liar.” His sharp fangs replace his soft kisses and scrape across my neck.
I manage to maneuver my knee enough to aim for his groin, but he senses the move and flips me over onto my stomach.
He pulls my sweatpants and underwear down, exposing my bare ass to the warm night air.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I growl.
He spanks me, and I groan at the zap of pleasure it causes.
“You know that’s not the word,” he says, running his finger down my crack until the tip pauses at my slick pussy opening.
Goddamn it.
I shouldn’t be this wet for him.
“Say it and I’ll stop.”
He waits. He waits so long, I start to squirm.
“Hmm, you’re such a little slut for my cock, aren’t you, Aurora?”
I whimper… again… and he thrusts a finger inside me, all the way down to the last knuckle before hooking the tip.
It grazes my g-spot.
Slowly, he pulls out, then he thrusts back in.
Over and over, he edges me.
“Please,” I groan.
“This is your punishment, Aurora. I told you to never run from a vampire.”
“You. Lied. To. Me.” I grit out.
Rorik finds my clit and presses down, massaging in slow, torturous circles. My body shakes, my legs tired after running more than I can remember ever running in my life.
Something wraps around my waist, keeping my ass up in the air.
His shadows.
Another tendril presses my head down into the dirt. Then they snake over my sides until reaching my ass cheeks.
His shadows spread me apart.
I try to buck away when Rorik’s tongue rims my asshole, but the shadow tendrils keep me in place.
My hands fist the leaves and grass underneath me.
Rorik’s face is buried in my ass. His finger is deep inside me. He tongues the tight hole while adding another finger and picking up speed.
My orgasm is fast approaching. When another tendril slides behind my shirt and bra to tweak my nipple, I explode.
Stars shoot across my vision, and my entire body shakes with pleasure.
I soak Rorik’s hand.
Did I just squirt?
Once my orgasm dies, he flips me back over and fishes his cock out of his pants.
He spreads my legs wide and enters me so hard, I scream.
Fuck, it feels good.
He drives into me, unrelenting.
“You. Are. Mine. Little Lamb.”
I come for a second time, and he joins me, pouring all his cum inside me.
And then I wake up.
I’m no longer on the ground or in the trees. I’m no longer in Central Park.
I’m in bed inside Rorik’s apartment.
I sit up and groan. My entire body aches.
It felt too real.
When I flip the covers off me, dirt goes flying to the floor.
What the hell?
I hold up my palms.
Scraped. Dirty.
My knees are too.
There’s a pleasant ache between my legs.
Rorik appears in the doorway, carrying a cup of coffee and a pill bottle.
“What the fuck happened?” I ask, reaching for the mug.
He places it in my hands, and I take a sip, humming and closing my eyes because it’s perfect.
Just how I like it.
“I’m not exactly sure,” he says, sounding both amused and intrigued.
He opens the medicine bottle and extracts two pills. He hands them to me, and I take them without question.
“Did we dream or…”
He sits on the side of the bed next to my legs. His hand falls to my thigh.
“It started off as a dream but then it became real. I’m not sure how to explain it.
Maybe it’s a magical power of yours. We both came and then you passed out.
I carried you back home and slept beside you.
Whatever happened drained me of energy. We slept for nearly twelve hours because it’s now the afternoon. ”
I set the mug down on the table next to the bed and rub my temples.
“My brain can’t comprehend this right now.” I sigh. “Rorik, did you really keep a box from me? Was that part real?”
He raises his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear… and pulls out a leaf.
“Yes. That part was real. I hid a box. It was a poor decision on my part.” He looks away, and I admire his beautiful profile.
His sharp jawline and strong chin. It’s covered in dirt, but that doesn’t take away from how gorgeous this man is.
“What I said during our dream, or not dream, was true. I was scared you’d leave me.
That you’d return to your apartment and your life and want nothing to do with me. ”
“But that was my decision to make, not yours.”
“Yes. I know.” He turns his head to me again. “You realize I kidnapped you for literally the same reason, right?”
“And you had no right to do that either!”
He clenches his teeth, the muscles of his jaw rippling. “How can I make it better?”
“You take me to my apartment. Right now.”
“Mmm. I don’t think so.”
I cross my arms. “And why the fuck not?”
“Because we’re both filthy. We need to shower. Together, preferably.”
I jump off the bed, tossing my hands up in the air. “I can’t fucking stand you sometimes.”
I stomp away, and he chuckles.
“Only sometimes?” he calls out after me as I walk to the bathroom.
I flip him off, close the door, and lock it.