The Golden Key Chronicles

by AJ Nuest

  Oliver slowly nodded. “That’s not an entirely bad idea…”

  “I’m going back to bed.” Jon stifled a yawn, tightening the tie at his waist. “What say you, Prince Caedmon? May I show you to the guestroom and we can leave these two to work out the last of the details?”

  Caedmon glanced between his lady and her friend. Certainly they had earned a moment of privacy in the two years they’d been separated, and much weighed heavy on his mind. For now, they were out of harm’s way, and a quiet moment to sort his thoughts would be most welcome.

  He nodded and stood. “I shall leave you to it, then. Rest well, Oliver.”

  Rowena smiled and ran her hand down his arm. “I’ll be along in just a few minutes.”

  He returned her smile, though his initiated an unwelcome twinge of anxiety. Only a few scant hours beforehand, she’d regained her memories. Everything she’d once believed forever lost to her had been found. Nonetheless, she’d determined to charge headlong into the unknown yet again, risk everything to fulfill their quest. Assuredly, the entire Austiere Kingdom stood to benefit from her bravery. Yet whence he’d asked as much of her two years past, they had both paid a dire price as the outcome.

  To purposely tread down that same path filled his heart with grim foreboding.

  Concern darkened her gaze and she hesitated. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing, my heart.” He tipped her chin up to feather a kiss along her lips. Until his concerns had been given their due deliberation, he would strive to keep them a secret. “Join me when you are ready.”

  He turned away from the table, and the weight of her gaze lingered on his back as he followed Jon from the room.

  Chapter Two

  “Wow. I’d forgotten how intense he can be.”

  Rowena swung back to Oliver, her frown still in place. “He is that, although I have a sneaking suspicion something else is going inside that gorgeous head of his.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe he’s jet-lagged.”

  She chuckled, but Oliver did have a point. Those first few months after her arrival in the realm of Austiere, her adjustment to their way of life had been disconcerting to say the least. Especially since she’d had to navigate the eccentricities of the court without the use of her memories. She tipped her head to the side, biting the inside of her cheek. Or maybe the exact opposite was true. Perhaps arriving in Caedmon’s world without the past to clutter her mind had helped her adapt all that much easier. Even though she’d had trouble with their dialect, and the demeaning way they treated women grated on her very last nerve, at least she’d readily adjusted to a daily routine. For all her hardships, she’d simply known nothing else.

  Funny…she’d never considered the way the mirror had wiped her memories as a blessing in disguise.

  Caedmon, on the other hand, had arrived in her world with his past intact. She shook her head, studying the wood grain of the table. Would the knowledge of all he’d left behind make his time in the present harder? Or less difficult?

  Oliver crossed his arms, assessing her through narrowed eyes. “You sure you know what you’re doing with this guy? I mean, besides all the delicious acts you get to explore with him in the bedroom?”

  She smiled at Oliver’s unwavering big brother persona. Regardless of the ability she’d displayed to protect herself, it seemed old habits died hard. “I’ve never been more sure of anything my life. Caedmon and I… I know this might sound totally cliché, but we’re linked somehow, by more than just how we feel about it each other.” Lifting the key from between her breasts, she held the golden treasure in the air. Recessed light from above the sink winked off the surface as it swung back and forth. “We’re a part of something bigger, Ollie. Something I don’t think either of us yet fully understand.” She locked onto her dear friend’s face. “And, apparently, so are you.”

  He smirked. “Now you’re starting to sound like Jon.”

  She lifted a brow at the spark of amusement in Oliver’s gaze, tempered with a hint of desire. Based on their behavior, he and Jon had moved in together, they were enjoying a monogamous relationship. For the Oliver she’d once known, a bond that serious would’ve been unthinkable. Perhaps her disappearance had made him reevaluate his aversion to commitment. After he’d lost her, he’d realized how important it was to grasp life’s opportunities before it was too late. “How’d you two meet, anyway?”

  Oliver waved his hand back and forth as if the answer were obvious. “Jon’s a playwright. We met last year at the opening night meet and greet after his troupe’s production of King Lear.” He wagged a finger at her. “I should warn you, though. Don’t be surprised if you and Prince Growls-A-Lot end up being the chief characters in his next piece. For Jon, the line between fantasy and reality isn’t just blurred. More like it doesn’t exist.”

  Rowena laughed softly as Oliver pushed up from the table and tipped his head toward the hall. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

  She trailed him from the kitchen, past the living room and down a long corridor to a closed bedroom door. He held a finger to his lips, asking for silence, and slipped inside the room. A moment later, he reappeared with a package balanced on his forearm, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string.

  He retraced his path and she followed to a second closed door in the middle of the hall. “These are for tomorrow.” Oliver offered her the package and then cleared his throat, glancing at the floor, the artwork on the wall, anywhere but at her.

  “What is it?” She worked the knot loose and the paper crinkled as she flipped back one side. A bit soiled and worn with age, her blue bib overalls lay neatly folded inside a layer of white tissue paper. Tears filled her eyes at the same time she laughed. “Oh my God, you kept them? I thought you said these pants made me look like a lumberjack.”

  “I did,” he snapped, tossing his head. “I do. If I possessed one ounce of common sense, I would’ve tossed them straight into the incinerator. Unfortunately, when it came right down to it, I couldn’t bring myself to destroy them.” He blinked rapidly and cleared his throat a second time. “Unflattering design aside, they reminded me of you.”

  “Oh, Ollie.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and held tight, smiling when his arms encircled her and he hugged her just as hard in return. “Thank you. That you kept them means everything to me.”

  “Yes, well, you only get to wear them until Jon and I have the chance to visit Lord & Taylor.” Ollie pulled back and pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. “After that, they’re going right back in the drawer.”

  “Deal.” She embraced him again, rocking him from side to side before releasing him. He turned away and ambled back down the corridor to his room, but she didn’t miss the way his hand lifted and he briskly swiped a tear from his cheek.

  Her dear, sweet Oliver. Part big brother, part confidante and best friend. What in the world would she ever do without him? “I love you, Ollie,” she whispered.

  He paused before his bedroom door, twisting the knob. “I love you more, doll.” He blew her a kiss, stepped across the threshold and disappeared.

  Her smile faltered as she entered the guestroom. Caedmon stood on the far side of the bed, facing the windows, hands clasped behind his back. The apprehension he’d worn like a cloak ever since they arrived seemed to have disappeared, but the taut set of his shoulders and wide, braced stance spoke of a man who was pensive, contemplative. And who could blame him? The view of Chicago’s nighttime skyline had to be mind-boggling.

  She closed and locked the door before placing her overalls on a small antique desk and padding across the room to join him. Oliver’s taste hadn’t changed in the two years she’d been away, and the room still held the clean lines and uncluttered design of his minimalist eye.

  Countless stars littered an indigo canopy above the restless roil of Lake Michigan’s black water. Rowena drew a breath deep into her lungs and the glass fogged as she slowly exhaled. The last time she’d fought such nerves i
n Caedmon’s presence was the evening he’d tracked her into the forest and they’d ended cuddling by the fire.

  A sideways glance at his firm jaw, and her suspicions were confirmed. He was struggling to take it all in.

  She followed his gaze down to the flow of lake front traffic eighteen stories beneath them, ran her hand along his arm and offered a squeeze of reassurance. If she’d known him then, if she’d remembered, she would’ve given anything to have him with her after she’d first traveled through the veil. Whatever he needed to ease his adjustment, she would offer it without hesitation.

  “Tell me, do each of those lights signify an inhabitant of this port city?”

  A smile tugged at her lips over his apt description of the place she’d once called home, though she wasn’t surprised by his assessment. Caedmon was smart, and the evidence of their location was right in front of him. Out of respect for him, she would do her best to speak plainly. Lord knew, if just one person had spared her a moment to explain all the confusing things she’d been confronted with upon her arrival in his world, their candor would have saved her a lot of heartache.

  “Pretty much. Those lights represent our mode of transportation.” She pointed to the other buildings stacked along Chicago’s gold coast like glittering sentinels jutting into the obsidian sky. “The ones that aren’t moving come from living quarters much like the one we’re standing in, as well as businesses, inns, eating establishments, shops, taverns…pretty much anything a person can think to ask for is out there.”

  “To bear witness to such extensive legions is unsettling.” His chest rose with his deep inhalation and he shook his head, chuckling, though his laugh held more contempt than joy. “I stand addled beyond reason even whilst I am given the benefit of your aid.” A pivot on his foot and he faced her, his brow furrowed as he searched her eyes. “How did you do it, my love? How did you arrive in my realm, alone and without your memories, only to barter with kings, befriend wizards and become the first woman in Austiere history to best every man in the guard?”

  She smirked. He wasn’t giving himself enough credit. “Almost every man. There was one I couldn’t best, remember?”

  “And despite her achievements, she is humble.” He cupped her cheek, and her heart skipped a beat when full-fledged awe shimmered in his gaze. That he could look at her with such wonder made her fall even deeper in love with him, as did the spark of mischief in his eyes which followed. “I must say, modesty becomes you nearly as much as irritation, my love.”

  She grinned. Irritation, huh? That little tidbit was going straight into the vault.

  Lowering her chin, she withdrew a step and skimmed an exaggerated gaze up and down the long, delicious length of him. “Well, I do try.”

  “And you succeed.” He enveloped her in his arms, tugging her to his chest so she faced the window, and they shared a quiet laugh. God, she did love him. With just a few small words, he’d completely chased her uncertainties from the room, when she was the one who should’ve been worrying about his comfort.

  One of her shoulders instinctively lifted and she squirmed when he buried his scruffy cheeks in her neck to nibble her ear. “As does your influence and ability to inspire hearts in both realms.”

  Her reflection altered to a bemused frown in the glass. That seemed an odd thing for him to say. While it was true, she enjoyed a certain level of recognition in the Austiere Kingdom, she never would’ve described herself as an inspiration. Not yet, anyway. Not until she and Caedmon had seen their mission through to the end. And even then, who knew if they would be successful.

  But, besides that, without Caedmon at her side, she would have never escaped Braedric’s hashishans, much less been able to sneak inside Castle Seviere, retrieve the key and gain access to the mirror.

  For the second time since she’d entered the room, he had seriously downplayed his role in all they’d accomplished. But why? She studied the top of his head as he brushed a kiss down the side of her throat, turned his head and rested his cheek on her shoulder. Maybe his insecurities were getting the better of him. For God’s sake, he’d just tumbled down a rabbit hole and landed in Wonderland. When she’d done as much, she’d second-guessed everything, even her own self worth.

  She turned in his arms and placed her hands on his chest. Dammit, no. She didn’t want him to ever doubt his significance or how much he meant to her. If the call were hers to make, Caedmon would be next in line to occupy the Austiere throne. He was moral and trustworthy. The commitment he demonstrated for his country would make him a much better king than someone as conniving and self-centered as Braedric. “There is only one heart I hope to inspire, and it just so happens to belong to the man I love.”

  “Lucky bastard.” He leaned in for a kiss, but she held firm, pressing him back until he sighed and met her gaze.

  “I mean it, Caedmon.” She searched his face for any hint of misgiving, any reservations. “You’re the most important thing in my life, and I trust your judgment above that of everyone else. If you don’t think our being here is the best choice to help the kingdom, then we leave. It’s as simple as that. We head back through the mirror and take our chances with Seviere in whatever way we both decide is best.”

  He squinted, his arms tightening at her waist. “You would forego our time in this realm if I deemed it unnecessary?”

  Well, of course she would. “You only have to say the word and we’re gone.”

  “You would forsake your friends, discard the mirror…abandon our quest and disappear someplace safe if that is what I truly desired?”

  During their time in the Cave of Tears, he’d never consented to all this. Their agreement had been to steal back the key so she could regain her memories—that was all. Caedmon had come into the future, taken a huge leap of faith based on her word, alone. How could she not offer him that same belief…that same devotion in return? “Without question.”

  One of his dark brows rose and she leaned back, bracing for whatever antics might be going on behind those beautiful brown eyes of his. “And yet you wholly disregard the first pledge of our marriage vows.”

  She frowned, scouring her memories for any way she might have failed him. “What are you talking about? What pledge?”

  “We are alone, my love.” His focus dropped to the white t-shirt Oliver had loaned her and he smoothed his palms down the curve of her bottom to massage and fondle her from behind. “I seem to recall a promise pertaining to your state of undress.”

  Oh, good grief. She rolled her eyes, chuckling. Typical male, but a promise was a promise, and if stealing a moment in time to explore the needs of their bodies was what he wanted, she would happily submit to whatever enticing activities his playful mood could concoct.

  “Hmmm…you’re right.” She sauntered to the side of the window and yanked the cord to the drapes. The heavy material flew together, the ends swaying and bumping against each other, shuttering the view and enclosing them in their own private paradise. “But I beg to differ the details of our bargain. After all, we’re in my world now. Perhaps it’s not me who should be naked, but you.”

  She jerked the tie to his sleeping pants. The material went slack and tumbled past his slim hips to the floor. Her breath caught. Dear God. How had she forgotten how beautiful he was?

  The man stood before her like a chiseled demigod, each tier of his chest sculpted of honeyed flesh and lean sinewy muscle. The light sprinkling of hair below his belly button forged a dark trail leading down past his stomach, to the thick base of his shaft protruding from a nest of dense curls.

  Deep inside, a spasm ricocheted, curling her toes into the plush carpeting and dousing her body in a wave of heat. Her palm itched to cup him, stroke him until his erection stood rigid and flushed, so she could experience every twitch and flex of muscle as he became aroused.

  She smoothed her fingertips along the side of his lengthening shaft, curled her fingers around the silky skin and squeezed. A series of well-defined ridges rippled down
each side of his ribcage. A low growl rumbled in his chest. “You have me at a disadvantage, my love.”

  Yes, poor man. Whatever was he going to do? His tongue swept his upper lip and her knees weakened in anticipation of that same moist warmth coating her skin. Based on the desire tightening her belly, the tingling hair on her arms, her power over him wouldn’t last long.

  Caedmon’s palms landed on her hips. The t-shirt gathered at his wrists, pulling taut across her breasts as he snuck his hands under the hem. She closed her eyes as the sweet friction of the material pebbled her nipples. His blunt-tipped fingers swept her lower back and he eased them under the waistband of her boxers to clutch and knead her ass.

  The proof of his excitement pressed stiff and firm into her belly. He lowered his mouth to the slope between her neck and shoulder, and she tilted her head to the side as his parted lips swept the line of her throat to her ear. A slight nip of his teeth to her earlobe and she wavered unsteadily, circling his shoulders with her arms. The thick waves of his hair slid sleek and soft through her fingers. His heated sigh bathed her cheek. She held a breath, anxiously awaiting that thrilling moment when the fresh taste of him would finally land on her tongue.

  The end of his nose nudged the tip of hers and she blinked, pulling back just enough to return his smile before the sweet curve of his bottom lip swept in and he captured her lips with his.

  She cupped his cheek as their tongues circled and tangled, losing herself in the dizzying potency of his kiss. A nibble to the corner of her mouth and she sighed. A flick of his tongue against her lips and she cinched him tighter, granting him entrance to swirl and explore.

  The rough texture of his calloused palms massaged her ass. He shoved her hips close and ground against her, the head of his cock prodding the sensitive skin of her stomach. His body jerked. A heady pulse shuddered her core and she swiveled her hips, rubbing her thighs together to extend the budding throb in her clit.