“Something funny?” The stranger asked.
Cindy shook her head a little.
“No, it’s just that my dad calls me that. Princess.”
He smiled.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
It was hard to tell if he meant the words as a question or a statement. Cindy shrugged and gave him a wary look.
“I’ve seen pictures. I never knew her. She died when I was young.”
“I’m sorry.”
Cindy looked away and rubbed her arms.
“You should be getting back,” the man said. “The king will be looking for you don’t you think?”
He rose up to an impressive height. As he did, her eyes followed him and then looked around. The fog had completely disappeared as they’d spoken.
“So he really is a king?” She asked. “Ronan…the captain, I mean?”
The man’s eyes narrowed on her.
“Oh yes,” he confirmed, finally. Then his voice went down to a whisper. “But don’t hold it against him.”
Cindy couldn’t help but snort at that.
The man chuckled and held out his hand to help her up.
Cindy stood, feeling uneasy as his strange eyes continued to glitter when he looked at her. They had a hypnotic effect that kept her transfixed until he moved to the side and held out his other hand as if revealing something.
“Go with them, they’ll guide you,” he said and Cindy looked to find the moon sprites hovering at the forest’s edge. She stepped toward their twinkling light.
“Stay to the path princess, I fear the weather may turn rough again this night,” his voice rang out behind her.
“Okay, thank…” Cindy turned to look back but the man was gone, disappeared just like the mist.
She scanned the area for him but he was nowhere in sight.
“Crap,” she said, “I should have known better than to think I’d meet anyone normal here.”
She turned back around and followed the glow bugs away from the water. They led her for what felt like miles then flittered off as she neared the villa. It figured, she thought, that they’d bring her back here and not to some secret hiding place where she could wait out what time she had left on the island. They probably worked for the great and powerful Oz, i.e. King Ronan. She tried grinding her teeth together but they crunched, most likely on sand or dirt. Ugh!
She was cold, scraggly and in a really pissy mood from her latest travails, but she had to admit, the villa was a welcome sight. It was a relief to be back somewhere warm and safe. Maybe she could sneak in without being noticed.
As she walked through the courtyard, her wet sandals squished against the path. Her skin was gritty from mud and her hair had started to dry in strands. She probably looked like something her cats would drag in but she dismissed that idea and pressed her lips together in an angry frown when she saw him standing in the doorway.
So much for sneaking by. Even though the opening was huge, Ronan took up the whole space. His arms were crossed over his chest and there was a scowl on his handsome face. What right did he have to be scowling in her direction? He looked like a sultan or some other forbidding character from one of her books. Damn him! Where did he get off being so magnificent?
She should just leave again. Before she could stop herself and slink back into the trees though, her feet had her headed straight for him and, this time, he didn’t run away from her.
His sullen glare turned into a pained expression when he saw her coming his way. That’s right buddy. Be afraid. Ever heard the old “woman scorned” bit? He stepped away from the door at her approach and his hand reached out to touch her shoulder.
“Cara…”
“Don’t cara me,” she snapped, shrugging his hand away. “I can’t believe I trusted to you!”
“Don’t you want to hear an explanation?”
“Explanation? I know what I saw so don’t think you can get me to understand that ‘things were different back in your day’ and I should just forgive and forget that you were giving Sea Haggula an oral exam on your balcony. Where I come from, women just aren’t that stupid! And,” she kept going before she ran out of breath, “you lied to me about who you are.”
That made him stop.
“That’s right, King of the Island,” she said in a mocking voice, “I know all about your little excursions to earth to lure women to come and be part of your harem or whatever you have going on here. Which reminds me, if I find out that you’ve done something with Kay, I’ll…”
“Wait a minute,” he cut in, “why would you think that? I don’t have your friend and I didn’t tell you who I was because I didn’t even know myself until a few days ago.”
“Oh, right!” Cindy rolled her eyes, “The old existential ‘I don’t know who I am’, ‘you’ve made me a better person’, ‘it’s not you, it’s me’, isn’t going to work. I’ve heard every line and I wasn’t born yesterday!”
“Honestly, I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t go to earth to lure women and what you saw on the balcony was a trick played by a maniacal witch. Can’t you see that? I would never hurt you.”
The pain in his eyes made her stop. What if he was telling the truth?
Was she really that bad at reading a situation? No way. She hadn’t gone through every bad date and boyfriend in the whole spectrum without learning anything. What man wouldn’t enjoy the attentions of a beauty like the nymph queen? Hello ─ nymph queen.
Her memory snagged on the words Thema had spoken to her back in that cave. Something to the affect that he had been selfish in bringing her here. Of course! He’d have never made it back if he hadn’t brought her with him. That she’d been all too willing to fall into his arms and his bed had just been an added bonus for him. She was such a fool! A wave of shame washed over her and that pissed her off even more.
“Why would I believe you? When I saw you with Thema, I saw a man utterly enjoying himself. I think there are a few bits of your ‘history’ with that woman that you left out of your sob story Captain,” she twisted the last word so that it came out sounding hateful.
She thought she saw him flinch but she couldn’t back down now. If she did, she just might listen to what he had to say and she knew her heart wouldn’t survive if she didn’t shield it in ice.
“For all I know, you two are married and wouldn’t that just be fitting? The sea island King and the Queen of the Nymphs – you two probably have a whole school of weird little seahorse children together somewhere.”
She didn’t know where that came from. His eyes widened and he gave her a look that said he thought she’d lost her mind.
“I’m leaving!” She blurted, throwing her hands up.
Ronan dropped his gaze down to the cobbled walkway then brought it back up. She’d made him angry, she could tell – angry and something else. If she didn’t know that he’d used her in the most callous way possible, she’d say that the something else was hurt. She shrugged away the idea. What did she care if she hurt him?
“I was just coming to look for you again since the fog cleared,” he said. “If you leave, where will you go?”
The question was spoken softly but it seethed all the same.
“I’ve told you before that it isn’t safe to wander the island and, from the look of you,” he waved his hand at her bedraggled appearance, “you’ve figured that out first hand.”
“I don’t care about anything you told me,” Cindy said. “You may be king here but you are not the boss of me.”
Her words sounded childish to her own ears and reminded her of a joke she shared with her brother Trent. Her gut twisted, she needed her family, her friends.
“It’s already been arranged. I’m going home!”
“Arranged by whom? Who have you been talking to cara?” Ronan’s voice rose, taking on a demanding tone and it was easy to believe that he was some hard-hearted ruler.
Her eyebrow shot up in challenge and she set her hands on her hi
ps.
“Don’t worry about it, nothing I do now is any concern of yours,” with that, she turned from him and started to walk away.
His heavy hand settled on her shoulder though and he spun her around to face him.
“That’s where you are wrong cara,” his face looked fierce now. “Everything you do is my concern while you remain on this island. If you wish to leave I will arrange it, but you will not stray off on your own again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Clear as mud,“ she borrowed one of her Dad’s favorite sayings just to get under his skin, “I know you think you rule this island but, the truth is, I’ve gone over your head already and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you have a problem with that, maybe you should talk to your mistress, you know, the nymph who pulls all your strings…”
He gave her a hard jerk, stopping her words.
“If you’ve been making deals with Thema then you are more of a fool than I thought. For all of your modern sophistication, it’s obvious that you are lacking any kind of sense!”
Her mouth dropped open and she would have argued but he rushed ahead before she could.
“Now, you will go inside and you will stay in my rooms until I have everything sorted out. Do you understand?”
His tone left no doubt in her mind that what Thema said was true, he was the ruler of this place. All the little flashes she’d seen of him in royal garb, holding court in her mind’s eye suddenly made sense – weird, paranormal, alternate reality kind of sense. God, she couldn’t wait to get back to the real world!
The grip he had on her arm was firm and his eyes were hard. She had to drop her head back and look up to see his face because he had pulled her in so close. She really should have been worried by the fury she saw there.
None of the men in her life had ever looked at her the way he was looking at her right now. If she had any brains at all, she would have been frightened. But all the anger she felt boiled up inside her in an instant and, instead of calmly agreeing with the angry man, she brought up her foot and slammed it down on the top of his boot.
“Ahh,” he howled, releasing her arm and hopping backwards in pain and disbelief.
She caught the look of outrage on his face a split second before she bolted for the trees. She ran for all she was worth, legs pumping hard.
Just as her feet left the path, Ronan grabbed her from behind and twisted with her in the air until they both came crashing down to the ground. She landed on top of him. He’d taken the brunt of the fall but the force had still managed to knock the wind out of her. Before she had a chance to recover, he rolled with her and, in one lightening quick move, he was on top of her pinning her beneath him.
He stared down at her, his hard body pressing against her with each breath he took igniting a small flame deep inside of her. She tried to pull her legs together to stop the throb that was starting at the apex of her thighs but his hips prevented it. He must have sensed her predicament because he rocked his pelvis, hitting the only pressure point on her body that mattered. She moaned before she could stop herself.
Why oh why would her body betray her at a time like this?
She took in a shaky breath then let it out through her nose. Her breathing slowly regained its rhythm but her cheeks were wet with tears.
“Shhh,” Ronan said.
His heavy forearm pressed down on her chest but he reached up with his other hand and ran his thumb across her cheekbone, brushing at the wetness there. Then he smoothed her mess of curls from her brow in a way that made her ache from the gentleness of it. His touch charged her with that same current she always got from him no matter that he’d lied. Being near him still filled the emptiness in her and it just didn’t seem right, not after what he’d done.
She started to squirm in his grasp, his affect on her body making her angrier than anything else.
“Let go of me,” she snarled.
His lips tightened and he tilted his head.
“Only if you promise not to run, cara.”
She lifted her head and shoulders off the ground till they met nose to nose and narrowed her eyes at him.
“I’m not promising you anything,” she said through clenched teeth.
He shook his head slowly, almost regretfully.
“That’s fine, have it your way,” he breathed then hauled her up off the ground.
He set her on her feet brushing the leaves and dirt off of her clothes. She sputtered at his actions but, before she could bat his hands away, he grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder.
“Put me down Ronan…or whoever the hell you are!”
She screamed and squirmed and beat at his back as he carried her up to the villa but he was unfazed by her protests. Several Dionai, and she was pretty sure a couple of his crew, hurried to clear a path for him. Apparently, she wouldn’t be getting any help from them. She doubled her efforts and pummeled his back even harder, not caring who saw. All that did was cause him to throw her up in the air to reposition her, knocking the breath out of her all over again.
He moved through the doorway and up the stairs, she felt every step he took jolt through her midsection. When he cleared the threshold of his bedroom, he crossed to the bed and flung her down unceremoniously. He followed, putting her, once again, in that vulnerable position under him. Then he caught her hands in his and held them up over her head, staring at her like he didn’t know what to do with her.
If she’d have been a tough girl, she would have head butted him like they did in the movies. She wasn’t though and she really had no wish to damage her face or his. Dammit, he was so gorgeous! She drummed the bed with her feet but he did that thing with his pelvis again, grinding himself against her until she stopped.
Truth be told, the fight was swiftly running out of her. The physical battle between anger and the desire he stirred in her was exhausting. Once she was quiet though, that secret place in her womb started to uncurl and open for him. She stiffened against it. When it finally ebbed and he still didn’t say anything she looked at him, really looked, and the pain that was visible in his eyes made her start to think that she might have misjudged him.
She sniffed and raised her chin.
It wouldn’t do to go soft now. If she did, she’d never leave him and get back to her normal, orderly and completely unsatisfying life. Conflicting feelings cut like a double edged blade and she wailed out loud at the confusion she felt.
Ronan brought his mouth down on hers then, silencing her cries until all she could do was whimper into his mouth. He broke away, studying her with a look that silently pleaded, but still, he said nothing. She wanted to melt into him, think of nothing else but the love she felt for him and lose herself in desire but she stole herself against that weakness.
“I just want to go home,” she said, defeated.
“I know cara,” he soothed, “I know.”
He kissed the tops of both her cheekbones and pulled himself up, stopping a breath away. Then he eased himself off of her. His large hand came to the side of her face and she couldn’t help but turn into his palm for comfort.
“It will be all right,” he said.
The authority in his tone spoke to the kind of ruler he’d be, the kind that would boss people around but also the kind that could assure and quell fears, the kind that would be the master of his kingdom.
He was the master of her heart whether she liked it or not.
He kissed her one more time and she tried to commit the feeling to memory. All too soon, he stood and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
When he was gone, Cindy curled up on her side and shuddered against a whole new onslaught of tears that shook her from the inside out. He was wrong. She wished he wasn’t but she knew for certain that things were never going to be “all right.”
***
Ronan leaned against the door after shutting it.
“Don’t worry, cara, this will all be over soon,” he said under his breath.
>
He knew what he must do and he was prepared to do it. It tore through him that he had to leave Cindy without telling her the truth ─ that he’d grown to love her in the short time he’d known her, that he needed her in the same way he needed air to breathe. But it would be better to let her hate him. Thema had actually done them a favor.
All he had to do now was keep her safe for the night and make arrangements with Finn to get her to the falls at sunrise.
“Not much longer to wait, love.” he said then pushed away from the door and went to go find Finn.
Part IV
Atlantis 10,500 b.c.
Aura waited alone in the secret place by the waterfall. Several times over the course of the week she’d come here with Gadeiros. The sounds of the water nearby lulled her senses and the creatures in the trees overhead added their own melodies. Gadeiros had warned her to stay inside the grove because Atlantis was home to unusual beasts though she’d only ever seen the occasional deer or squirrel so far.
A moment alone was what she had sought but curiosity moved her to the fringes of the nook. She walked a ways through the trees and placed her hands on two slim trunks to lean outside of the grove and peer into the dense overgrowth. Just as she relinquished the idea of finding anything of interest there, she was grabbed from behind and pulled against a hard battle hewn chest.
“Gadeiros,” she said, relieved and thrilled at the same time.
His arms wrapped around her to span the width of her body, one across her chest and the other down lower. His mouth landed on the tender curve of her neck and kissed her there.
“What are you doing here alone princess?” He asked. His words were deep and low against her skin and she coiled into the feel of them.
“I’m meeting a man here, Anax,” she answered.
“Hmmm,” he hummed into the hollow spot just beneath her ear, “that doesn’t sound safe my lady.”
“No,” she answered softly, “you are right of course. In fact, I’m certain that he is a most sinister character.”
Gadeiros chuckled and turned her, his hands catching her face in them to capture her lips with his kiss.
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