Seal of the King (48 page)

Aurora turned to look at the room
, and stood silent for a moment taking it all in. To her right was a large bed with a number of pillows, on a thick soft looking comforter, a dresser with their bags sitting on top, and next to it their camping packs were carefully placed against the wall with her bow. On the opposite side, she could see the open door to a large bath, and a closet. To her left was a sitting area with 2 sofas, tables, a counter with a sink, and cooktop. Across the room was an enormous set of windows with a table and chairs for dining while enjoying the view. The table was covered with a platter of fruits, and a variety of bottles, and glasses. The décor was nothing like the rustic look of the lodge. It was elegant, and welcoming at the same time. The rich green and earth tones were warm and comforting.

She turned to David to see him looking at her affectionately waiting to hear her reaction. “Oh David. This is splendid.” She said as she stepped closer to him.

“I have to say that I can’t take credit for it. My dad made the arrangements.”

“I’ll have to remember to thank him when we get home,” she said as she placed her hand on his chest
, standing very close to him. He felt that breathless weakness again at her touch. “In the meantime I’m going to change. I have something for you, too.” Then she gave him a small kiss on the lips that lingered only briefly, but it was enough for him to feel himself flush. “I’ll be right back.” She said, then retrieved her bag and headed to the bathroom. She turned to give him a last smile before she shut the door behind her.

David stood looking out the window. Even in the dark with a crescent moon the view was still impressive. He was nervous
and excited about the next step in their journey together. It was one of the things he hadn’t thought about, hadn’t planned. He wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her. He didn’t know if most men felt this way, but he hoped she would feel the same thrill, same excitement, same longing that he did. He knew that was not something he could manufacture, that having just the right table setting or sheets or any other contrivance could create. When she touched him, kissed him, every inch of him tingled with excitement, and he hoped she would feel that too.

David walked over to the table
, and absentmindedly poured a couple of glasses of ice water “David” he heard Aurora say sounding far away. He turned holding up the two glasses and said, “I was…” Then stood frozen on the spot. The sight of her took his breath away. She had undone her hair, and it fell in waves over her shoulders shimmering ever so slightly. She wore a thin white robe that ran down to the middle of her hips exposing her long shapely legs. She hadn’t tied it closed, offering a glimpse of a lacy white bra, small white matching pantie, and her smooth lean stomach.

She started walking towards him
, but stopped at his sudden silence. Looking embarrassed, she asked, “Do I look foolish? The woman at the shop said I should wear this.”

David
, struggling to regain control of his wits said, “oh no… you look” she looked up at him hopefully, and he rallied. With a clear confident voice he said, “Exquisite, I have never seen anyone more beautiful.”

Beaming with confidence again she moved towards him taking slow measured steps. “Have you seen many woman dressed like this before?” She asked
, her expression now one of a huntress eyeing her prey. 

David’s heart pounding in his ears as he stammered a little saying “only in pictures
.”

She was very close to him now “hmm, that’s good because this is for your eyes only.” She reached out tak
ing a glass of water from him, placed it to her lips and took a small sip. When she drew the glass away, her lips were wet with water, and the tip of her tongue came out, and slowly caressed them dry.

David took a drink to steady himself as she reached around him
saying, “What’s this?” She had to lean forward slightly to reach, and was as close as she could be without touching him. When she leaned back, she held up a strawberry covered in chocolate. David set down the glass afraid he might drop it.

“A chocolate covered strawberry. Have you ever had one?”

“No, are they sweet?”

“Yes
, and juicy.”

She lifted the fruit up to her lips
and took a bite. As she closed her mouth down on the fruit her eyes shut, and she uttered “Mmm” from deep in her throat. As she pulled the remaining piece away, a small amount of juice trickled down the side of her mouth instinctively David reached up, and wiped the juice off of her chin with his finger.

She opened her eyes at his touch
, and took his hand, and pulled it to her mouth taking his finger in, and rolled her tongue around it licking off the juice. "That was delicious," She said, “would you like a taste?”

Without waiting for a reply, she placed the fruit to his lips
, and he also took a bite. She placed the top of the strawberry on the table behind him, and as he swallowed he reached out placing a hand on the side of her face. Her eyes closed as she leaned into his touch, he leaned forward and placed his lips on hers. They were full and soft and welcomed his kiss. Her arms slid around him as his other hand found the small of her back pulling her closer.

Suddenly his mind snapped back. He regained control of himself as he felt her pressed
close to him. He felt strong and alive with her warm body against his, every part of him was screaming with the desire he felt for her. The passion of their kiss grew, the taste of her in his mouth, the feel of her soft flesh under his hand, ignited an inferno inside him he had never felt before. Both his hands on the bare skin of her waist now slowly, firmly moved up her back. He felt her leaning into his touch as she tilted her head back; eyes closed exposing the nape of her neck. David leaned in, and began kissing the small curve where her shoulder and neck met. She moaned slightly, her hands groping at his shirt, and she began to pull it out of his waistband. Her hands found his skin as she slid them up along his sides.

Her hands on him created a fresh wave of excitement. The feel of the firm caressing of his muscles moving inch
-by-inch up his body was intoxicating. Her hands inspecting him like a treasured possession, was the affirmation he desperately yearned for, to know that she wanted him the way he wanted her. In that moment, every doubt, fear, or worry he had ever had was entirely stripped away, and he felt invincible.

***

Aurora could feel his strong muscles, and broad shoulders under her hands. She had never considered men this way before; never felt desire for a man before. Something about him had awoken a part of her that had been smoldering inside, desperate to escape. He was gently kissing, tasting her neck, shoulders, and the top of her chest. His strong hands on her bare skin were warm, and comforting. She was lost in sensations she had never experienced before, and didn’t want them to end. She managed to push her arms up lifting his shirt forcing him to let go, and tip his head up. As he pulled his arms out of the sleeves, she saw what he had seen, and was drawn in to kiss and taste him. Her lips touching his neck, she felt him sway slightly as he gasped with pleasure. Her excitement grew hearing and feeling the effect she had on him.

Her hands were exploring his chest. He was well built from hard work
, and she could feel the strength of his chiseled muscles under her hands and lips. She felt his fingers gently lift the top of her robe as his hand found her bare shoulders, and pushed the robe back, and down off her arms. She felt the soft material slide down her back to land gently at her feet. Her arms wrapped around him pulling him close so she could feel his bare skin against hers. As she pressed up against him, he let out a soft moan of pleasure, and she responded with one of her own.

Suddenly his knees bent
, and she was slightly startled thinking he was collapsing. To her surprise, his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her tight to him as he stood up lifting her off the ground. She threw her head back letting out a small laugh as she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He began kissing her neck and chest again as she squeezed him tightly. He effortlessly carried her to the bed. She found his strength exhilarating.

He stopped at the edge of the bed
, and she dropped her legs down to stand before him. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. She reached in between them, and unbuckled his belt then after opening the front of his pants she ran her hands around his waist, and pushed them down over his underpants. Once past his hips they fell to the floor. He reached his right arm around her waist, pulled her close then leaned forward, and lowered her onto the bed. She looked him in the eye then gave him a playful inviting smile as she scurried backwards up to the top of the bed.

A couple of hours later
, they were thankful for the food and drinks that had been left in their room. They were both feeling a satisfied exhaustion from several passion filled workouts. Laying there holding each other David said, “I suppose it is a good thing we don’t have to get up early.”

Aurora said in a sleepy voice “I don’t think you could drag me out of bed at sunrise.”

“You won’t have to worry about that.”

“Mmmm” she cooed
.

David sat quietly
, and in a moment she was asleep. He pulled the blanket up over them with his free hand, and the moment he closed his eyes he was asleep too.

David awoke feeling Aurora lying next to him with the sunshine filling the room. His senses coming back to him more slowly than normal, it took a minute to realize they were naked under the cover. He smiled remembering the night before, and that they were finally fully husband and wife. He turned to find the clock, and saw it was ten a.m. Six hours of sleep wasn’t too bad, he thought. He slipped out from under Aurora and went to the bathroom.

When he came out he found his pants
, and pulled them on. He went to the far side of the room to use the other guest phone, and called down to room service. In a hushed voice, he asked, “Is it too late to get breakfast?”

The woman on the other end of the phone asked “Room 501, sir?”

"Yes."

“No
, sir we have special instructions to get you whatever you want.”

“That’s
very kind of you. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“No trouble at all, sir,
what would you like?”

“Bacon
and eggs, toast, fruit, juice, and a big pot of coffee would be great.”

“We’ll have it up the
re in 30 minutes for you, sir.”

“Thank you. That’ll be great
.”

"You're welcome,"
she said and hung up.

David found his shirt
, and went over to the table by the window to sit down, and wait. He gazed out at the valley below them. The fall colors were fading, but the majesty of their surroundings was not diminished. Off to his left, rolling hills cascaded down to the sprawling lake. On his right, he could see the mountain stream winding its way down to feed it, and at the far end he could just make out a tributary draining off the excess water in the distance.

The sun was bright
and warm, and shimmered off the water. It appeared that most of the birds had already migrated for the season, as he hadn’t seen any movement in the trees that blanketed the surroundings. The only activity he saw was a handful of people milling about, as the water was undoubtedly too cold to swim in this time of year. He smiled absentmindedly as images of their night together danced in and out of his thoughts. As much as he enjoyed losing himself completely in his desire for her, he was glad to find his mind clear this morning. The world was still a dangerous place, especially for them. He needed to be aware of his surroundings in order to protect her.

“Hi
, did you sleep well?” He asked without turning around.

“I see you got your hearing back.”

David turned to see her standing there in her little robe, and nothing else. “Not disappointed are you?”

She sat sideways in his lap
, and looked into his eyes, and said, “no, but I did enjoy having a little advantage over you last night.”

“Hmm I think you know that you always have a
big advantage over me. You’re irresistible” He said and gave her a long soft kiss.

“Mmm, good morning.”

"Good morning," he said. “I ordered us some breakfast. It should be here any minute.”

She smiled “Wonderful
, I’m starving.”

“I thought you might be. I am too. We had quite a workout,” He said grinning
.

“
You can say that again. I’d better put some clothes on if someone is coming.” She got up, and headed to the bath where she had left her suitcase the night before.

David watched her walking off admiring her figure, her grace,
and her confident stride; she stopped and turned to look at him before stepping out of view “what are you looking at?”

"You,"
he said with a grin.

"Good,"
she said with a self-satisfied smile and disappeared into the bath.

David chuckled a little out loud. He was sure that she would keep him on his toes the rest of his life
, and looked forward to it. Just then he heard a soft knock at the door. Getting to his feet, he made his way over and opened the door. Addie stood in the doorway with the room service cart filled with covered dishes and pitchers.

“Hi, Addie I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.” David said inviting her in.

“I’m covering a shift for one of the other girls, and since breakfast is over the normal room service staff is changing shifts. When I heard it was your order, I volunteered to bring it up. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not, I’
m happy to see you.”

“I hope I thought of everything. I don’t normally do room service.” She said then proceeded to show David all of the dishes, condiments, coffee, juice
, etc. And asked, “Did I forget anything?”

“Not a thing! It’s perfect. Thank you.” David said as Aurora came out wearing the outfit from the night before.

“Good morning, miss, how are you today?”

"Wonderful,"
she said with a smile “and how are you?”

“I’m fine thank you. I normally work nights
, and have a double shift today, so I’ll be tired later, but I can always use the extra work.”

David signed the ticket
and handed it back to Addie. He reached into his pocket to retrieve some money, and she said, “Oh, please you don’t have to do that. You were so generous last night there’s no need.”

David took her hand
, and placed the money in it, and said, “I insist. It was very nice of you to make the extra effort to look after us this morning. Besides when we come for dinner tonight, I want to make sure you don’t mind taking care of us again.”

“Oh no
, sir, it would be my pleasure.”

“Great! It’s Friday
, isn’t it? What time is good to come for dinner?”

“If you want to eat early you want to come around six. There is a lull then in between the families
, and the hunting crowd. If you want a late dinner, come after eight, the dance floor starts to get busy around nine.”

“Will there be a lot of people dancing?” Aurora asked
, a glimmer of excitement in her voice.

“Yes miss, we get a lot of people from all around who come on Friday
and Saturday for the music. The band that’s playing is extremely popular.”

Aurora turned to David “are we going to go?”

“I thought you might like to, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here.”

“Oh that sounds like fun.” Aurora said with a hint of the little girl in her showing.

“I should get back.” Addie said, “Otherwise they might think I’m goofing off. But if you need anything at all, please let me know, and thank you for your generosity.”

“You
’re welcome. We’ll ask for you when we come tonight then. Have a good day, and don’t work too hard.” David said as Addie left the room.

The two of them were feeling ravenous now
. They quickly set the food and drinks on the table, and sat down to eat. Aurora, finally getting a good look at the view said, “what a beautiful valley. Are we high up in the mountains?”

David explained that the Lodge
was in the foothills and the mountain went up for miles behind it. That, not far from where they were, was a ski resort, a village, and further down into the valley was farmland.

“If you’d like we could take a drive after we eat
, and I could show you around. The village is very charming, and there are lots of shops to see. I think you’d enjoy it.”

“Th
at does sound nice.”

Once he
finished eating, David said, “I should take a shower and clean up if we’re going out.” He stood up, and walked over giving her a kiss. “I won’t take too long. Do you need anything before I go?”

"No, I'll be fine
."

David walked over
and grabbed his bag, then made his way to the bathroom. Before entering, he looked back at Aurora to find her watching him.” What are you looking at?” He asked teasingly.

Caught in her own trap she giggled
, and said, “you.”

"Good,"
he said smiling broadly.

The bathroom was long
and large. Opposite the door was a counter with two sinks. To his right were two racks. One held an assortment of towels, and Aurora’s bag, so he set his down on the other one. Past the racks were two private water closets, on the left an extra-large shower, and at the far end a tub large enough for two.

David turned on the water so it could warm up
, and placed the towel on a hook by the shower door. By the time he was undressed, the water was just right, so he stepped inside under the spray. The hot water running down his body felt invigorating, and he stood there letting the warmth wash over him. Then he heard the door slide open. He turned to see Aurora standing there her clothes discarded. With a slightly sheepish expression, she said, “I thought I should take a bath too. Do you mind if I join you?”

David reached out a hand to her, she smiled as she took it
, stepped in, and shut the door. “Here stand under the water it’s nice and warm.”

She tipped her head back to let the water run through her hair. He watched as the water cascaded down her body
, droplets forming on all of her curves. His heart started to pound, and he didn’t need the warm water to fight off the cool air. She lifted her head straight again, and saw him gazing at her. She stepped forward putting her hands on his chest, and in a husky voice asked, “Are you all right?”

As he pulled her close
, and kissed her, she melted in his arms. The feel of her wet body was a whole new sensation. After freeing her arms, she squeezed him tight, and kissed him back with equal passion.

They never left the room that day
, and around 4:30 the phone rang. David reached over to the bedside table and picked up the receiver “Hello.”

“Sir I’m sorry to bother you
, but this is housekeeping, and we wanted to know if you would like the room cleaned today before our staff goes home.”

“The rooms fine, thank you. I think it can wait until tomorrow.”

“Very good sir, if you could please just put the room service cart outside in the hall, and someone will be by to pick it up later.”

“Thank you. I will. Have a
good evening.”

“You too,
sir.”

“Who was that?”

“Housekeeping. They wanted to know if they should clean our room.” David said, “I guess they didn’t expect us to be here all day.”

“Hmm, I didn’t mind.”

“Neither did I. Are you still up for going dancing tonight?”

“
Oh, yes! That sounds like fun.”

“It’s too early to go down to dinner now. How would you like to take a walk to the lake? When we get back it should be about time for us to go to dinner.”

“That does sound good. Some outdoor air would be nice.”

David leaned over
, and gave her a kiss “I’m going to get up, and get dressed then.” Then he rolled out of bed.

“I think I’ll wait here until you are done this time.” 

"That's probably a good idea," David said, flashing her a grin as he shut the door.

While Aurora was getting dressed
, David gathered up the room service items and organized them on the cart wheeling it out into the hallway. He was used to keeping busy, and in spite of, or maybe because of, the day’s activities he was filled with restless energy. He walked around the room straightening up a bit, and then saw their camping packs. He knelt down beside his and retrieved a few precautionary items. He thought he’d rather be prepared, even though he didn’t expect anything other than a nice walk.

As he was getting to his feet
, Aurora came out and asked, “What are you doing?”

"Just taking some precautions
."

“Should I bring my bow?”

“No, I think that would be a bit too conspicuous, and I’m sure there’s no need. I just don’t want to get too complacent.”

She trusted him
, and said unconcerned “all right.”

David held her jacket for her as she put it on
, and then grabbing his they set out. They headed down to the lobby saying a quick hello and goodbye to Charlie at the front desk. The sun was low in the sky as they made their way down to the lake. They held hands strolling along completely relaxed. David began to point out various trails, and activity areas relating them to stories he told her or sharing new ones. The sun was almost down when they reached the lake, and there were a few other people enjoying an evening walk too. The setting sun was a dark orange, and the light dancing on the lake was soothing. Once they made it to the end of the trail the cool air was starting to bite their exposed skin. David put his arm around Aurora as they began the walk back.

Even though the cold was setting in
, they still weren’t in any rush to get back. Aurora mused over how if David had grown up in her village that William and Nathan would have been his partners in crime, and she might have had to set him straight too. She wondered how Miles and Solidad were doing, and what was happening to all the people they left behind. David also hoped they were all well, and that with the fall of the Dark One, chaos did not ensue.