Skin Walkers Conn (32 page)

H
e turned, h
is nearly black eyes locked on hers, “I
gotta
tell
ya
, none of this is boding well for your precious Remy.”

Aries looked away, “Don’t call him that.  He’s not
my
anything.  I didn’t want to go with him, he
forced me.”

Conn turned to face her and placed a hand across her body to hold his weight as he leaned over her.  “Aries, I need to know the truth.  Did he force you to do anything else?”

She shook her head, “No Conn.  I told you nothing happened.”

Snorting Conn dropped his head, “Let me guess he wasn’t interested.”  His tone was mocking.

Aries shrugged, “I’m sure he was, but I wasn’t.”

His eyes lifted to search hers.  “
You’re probably not aware of this, but Remy is
an infamous ladies man.  Every
Walker
woman I know would
eagerly
share a night in his bed.”

Lifting her chin, she eyed him evenly.  “Not
every
Walker
woman.” 

Conn looked doubtful. 

“There’s only one
Walker
I’m interested in sharing a bed with.”
  She felt herself blush as he stared at her cle
arly expecting her to
divulge
that
Walker
’s name. 

She looked away. 
“Look, I’m not putting myself out there for someone who’s not interested.”  She shifted on the bed and lifted a hand to the halo at her throat, “As a matter of fact I wasn’t kidding about you taking this back.  It’s clearly not meant for me.”

His eyes narrowed on her.  “What do you mean someone who’s not interested?”

Uncomfortable, Aries
refused to look at him
.  “I’ve
been here for five weeks and after what happened at the bathing pool, you just abandoned me
. 
It’s obvious your upset that it happened.”  She shrugged and lowered her voice, “
You barely look at me.”

His tone was incredulous,
“
You think I don’t want you
?”  He grabbed Aries’ shoulders but his hold was gentle.  “
Look at me.”

She turned her head to stare up at him.

“
Aries, I want you so fucking bad I can’t see straight.  I try not to look at you because I have to fight myself to keep from ripping your clothes off and claiming you where you stand. 

The only thing that’s kept me from crawling into your bed every night is the fact that you’re injured and
I’m trying to
allow
you
to
heal.  I seriously doubt fucking you into exhaustion is going to aid your recovery.
 

You have no idea how difficult it has been for me to care for you, to
bathe
, but not claim you.
  My affliction hasn’t been sated Aries, and proximity to you only makes it worse. 
Do you know what it’s like to want something so bad and to have it sitting right in front of you but to be unable to take it?
”  He reached up and cupped her face, “That’s why I was so angry over Remy.”  His eyes dipped to the halo around her neck as he turned serious.  “Your
mine Aries, and that halo is
never
coming off.  I may have bound you under our ulterior motives, but I’m not so damn foolish that I’d ev
er let you go now.  You are mine…
f
orever
.
  I refuse to let you go.
”

Shocked her voice came out on a whisper, “W-what?”

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead, his lips curving into a smile against her
warm skin
.  “Don’t look at me like that.  All hopeful and fearful at the same time.”  He pulled back, his hands still cupping her face, “At first I wasn’t sure what you wanted.  Every day I came
to see you in
fear wondering when you’d ask me to take you back home, to let you go.  But every
day you looked at me with that same look, hopeful yet fearful.  I knew then that yo
u wanted
something more to exist between us than our damn agreement.  You were just as afraid as I was.”  He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips his eyes holding hers, “I don’t think I can live without you Aries.
  I honestly don’t.  I’ve thought about it and I’ve tried to convince myself that if you want
ed
me to that I’d willingly let you go, but the truth is all I can do is lay in bed at night and plan how to get you back, how to keep you. 
I’d chase you to the ends of the earth. 
I want to be the one you choose.
”

“Conn, I…”

“Let me finish.”  He drew in a deep breath, “Aries, I want you to trust me enough
…to have
enough faith in me that you’re willing to place your heart in my hands.  I want you to know that
it’ll be the smartest thing you could ever do because I swear to you I would cherish that gift and protect it more vehemently and violently than I’ve ever treasured anything in my life.  I’ll protect it over my own
heart
, and I’ll
walk all my days proudly holding it up for the world to see, so that they too can know that I
alone
have been blessed with the honor of your love.
  You’re heart will never know a safer home than in my hands.
”

Speechless, Aries blinked rapidly trying to quell the
tears
that flooded her eyes.

“Please Aries,” Conn pressed
,
his next words were spoken on a deep growl, “do not deny me.”

Her lone word was a whisper, “No.”

Conn paled.

Aries’ throat convulsed as she swallowed down her emotion, “No
.
I would never deny you.” 

When Conn expelled a harsh breath, Aries threw her arms around h
im and pressed her lips to the rapidly beating pulse at the side of his throat, “I love you Conn.”

He crushed her to him and mumbled against her hair, “I love you more.”

Chapter
32

Applying a thin layer of gloss to her full lips, Aries smiled at her reflection in the mirror.  The past six days had been heavenly.  Conn moved her into his room and
seemingly
into his heart.  They’d made love so frequently that Aries had lost track, but the best part wasn’t the sex it was waking up in his arms every morning.
  She’d been tentative at first, afraid to put herself out there and to hope that he could ever possibly return the immense love that she felt for him, but as the days past she was discovering that maybe a little hope wasn’t such a bad thing.

She left the bathroom to eye the white box that sat on the bed.  It had been there when she’d gotten up.  Conn had long since risen and gone to work out with his men, but he’d left her a note with the package that read,
‘
Reminded me of you.
’  She’d opened the box and peeled back the pink tissue paper to discover a silk black slip and matching pair of ballet slippers.  It was similar to the one she’d been wearing the night they first met.  The gift had made her cry at the sheer thoughtfulness and
she
couldn’t help but feel elated at being so significant to Conn that he’d gone out of his way to do something so nice for her.

Eyeing the box and smiling, she
ran her fingers through her dark glossy hair before limping
out of the room and down the long corridor.
Her leg was still sore, and she’d argued with Conn for hours before finally convincing him that he didn’t need to carry her everywhere and that her leg would never heal if he didn’t allow her to actually put any weight on it.  He’d relented begrudgingly and literally pouted for days when Aries slapped his hands when he’d attempt to pick her up. 

She followed the sound of voices
into
the large sitting room and
upon entry
rolled her eyes.
 

York, Shane, and Conn were lounging around staring at James as he stood in the center of the room speaking loudly and
motioning wildly with his arms. 

James lifted a pen to his mouth and
bit the lid off before tossing the pen
across the room.  “And I yelled fire in the hole!”  He ducked behind an imaginary wall
and his eyes snagged on Aries as she
hobbled
toward Conn.  “Aries!”
James’
tone was alarmed.

Aries stopped, “What?”

James frowned at her disapprovingly, “Take cover!”

York and Shane erupted into laughter and James
’
frown cracked into an ear-to-ear grin.

Aries rolled her eyes again but smiled as she circled the couch nearest Conn. 

Wordlessly Conn reached up and grabbed Aries
’
hand before he stood and pulled her into his body
and
gently reclaimed his seat with Aries now on his lap.  His lips brushed the side of her face, “Hey beautiful.  James was just re
galing us with one of his many war stories.”

James smiled and nodded, “You should have been there Aries, you’d have been impressed.”

“You know I’m always impressed with you James.”
She winked at him playfully.

“I’m glad you’re all here,” Conn shifted Aries on his lap so he could address the whole room.  “We have a new mission.”

Frowning, Aries stared
up
at him.  She didn’t want him to leave.
  Secretly she’d hoped that he’d retire from his life as a mercenary or at the ver
y least relinquish his role as c
ommander, but apparently it wasn’t to be. 

York sat up straighter, “Where we headed boss?”

“
StoneCrow
.”

“
StoneCrow
?” Shane leaned forward as well.  “I don’t get it.”

James flashed a glance at Shane. 
“Maybe CEO
StoneCrow
finally decided to upgrade his security
. 
After seeing us in action, h
e’s
gotta
know that his crew
pales in comparison
.
”
  He looked back to Conn.  “Is that it XO?  We taking over security at
StoneCrow
?”

Conn grinned with a lopsided smile, “No.  Our mission is of a more personal nature.  There’s going to be a wedding and…”

James cut him off, “And we’re working security
?
”  Rolling his eyes, James flung himself backward with a growl, “Lame!”

York punched James in the thigh, earning himself a dirty look from the younger Walker.
 
“Who’s getting married boss?”

“I am.”

Aries, who’d been silently brooding over Conn’s announcement that he’d be leaving on a mission suddenly tensed
on his lap
.  Her eyes met York’s as he sat across from her and she felt herself pale before she slowly turned her head to
gape at Conn.

Smiling, Conn lifted a hand to smooth it along her jaw.  “Don’t look at me that way beautiful.  You
didn’t actually think I would forego the pleasure of binding you to me in every way possible did you?”

She didn’t know what to say.  If that was a proposal it left little room for a refusal.  Knowing everyone was watching her, she knew she needed to say something but no words came forth. 
She opened her mouth then closed it just as quickly.
  Finally she asked still astounded, “Is that what you call a proposal?”

Conn frowned, “
Proposal implies that there exists room for negotiation.  There’ll be no negotiation
.
 
Refusal
is
not an option.”

Her shocked expression transformed until she erupted into joyous laughter. 
She knew she should have argued, or at least made some form of stand but she simply didn’t have it in her.  She’d been fretting for the past few weeks wondering where she and Conn would be left standing when all the dust finally settled.  The thought of having to leave him and return to her jungle was so depressing that she actually forced her
self to not even think about it, and when he failed to bring up their future it only increased her worry.

Slamming her body against his, she wrapped her arms tightly around Conn and squeezed for all she was worth.  She felt the vibration of Conn’s laughter rumbling against her own chest.
  “I take it that’s a yes?”

Aries didn’t release him, “Of course it’s a yes.  You said I can’t refuse, so I won’t.”  She pulled back to smile brightly at him before crushing her lips to his.