Page 73 of Uprooted
“I was quite captivated by the little trees on Earth. They were so cute and dainty.” Rameera always has a nice comment about Earth on hand. I can tell she is making an effort to connect with me. She is just being kind. There is no comparison between Earth and j'Tilak. This place is superior in every possible way.
“What is light without the darkness? As a child, Kiera was always ferocious about any perceived injustice. Especially toward Aro. One year, Aro came home to visit during his basic training. During his absence Kiera had grown up and Aro became the ferocious one. Aro glared at anyone she brought home. He was utterly intimidating.”
“Remember that time I didn’t speak to Dad for 3EMs because he was mean to Aro?” Kiera laughs at the memory.
“You were so determined to give him the silent treatment. I thought you’d never forgive him,” Rameera adds.
“There was only one time that my father raised his voice at Aro, and I would still be holding the grudge if Aro didn’t tell me to drop it,” Kiera tells me.
I suspect I already know the origins of this story. That moment when his father accused him of avoiding his responsibilities stuck with him. A new understanding of that story hits me. It was a king urging a prince to grow up. My heart breaks a tiny bit for that young lanky kid with a smile too big for his face. He’s got a tough outer shell, but the more I get to know him, the more I see how deeply he feels things.
* * *
“Look who finally showed up!” Aro says as he steps off the aeroglyder.
“I’m not here for you. I thought we should ignore your desperate attempt at getting attention,” Kiera says back to Aro.
“I hope they haven’t scared you off,” he says and pulls me into his side.
“How did it go out there?” I ask.
“Tauros is safe. We were able to get there in time,” he says without going into detail.
“Were you able to…” I trail off, not wanting to say the words in front of everyone. He has been so private about his struggle to summon his battleform.
“No. We can talk about that later,” he says and kisses the top of my head as we walk to the barracks.
53
Elowen
“Aro, get your ass out of bed.”
I jerk awake to the sound of yelling and banging on the door. I sit straight up and look around trying to figure out where all the noise is coming from.
“I’m up, I’m up. Fuck.” Aro rubs his eyes and eases me back down to the bed. Making no effort to actually get up.
“I hate morning people,” I tell him.
“You grumbled when I woke you up, and I made it quite pleasant. Kiera has a much different approach.” Aro sighs and pulls me closer.
“I’m scared to see what happens next if we don’t get up,” I say.
Aro tightly holds our sheets in place. “You can’t give in to her demands. If she catches a hint of weakness, it’s over. I’ll keep you safe.”
His face is inches away and I can’t resist kissing him. His sleepy eyes are incredibly sexy. His hair is tousled, and he’s warm and inviting. I tug on his lower lip to open his mouth, deepening the kiss. Aro rolls on top of me, pinning me to the bed. He drags his hand up the top of my thigh under my shirt. He grabs my breast and grinds his hips into me. His hard cock pushes between my legs with only his sweatpants between us. I’m pulling at his waistband when I hear Kiera at the door again.
“Aro, if you aren’t in the gym in three minutes I will hack my way through the door and drag you out,” Kiera yells against the closed door and kicks it before she turns and walks back down the hallway.
“Kiera is about to learn a very important lesson about respecting others’ privacy.” Aro grinds into me again undeterred.
“Let’s get up. I’d like to be wearing pants the second time I see your sister.” This time I’m successful in my attempt to get out of bed. Aro watches me as I pull on my clothes.
“I’m really getting tired of all of these interruptions,” he says bitterly and swings his legs onto the floor.
“Twice. It’s happened twice,” I say and pull my hair back into a high ponytail and laugh.
“Two times too many.”
