Amber (Jewels Cafe Book 1)

by Mia Harlan

  “We were just trying to make her stop,” he says softly.

  “Stop what?”

  “Her shouting. Chase and I are shifters.”

  Chase gives the top of my head another kiss. “We can’t handle loud noises, sweetheart. We were only trying to make her go away.”

  “So you didn’t leave because you wanted to break the spell?” I step back and look at them. To look at the way Wes’s eyes soften as they meet mine. The way Chase smiles as he looks at me. And the way Julian no longer hides his feelings for me.

  “We didn’t mean to hurt you, sweetheart,” Chase says.

  “And we would never leave, little bear,” Wes adds.

  “Even if I rejected you?” I glance at the book.

  “Even then. Though I really hope you don’t.”

  “I won’t.” I smile softly at him.

  “Good. Remember back at the shoe store, when I asked you if you believed in love at first sight?”

  I nod, my breath catching in my throat.

  “Well, I do. Because I love you, Ambear. And I hope that one day, you could love me, too.”

  “Of course I love you.” I throw myself at Wes and marvel at the fact that this sexy, strong, kind, loving bear shifter is all mine.

  We pour our heart and soul into our next kiss. It brings tears to my eyes and sends warmth coursing through my entire body. I kiss him harder, and Wes groans against my lips.

  “Not here, remember?” Chase chuckles as he gently pulls me out of the bear shifter’s arms. “You see that table?”

  It takes me a second before I finally focus on where he’s pointing. It’s the same spot I sat in when Julian surprised me with the pumpkin spice latte sign. And it’s where Chase was sitting the moment we first met.

  “I fell in love with you right over there,” my bunny shifter says, making my heart thump. “I wasn’t planning on telling you so soon. I didn’t want to rush you. But I love you, Amber. And every moment I spend with you, I only love you more.”

  “And I love you, too,” I cry.

  Chase’s eyes light up, and he covers my lips with his. I kiss him back with all the love I feel for him, but within seconds our sweet kiss turns hot. Next thing I know, I’m tugging his shirt up, and my bunny shifter starts to raise my dress.

  “Not here.” Julian pulls me away from him and covers my lips with his.

  He doesn’t say anything; he just kisses me, but then I don’t need him to. I already know Julian loves me, and I love him.

  When Wes pulls us apart, we’re both panting, and my heart’s thundering in my chest. I glance out the window to make sure no one’s watching, but then I realize I want to be seen. Not naked, obviously, but standing here with my three handsome mates.

  “I can’t wait to tell Julian’s mom about this,” Chase says.

  “About what?” Julian suddenly looks worried.

  “That we didn’t take her advice.” Chase starts to laugh. “No flowers. No chocolates. No restaurant. And we all told Amber we love her in the middle of Jewels Cafe.”

  “And it was perfect,” I tell him honestly. “Absolutely perfect.”

  “It was.” Julian smiles softly at me. “But you know I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  “Which is why...” Wes pulls me into him and stares down at me with an intensity that makes my breath catch. “You’ll have to let us take you out to dinner tomorrow and tell you we love you.”

  “Okay,” I whisper breathlessly.

  “And you’ll let us buy you flowers and chocolates.” Julian moves closer, until I can practically feel the heat emanating off his body, and my pulse spikes. “Lots of flowers and chocolates.”

  “If you insist,” I tease, but I’m already breathing hard.

  “And then...” Chase moves to my other side, trapping me, surrounding me, making me feel warm and loved and oh so turned on. “Then, you’ll let us take you dancing.”

  I nod, and my three hot, sweet, perfect mates pull me into their arms.

  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!

  IT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD to me if you could take a second to leave a review. Reviews help other readers find my books and keep me motivated to continue writing.

  Click here to read a bonus Amber scene.

  If you’d like to chat with me, drop by my Facebook Group.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thank you so much to all the amazing people who helped bring this book to life: Mead, Eva, Athena, Noah, Sarah, Ann, Kristy, Taylor, Erin, Christina, Katie, Meg, Kathy, and Meghan. I couldn’t have done this without you.

  If you liked Amber, you’ll enjoy these other Jewels Cafe books:

  SAPPHIRE BY EVA DELANEY

  Peridot by M Sinclair Author

  Opal by Candice Wondrak

  Topaz by J.E. Cluney

  Ruby by Ann Dentonn

  Amethyst by CY Jones

  Pearl by Tabitha Barret

  Emerald by Jade Waltz

  Onyx by Melissa Adams

  Moonstone by Lucy Felthouse

  Rose by Jewels Arthur

  Flip the page to read a preview of Sapphire (Jewels Cafe #2)!

  Sapphire by Eva Delaney

  I ONLY DATE FOR TWO reasons—blood and ice cream.

  After all, I’m an immortal vampire. I don’t want to stick around to watch my lovers die.

  What I do want is delicious treats, but when an errant love spell hits, I fall madly in love with three of my man-snacks:

  A wolf shifter who’s an Instagram model.

  A Pegasus shifter who shifts when he sneezes.

  Bob.

  Now, stupid feelings start screwing up my quest for free food.

  To make matters worse, I can’t avoid these men. I need their help to stop an old nemesis from turning everyone in Silver Springs into vampires... and worst of all, tainting all the ice cream. And did I mention trying to kill me and my men?

  Can I save my lovers and the town? And are these new men worth the risk to my heart?

  Sapphire is a paranormal reverse harem novel. It’s part of the Jewels Cafe shared universe.

  Click here to read this quirky, fun romance today.

  Chapter 1

  I STARED DOWN THE WOLF in Jewels Cafe. He curled his lips to show his sharp glinting teeth.

  He could be so melodramatic. “We’re staying here, Wim.”

  He growled.

  “Yes, for the third time this week!”

  Wim stood up on his hind legs, resting his big hairy front paws on my shoulders and bared his teeth in my face.

  So, I did the one thing I could when a wolf threatened me.

  I bopped his nose.

  Wim blinked, surprised.

  “Sapphire,” a woman called from the cafe’s counter.

  I turned my head. Amber, who owned the cafe, raised an eyebrow and pushed a seventy-four-ounce cup across the counter. “Sixty-seven shots of espresso, twenty-eight pumps of caramel syrup, a white mocha, a regular mocha, foam, and extra-extra-extra whipped cream. Wim, here’s your small glass of water.”

  My drink had everything. Well, almost everything. “Does your blood type change when you shift into someone else?” I asked the chameleon shifter.

  “You’ll never find out.”

  “So coy,” I said as I stepped away from Wim.

  I grabbed the cup in both hands and headed for my usual table in the back corner. Wim shifted back to his human form and plopped down across from me with his tiny cup.

  “You promised we’d go dancing,” he said.

  “Yes, but this place has coffee,” I said.

  He sighed. “I know you’re undead, but that drink might kill you.”

  “I have seen empires rise like the slow, bright dawn and crumble to dust like a cookie in a clenched fist. I am as ancient as the foundations of the earth itself. This won’t hurt me.”

  “You’re fifty-three, Sapphire. You were turned two decades ago.”

  I glared at him across the wobbly cafe table as I sipped my
drink through a reusable straw. At twenty-eight, Wim had reached full hotness. Men in their early twenties were awkward still, but Wim was just right. His black hair fell to his shoulders in perfect waves. His dark eyes glinted with a mischievous, predatory light that sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.

  “Do you even need coffee?” he said.

  “I was never a night person.”

  “I mean, does caffeine have any effect on vampires?”

  “You know damn well it doesn’t, Wolfie!” Coffee, alcohol, and everything fun had no effect on vampires—at least not on vampires of my lineage. That didn’t stop me from trying.

  “What if someone takes cocaine and you suck their blood?” he said.

  He was rubbing it in now, probably because I called him Wolfie and he hated the nickname. So, I pulled out my phone and unlocked it, swiping through profile after profile of normal men, right where he could see.

  He leaned toward me, resting his forearms on the table. I glanced at his tattoos of nighttime forests and wolves. Something about them made me want to stroke his arm.

  “Is that your dating app?” he said.

  I grunted.

  “Who are you going to feed off and abandon tonight?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Why don’t you spend the night with me, Fire?”

  “You know why...you won’t let me suck on your neck. Besides, I’m ancient, an unending fixed point in time.”

  “And that means...”

  I glanced up at him. “I’ll watch you die. You and anyone else I hang out with.”

  Wim drummed his nails on the table; perfectly manicured nails, the one thing about him that wasn’t rough or wild. “You could turn anyone you love.”

  “Then I’d be stuck with them forever,” I said. “That’s worse.”

  Wim grinned, and I grinned back like two conspirators about to burn something down; in this case, love.

  “Settling down is living death,” he said.

  “Like you know anything about death.”

  He shrugged. “I know a cage when I see one, and marriage—that’s a cage.”

  “I can’t believe it. You’re right for the first time ever.”

  The bells hanging on the cafe door jingled and in walked a handsome man with eyes as blue as a sunny day and a face perfect for sitting on.

  Wim caught me watching him. “Is that your date—I mean meal—for the night?”

  I grunted.

  “He’s so...normal. Look, he’s even wearing a jeans jacket like a Canadian in a beer commercial.”

  I flicked my hands at Wim. “You’re just jealous. Unless you’re going to feed me, get out of here.”

  I looked over the new man—my Tinder date/meal. With clear blue eyes, he was pretty in a boy-next-door way that he hadn’t lost despite being in his mid-twenties. He was too handsome to spend an eternity with. I’d fuck him and we’d break up and then keep running into each other and hate-fucking and doing the “will they or won’t they” thing for a thousand fucking years. No damn way.

  “I bet his name is something basic like Mark or Rob,” Wim said.

  He always made fun of my man-snacks, even though he wasn’t willing to be one. So, I hit back. “Is Horsey still waiting for me outside? Go tell him to stay there unless he wants to be dinner.”

  Wim rolled his eyes as he pushed up from the table. “I’m not scaring off your other boyfriend.”

  “Why not? You’re jealous of Mumford.”

  Wim bared his fangs at me and I bared mine back.

  “Sapphire?” Bob, the jeans jacket man, said.

  I snapped my mouth shut and glared at Wim. “I’m going, I’m going,” he said. “Don’t bite your tongue off.”

  “Don’t piss on a fire hydrant.”

  Wim gave me the finger as he walked away. I smirked. Good. I loved it when Wolfie was pissed off.

  Bob looked from Wim to me with his brows furrowed.

  I put on my best fake smile. “Hi, Bob, take a seat.”

  Will Sapphire and Bob hit it off? Will Sapphire and Wim ever hook up? What’s with Horsey waiting outside?

  Click here to find out!