Wicked After Dark: 20 Steamy Paranormal Tales of Dragons, Vampires, Werewolves, Shifters, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Mina Carter

  “You won’t give up. I won’t allow it. I’ll bring you back again and again if I must. And if I can’t bring you back I’ll follow you. I won’t lose you. And I will always love you.”

  She felt him pouring his power into her, attempting to heal her. He’d been injured by the impact, and she could tell he didn’t have the strength to sustain both of their lives. You can’t. I’m too tired. You have to let me go.

  She was right. He couldn’t save her. He wouldn’t have the strength and power to bring her back this time. If only she really were his true mate and he could give her immortality. But she wasn’t. He couldn’t.

  Joseph felt Demetri’s presence an instant before he heard Demetri’s voice. “Unbelievable.” Demetri laughed out loud. Joseph kept his back to Demetri, fully prepared to allow Demetri to kill him. “You choose to allow me to kill you and allow her to die because you still don’t believe she belongs to you.”

  Get up, Joseph! Protect yourself! Don’t you dare let him kill you!

  My angel, the one and only love of my eternal soul, do not deny my love. Joseph bent down and kissed her lips. You cannot expect me to survive without you. Don’t be afraid. We are just continuing our journey together. He gently held her shoulders when she tried to get up. Stay still.

  You can’t allow him to kill you. If you are able to survive this you must live. You must find your true mate. You must find true love.

  “What makes you certain she’s not your true mate?” Demetri asked.

  Joseph didn’t respond, though the question got him to thinking. Why had he come to that conclusion? Damn it. The laws. Oh, damn it all. The only reason he’d believed it was because of laws made by his elders hundreds of years ago. And he, a demon who’d always rejected the laws in the past, had failed to recognize his mate because of the laws. He was an idiot.

  True love … suddenly he realized the truth: he’d found it. She was his destined mate. She always had been. There was no other. Even his dragon recognized her. Oh, damn. He truly was an idiot.

  * * *

  An imbecile. Mia had no idea what it meant, but his thoughts gave her hope that he would fight to live. Now get up off your ass and do something to defend yourself!

  Staring into her eyes, his lips parted in a wicked grin. “Not myself. You. Me. Our future.” He was the image of absolute confidence and strength as he stood up and turned away from her to face Demetri.

  “It’s too bad it took you until now to figure it out. If you’d only opened your mind to the truth before, none of this would’ve happened. Well, I suppose there’s really no reason to waste time wallowing in regret.” Demetri said.

  “I suppose you’re right.” When Mia heard Nikolas’ voice, she lifted her head to get a look at him. Nikolas and Haden stood on either side of Joseph with their backs to her. The movement caused her a great deal of pain. She looked down at the knife in her belly. She had to get it out. Wincing, she reached for it but stopped when a loud boom echoed all around. She looked up and saw Nikolas, Haden, and Demetri in the forms of three huge balls of fire shooting up into the sky.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes.

  “Mia, can you hear me?” She opened her eyes. Joseph bent down and kissed her forehead, and then he wrapped his hand around the knife in her belly. “I need to take the knife out. I can hold the worst of the pain, but it’s still going to hurt like hell.”

  Tears in her eyes, she nodded her head as she closed her eyes again.

  Joseph pulled the knife out.

  Her eyes flew open. The pain was shocking. She felt his hand over the wound, sending warmth and taking the pain, and then he gathered her up in his arms. He leaned his back against a tree and cradled her.

  Her heart was laboring.

  It was now or never. He bent his head and pressed his lips firmly on hers. His kissed her deeply.

  Mia felt as if she were soaring with him. Flying, with nothing to stop them. It was a place where no pain or fear could touch them. If it was dying, it wasn’t bad at all.

  She was aware he was taking her breath. He was suffocating her, but she didn’t fight.

  She trusted him.

  * * *

  One heart. One mind. One spirit. We’re forever connected. United as one. Watching her, monitoring her thoughts, Joseph kept his mind merged with hers.

  It’s you, Mia. It’s always been you. I never understood. I couldn’t. You were too good, too perfect to be mine. But you are the one. The only one for me. He took her last mortal breath. She was so weak from the knife wound that he only waited for a few seconds before her heart stopped beating. Come back to me, Mia. Take my eternal breath. There’s no way I’ll ever allow you to get away from me. Feel my love for you as I feel your love for me.

  * * *

  Mia stirred. She knew she was in Joseph’s arms. Protected and loved. She opened her eyes. His head was bent over her. She knew he’d healed her, healed more than the knife wound and her broken bones. Her poison, her cancer, was gone.

  “Joseph?” She touched his face. He didn’t respond. She jumped out of his arms and struggled to pull him into hers. “No! Joseph! You can’t do this! Joseph! You can’t leave me.” She cradled his head against her chest.

  “Mia.”

  “You’re okay.”

  “Yeah. No. Not really. I kind of hurt like hell all over. Please don’t keep moving me around,” Joseph said.

  Mia caught movement out of the corner of her eyes. “Oh, damn it, Joseph. We have visitors.”

  Despite being in intense pain, Joseph got to his feet and somehow managed to find the strength to bring Mia up with him.

  Seconds later a black mist with veins of blue and white electricity formed a few hundred feet away. In the midst of it she saw the forms of two men. “It’s Nikolas and Haden,” Joseph said.

  “I know.”

  The mist began to evaporate. Side by side Nikolas and Haden walked toward them. “Are you strong enough to get her out of here?” Haden asked.

  “Sure. What about Demetri?” Joseph asked.

  “He retreated.” Nikolas replied.

  “Are you sure?”

  Nikolas nodded. “As strange as it is, yes, I’m sure.”

  “It doesn’t make sense since they clearly had us outnumbered, but even the vampires fled the area,” Haden added.

  “What about Caleb?” Mia actually liked him. Not that much—he was a vampire after all. But she didn’t want any harm coming to him on account of her.

  “He’s fine. He bailed ship after Demetri knocked you off Joseph’s back.” Haden laughed out loud. “I guess he thought your fall looked a little too painful to risk it happening to him.”

  . “Well then, as long as everyone is okay, I guess now would be a great time for you to take me home, Joseph.”

  He frowned. “Mia, I’m sorry, but Eli destroyed your home.”

  “He destroyed the boutique? What? How?”

  “He blew it up.” He took her hands in his. “We will rebuild it.”

  “I know. It’s okay.” She saw the pain in his eyes. She knew they could and would rebuild it, but for the moment she wasn’t in any rush. She wanted time alone with Joseph. She looked up at Haden. “Will you and Caylee look out for the girls for a while?”

  Haden nodded. “Of course, we will.”

  She briefly glared at Nikolas, and then she turned back to Haden. “You won’t allow your brother to torment Brianna?”

  “I wouldn’t think of it.” Haden paused. “You know that eventually Nikolas is going to come to his senses.”

  “I know. It’s a shame, but I supposed worse things could happen,” Mia said.

  “You know I’m standing right here.” Nikolas growled the words. “I can hear you. I’m perfectly capable of looking out for Brianna. And don’t worry about my intentions. I don’t plan on tormenting her.”

  Mia waved Nikolas off as she looked up at Joseph. “Take me to your home. We can worry about the boutique later. I need a va
cation.” With all that was happening with Mary, Demetri, and the vampires they couldn’t leave for long, but she would take and enjoy any time alone with the man she loved.

  The war against evil wouldn’t disappear. It would be waiting for them to return.

  Find out how this series began in

  Eternal Breath of Darkness

  ~ One ~

  TAKING A DEEP BREATH, savoring the sweetness of her lingering scent, Haden Drake watched Caylee Adams walk toward Mia’s Clothing Boutique. He shifted, repositioning the seam of his pants, attempting to lessen the terrible ache that was becoming his most loyal, frustrating as hell companion. There was a small chance his attempt to get a little more comfortable would’ve worked if she hadn’t dropped her phone and bent over to pick it up. Shuddering, he uttered a curse, his cock swelling until it was impossibly hard, nearly bursting out of his pants. She was sexy in anything, but nothing compared to the way the worn fabric of those tight, low-rise jeans hugged her ass at that moment.

  He, a demon, was the furthest thing from a saint, and pretending to be one was no longer an option. For a year he’d battled against his powerful, volatile sex drive, but day after day the torment of wanting her and not having her had been building into a fierce, unstoppable storm of raw lust. Every night he dreamed of her writhing beneath him, calling out his name in sheer ecstasy as he plunged deep inside the tight, silky heat of her body. She wasn’t ready for him to stake his claim on her, but the season for moving slowly, seducing her gently, was long gone. Despite his great power, he was utterly powerless to deny his insatiable hunger for her any longer.

  Just before entering the boutique, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him. It was a naughty, wickedly sexy smile. If he didn’t know her better, he would’ve thought she’d purposely bent over to torment him. Had she? Rejecting the thought, he shook his head. “Nah.” Teasing wasn’t her style. Once she was out of sight, he was unable shake the feeling something wasn’t quite right. Every second that went by the feeling of uneasiness increased in him so much that his centuries-learned ability to remain absolutely calm under pressure failed. It was her smile. Something about it was raising a red flag. He would never admit it, but the moment she turned to smile at him, chasing after her was inevitable.

  While getting out of the car he tried to merge his mind with hers, but she was blocking him. He could easily use more force to penetrate the barrier, but he wouldn’t do it. Not yet anyways. He would if it proved necessary, but for now, knowing it would cause her pain, he decided to wait.

  A terrible, should’ve known better feeling churning in his gut, he approached the boutique, hoping she was inside. He really wished she wasn’t so skilled at blocking him. She was uncomfortable with his ability to touch her mind at will so he permitted her to build a wall to keep him out. Hindsight was a particularly brutal thorn in his ass. He was an idiot for allowing her wall to become so solid the only way to get through it was to cause her pain.

  Taking a deep breath, he released it with a frustrated groan as he entered the building.

  “Well, Mr. Slick, it definitely took you long enough to figure it out.” Mia approached from behind.

  Her sharp voice slicing deep gouges into Haden’s skull, he cringed as he slowly turned toward her. His eyes brows drawn together, he flashed her an uneasy smile. “Hello, Mia.” The instant he saw the wicked look in her eyes, his heart stopped. “Where’s Caylee?”

  “Oh, I get it.” Hands on her hips, Mia narrowed her gaze on him. “It’s a man thing. You couldn’t possibly comprehend what has just happened without further explanation. Oh my, you poor, miserable boy. There’s no reason to pout. It’s your lucky day. I just happen to be feeling quite charitable.”

  He suppressed the urge to growl. She was smiling too sweetly, showing way too much teeth for any demon’s liking. The woman was a wolf. Literally. She was lycan, though she didn’t know it. She had been orphaned at young age and raised in foster homes and eventually group homes. He wasn’t sure why, but the true essence of her wolf remained dormant. However, when she was riled, the temperament of the wolf was always present. She never hesitated to follow through with a bite after baring her teeth.

  “She ditched your pathetic ass,” she whispered.

  “What?” Things like this didn’t happen to him. “No.” He was a powerful, immortal warrior. “No.” He was a demon, a master of deception. “No.” He’d live too many lifetimes, acquired too much knowledge to be so easily duped. “Where’s Caylee?” It was joke. She was hiding somewhere, having a good laugh at his expense. Laughing was good. It was great. But enough was enough. Feeling uncharacteristically bewildered, he glanced around. Spotting the dressing room area, deciding it was a perfect hiding place, he walked toward it.

  “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing? Don’t you dare open that door.” Mia followed him. “You’re going to scare the hell out of my customers.” She grabbed his arm and yanked it as hard as she could. “She isn’t here.”

  Turning, he glared at her. “Where is she?”

  Mia glared right back at him. “She … ditched … your … pathetic … ass.” She smiled, lifting her chin defiantly, obviously enjoying the moment. “Was that clear enough for you? If not, I’m sure that I could look around and find some crayons to draw you a picture.”

  “Why?” Nah. It was much more than enjoying the moment. She was clearly savoring it.

  “Why do you think?” Snorting indignantly, she glanced down at his groin. “You haven’t even tried to make it worth the aggravation you put her through day and night. Try using the most valuable tool God gave your gender.” Smirking, she shrugged. “Maybe, and, yes, I know it’s a highly unlikely maybe, if you manage to use it correctly she’ll learn to look beyond the fact you’re a seriously flawed, arrogant bastard.”

  Fists clenched at his sides, Haden nodded. Yep. The woman was a wolf. Rather than bite and release, she clamped down to bury teeth bone-deep to rip and devour. She clearly had some really messed-up, unresolved issues with men. He wanted to strangle her, but unfortunately, no matter how infuriating women happened to be, he never strangled them. He was a demon of great strength, integrity and valor. A warrior. A guardian. Demons like him didn’t strangle women. Not even if they were lycan. Grumbling, because it was the only thing he could do, he turned to walk away.

  “Leave her alone, Haden.” She managed to get in front of him, using her body to prevent him from leaving. “I’m serious. You can’t continue whatever sick game you’re playing with her. It’s wrong, and you know it is.”

  He stared down at her. “What are you talking about?” Wonderful. She was willing to take him on to protect Caylee. Now, despite the fact she irritated the hell out of him, he actually respected the woman.

  “Look, Haden, it’s totally cool if you’re gay. It’s not a big deal. Really, it isn’t. I swear. Just be honest with Caylee. Introduce her to your lover. You can still be her friend.” She shrugged. “Unless—” She tilted her head to the side. “—your lover boy is the controlling, jealous type and he doesn’t allow you to engage in other relationships.”

  “Huh?” His jaw dropped. “Caylee thinks I’m gay?”

  “No,” she lied. Smiling, she softened her expression, attempting to use kindness to manipulate him into continuing the conversation. “That’s my assumption,” she lied again. “You’re a very wealthy man. You’re not all that hard on the eyes. You’re always clinging to Caylee. I’ve never seen you give any other woman a second glance. And, here’s the big one—you’ve never tried to get down her pants. Oh, and don’t try to lie to me about it—she would’ve told me. She always shares her greatest disappointments with me.” She waited for a few seconds, but he didn’t respond. “Look, I don’t have all day to play games with you. Just tell me the truth, are you gay or not?”

  Haden really wished he didn’t know Mia was lying. He didn’t even want to consider the possibility Caylee believed he was gay. For the first time ever, he tru
ly regretted having the ability to hear the thoughts of another person. A few women, peeking at them from behind a manikin, giggled and whispered to each other. He glanced over at them and then, shaking his head, he looked down at Mia. “No.”

  “Oh crap. It figures. She won another one.” She waved a twenty-dollar bill in his face. “You know, I’m starting to think it’s time to take that girl to Vegas. Well anyways, give this to her when you catch up to her.” Dismissing him, she turned and walked away.

  The moment Haden stepped out of the boutique he tried to call Caylee, but her phone was turned off. Driving to the secluded trails where she jogged, he reviewed everything that had happened. Fearing for her safety, he’d told her to stay out of forest. As expected, she refused to listen. She loved using the scenic trails to jog in the afternoon. He was ready for the argument, ready to win. He’d offered to jog with her. How could she refuse? And, she didn’t. She looked up at him with the mysterious, sexy smile that always heated his blood and wreaked havoc in his body, and she agreed.

  Caylee smirked at him, Haden suddenly realized. She wasn’t teasing him. Opening the door to the boutique, she’d glanced over her shoulder to smirk at him. She was flipping him the bird in her own special way. He would’ve known it if he hadn’t been obsessing over her ass. Accelerating through the last curve, pushing the car to its limits, he punched the dash with so much force he left an impression of his fist in it. If she were anyone else, he would’ve happily abandoned her. He sure as hell wouldn’t be chasing after her to protect her, completely helpless to do anything else.

  Throwing gravel, he sped into the parking lot and slammed on the brakes. Sliding sideways, the car abruptly stopped when the rear end crashed against a boulder. From time to time, she accused him of being a control freak. To be fair, he was a bit overly protective of her, but he wasn’t a control freak. His behavior wasn’t due to a lack of respect for her. It was his responsibility, his right to ensure her survival. If she would just be honest with herself, she would accept the fact she didn’t always make the best decisions. It wasn’t her fault. Not really. She was a woman. Women needed men to lead them. Women commonly made bad decisions based on overly sensitive emotions. It was a hormone thing. Hopefully she would eventually learn to rely solely on his flawless wisdom. It would sure as hell make life a whole lot easier.