A Paranormal Easter: 14 Paranormal & Fantasy Romance Novellas

by Tiffany Carby

  She lowered herself on his length, and he was shocked at how ready she was. She was so wet and tight. He had to concentrate on his breathing to keep from coming as she sank completely down on him with a sigh.

  “You feel so good, Vichter. I love this feeling.” Ashlyn leaned forward, arms on either side of his chest. She closed her eyes, moving slowly. Too slowly.

  She’d drive him crazy at this rate. Afraid she’d push him over the edge before he could get her there first, he knew he needed to set the pace.

  Vichter sat up, pulling her legs around his torso, and used his hands on her hips to drive a faster rhythm, rolling his hips and hers to make sure there was constant friction. She was panting and whimpering within minutes. He watched her carefully, concerned that she might be hurting, but all he saw was pleasure and awe.

  Hesitating on the upstroke, Ashlyn opened her eyes and blurted, “I’m going to hell. I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing, but I can’t fight it anymore. I just can’t.”

  “You’re not going to hell. What we’re doing isn’t wrong, Ash.” Vichter pushed himself deeper, holding her hips and running his teeth along the sensitive place on her neck, sure to make her buck on his cock.

  “Not the sex. It’s the idea that I’m just some mistress or fling. You have a child, Vichter. What could I possibly be to you but a fling, a hindrance in your life path?”

  Vichter froze; he was so close to orgasm it physically hurt. He stared at Ash, shocked at what he was hearing. At first, he thought she was crazy, was just making up something in her head, was confusing him with someone … he couldn’t imagine what she could be talking about.

  Then it hit him. The egg. She thought it was his child. And why shouldn’t she? He’d never given her the whole truth. Seems like if anything could kill what they had between them, it would be secrets and lies. And it was time to break the cycle.

  “Ashlyn,” he said, caressing her cheek and bringing her sad eyes to his. “That’s not my child. I told you I’m not with anyone, wife or lover or girlfriend. I don’t have any children or eggs. I am a Guardian. My duty is to protect the eggs of elder dragons who cannot protect their own because they must protect their mate after birth. I incubate and protect the egg, but I didn’t make it, and it’s not my child. It’s our Dynast’s egg. I hold the Dynastic heir of the entire dragon race. I could be put to death for just telling you this, and I need you to know why I didn’t specifically tell you more about the egg. But I didn’t mean for you to assume it was mine.”

  “I saved the egg of the Dragon King? They should make a movie about me! Game of Eggs!”

  Of all the things he expected her to say, that was not it. Unable to answer before she started moving again, all words left his head in a rush of blood and lust.

  This was different. She was no longer just giving in, she was staking a claim. Ashlyn pushed him down to the floor, digging her nails into his abdomen as she tossed her head back and pulled him deep within her body, grinding down on him sharper and harder than before. She whimpered, and he tried to pull her up, but she just rode him faster, pulling his hands up to her breasts.

  “Touch me, Vichter. Mark me. Take me. I don’t want this moment to ever end. I need something … I just want more.”

  11

  Ashlyn

  Somehow, he’d done it. Vichter had managed to get under her skin, burrowing his way deep into her heart. It was her own fault—she knew when she threw herself at him the way she did, she’d make herself vulnerable.

  And now she was facing the moment. He could leave today. Or worse yet, stay just long enough to make this unbearable. Ashlyn felt physically ill at the thought of him leaving, and that would turn to agony the longer he stayed. Every time she looked at him, saw his smile, felt his touch, she knew it was going to break her.

  Ashlyn quietly slipped out while Vichter was still lost in the sleep of the well-satiated. She found herself trying to think of ways to make him happy, to bring out that smile that melted her insides every time she saw it, and the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. She needed groceries.

  They’d slept in, and it took her almost an hour to get everything she wanted, putting her home closer to lunch than breakfast.

  As she pulled into the drive, Vichter was waving at her from the front door. She waved back, parked the car, and got out. “I’ve got breakfast!” she yelled, happy to surprise him.

  As she got closer, he ran to her, knocking the bag from her hands and crushing her to him. She allowed him to hold her for a moment, but he was hugging her so tightly she couldn’t breathe in the folds of his shirt. Pushing him away, she took a breath.

  “Glad you missed me!” She laughed.

  “I was scared. You can’t imagine what kind of thoughts were running through my head. Next time, leave a note, dammit!” He pulled her to him again and picked up the sacks at the same time. “I guess I need to tie you to me.”

  “How far could I possibly go, Vic? This is my home.”

  “Vic? I finally get a nickname?” He smiled down at her as they made their way into the house.

  “I thought we’d eat outside today. It’s so pretty, and I have fond memories of the back yard now.”

  Vichter stared at her for a long moment, as if he were going to say something, but in the end, he just helped her into the house. While she gathered some food, he grabbed a flannel quilt from the linen closet and headed outside. He spread it in the shade under the huge oak.

  Ashlyn couldn’t hide her happiness. At this moment, she had everything she wanted—Vichter, food, and hope for the future. She was ready to move on with her life and stop hiding from people, from the monsters, and from her nightmares. And it felt good. She just wouldn’t think about Vichter leaving, and she would keep herself so busy after he did leave that she wouldn’t have a chance to fall apart.

  When she came outside, struggling to carry donuts and cinnamon rolls, a thermos of coffee, and a bowl of diced fruit all at once, Vichter rushed over to help. He quickly planted a kiss on the corner of her mouth while she was distracted. She was constantly impressed with the amount of care and attention he gave her. She was thankful he didn’t treat her like a fling, but she just didn’t understand why. It confused her, made the waters muddier.

  He placed the items on the quilt but didn’t sit. “I need a few minutes to finish freshening up while you set up the food. I’ll be back in ten minutes, okay?” Not waiting for an answer, Vichter quickly went into the house.

  After Vichter had been gone more than double the time he’d said, Ashlyn decided to go find him. She also wanted to make sure he grabbed the egg, if he hadn’t already. She covered the food with a corner of the blanket.

  Ashlyn quietly made her way into the house. She didn’t want to startle him, but she didn’t want to invade his privacy either. Coming to a stop in the doorway of the guest room, she found Vichter sitting cross-legged on the floor, a feather in one hand and a branch of dried, bare mistletoe in the other.

  “Whatcha doin’?” It looked like weird yoga or meditation.

  Vichter jerked, clearly unaware she had walked up. Raising his head to her, he had sweat on his brow and dark circles under his eyes that weren’t there earlier.

  “Vichter! What are you doing? You look like you’re hurting yourself.” Ashlyn ran and knelt in front of him, grabbing his chin and moving his head left and right, looking for more signs of illness or injury. His skin was fiery-hot, like a fever. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m using magic to try to contact our Dynast or one of my team. It’s not something I’m normally strong enough to do, but I wanted to try. If I don’t go home soon, they’ll send an army after the egg. But if I could just send a message, I could buy a little more time. This kind of magic is beyond my ability though.”

  “It looks like it’s killing you, so stop. And I don’t want you to buy more time. I want you to go.”

  Vichter stared at Ash, hurt in his eyes. “What do you mean, you want me to go
?”

  “Vichter, you’re a dragon. I’m a human. I don’t know how old you are, and I don’t want to know, but I’m only twenty-three. We fell into this like a raging storm. What happens when it all cools down? We break up like a couple of teenagers who got distracted by life? I go to Dragonland, become your weirdo girlfriend who doesn’t fit in with the rest of your world, then get tossed back here? Where I don’t have a family or any friends? If we continue this farce as far as we can take it, it will end up in disaster.

  “I’m just starting to understand my place in the world, to have plans and hopes and a drive to be more than this crazy chick. I don’t want to give that up. You’ve given me a lot … passion, maturity, hope, memories … I’m not sure I can handle it if you stay any longer. Give me just this one day, that’s all I ask. Then tonight, I want you to leave. Fly away.”

  “I’m not sure I can do that.” A tear fell from the corner of his shiny eyes, and it damn near killed her.

  Choked up and unable to speak, Ashlyn fled downstairs. She had to make him understand where she was coming from but couldn’t find the words. Even though she could feel him behind her, she didn’t turn around when she started to speak.

  “These past few days have been amazing. I never dreamed of meeting anyone like you or having this mutual attraction in such a short amount of time. And yeah, there’s a part of me that wishes things were different, that we had more in common, but I’m not sure I’d like you as much if you were not the same person … dragon, I mean. I like you exactly the way you are. But you being you is what makes this so hard. I don’t think I have a place in your world. And I know you would wither and fade in my world. I have that special sight, remember? I can see the light in your eyes, Vichter.” Ashlyn turned to face him, tears in her eyes. “It’s dying. It’s fading out like a flame with no oxygen. And there’s nothing I can do to stop that, Vichter. I’m not enough.”

  “You are enough, Ashlyn. You are enough for me. More than I could have ever hoped for. I believe you about this human body though. I’ve magically held it longer than I should have, and I need to fly. You’re also right about me living here with you, it would never really work.

  “But you haven’t even given me a chance to tell you about my world. You’re deciding our fate based on your own fears, and there’s no reason for them. If you didn’t belong in my world, Ashlyn, I wouldn’t love you the way I already do.”

  She gasped. He said it. Out loud. And she had no doubts he believed it to be true. She didn’t know what it meant for them, but it certainly changed things. At least a little.

  “We’ve got a day, Vichter, then I’m sending you home. With or without me, you must go, or you’ll die. Well, I know something really bad will happen. You’re not well. So tell me your story about dragon life. Sell me the fairy tale, Vichter, because I’d love to believe. But at least a part of you knows I’m right. I don’t belong in a dragon’s world.”

  “You belong in my world. That much I know is true.” Walking two steps closer, he grabbed her and kissed her with passion. This wasn’t claiming, this wasn’t curiosity, passion, or any of the things she’d felt before. This felt more like need, like he was begging her with his mouth. But what he was asking for wasn’t possible.

  Was it?

  12

  Vichter

  A little while later, Vichter had finally calmed Ashlyn enough to let her enjoy their picnic. It was now after noon, and they were both starving. She was telling him about different jobs she’d had in the past, along with some of her hobbies.

  Vichter was distracted by the powdered sugar on Ashlyn’s pouty lips. He was trying to listen to what she was saying, but he leaned over and licked her bottom lip while she was still talking, ending her words in a shocked silence.

  “Sorry, you had a little …” He pointed to the corner of his mouth.

  Ashlyn licked around her lips, paying close attention to the corner.

  “The power you have over my body is not fair, but you go right ahead. You like playing with fire? Don’t forget I’m a dragon. I breathe fire, Ash.”

  She didn’t quake or shrink at his bold statement. Instead, her eyes lit up with excitement. “Tell me about yourself. The dragon inside.”

  Vichter took a bite of his cinnamon roll, gathering his thoughts while he chewed. Her eyes focused on his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, which made her swallow in return. He loved how she reacted to him, how she didn’t hide her attraction or passion from him. He could tell she was in a state, practically squirming on the blanket where she sat. That’s okay, she had him in the same situation.

  When he didn’t immediately answer, she pressed him further. “Are there dragons that breathe ice and acid and other stuff?”

  “No, that’s mostly in stories. Every dragon I’ve ever met or been told about was a fire breather. I’ve never met an enemy that wasn’t vulnerable to fire. But it’s probably possible with really strong magic.”

  Ashlyn absently stroked the egg, protecting it by instinct. It made his heart swell as he thought of her protecting their egg one day.

  “Our magic is innate. We’re born with it. Some are stronger in magic than others, and those are our Casters. Our Dynast is the strongest Caster we have, and I’m not sure there’s anything he can’t do. My magic isn’t very strong. I can manifest things, like food or clothes, but not people. I can’t really change things that already exist, but I’m working on it. And I can do some telepathy if I’m near someone, but not long distance. That’s what I was trying earlier. I thought maybe if I dug deep and tried using some items that have magical properties, I might be able to contact the clan. Magic can be developed and get stronger if you practice, but only if you have the innate talent. And we’re taught to take the form of a human very early on, every dragon, because we live in your world more than you live in ours, at least in recent years.

  “We’re very private. We don’t cross the veil very often and only started crossing when we discovered it was a way to protect our eggs. Both the rainforest, which you can only get into by flying, and the veil, protect us. We like the hot weather too, the lushness of the forests.”

  “Keep talking. I wanna know everything.”

  Hesitating, Vichter took a deep breath and looked at her. Ashlyn moved the food left between them and curled up on the flannel quilt, her head in his lap. “Go ahead, tell me. We’re running out of time, and I want to take you back inside and spend the day in bed.”

  He swallowed. The heat from her skin on his, her brown eyes shining up at his with mirth and love, unraveled him. He wanted to give her everything. He wanted her to be ridiculously happy. Every minute of every day.

  “If you were to come into my world, there would be two choices. You could live as a human, completely in our world. We’d live as mates, but we couldn’t have our own children. A handful of humans already live there. They are all mate-less right now. They’ve mostly grown up in our world and never left, for whatever reason. Or they were running from something and we protected them in exchange for their help. There might be a veil, but it always helps to have a normal human as a friend and neighbor.

  “Humans can become a dragon, what we refer to as Changed. If a human decides to be Changed, a dragon needs to petition the Dynast for them, and then they must go before the Dynast to be judged worthy. If granted, a Caster uses magic to give them their dragon form. Learning to use a dragon form as an adult is hard, and it would be up to their mate, or their dragon family, which are the dragons that put them forward for petition in the first place, to help them with the transition to living as dragon in a more permanent way. They’d still be able to take their original human form, but it would be more magical than real. An illusion that feels real. But becoming Changed allows them to have children and fully live among the dragons and our ways.”

  Vichter was very careful not to use Ashlyn’s name or the word “you” so she would not feel as if he were pressuring her. But in his version of the story, it was he wh
o petitioned his Dynast for the honor of mating Ashlyn as a dragon. It was a fantasy he would die for. It was everything he wanted, which made her next words even more shocking.

  “If I wanted children with you, I’d have to be a dragon?”

  He didn’t want to put limits on her at all, didn’t want to say anything to make her decide to stay behind, but he couldn’t lie to her either. He swallowed hard and looked down, meeting her eyes. “Yes.”

  She nodded, still caressing the egg. “It’s surprisingly soft for an egg that looks like a pretty ball of concrete.”

  “A dragon egg is somewhat malleable. It conforms itself to the being that’s holding it if you wait long enough. The baby dragon is close enough to hatching that it’s curling itself against you, creating as much skin contact with you as possible.”

  “It’s so small. When I saw you, you were huge. Bigger than any dragon I’ve ever seen. In movies or stories, I mean. You’re my first real dragon.”

  “And I will be your last.” He held her face with both hands, easily bringing her head to his lips, kissing her hard, unable to wait any longer. It was an awkward angle, but he didn’t let her turn or adjust herself. Kissing her upside down, eating at her lips and tongue, stroking her mouth long and deep, the taste of donuts and coffee and bubblegum made him crazy. He could kiss her for hours. For days.

  Forever.

  Vichter eventually lowered her back to his lap, kissing her closed eyes as he did so. He was afraid he’d hurt her if he held her in this position any longer, but it was hard to let her go, even for a moment.

  “Don’t talk about other dragons. Ever. You’ll make me do things I might regret, like turn caveman. And since dragons have existed since before cavemen, I know exactly how serious that is and what it means.”

  Ashlyn laughed. “I’m flattered at your jealousy, Vichter. But you kind of have proof I’ve never been with any other dragons. Or men. Or anyone. At all.”