Tall, Dark and Paranormal: 10 Thrilling Tales of Sexy Alpha Bad Boys

by Opal Carew

  His hands shifted to her breasts still shielded by her blouse.

  “You shouldn’t have touched me like you did this morning while I slept,” she whispered, not wanting to break the spell, but feeling it necessary to set up some rules. She touched his broad shoulders, enjoying the hard muscle that worked under her fingertips as his hands molded to her breasts, lifting, stroking, massaging in a loving way.

  “I thought you had consented,” he responded, his voice deep and husky, his mouth brushing her temple with another silken kiss.

  She raised a brow.

  “You did. Any thread of encouragement... “ He took a ragged breath. “The way you looked in bed, your murmured words of consent…you seemed…willing.” His thumbs rubbed against her nipples, the sensitive nubs stretching out to him, begging for more.

  She had been all too willing, in her dreams.

  The tips of her breasts tightened into hard nubs and electricity coursed through her body. She was certain her short curls were drenched in anticipation as wet as her panties felt. Her fingers swept to the buttons on his shirt, and she quickly unfastened them, baring his smooth as satin chest. She hadn’t intended anything more than touching his skin, enjoying the feel of his muscles, the hard leanness of Adonis reborn.

  He stilled his hands on her breasts as her fingers began exploring the planes of his muscles. And then he began working on her buttons so quickly—the vampiric speed something she would have loved to have—and pushed away the fabric to reveal her lace-covered breasts.

  Admiration filled his expression briefly, before his look changed to one of a man with an objective, his fingers slipping around to her back, fumbling with her bra fastener, and then the catch was undone and her breasts were freed from the confinement.

  He said something under his breath, she thought words of awe although a curse word or two was thrown into the mix. Frustration and raging need? She wasn’t sure, but she let him have his fill as she ran her fingers through his hair. And then his mouth fastened on a breast, his hand cupping the other, his thumb stroking her into bliss.

  Leaning back against the couch cushions, she wanted him to take her, to show her what it felt like to be a hunter’s conquest. Yet she knew deep down, she couldn’t have him now or ever. Her hunter family would kill him if they learned he was a vampire. Why couldn’t he still be a hunter?

  Her breathing quickened. His warm, capable hands and hot mouth felt good on her breasts, but this was so wrong.

  He was a vampire, she screamed at herself. Why didn’t she discourage him? Did she believe the secret would never get out? Because no man had ever been brave enough to seduce her like Adonis was doing? Was it that he couldn’t truly have her, not as a legally and socially accepted mate, and she felt safe to experiment a little?

  She moaned, closed her eyes, and gripped his shoulders, never wanting to let go, never wanting to ruin the fantasy.

  He ran his tongue over her nipple, sending her into a state of rapture. A rush of heat spread through her body, bending her to his will. She arched her back in response. But when his fingers touched the zipper of her jeans, a chill doused the flame. The sensible part of her mind quickly took charge, and she opened her eyes, then grabbed his hand.

  “We can’t, Adonis.” She shouldn’t have encouraged him. She shouldn’t have wanted this, not from him.

  Before he could say a word, his eyes clouded with potent need, a knock at the door nearly unhinged her. She jumped off the couch, secured her bra and began hurriedly fastening her buttons. God, what had she nearly done?

  “Go, Adonis! Vanish!” she whispered harshly, her cheeks on fire, a fearful heat quickly spreading through her body.

  Adonis looked at her as if she was the sun and moon and the earth, his to cherish, and he’d never give her up. Then the banging on the door renewed, which seemed to clear the lust-filled fog in his brain, and he glanced at the door and swore under his breath.

  “Please go, Adonis,” she pleaded this time when her commands did little to persuade him.

  He bowed his head slightly and vanished. But she felt too flustered to deal with whoever it was pounding on her door.

  Knowing her visitor wouldn’t go away until she dealt with him, she crossed the floor to the front door and peeked out through the security peephole, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

  “Gregory?” she squeaked when she saw him standing in front of the door, his brow furrowed in a hard frown, her heart nearly giving out again. She looked behind her to ensure Adonis was still gone, and he was. She breathed a tentative sigh of relief.

  She straightened her shirt again and opened the door. “What are you doing here?” She hadn’t meant for her words to sound so surprised, edged with irritation.

  His blue eyes studied her with interest, but she couldn’t share the feeling he seemed to have for her. “I spoke to Zachary. He said you were alone so I thought I’d drop by and check on you.”

  “I’m fine, really.” Again, her voice was curt. Go away, she wanted to scream at him. Before Adonis returned and caused a scene.

  “Maybe we could have lunch together.”

  Typical hunter didn’t know when to give up. She didn’t want to have lunch with him, or dinner, or breakfast, or anything. He glanced toward the kitchen, and his eyes about popped out of his head. She swung around.

  Adonis walked out of the kitchen, holding a jug of milk and tall blue glass. His hair hung loosely about his shoulders still as if she’d just raked her fingers through it. Which she had. She glanced at the couch. Sure enough, the leather tie to his hair sat as prominent on the couch as an oak tree standing in the middle of a cornfield. Guilt tugged at her heart.

  Rachael’s legs wobbled, and she grabbed the doorknob. Her mind struggled to come up with an explanation of why some stranger was in her apartment, and chill bumps dotted her skin.

  Adonis smiled at her, but his calculating expression didn’t impress her one iota. “Rachael’s trying to be polite, but there’s only enough lunch for the two of us,” he said, his tone cordially dismissive.

  Gregory’s face had switched from concern for her to anger as he scowled at seeing another man in her apartment. Her uncle would kill her. Well, he’d kill Adonis first, if she didn’t strangle him first. Then Uncle Tobias would kill her. How could Adonis do this to her? To himself even?

  “Who’s he?” Gregory snapped, waving his hand at Adonis, then turned back to glower at Rachael.

  As awkward as the situation was, introductions were in order. “Gregory, this is Adonis, uhm—”

  “Adonis Cameron,” he supplied. “I met Rachael a short while ago, and we really hit it off. We’d ask you to stay but you know how the saying goes... three’s a crowd.”

  Gregory shifted his attention from Adonis to Rachael. “Who is he? Does your uncle know about him? Mr. Bremerton said that I was the one he preferred for you to wed among those of us who are eligible to seek your hand. And I’ve never seen this man before in my life... not in any male hunter circles around here.” Gregory folded his arms.

  “The huntress ultimately chooses her own mate.” Adonis poured a glass of milk. “Tell him, Rachael, that it’s all right for you to see me. I’m a hunter from back east.” He crossed the floor, handed Rachael the glass of milk, and winked at her.

  She stared at him, her mouth wide open. He truly had a death wish... his actions confirmed it.

  “We have the same problem with shortages of huntresses in our area also. Besides, it’s good to mix our blood with new families, don’t you agree, Gregory?” Adonis cast that same kind of overconfident smile that made her heart somersault every time.

  “Rachael... “ Gregory’s cheeks grew flushed. “I’ll have a word with your uncle.” On his way out, he slammed the door. The impact tilted her oil paintings of Texas bluebonnets sideways on the wall.

  Her heart in her throat, she whipped around and faced Adonis. “Now you’ve gone and done it. Why do you flaunt yourself with me so in front of th
e hunters? You’re going to have all of them down on your neck. My family, suitors, all of them! And now, my uncle’s bound to force me to move back in with him until I marry.”

  She shoved the glass of milk back at Adonis, her head pounding with frustration and worry. She didn’t know what upset her the most, the fact she’d never be able to see Adonis again, that they might be able to eliminate him, or that she was about to be confined to her uncle’s house until forced to marry some hunter she wasn’t interested in—not like she wanted Adonis.

  He took the glass and grinned. “Come on. Let’s check out your bed.”

  “We’ll do no such thing. No telling who all’s going to be arriving here, pronto. And frankly, you should do yourself a big favor and vanish. Permanently.” Although how she was going to deal with Piaras on her own was another matter.

  “Admit it, Rachael. You’ve chosen me to be your mate.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. If you were a hunter... “ She gulped back the tears and shoved past him into the kitchen, then stopped with her back to him. If he were a hunter, he might have been the one for her. And she might have even considered giving up hunting to have his babies, too.

  He followed her and set the glass on the counter. When he touched her shoulder, she shrugged his hand off. “I can’t help the way I feel about you, Rachael. And I know you feel the same for me.”

  She whirled around and faced him. “I can’t feel anything for you! I can’t!” She wiped a couple of tears away that dared to dribble down her cheeks. He’d drawn her to him with his animal magnetism from the moment she’d sensed him nearby in the shadows of the ballroom. And now she was torn up inside over feeling anything for him and having to reject him. None of the other hunters had ever possessed a fraction of the fascination he held for her. If he’d still only been a hunter.

  His soulful eyes pleaded with her. “If I was still a hunter, you’d be mine. You’d declare we were a match.”

  He leaned over to kiss her, to will her to be honest with him, but she took a couple of steps back out of reach.

  She shook her head at him. “They’ll come for you and kill you if they ever figure out what you truly are. What if any of the men recognize you from the balcony at the ballroom?”

  “I was hidden from their view. Only you saw me half-hidden in the shadows. Nobody will ever learn what I am. Nobody’s ever heard of a vampire who can exist in sunlight. They’d never suspect I was one.”

  “If Zachary sees you again after the incident with the armed robbers at the grocery store, he’ll know you’re after me.”

  Leaning against the kitchen counter, Adonis smiled. Yeah, Zachary already knew Adonis wanted Rachael. From the way her cousin rescued her from the grocery store, tearing her away from Adonis—a potential male suitor—indicated Zachary recognized what was happening even if Rachael was in denial about it. And Adonis had had to fight the urge not to stop Zachary from stealing Rachael away from him, too. He was sure Zachary had been ready for a fight, if Adonis had made an issue of it. “I am after you, Rachael.”

  Then she capitulated. He hadn’t expected it, after all her brave words of not wanting him around and after worrying that her uncle would sequester her away. But Adonis couldn’t hide that part of him that longed to be his own man again. His hunter side that was willing to do anything to secure the huntress for his very own, to take down Piaras, to set his sister and the rest of his family free. He wouldn’t hide under the guise of being a vampire. His hunter blood shouted to be recognized.

  “All right, to do a job.” Her brows knit into a frown. “Strictly a business arrangement, nothing more. We kill Piaras however you think we can so I can help free you and your sister and your family from his clutches. Then that’s the end of it between us.”

  It would never be the end of it between them, unless one or the other was to die. Adonis wasn’t about to let her think she was free to pursue any of the lame hunters who wanted her. He walked forward and seized her shoulders. “I am after you,” he repeated forcefully. “I want you for my own, Rachael.”

  He couldn’t help the desire raging in his loins that directed his brain to take his actions further than was safe. But worse, he couldn’t settle the need to have her, every bit of her for his very own, to share the rest of his semi-immortal life with her.

  Once he’d seen her and touched her, associated a living, breathing, warm-blooded huntress with the name of Rachael, his needs ran even deeper. A longing to be complete... with her at his side, forever. But he didn’t feel she was ready to learn the whole truth—that no matter how much he wanted this to work, the chances were minimal that either he or she would survive.

  But as much as Piaras wanted her, they had no choice. He would take her one way or another. At least this way with Adonis’s help, she had a chance. And time was running out.

  Adonis ran his hands over Rachael’s shoulders, wanting to bare them so he could touch her fragrant, silky skin with his fingers, his mouth, his tongue. She melted to his touch, and he knew she felt the same for him. She tilted her lips up, begging him to do the honors. He pressed his mouth against hers, but paused when a sob escaped her lips.

  Tears streaked her ivory cheeks, and he pulled her into his embrace, hugging the breath from her. He kissed her tears away and appealed to her. “I want you, Rachael, as a hunter wants a huntress.”

  She choked on the words as she spoke, her fingers locked around his back in a bear hug, “But you’re no longer a hunter. And I can’t be yours, not as a huntress.”

  The sound of car doors slamming in the parking lot made her jump.

  Rachael broke free from his grasp and bolted to the kitchen window. “Oh, my God, Adonis, you’ve got to leave, now! They’re here!”

  He joined her at the window and clamped his teeth tight, willing his canines not to extend. He wasn’t worried about the men and how they’d confront him, only with what they would do with Rachael, yet he couldn’t conceal what he had been any longer. They had to know he was a hunter, and he claimed Rachael for his own. The other half of his existence be damned. “Who are they?”

  “My Uncle Tobias is the gray-haired man in the center. You know my cousin, Zachary... my suitor, Gregory, and the blond trailing behind, my cousin, Michael... a rogue hunter. If my uncle has called in Michael, he’s made some kind of truce with him, and that means they’ll want you to have nothing to do with me. They’ll make sure you understand that. Nothing else but family business—serious family business—would get those two back together. You have to leave, Adonis. I beg of you.”

  Every one of the men carried hunter’s swords as they conferred for a moment in the parking lot. They looked up at her darkened apartment window.

  Adonis raised his brows, not surprised to see the number of hunters who’d arrived to protect Rachael’s virtue. “They’re armed.”

  She bit her lip. “You know how it is with hunters. Just a show of force. They can’t know you’re... different yet. But you have to leave just the same. The only way a hunter can see me socially is if my uncle knows and approves of him. You’ve broken protocol and no matter what, you won’t be welcome.”

  “But Gregory is.”

  “My uncle has known him and his family for years. They reside in Waco and I’d never met him until the ball, but that’s only because my uncle didn’t want the hunters pursuing me before then.”

  “He can’t have you.”

  “You can’t have me.” She shoved at his chest. “Get out of here now, Adonis, before you make this any harder for the both of us.”

  His thoughts cloaked in darkness, he wanted in the worst way to confront the hunters, state his business, and square it with her guardian that he would not be deterred from seeing Rachael. But for now, he would heed her request. To rekindle the flame, if only for a moment, he leaned over to kiss her.

  Grabbing his shoulders, she held him back. “I don’t want you to die. It’ll be bad enough my having to explain who you were, and what you were doing with
me alone, without my uncle’s permission. Please, Adonis, go before it’s too late.”

  The sound of the four men pounding up the wrought iron steps to her apartment made Rachael shove at him again. “Go, Adonis.”

  A metal key inserted into the lock and twisted as he watched. He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth, his fists tightening. He didn’t want to leave Rachael alone to explain who he was or why he had breached protocol. Yet if he stayed, would he be able to help her, or make matters worse for her?

  Certainly, if her uncle treated her roughly in any way, Adonis knew he couldn’t contain his need to protect her, and that meant his vampiric side would undoubtedly come into play. Like a primal animal, he desired to declare his territorial rights. And now his burning need to protect her and make her his mate affected his better judgment.

  The lock clicked open. Then the knob twisted and one of the men shoved the door aside. It slammed into the wall with a thud.

  A spark of anger surged through Adonis, and he hissed as his damnable canines extended.

  Chapter 6

  Rachael nearly had a stroke when Adonis hissed. But within a hair’s breadth of Uncle Tobias storming into Rachael’s apartment followed by his eldest son, Michael, his youngest, Zachary, and finally her suitor, Gregory, Adonis vanished.

  Rachael had expected her family to barge in, but seeing Gregory and the near confrontation between all of them and one pissed off hunter-vampire made her blood pressure rise. But as to Gregory, this was family business. And he wasn’t family—not yet—thank God. Although her heartbeat hadn’t returned to normal after the near battle between her family and Adonis, she was thankful he had finally heeded her wishes and left, as much as she knew his hunter, and probably vampire blood, commanded him to stay and face her family.

  “Where is he?” her uncle demanded as Michael and Zachary rushed through the apartment searching for Adonis.

  She hoped the hell Adonis wasn’t reclining in her bed to make a statement.

  Her uncle glared at her as if she were the next in his sights for the firing squad. “Last chance, Rachael.”