Shifters in the Shadows: Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Sexy Shifters, Dangerous Vamps, & Things That Go Bump in the Night

by J. K Harper

  He looked sadly at her. "Why do you think? Looks like you already made your mind up."

  Tears prickled at Isabel's eyes. "Maybe you thought it'd be real fun to make her into a bloodsucking fiend? Who wants that? Who would ever want to be like you?"

  The wound beneath her hands was bleeding fast. She pressed harder with the gauze pad.

  "Nobody. Nobody would want that."

  "You don't even have your soul back, do you? It's all bullshit. You lied, and lied, and lied. You must have thought you were so clever, fooling a tiger like that. A fricking tiger."

  Louis shook his head. "You couldn't be more wrong. I'd love to set you straight, more than anything in the world. But you're not listening. I don't think anything I can say will change your mind now."

  "No. It won't. So shut up."

  The woman was starting to gurgle and gasp for breath. She jabbed at the air next to Louis. Isabel held her and stroked her hair.

  "It's all right now. He can't hurt you. Stay with me."

  The woman shook her head and tried to speak, but she couldn't.

  Within seconds, she was gone. It was over.

  Tears slid down Isabel's cheeks. She closed the woman's eyes gently and lay her flat on the ground.

  "Find me some cloth. Clothes. A sheet. Anything. I need to take this woman back to the tent with dignity."

  She looked up at Louis and was startled to see tears in his gray eyes.

  When he had gone, Isabel couldn't hold in her own emotion. She wept over the poor old woman.

  She wasn't just crying for the loss of life, although that was tragic and never got any easier to bear.

  She also cried for herself. She cried for the humiliation of believing a vampire's wily tricks.

  Most of all, she cried for the loss of the man she had imagined Louis was. A reformed character. A good man. A man who had never even existed, except in her affection-starved imagination.

  She was going to go home to Colorado and forget him.

  No vampires. No wolves. Only regular big cat shifter dates from now on. She'd find someone okay, and she'd just get on with living an ordinary life. Like her parents wanted her to.

  The thought was dismal. But it was all she had to hold on to.

  She wiped her face as Louis returned with a white sheet. He handed it to her, looking tortured.

  She ignored his anguished expression. Not her problem any more.

  "Help me carry this woman back to the medical tent for proper administration." She wrapped the woman in its folds, as she had done so many times before while working this assignment. "Then get a million miles away from me and pretend none of this ever happened."

  "If that's truly what you want."

  "It is."

  They carried the woman carefully back to the medical tent in silence. The route was well-lit by the bright full moon, and no bombs fell while they made the trip back.

  Lucky us.

  Isabel didn't feel lucky at all. Her head raced as they walked.

  All the crazy hopes she'd had? Thoughts of the future? The thrill of thinking maybe she found her fated mate in an unexpected place?

  All the lust and the— love? Did she dare think of it that way?

  Yeah. Screw it. Time to be honest with herself. She had felt like they were falling in love.

  All of it—all of it—came from her imagination. And nowhere else.

  Vampires were psychopaths, and psychopaths couldn't love. They didn't have it in them.

  Why had she let herself fall into his arms like that? Why had she believed his lies?

  Vampires were the dark side. Vampires couldn't get their souls back, and she was so weak and feeble to believe his story.

  She hated feeling weak. Tigers weren't weak, dammit. Tigers were strong.

  She should've kicked his ass that first night, before he could put his stupid vampire hypnosis thing on her. And yeah, he must've lied about not doing that too.

  All the stupid dreams she had allowed herself to feel, despite her better judgment. All the hopes she had pinned on that one ancient spell.

  She'd wanted it so much; she'd actually made herself believe the impossible.

  What a jerk she'd been.

  Maybe she'd never find her fated mate now. Not when she had such terrible taste in men. Perhaps, like Araminta said, it only got more difficult as you got older.

  She didn't like to think that way, but she sure wasn't having a lot of success this side of thirty.

  Or twenty. Or ever.

  Maybe there was nobody out there for her at all.

  She glanced over at Louis's beautiful face, highlighted by the moon. His gray eyes met hers, and she felt the dizzy head rush she always felt when she was with him.

  But it wasn't real. None of this could ever be real.

  Her poor tiger heart was just about broken in two.

  Find

  Isabel trudged back to her room for the last time.

  In just a few hours, she'd be on a tiny plane, heading for the city. After that, she had another two flights ahead of her. It was a long journey. Plenty of time to get used to the idea of going home.

  She could still smell wolf all around the army camp, so she knew Milo had been hanging around again. What a relief it'd be to get away from all these crazy men.

  As she reached her room, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned.

  Louis.

  "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

  "No." Louis shook his head. "I know what you think of me now. And I should walk away, because you're way out of line. But you don't know the truth. And that matters. You can stake me right afterward, but I'm not going until you hear what really just happened."

  "I know the truth. That's one thing that has been in short supply lately. But it's out now."

  She opened her door and stepped inside.

  Louis grabbed the door, so she couldn't close it. "You're so stubborn, you'd actually walk away from this rather than hear me out. Pretty pathetic, for such a magnificent woman."

  "What the hell do you think you're doing, vampire?" She shoved his hand off. "You are officially uninvited."

  "Just listen. Two minutes of your time. Then I'll go, and if you don't want me around, then I'll never trouble you again. I swear."

  Isabel thought for a second.

  Two minutes. Could she keep herself from jumping him for two whole minutes?

  Yes. She could. I am a tiger, and tigers are strong. That was going to have to be her new mantra.

  She stepped aside to let him pass. "You know, I will stake you in a heartbeat if you piss me off."

  "I'd expect nothing less."

  "Good." She shut the door behind her. "You have two minutes to talk. The clock starts now."

  He shook his glossy hair back and stared at her, his eyes burning into hers.

  Her skin warmed beneath his gaze, as always.

  She really needed to keep far away from him while he talked. Otherwise her stupid body would betray her, and she'd let him get away with more lies.

  "That woman asked me to turn her. She asked me, Isabel."

  "That doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone ask to be turned?"

  He paced across the tiny space in front of her. "You saw that wound. She was dying. She needed more time."

  "More time? Being turned isn't a new lease of life. It's a living death."

  "Don't you think I know that?" he half-shouted. He sat down on the edge of the cot and rubbed his face with both hands. "She needed to know her two grandchildren were safe. She'd been looking after them when the snipers arrived. She wanted to make sure her daughter had found them hiding, and that they weren't hurt."

  "But..." Isabel tried to make sense of this. "How did she even know you were a vampire in the first place?"

  "She was some sort of local seer. A magical person. I saw her many times when I was feeding. She knew I only took those whose life had left them, and she allowed it in her village. She knew it was the least b
ad option, where my urges were concerned."

  Isabel snorted. "It's a shame you couldn't control your urges a little more tonight."

  "Are you listening to a word I'm saying? She asked me. She needed to get to her daughter." He laughed wryly. "And I did pretty fucking well controlling my urges around you, didn't I? Do you know how much I wanted to fuck you, Isabel? Do you have any idea how much I wanted to just nail you to this bed while you screamed my name? And I held back. I controlled it, because I couldn't accept even the tiniest risk that I might hurt you."

  Her core pulsed with heat. He was so damn sexy, it was unbearable.

  It was best if she tried to ignore what he just said about fucking her. She really needed to stay focused.

  "What next, though? If she became a vampire, she'd lose her soul. She'd be a monster for eternity. How was that a better option? Couldn't she just have asked you to pass on a message to her daughter? Couldn't one of us have checked on her grandkids?"

  "I promised her I'd stake her the second she was sure her family was safe."

  Isabel stared hard at him. "You'd stake her right after you turned her?"

  "In an instant."

  "I thought vampires resist being staked with every ounce of their being, yadda yadda?"

  "They can't easily resist other vampires staking them. She would be newly-turned, and still weak from her injury. I could have overpowered her with little effort."

  She leaned against the wall. It was so hot in here. Or maybe it was just the chemistry between them, as always.

  She needed to stay firm.

  Don't think about his body. Don't think of what he just said about nailing me to the bed while I scream his name.

  He jumped up from the bed and grabbed her by both shoulders.

  "You know me, Isabel. You know me." He leaned down so their faces were close. "I am a vampire, but I do have my soul back, and I do not feed from living people. This was the only time I even came close. And I didn't do it. And she died, and she never found out her twins were okay. You know what I'm saying is the truth, don't you? Don't you?"

  She closed her eyes.

  Oh, God. He was telling the truth. He was.

  "I'll fix it. I'll go out now and find her family."

  "Too late. I spoke to the army private at the checkpoint, and he said he'd do it."

  Anger surged inside Isabel, out of nowhere.

  "Look, you don't just get to do this. You don't get to walk into my life and make me want you, and then be so fucking great that I can't even enjoy going home."

  "I'm sorry about that. Still, it's full moon. Pretty romantic, right?"

  She shoved his hands off her. "You don't get to joke about it either. You don't get to seduce me, and make me crazy for you, and then not even fuck me. I mean, what sort of psycho does that?"

  "You're right. Only someone out of their mind could hold back when you're around." He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the crumpled spell paper, now magically back in one piece. "But in other news, it's full moon, and I have some magic."

  She pushed him again. "You don't get to steal my spell, and—"

  "Whoa, there. You threw it at me. And technically, the magic is for me anyway."

  "Who the hell do you think you are?" She pushed him hard so he fell onto the bed.

  He grinned lustfully at her. "Well, if that's how you want it." With one yank, he pulled her down so she fell onto him. He lifted her swiftly and sat her down astride him.

  "Fuck you, vampire."

  "Oh, you will. You will. But first, the magic. We only have a little while left of full beam moonlight."

  He stood up, still gripping her knees around his waist. Then he set her back down on her feet.

  In an instant, he had lifted the wash bag off the wall. He speared the two halves of crumpled paper on the nail, so they hung together at his eye level.

  With a matador's flourish, he ripped the thick blanket off the window, so a shaft of moonlight landed right across him.

  Isabel watched him in disbelief. "What do you think you're doing?" His forcefulness secretly thrilled her.

  Instead of responding, he began to recite the words of the spell, reading them off the paper he'd stuck on the wall. Moonbeams lit him up like a superstar in the spotlight.

  "You can't just do this on your own," she protested. "It's not as simple as that."

  But he continued.

  On he went, reciting the whole thing. He pronounced all the magical terms perfectly, even though English was his second language.

  She stopped objecting and just watched him as he spoke those ancient phrases. When he reached the end, he bowed his head.

  A minute or more passed in silence.

  He looked quizzically at her. "How do I know if it worked?"

  "I have no idea."

  "Do I look like I might be a shifter?"

  He looked hopeful. Poor fool.

  She looked him up and down.

  "I'm really sorry, Louis. No. You look the same to me."

  "I do?" He looked down at himself. "Maybe it only works if the shifter says the words."

  "Maybe it's all just crap that doesn't work anyway." She peered closely at his face. "How do you feel?"

  His gaze bore down on her. "I feel like there's something I've been wanting to do for a long time. And fuck the magic."

  "Oh yeah?"

  "Yeah."

  She trembled a little as he grabbed hold of her and tore her clothes off.

  * * *

  She didn't argue with him.

  Once more for the road. Why the hell not?

  She had a lifetime alone to look forward to, so she may as well get her kicks while she could.

  He slammed her back against the wall and kissed her hard. She clung onto him, ripping his shirt buttons off with one tug.

  God, this man is too much.

  It was probably best for her career that they'd be thousands of miles apart in forty-eight hours. She would never be able to get anything done if he was in the same time zone as her.

  Dropping her to the floor, he had her bare in seconds.

  "You're perfect," he muttered into her hair.

  She fumbled at his pants as he kissed her. Like all his pants, they had no zipper, just a row of buttons. He must have bought all his clothes decades ago. But they still looked brand new, despite their age. Kind of like him. Everything about him was both vintage and new, all at once.

  At last, she opened all the buttons. He helped her out by shoving his pants over his hips so they dropped to the floor.

  She gasped as his hardness pushed up against her.

  As he rammed against her red hot core, she cried out.

  His cock felt huge, and hard, and she needed it inside her immediately.

  "It's about time," she whispered.

  "Is that an invitation?" Louis slid the tip of his cock over her aching pussy, up and down. "I thought I was officially uninvited?"

  "I've waited long enough." She began to grind her hips against him, unable to stand it. "Yeah, it's an invitation. I want you in me."

  Vampires don't really need to be invited in anyway, she thought to herself. They could turn invisible and sneak around like thieves in the night. Like the way he snuck into her heart and her head, just a few short weeks ago.

  They were wily, these vampires. And hot. So, so hot.

  She couldn't think about that now, though. All she could think about was his firm body and how much she needed this.

  "I love it when you're direct." He gyrated his hips firmer between her legs, and she gasped.

  It had been so long since she'd gotten laid properly. Boy, was she ready for it.

  Even if he was an evil monster. A reformed one.

  A reformed hard, sexy, wicked, beautiful monster. With, oh my god, the biggest—

  All thoughts of going home disappeared. She could worry about that later. She could think about everything else later.

  Right now, she just needed to be fucked long
and hard by this undead French dude.

  And it didn't even matter that he was undead, and a killer with a conscience. Nothing mattered. Everything fell out of her head like ticker tape at a parade.

  He lifted her up again and held her under her ass, shoved right up against the wall. She was pinned there by him, like the magic spell. It was glorious.

  When he nudged his way to her most intimate place, she cried out. He was like nothing she'd ever felt before.

  Slowly at first, he pushed himself inside her. He felt too big, but she was so ready, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

  Except maybe—did vampires use protection? She'd never thought about it before. Her delirious brain forced her to concentrate.

  "Should we—do we need—?"

  "Vampires don't catch STIs," he groaned, thrusting in a fraction of an inch. "And we can't have kids. You're safe on both counts."

  For one second, she thought the no-fertility thing sounded like a shame.

  How she'd love him to fill her right up, with nothing between them.

  Then his baby, growing inside me…

  Holy shit. She barely recognized her own deranged thoughts.

  But after that, thoughts lost all meaning. When he pulled out, she couldn't stand it. When he pushed back in, she was complete.

  All she needed was him. It would all go to hell afterwards, but she was happy in the moment.

  This moment was all they had.

  The pace went from intolerably slow to fast and furious, just like that. Neither one of them could control their passion, and neither wanted the other to be gentle.

  Louis lowered his head to Isabel's breast and bit her nipple softly, as he plunged deep inside her. She squealed and tipped her head back, banging it on the wall. He immediately moved one hand behind her head, to cushion it.

  She gripped on to him for dear life, one hand in his hair and the other on his shoulder. Her fingernails dug into his flesh, but he didn't flinch.

  "You're a fucking goddess," he gasped, pushing even harder into her. "I fucking worship you, Isabel Prowse."

  "Oh my God, Louis—"

  "Say my name. Say my name while you come on my cock. Say it."

  She knew she was close. Waves of heat flooded over her.

  "Oh … Louis…"