Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance

by Riley Moreno

  Rex grew hard as he watched them rut against each other, Sonya’s face screwing up in ecstasy with each thrust, the man pinching her flesh between large hands. He had half a mind to go crashing in, slashing the man’s throat mid thrust and then taking Sonya in front of his dying eyes.

  ‘Patience,’ he told himself. ‘There will be plenty of time for the cat to play with his prey.’

  He waited for them to go in to the bedroom and slip under the covers, he watched and waited till the deep dark moment of the night where everything stilled and every living thing slept except the sinister and murderous.

  He climbed out of the tree then and gave in to the urge of the Shift. The transformation was painful, it always was, but with time it became a bearable and for some a boon, a sick, masochist urge to rip oneself in two for the thrill of the kill that came after.

  ‘Some people use drugs to forget who they are,’ he thought as fur sprouted all over his body and his mouth expanded to accommodate his teeth, ‘some just give in to their animal selves.’

  The night became pierced with light. He always had to take a moment to adjust himself in his new skin. A growl rumbled low in his chest cavity and he padded forward to the back porch, nosing the door open.

  ‘Fuckers didn’t even lock the door,’ he thought disgruntled.

  The smell of sex, sweat and Sonya was reeking off the furniture; he padded quickly in to the bedroom where Sonya lay entwined in the sheets, a creamy shoulder and arm exposed, a leg uncovered against the warmth of the night.

  Rex bared his teeth to take a bite out of her leg, his claws scratching the wooden floor as he lunged forward.

  He crashed against the wall, his skull hitting the floor on his way down. A huge panther stood on the bed between him and Sonya who was cowering against the far wall, the sheets pulled up to her chin.

  Chapter Ten

  Bloody Hell

  Rex had the advantage, Diesel knew that. The space was too small for him to avoid any harm to Sonya, one swipe too close in such close quarters would be enough to do damage. Diesel roared and Rex roared back. Diesel jumped at him, trying to drive Rex out of the room, in to the hall and away from Sonya but Rex feinted to the right going straight for Sonya on the bed. Sonya screamed and bolted off the bed. She ran through the hall and Diesel heard the front door slam.

  ‘Clever girl,’ he thought and lunged at Rex who was glowering at him.

  It was a bloody mess. Their claws caught in the mattress and feathers congested the air, Diesel bit in to Rex’s forepaw, sinking his teeth in, realizing just in time that he’d left his own neck exposed to Rex’s teeth.

  Rex pushed his mighty shoulders in to Diesel and Diesel went flying in to the hall. Rex crashed in to the front door splintering the wood. Rex roared in to the night and Diesel ran after him his heart pounding with adrenaline and fear for Sonya.

  But Sonya was nowhere to be seen. His pickup truck was parked alone in the drive, Sonya’s Buick was gone. Diesel sniffed into the pickups open passenger door and saw that the dash was gaping open.

  ‘She took the gun,’ he thought elated. He sniffed for the rank smell of Rex and caught his scent upwind. Rex must have chased after her and Diesel ran in the same direction. Rex was stronger than he had anticipated but Diesel was faster. Low hanging branches were easy points to propel himself off of while Rex darted from trunk to trunk losing precious momentum.

  Diesel could see his silhouette under the branches and he jumped on Rex just as they made it in to a clearing. The rolled on top of each other, finding balance and slashing their claws at each other’s throats; Diesel raked a hunk of fur off of Rex’s haunches and Rex sliced off part of Diesel’s right ear.

  “Hey!” the tiger and the panther came to a sudden halt. Sonya stood at the edge of the clearing brandishing the gun he had given her earlier. She was wearing a red leather jacket and navy blue shorts that must have been lodged somewhere in the back of her car. The tops of her breasts peaked out from the jacket like two halves of a perfect pearly moon.

  “Hey, moron!” she called again, “Yeah you, you stupid hunk of rapid meat! You want me?” she said opening her arms in an invitation. “Come and get me you bastard!”

  Diesel hardly had time to grab at Rex before he darted full speed at Sonya. Sonya stood her legs shoulder width apart, her shoulders pulled back and her arms raised. She took aim, Rex darted right, darted left and then sprang on her.

  Diesel heard a gunshot, the sound of two bodies colliding and the sickening thud of a skull hitting the hard ground. His heart stopped. He padded forward cautiously, the heap that was Rex and Sonya strangely still in the moonlight. Diesel growled in the back of his throat, his hackles raised.

  Rex’s shoulders began to rise and fall and Diesel made to charge. Sonya grunted and pushed the body of Rex the weretiger off of herself, blood staining her breasts and her face.

  “Son of a bitch,” she said pressing her hand to the valley between her breasts, “I think he broke my ribs!”

  Diesel, still a panther, his fur glimmering under the moonlight licked the blood off of her, nuzzling his nose in to her skin. Sonya ran her hand through his pelt, her fingers soothing the cuts and bite marks that had drawn blood. Diesel breathed deeply, reigning in his adrenaline as he prepared to leave his panther state. The fur, the claws and the teeth were all gone, the blood, the bite marks and the scars remained.

  “What do we do about the body?” Sonya asked her eyes wide and fearful. Diesel knew the feeling, the annihilation, the guilt that arose when you killed a fellow man for the first time, even if it was self-defense.

  “We leave it to the woods,” Diesel said. “The laws around here are simple; he who dies in their Shifter state is left for the woods. Ahawi, the Canibas settler of Shifter Grove, was very clear. The woods need the spirits to harness its magic, to keep the fine balance between man and Were.”

  “That sounds oddly beautiful,” Sonya said looking down at the tiger that was Rex, a large black blot of blood spreading through his fur like ink through paper, the orange turned a rusty brown, the mud caked in his coat flaking off in the hot summer night. “He deserves that much.”

  “You were fantastic,” Diesel said hugging her close, “A lot of women lose their head in these situations. You were amazing!”

  “I had a great coach,” she said smiling in to his chest.

  “Let’s get you to the hospital,” Diesel said and picked Sonya up in his powerful arms.

  Chapter Eleven

  Happy is as Happy Does

  Sonya walked in to the Pig Out diner on flashy high heels and a bright orange halter top. She wore cream Aladdin pants and her signature red lipstick. She knew all eyes were on her and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  She’d been coming to the Pig Out once a week for the past four months now. Sleazy McGee knew her order by heart: eggs sunny side up, coffee black two sugars, and a waffle with the works. Sleazy also remembered not to stare at her breasts for too long. No one wanted a run-in with Sheriff Wake.

  Sonya had made friends in Shifter Grove, friends she would regularly meet in Pig Out. There was Larry’s Werefox wife, Samantha. Larry hadn’t been too happy about their friendship but Sonya liked to see him roast in her presence. There was Wereflamingo Clause and of course Werebear Kathrine.

  Sonya ran the local veterinarian hospital in Waterville an hour’s drive from Shifter Grove; she laughed that while she took care of people’s animals her boyfriend policed the others. Life was finally looking up; she’d met a man who had surpassed what she had expected him to be at first site. Imagine telling your grandkids that you met your one true love on Craigslist?!

  The thought of grandkids made Sonya blush.

  “Hold the coffee, Joe,” she said to Joe ‘Sleazy’ Barton. “I’m trying to cut down.”

  She felt a very small grateful nudge in the region of her belly and it made her grin like an idiot. The diner door swung open, the first draft of spring air came inside with the smel
l of pinecones and fresh grass.

  “Hello, beautiful,” Diesel said landing a kiss on her cheek and signaling to Joe for his morning coffee, “Your friends aren’t here yet?”

  “There running a little late,” Sonya said blissfully stretching her legs. “But I don’t mind, I get to keep you to myself for a little bit longer.”

  “I’m all yours,” Diesel grinned.

  “Not for long,” Sonya pouted. “Pretty soon you’ll be ignoring me and giving all your attention to someone else. You’ll grow tired of me but never of them I just know it!”

  “What are you talking about?” Diesel said confused by the turn of the conversation. “I can never get tired of you.”

  “You will,” Sonya teased, her eyes sparkling. “I can bet you will.”

  “You’re crazy!” Diesel said rolling his eyes in mock annoyance.

  “No, I’m pregnant,” Sonya said. “There’s a difference.”

  Diesel was shell-shocked and Sonya was afraid that he wasn’t happy with the news, that he didn’t want children; but then she saw the tears in his eyes, the wide grin that broke on his hopelessly handsome face and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I never thought I’d be this happy,” he finally said, taking her hands tenderly and kissing them. “You make me so happy Sonya!”

  “And you me,” she said. “But if it’s a Werefrog we’re abandoning him at a farm in Kansas!”

  “How about a Werecow?” Diesel teased.

  “No, a Wereleopard!” Sonya said touching her belly protectively.

  “Weresquirrel?” Diesel asked and Sonya hit him in the arm.

  Diesel chuckled and put his hand on top of Sonya’s, both their hands sending a clear message to the baby and the world beyond; this was their happiness and they would go to any lengths to protect it.

  The End.

  My Uniformed Tiger

  By

  Riley Moreno

  Chapter 1

  The school bell went off at three o’clock, to rapturous applause from all the school kids, and also a few staff, signifying the end of the school day. Yuri, calmly waited by her desk, smiling, and nodding to the farewells of the kids as they made their way to, and through the door and into the weekend rest. As usual, there was Tommy Grear, trying to maneuver his way to the side of Stacy Wilkins, no doubt he delighted in walking her home. A similar thing could be seen about to take place throughout the throng, as they unconsciously separated into pairs, and slightly larger groups. Yuri inwardly smiled at this; the observation brought back a lot of fond memories of boys jostling for her attention during, and after school, back in her school days.

  “Can I walk you home Ms. Jansen?” a small, unsure voice squeaked around her, dragging her from her reverie. Yuri smiled despite herself. Among all her students, Patrick Dillon was the smallest, yet the bravest. He was petit, smaller than most, but his liquid brown-almost black eyes possessed a depth in them which suggested boldness, and a wisdom that belied his years. He also had a major school crush on his biology teacher Ms. Yuri Jansen. Ms. Yuri smiled when she saw him; she thought his courage made him look even more adorable than he already was.

  “Aww Patrick how nice,” she began, squeezing his jaw, “but I have some work to do before I go home and I am sure your uncle will be waiting for you at home, won’t he?” She watched the light die in his eyes with some regret. “But maybe you can help me carry my books to the faculty room.” She added as a consolation.

  The light was back in his eyes in an instant, and he scooped her books up in one surprising movement. Sometimes he proved himself far more agile than his small frame suggested. She grabbed his small hands in hers, and made a show of a majestic walk out of the classroom. She did this so as to encourage him against the inevitable calls of teacher’s pet and cry baby that were sure to follow. She thought Patrick cast a heroic figure, chin raised high in defiance, as he carried her books to the faculty room.

  Thirty minute later, the halls were a lot more quiet, and the faculty room almost empty. It had been a gloomy day, and she could see through the window that lay ten meters in front of her desk, the overcast sky, stretching forever into the horizon. She hoped the weekend was going to improve, starting with tonight. She had finally agreed to go on a date with David the local bank manager; she was not in love with him no, she found him quite boring in fact-much like this town itself. However, two years after moving to her ancestral home town, she needed something to fill the ever-growing void of loneliness that was encroaching around her heart. She took her time updating her books, there was nothing to rush to except her grandfather whom she lived with, but he was fine. She fancied he could live another 88 years easily.

  “Have you heard?” David Cornwall asked over his second wine glass, and across the table at Yuri. They were at the tail end of a delicious meal at a neighborhood restaurant which in Yuri’s opinion was rather classy given its location. It was certainly classier than the name it carried which was The Fighting Claw.

  “No, but I am sure you are going to tell me anyway,” Yuri replied sassily. She was on her second glass as well, and was feeling a bit flippant. She also thought that David’s unwitting role play as the village bulletin was a ploy to hide his insecurities. She suspected it was his own way of hiding the fact that he was overwhelmed by her presence in front of him. It was the fifth time that he had piped have you heard? , that evening and despite the fact that she thought him kind of cute, as far as men in the small town went, she had long decided earlier in the evening that this was as far as their association was going to go.

  David, having the time of his life, chose to ignore the sassy comment and unwittingly ploughed on in his happy role, “We are expecting an esteemed visitor in our midst sometime next week; a descendant of one of the founding fathers, in fact. It has been more than thirty years since anyone moved into the big mansion in the south end, but that is about to change it would seem.”

  Finally some mildly interesting news she thought callously, “you mean the big mansion on the hill that overlooks the entire city?” The house, situated on the highest point for miles in the vicinity, had the uncanny ability to rise highest in the sun, while remaining bleak at the same time. How was that possible? Yuri had thought to herself severally, intrigued, “You mean the house has been bought? By whom?”

  “Not bought, it was never on sale. It has always been in the family it appears going back generations.” David was pleased to have her interested at last, and gladly answered her questions. He thought now was a time to spice things up to his advantage, “My family and theirs are pretty closely related in fact, you know. That practically makes me royalty.”

  Among what? The trees? Yuri who had spent her entire life except for the last two in the big city was not impressed. This was one of her biggest challenges in this town: keeping up with this image of old man Jansen’s granddaughter. She began to fidget, hoping that David would get the hint and take her home.

  Two minutes of cluelessness landed her in the bathroom instead. She wondered why she even bothered. David’s fidgeting was probably not his fault. ‘The goat is as good as the grass where it grazes’ she thought it oddly appropriate that this saying she had gleaned from long ago excavations in her, then, neighborhood library would resurface now. No it was not David’s fault, but he still had ruined a perfectly good outing. Not to mention a perfectly good meal. Yuri took her eating seriously, and took a second to appreciate the well-rounded curves that stared at her from the mirror.

  She let David lean over, and put his hand on her knee on the drive home. He deserved that much. Despite what the experts say, a woman can always tell when a man feels attracted to her. Love is a totally different matter. At the moment, she was getting strong vibes now from the much respected bank manager but sadly she would have to disappoint him, and maybe the whole town, whom she suspected secretly wished she would ‘find a good man and settle down’. She thought that rather quaint and old-fashioned, and shook her head inwardly at th
e thought. Maybe she was the one who was let down, because deep down, beyond the hard, aloof poise, she knew she wanted the same thing. She felt a lady should always be clear on certain things. What she was not clear on was whether she was a lady or not.

  She easily parried David’s advances towards kissing her. The lights in the living room of the small house were off but she could hear the healthy, heavy breathing of her grandfather as he reclined on the couch. She decided to let him lie there. A few minutes later, she had his blanket over him, then she tip-toed away to her bedroom

  Chapter 2

  The sun hung high in the sky, and its golden rays played across the school grounds, bouncing upon the pavements, refracting through the windows to end up on the eager morning faces of the students of the Peri Heights Community High School. The wind was warm to the touch, and created a nice backdrop as it played against the leaves of the tress scattered across the school compound. Yuri certainly thought it was a nice day as she tried to pass across to her students the mysteries of life or what she knew of it as best as she could. As a biology teacher, she did not have to deal with the amount of lethargy that her colleagues who dealt with the other natural sciences math, physics and chemistry had to deal with. Biology was pretty accessible to anybody who was willing to put the effort, and what was more, it always had very cool teachers whom everybody liked. Yuri herself had taken an interest in biology because of her high school teacher Mrs. Kline. For the students it was over too quickly when the bell went off.

  Tuesdays were her busiest days, and she knew she would spend a single period in the faculty room before hopping from class to class till well into the day. She by passed the history teacher, Mr. Slater on her way out. Mr. Slater was new to the faculty and still kept pretty much to himself most times. Even in the faculty room, he would often be found in a corner, poring through a book, or other. He had the uncanny ability to seem perfectly aloof and attentive at the same time. The other teachers said he was from Eastern Europe, hence his strange ways. Yuri just though he was shy, and would come out of his shell at some point, after all, nobody could remain an island forever.