Bad Boys of the Night: Eight Sizzling Paranormal Romances: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by Jennifer Ashley

  “James Connor and Nathan Vaughn.”

  “Yes, and each is engaged to a witch. They share powers now, don’t they?”

  “They do.”

  Agnes’s penetrating questions forced Brannick to turn toward Juliet. Framed in relationship to Vaughn and Connor, he realized he was on the same track as these men.

  Juliet returned his gaze, but lifted her chin. “We don’t have to make the same decisions, Brannick. Your friends each had a very different experience from ours.”

  Not so different, in Brannick’s opinion. But he didn’t speak the words out loud.

  Agnes shifted the subject as she placed her hand on Mary’s forehead then traced the teal-colored flames on her cheek. “She’ll be out for several more hours, but I can feel that her dreamglide blocks have been strengthened. Was this your work, Juliet?”

  “Yes. Roche was coming for her in the dreamglide.”

  Agnes once more met Brannick’s gaze. “You were involved as well.”

  “I fired at him when he broke through, but he escaped unharmed.”

  “Glad you were there.” Agnes looked to be about fifty, which meant that was the age she’d been when she entered Five Bridges. The flame serum slowed the aging process so that long-life was attained by everyone enduring the transformation. But the serum didn’t reverse age.

  Agnes turned down the hall and waved them forward. “Come with me. My team is expecting Mary. She’ll have medical attention as well as a witch healer.”

  ***

  Juliet watched Brannick settle Mary on what was essentially a hospital bed. Recovery from dark flame wouldn’t be easy for her. Despite the fact that she’d only had the drug in her system for a short time, the volume of the drug that had kept her comatose over a period of days meant she’d have to go through a painful withdrawal.

  A trained nurse would stay with her throughout and the healing efforts of a witch would help make the transition tolerable.

  Agnes assured Juliet and Brannick that Mary would receive the best care, then led them out into the well-lit courtyard. Brannick took both bags from Juliet, a thoughtful gesture.

  Several townhouses flanked either side of the lush central landscaping. Juliet counted three doors on each side. Agnes headed toward a cottage at the back of the property, past another green belt with tons of purple petunias and beds of white alyssum.

  The small, charming house had the look of something well-tended by a woman who loved to garden. A massive spray of pink climbing roses formed an arch over strong metal supports. Brannick had to dip his head not to get caught by a few flowers that needed pruning.

  “I used to live back here, when I was first consigned to Five Bridges and made the place my own. I probably should have torn the cottage down when I built the townhouses. But I liked the house a lot so I kept it as is.

  “When I got your call, Juliet, I had one of my assistants bring over some essential groceries. Just let me know if you need anything else and I’ll send one of the guards out.”

  She unlocked the door, then handed the key to Juliet. “You’re both welcome to stay as long as you need to. Though I should warn you that we have guards on the rooftops and there is no levitating allowed above the second-story rooflines. My guards are trained to shoot on sight, to wound first, if possible. But if not, we’ve stopped caring who dies. Do you understand? We’re fighting to save lives here and we’re under frequent attack, not unlike Vaughn and Emma at their safe house.”

  Juliet nodded. “I understand.”

  Brannick’s warm, rich voice flowed over her shoulder. “We both do.”

  Agnes once more narrowed her gaze at Brannick. “Of course you do. You built a tunnel rescue set-up with support from the human part of Phoenix.”

  “That’s right.”

  “And has all this happened recently because Roche found out?” She flipped her hand back-and-forth a couple of times.

  “I don’t think he knows about my tunnels,” Brannick said. “But he did figure out that both Mary and Juliet were helping women escape from Revel. That’s one of the reasons he took Mary. She drove for me.”

  “I see. Well, that explains a lot.”

  “There’s something else.” Juliet felt compelled to add the other component. “Roche was using Mary’s abduction to try to force me to work for him in his specialty sex club, the one that features dreamgliding for his wealthy human clientele.”

  Agnes drew her lips tight together, compressing them and shaking her head. “There is so much beauty in being an alter fae, but Roche has made a travesty of our gifts.”

  She took a deep breath then clapped her hands together as though to clear her head. “All right then. Give me a shout if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll see you tomorrow night.” She glanced up into the night sky. “Dawn won’t be here for a couple more hours.” She headed back down the walk.

  Though Brannick shoved the door wide, he waited for her to walk through. She smiled up at him as she passed by.

  The interior was much more modern than she’d anticipated. The wall separating the living area from the hall had been replaced with a couple of heavy wood supports and opened up all the way to a small kitchen and dining area in the back.

  To the left was a small study that overlooked the front communal garden. Agnes had left a wall of books inside as well.

  Moving toward the back, she put a hand to her stomach and turned to Brannick. “Suddenly, I’m starved. Are you hungry?”

  “Yes, I am.” He set both bags next to the stairs, then headed toward the fridge. A moment later she heard the soft suctioning sound of the door opening. “Agnes provided steaks and beer. Guess she was thinking of me. But there’s some lettuce in here.”

  Juliet couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, all of that sounds great right now, but I’m going upstairs to freshen up, if that’s okay. It won’t take me a minute, then I can help throw something together.”

  “Do what you need to do.” He held up two beers.

  “Yes,” he said. “Absolutely. Must have a beer.”

  “I’ll fire up the grill. We’ve got plenty of time before the sun starts easing over the horizon.”

  Juliet picked up her bag. The stairs faced the backyard so she had a view of Brannick as he stepped outside, beer in hand. She could see a gas grill as she started up the stairs.

  The second floor turned out to be the sole bedroom with an attached bath. She removed a full-length lavender gauzy dress from her satchel and with her hastily put together cosmetic kit headed into the bathroom.

  One look at her hair told her what she needed to know. She always had a sort of wind-tousled hairstyle going on, but right now she looked like she’d been in a tornado. Well, maybe not that bad, but she had work to do.

  She got undressed except for her thong, then slid into the floor-length, halter gown. It was made of cotton, very comfortable and had a crumpled look. It felt good to be out of slacks.

  Next, she tidied her make-up and for a moment even considered using cover-up to get rid of her freckles. But a sudden memory, of Brann kissing each one, led her back the other direction and she put the make-up away.

  He called up to her from the bottom of the stairs. “Grill’s getting hot.”

  “Wonderful. Be down in a sec.”

  She headed to the bathroom once more and using her curl-calming spray worked her tendrils into a less wild state.

  She put on a pair of flat t-strap sandals with lavender flowers on the ‘t’. Lifting her skirt, she headed downstairs.

  When she reached the bottom, she could see Brann through the open sliding door and for a moment, her heart stopped. He had the steaks on a nearby table ready to go and the gas grill closed to get good and hot. He held a beer in his hand.

  The scene was so damn homey, tears stung her eyes. Nothing but pure affection poured from her in that moment, watching him, remembering how he’d made love to her on the desk in her small canal home, then in the shower. How he’d made love to her in the dr
eamglide all those months.

  A thought occurred to her, a very wicked one. And Brannick would have enough essential power to pull it off as well, especially since they were sharing powers.

  If they wanted they could combine real-time with the dreamglide while making love. This was the same kind of erotic experience Roche wanted her to do with his upscale clients.

  There was a risk however, though it wasn’t at all physical, but rather involved the possibility that Brannick would regain all his memories of their time together.

  They’d already started filtering through to his conscious mind. She felt certain, however, that if she engaged in real-time sex while she employed the dreamglide, he might suddenly experience a complete recollection of all that had happened.

  Then he’d learn what she’d done to start the process in the first place, that essentially she’d broken into his dreams and seduced him.

  Her heart rate rose. She didn’t want him to know.

  She was pretty sure once he did, he’d end things with her.

  He glanced in her direction. “Your beer’s on the kitchen island.” His gaze took her in head-to-toe, landing at least twice on her cleavage. He smiled. He appeared to approve of her summery gown. “You look great.”

  “Thanks. And I’ll start the salad.” She needed to buy herself a little time to calm down.

  After she took a long slow swig of the dark ale, she forced herself to breathe. She honestly couldn’t bear the thought of Brannick leaving, not now.

  In the end, she decided she should stay away from mixing real-time sex with dreamgliding.

  Tears bit her eyes. Why was she being so emotional? She’d always known her time with Brannick would come to end.

  Except … dammit … she loved him.

  A long slow gasp filled her throat.

  Somewhere in all the sex, and the dozens of long conversations in the dreamglide, she really had fallen in love with a vampire. And it was time to face the truth of it.

  As she stared out the window above the sink, she watched a breeze push the trees around.

  Oh, God, what had she gotten herself into? She loved Brannick. Maybe she had from the moment she’d met him in the White Flame club.

  “Hey,” he called to her from across the dining area. “Are you okay?”

  Glancing at him over her shoulder, she had to blink a couple of times to bring his face into focus. “Sure.” She didn’t say that she felt like her heart was being ripped from her chest. “I’m going to make a salad.”

  He nodded. “I just put the steaks on.”

  When she lifted her beer to him, he smiled then headed back outside.

  The moment he was gone, she turned toward the window once more and let a sob escape her chest. Why had she let this happen?

  She pulled red leaf lettuce, tomatoes and a cucumber from the crisper.

  Fortunately, the sink placed her with her back to the rest of the room. As she washed the vegetables, she let a few tears fall into the stream of water. She didn’t try to stop them. She knew what she’d done and even at the time she’d understood the consequences. But she’d told herself she was just getting her needs met so it was okay.

  Yet how could she have known he’d open up to her in the dreamglide and be such a wonderful companion? In that sense, he’d seduced her right back, not just with his phenomenal body, but with everything he’d shared with her through the five months of their time together.

  By the time she had everything sliced up and placed in a bowl, she was better composed. She gathered up plates and silverware at the same time, then set the table.

  Afterward, she took her beer outside to join Brannick.

  He opened his arm to her. It was such a tender gesture that her eyes burned once more. But she bit back the tears and instead slid her arm around his waist.

  He held her close, a comfortable sideways embrace.

  She didn’t say anything. She didn’t trust herself to open her mouth. She just sipped her beer and stared at the grill. He’d already turned the meat.

  Finally, she was able to say, “The salad’s ready.”

  “Just a couple minutes and we’ll be good to go.” Brannick remained silent as well.

  During dinner, Juliet found it increasingly hard to make small talk. So much so, that Brannick finally asked, “Is anything wrong?”

  She couldn’t tell him the whole truth, but she had to say something. “I’m overwhelmed with what we’ve been through in such a short period of time. Three nights in all. I mean, you and I barely know each other—”

  “Except for the conversations you said we had in the dreamglide.”

  “Yes, except for that. But this conscious side of yourself is still new to me and I can’t be more than a stranger to you. Most of the time, I find myself wanting to say something, to make a comment or even a joke. But then I realize you won’t get it, that it would be about one of our dreamglide conversations. I think that alone has taken a toll. I keep having to weigh my words.”

  He glanced away from her and sipped his beer, then set it back on the table. “The few, full-blown memories I have of you are amazing. So I have some insight into what we were like together, as well as who you are.

  “But truthfully, I don’t know what to make of this situation either. I mean, you must know how I feel about relationships in Five Bridges.”

  “I do know,” she said. “And in that sense we’re the same. Yet we’ve carried on a very close, intimate relationship all these months.” She looked away as that feeling of impending loss returned.

  He reached over and grabbed her hand. “Hey. I didn’t mean to make you feel sad. Maybe we should both try not to think about it right now. Instead, how about we celebrate that we brought Mary out of hell tonight.”

  At that, Juliet relaxed. “You’re right. I’ve been caught up in the wrong things.”

  She left the table and brought back two more beers.

  He opened both, handing her one. He then held his bottle angled toward her. “To Mary.”

  She smiled once more as she tapped the neck of his bottle with hers. “To Mary.”

  Conversation fell to a pleasant recounting of the rescue and his gratitude that Agnes had a safe house for women like Mary where she could stay and begin her recovery.

  After dinner, clean up was quick since Brannick helped. She liked that he’d brought dishes over, scraped them clean and washed while she dried. She was reminded of the few times he’d actually talked about his wife, Olivia, and their marriage. She’d heard the love in his voice and his great appreciation for her.

  Now Olivia was gone, along with their two children, one of them unborn, and Brannick was a vampire living out his life in Five Bridges.

  And she got to share beers with him, steaks, and even wash the dishes.

  When she’d hung the damp towel on the oven door handle, she’d started to leave, but he caught her arm and pulled her back.

  He searched her eyes. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you all through dinner. It’s been hard not to reach for you. But you seem upset, so I’m not sure what to do here. I’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you want.”

  She gasped. “No, that’s not what I want at all.” The rest of the words got jammed up in her head.

  Because she was afraid she would blurt out something terrible, like the truth, she leaned up and kissed him. And not a gentle kiss but one full of exactly what she wanted from him right now.

  He responded with a heavy groan, encircling her with both arms and holding her tight against his chest.

  The feel of him was what melted all restraint. She no longer cared exactly how the next hour or so progressed, or even whether or not they ended up having a combination of real-time and dreamglide sex.

  She just wanted to be with him, nothing held back.

  He deepened the kiss so that his tongue pulsed within her mouth, short erotic jabs that reminded her of other things he liked to do with his tongue.

  She grabbed the back
of his neck and pressed her lips harder against his.

  When he drew back, his eyes were at half-mast. “How’s the bed upstairs?”

  She couldn’t help it; she grinned. “Big.”

  His lips curved as well. “Good. But I need a shower.”

  “Sounds like the perfect place to start.”

  ***

  Brannick led Juliet upstairs, holding her hand the entire distance. He’d had a difficult time figuring out what was bothering her. She’d been upset about something from the time she’d changed her clothes. Though he thought he understood at least part of it. He was pretty sure she was looking too far into the future and not seeing him in her life.

  He could relate because dammit this time with her, having hot sex on her desk in her home by the canal, sharing her fae abilities, watching her slam her feet into Roche’s chest, all made him want something he was determined not to allow into his life.

  He despised Five Bridges and from the time he’d signed up to serve as a border patrol officer, he’d been sure of an early death in this stinking long-lived world.

  But being so close to Juliet and having a memory of their intimacy, if not all of it, had created a powerful longing for more than he could possible give.

  When he reached the top of the stairs, he felt oddly grateful they were both in an unfamiliar place though he couldn’t say why. From what he could remember of the dreamglide sex, they’d been in each other’s bedrooms a lot, but never in this one.

  She led him to the bathroom. “Want to share?”

  “Hell, yeah,” he said. “I’m remembering what happened last time.”

  She tilted her head and played with one of her long curls. “Actually, I have something else in mind.” She turned on her heel and he followed on a quick trot like a begging dog.

  The bathroom, in the same mode as the rest of the house, was small. The shower was part of the claw-foot bathtub. He took off his boots and socks, then stripped out of his leathers and tank top. The whole time he watched her as she very slowly lifted her arms and untied the halter of her clinging lavender gown.

  He waited, as though struck dumb as men often were by the hope of getting to see a naked woman.

  She played it well, easing the straps down very slowly. His arousal stiffened the slower she went. Seeing that her gaze was on his cock, he held his erection in his hand and stroked for her.