Heroes Among Us: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Ditter Kellen

  More blood rushed into X’s shaft. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  He opened the back door and called to Lucky. “Come on, boy.”

  The yellow Lab bounded from the backseat of the Jeep and darted past Exodus on his way to the steps.

  X let him inside, grabbed a couple of blankets, and returned to Niki’s side.

  He tossed the blankets onto the backseat and climbed back behind the wheel.

  Niki sent him a questioning look. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Niki’s heart pounded in excitement as Exodus drove his Jeep to the valley where they’d ridden the stallion.

  He parked and grabbed the blankets from the backseat. “Stay put. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” she whispered, watching him stride down near the edge of the pond they’d swam in nearly a month ago.

  He returned shortly and scooped her up into his arms.

  “Am I dreaming?” She buried her face against his neck, inhaling the masculine scent that was Exodus.

  His steps faltered. “If you are, then so am I. I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m thankful that you’re mine. And you are mine, Niki Brooks, from now through eternity.”

  Butterflies took flight in her stomach. She had no idea what to expect from this night, but she would hold it inside her, forever.

  Exodus stopped at the edge of the blankets he’d spread out and lowered Niki to her feet. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are in the moonlight?”

  Her heart swelled with love for him. “Nowhere near as beautiful as you.”

  It didn’t matter to her that she had a long pink scar running down the center of her chest, or that she was thinner than the average female population. All she knew or cared about in that moment was Exodus and the way she appeared in his eyes.

  “You’re perfect,” he whispered as if reading her thoughts.

  Niki held his gaze. “I’ve never been with a man before.”

  He reached for the top button on his shirt. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep from hurting you.”

  Niki watched with baited breath as Exodus removed his clothes layer by layer until he stood before her completely naked.

  She’d never in her life imagined anything as magnificent as a nude Exodus.

  Her gaze lowered down his bare chest, traveling along his incredible abs to stop at his erection. She nearly swallowed her tongue.

  There was no way his great size would fit inside her virgin’s body.

  “Hey,” he softly rumbled, resting a finger beneath her chin and lifting. “There’s no rush. We can return to the cabin and—”

  “No. I want you, Exodus, more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.”

  She presented him with her back. “Help me out of this dress.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m more than sure.”

  A brief pause ensued, and then his warm hands brushed against her skin. With every button he opened, more of her shoulders became exposed.

  And then his hot mouth opened against her neck, wringing a moan from deep within her throat.

  The dress whispered softly down her body to pool at her feet.

  She stepped out of it and turned back to face him. The desire swimming in his eyes humbled her. “Make love to me, Exodus Brooks.”

  He slowly lowered to his knees in front of her, gently tugging her down with him and laying her on her back.

  His hands and mouth touched on every inch of her exposed skin until he reached her ankles.

  Her shoes came off next and then her bra and panties until she lay completely bare before him.

  Maybe it was her love for him or perhaps the passion staring back at her from his whiskey-colored eyes that sent wetness flooding her thighs. Whatever the reason, it had to be the single most powerful feeling Niki had ever felt. And she didn’t want it to end.

  She allowed her eyes to drift closed, soaking up the feel and scent of Exodus.

  A low growl rumbled from his chest. It echoed around her, adding to her desire. His callused palms rested on her ankles for a brief moment before slowly coasting up her calves.

  The rough feel of his hands raking over her skin wrenched a soft gasp from Niki. More wetness flooded her thighs, and a pulsing sensation settled in her center.

  His hands came to a stop at the tops of her thighs.

  Niki lifted her eyelids to find X’s hooded gaze staring back at her.

  “No matter what happens, know that I would never intentionally hurt you. I’ll make this as pleasurable for you as I possibly can.”

  Niki watched him through a passion-filled haze. “I was told that the first time would be painful.”

  “Only for a moment, and I’ll let you know ahead of time. No surprises, okay? I’m going to make this good for you if it kills me.”

  Exodus applied pressure to Niki’s knees and gently opened them.

  “My God,” he breathed, staring at her woman’s center.

  Niki felt a moment of her old insecurity, but it left as quickly as it came.

  She wanted X to look at her, to touch her, to love her. And she’d never felt more loved in all her life.

  He ran his hands up the insides of her thighs and brushed his thumbs against the soft skin of her sex.

  A moan escaped her as he applied a gentle pressure, further opening her for his gaze.

  He slid down her body, aligning his face with her aching heat, and then swiped his tongue through from bottom to top.

  Niki’s body jerked in response.

  And then he did it again, applying more pressure this time.

  Niki was lost.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Damn, she’s soft, Exodus thought, wrapping his hands around Niki’s thighs to hold her open.

  Her soft woman’s center and intoxicating scent had to be the most erotic thing he’d ever encountered.

  He wanted to bury his face in her heat and breathe her in, to lick her and devour her until he had his fill. But he’d never get his fill of Niki. If Exodus lived a thousand more years, he’d always crave her.

  With a growl of hunger, he flattened his tongue against her and gently swiped upward, glorying in the gasp that ripped from her throat.

  “Exodus…” she moaned, arching her back. She lifted her knees and draped them over his shoulders.

  X loved her with his tongue, swirling it through and around her soft, wet heat until he thought he’d go mad with need.

  Her hands suddenly gripped his hair with a strength that surprised him. Her breathing accelerated, her hips began to buck against him, and the sound that came from her lips…sent him over the edge.

  “Exodus,” she cried, her legs tightening around his neck.

  He sucked her into his mouth.

  Niki’s back bowed off the ground. Her entire body shook, and the hold she had on his hair bordered on painful.

  Still, he tortured her with his tongue until her cries became hoarse, and with one last shudder, she fell limp beneath his face.

  Exodus carefully released her and lifted his head to look into her moonlit eyes. “I have never tasted anything as incredible as you, Niki Brooks.”

  Niki’s hooded gaze held his for long moments. And then she whispered, “I want you inside me.”

  Exodus fought a growl and glanced back down at her small wet passage. “You’re not ready yet, beautiful. It’ll be too painful if I enter you now.”

  “I don’t care about the pain. I only know that I feel I’ll die without you inside me.”

  “Okay, love. Don’t tense up.” He gently inserted a finger inside her and then pressed his palm against the spot where his tongue had recently been.

  “Oh God, X…that feels incredible.” Her hips jerked up, forcing his finger in deeper.

  “Easy, baby,” he rumbled, replacing his palm with a thumb.

  Applying a slight pressure, he circled his t
humb over the sensitive area of her flesh and eased another finger inside her.

  “Exodus,” she moaned, her hips rising from the ground once more.

  He slipped his fingers from her body and rose up on his knees. “Niki? Look at me.”

  She lifted her eyelids, and the passion he saw swimming there was almost his undoing.

  “I’m going to have to hurt you, but the pain only lasts a moment. I’ll try to be as gentle as I can.”

  She opened wider for him. “I trust you.”

  He guided himself to her opening and covered her body with his, cupped her face in his hands, and slowly inched forward.

  “Wrap your legs around me,” he groaned through clenched teeth. It took every ounce of strength he had not to thrust.

  Raising her knees, she hooked her feet around his waist.

  “Good girl,” he rumbled, never breaking eye contact. “You are so damn wet and tight.”

  He pushed in deeper, baring his teeth as he came up against resistance.

  “I’m so sorry, Niki.” Exodus covered her mouth with his and thrust, ripping through the barrier of her virginity and seating himself completely inside her.

  She cried out into his mouth, and her hands instinctively flew to his shoulders.

  Exodus didn’t move, only continued to hold her until her trembling slowly subsided and her muscles began to relax.

  He lifted his head and searched her luminous green eyes. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” she whispered in a soft voice. “I just didn’t expect it to hurt so much.”

  Exodus felt his gut tighten in regret. He’d promised her there would be very little pain, and he’d ended up hurting her.

  He moved to pull out of her. “I’m so sorry, Niki. I—”

  Niki locked her feet tighter around him. “Please don’t leave me. I don’t want you to stop.” She brought her fingers to his hair and tugged his head back down.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  Exodus lifted his hips, nearly leaving her body, only to carefully penetrate her once again.

  She instinctively tensed, her fingers tightening in his hair.

  “Try to relax.” The feel of her wet, tight heat clamping around him, cradling him and milking him, threatened his very manhood.

  He needed to slow down before he screwed up and ruined their first night together.

  Exodus rose up on his knees and draped Niki’s legs over his thighs.

  With his left hand on her hip, he guided her along his shaft while the fingers on his right hand brushed gently over her tiny, wet bundle of nerves.

  He couldn’t take his gaze off her.

  And then she rolled her hips, her arms dropping out to her sides. It was a sign of complete surrender. And X’s undoing…

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Niki stared up at Exodus as he penetrated her again. Once the pain of his initial entry had subsided, the pulsing pleasure began to return.

  The feel of his thick shaft stretching her, possessing her, left Niki in a state of bliss she never wanted to return from.

  He took her higher, pushing her, demanding her surrender with every calculated stroke.

  Nerves came alive once again, stronger this time. The pleasure centered low in her abdomen, spreading out through her body with every thrust he made.

  “Exodus,” she gasped, her voice pleading with him to relieve the pressure she felt building inside her.

  He growled low in his throat, never slowing the movement of his hips.

  He pulled her higher up onto his lap, never breaking eye contact, and brushed his thumb across her sensitive bundle of nerves.

  Niki screamed her release, her body seizing in an orgasm that tilted her world on its axis. It throbbed, convulsed, and exploded through her body with a powerful force that left her in a mindless, boneless heap.

  Her back arched up, and her eyes rolled back in her head. She’d never known her body to be capable of such intense pleasure.

  Exodus roared his own release, following Niki into the abyss of a pleasure she realized she’d never know again without him.

  He dropped down over her, his hips continuing to jerk in short, quick bursts.

  She could feel his seed bathing her vaginal walls. She buried her face against his neck, inhaling the sensually masculine scent that was Exodus. “That was amazing.”

  Lifting his head, Exodus studied her face for a moment before gently pulling from her body. “Are you in any pain?”

  Niki shook her head. “I’m a little tender, but the pleasure far outweighs any pain I felt.”

  “I love you, Niki Brooks.”

  Niki smiled up at him. “I love you too, my fallen angel.”

  Exodus rolled to his back, pulling Niki’s head onto his shoulder.

  She gazed up at the star-filled sky above and snuggled in closer to X’s heat. “It’s so beautiful and mysterious.”

  “Yes, it is. But it’s nothing compared to what’s beyond it. One day, many years from now, you’ll see it.”

  She turned toward him and pulled her leg up to cover his thighs. “I owe you everything, Exodus.”

  He kissed the top of her head, his arm tightening around her. “I am the one who owes you. You’ve given me a second chance at life, a chance to do it right this time. And I want to give you the world.”

  His words sent warmth spiraling through Niki’s well-loved body. “You’ve already given me the world just by being here with me. What you did a few minutes ago the world could never top.”

  A soft laugh escaped him. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  Niki’s heart skipped a beat as he rolled on top of her once more and covered her with his great size.

  He rested his weight on his elbows to keep from crushing her and gazed into her star-struck eyes. “I plan on pleasuring you every day for the rest of our lives.”

  The feel of him pressing inside her still-wet passage sent butterflies erupting inside her stomach.

  She opened for him, her legs wrapping around his hips. “Every day?”

  “Several times a day, if that’s what you desire.”

  Her eyes slid shut in pleasure with his first gentle thrust.

  Exodus Brooks may have fallen from paradise, but he’d brought Heaven with him and laid it at Niki’s feet.

  She’d found her own paradise in X’s arms, her fallen angel…her forever…

  Epilogue

  Exodus and Niki went on to live a long, fulfilling life.

  They created two beautiful children together, a son and a daughter who grew up to give them a dozen grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

  Hazel’s Diner was passed down through the generations, remaining exactly as Hazel had intended—with home-cooked meals and a lumberjack breakfast fit for a king.

  The diner is still flourishing today.

  Lucky lived to be nineteen years old, which is considered nearly impossible for a dog his size. His puppies and their offspring still run the mountains of Helen, Georgia.

  Exodus had truly given Niki the world. Not long after their wedding, he informed her that they had enough money to live like royalty, as would their children and their children after them.

  Niki and X traveled the world, but always came home to their cabin in the small town of Helen, Georgia. The place they met. The place they fell in love, and the place where their lives changed forever.

  Exodus never saw Leviticus again until he passed away in his sleep at ninety-six years old, just two days after Niki’s passing.

  The majestic Levi appeared at the foot of X’s bed, his hand outstretched and his eyes full of love. “It’s time to come home, brother. Your Niki awaits you on the other side…”

  ~The End~

  Bayou Heat

  A Shapeshifter Romance

  Blurb

  Charlene Howard is no stranger to death. Her cancer is back, and she only has months to live. When Charlie hears of a voodoo priestess with the power to heal, sh
e sets out for Louisiana in a desperate search to find her. What she discovers is a love worth dying for...

  The legend of the Rougarou is thought to be just that—a legend. But deep in the swamps of Louisiana, the locals know the truth. The ravenous beast is all too real, and Kash LeRoux understands that better than anyone. He’s sexy, tough, and definitely hiding something. The beast in Kash is out for Charlie’s blood...but the man in him craves her heart.

  Prologue

  “I’m sorry, Charlene.”

  Charlene Howard stared numbly at her oncologist, Doctor Lyle Linville. “The cancer is back.” It wasn’t a question.

  “It is.”

  Charlie, as her friends called her, had been a practicing RN for the past four years while working toward her doctorate degree in medicine. After months of treatment and two successful surgeries, Charlie had been cancer free for the better part of two years and had been ready to return to work. Her hair had even grown back out and now lay in waves around her shoulders.

  She had been doing good until she recently developed double vision and recurring headaches that became debilitating at times. The sudden onslaught of symptoms had her visiting her oncologist, who’d promptly scheduled an MRI where he found a mass near her brain stem and a dark spot at the center of her brain. A biopsy was performed, and Charlie had been scheduled to come in today to find out the results.

  “Charlene?”

  It took Charlie a moment to realize the doctor was still speaking. “Yes?”

  “I asked if you came alone today?”

  She merely nodded, unable to look away from Doctor Linville’s apologetic gaze. “How bad is it?”

  The short, gray-haired doctor blew out a breath and pulled up a stool to sit in front of Charlie. He pushed his wire-rimmed glasses up on his nose and pinned her with a compassionate stare. “It’s bad, Charlie. You have malignant gliomas.”

  She was no oncologist, but she’d heard of the devastating effects of gliomas in children. It sometimes left the child blind or bedridden before it eventually claimed their lives. “So…what do we do now?”