Heroes Among Us: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Ditter Kellen

  “I can’t take back the things I’ve done, any more than I can change who and what I am.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “Being with me probably isn’t smart on your part, but I can’t seem to stay away.” He closed the distance, both of his large hands wrapping around her upper arms.

  Piper couldn’t think beyond the sensation of his skin touching hers, his breath caressing her face.

  “Damn you, Piper,” he rumbled, slanting his lips across hers.

  Piper’s body came alive in Ethan’s arms, the words he’d confessed barely registering in her muddled mind.

  He pulled her close, his mouth moving over hers again and again.

  Piper moaned, leaning into him, telling him without words what she wanted most.

  The tremor that passed through his powerful body confirmed that he felt the same.

  He suddenly bent and scooped her up into his arms, his lips breaking the suction they had on her mouth. “Tell me to stop, Piper. Tell me now before it’s too late.”

  Wetness flooded Piper’s cotton shorts. She didn’t want him to stop.

  She stared into his hooded gaze, her breathing uneven and choppy. “My room is upstairs.”

  Ethan spun from the kitchen with Piper in his arms. He took the stairs two at a time, holding her as if she were weightless.

  Piper laid her face against his neck, breathing in his masculine scent. She couldn’t seem to get enough of his smell.

  He stopped at the top of the stairs, kicking her door open with his bare foot. He didn’t slow until he stood next to Piper’s bed.

  Allowing her to slide down his body, Ethan set Piper on her feet, his glittering eyes holding her captive.

  Neither of them spoke as he gripped the hem of his T-shirt and tugged it over his head. He tossed it to the floor and then reached for Piper’s tank top.

  He hesitated, watching her as a predator would its prey.

  Piper lifted her arms.

  A growl of satisfaction rumbled inside his chest. He slowly dragged the tank top up over her ribs, her aching breasts, and finally her head.

  “Jesus.” Ethan dropped her shirt somewhere on the floor near his, and brought his hands up to cover her breasts.

  His thumbs coasted over her nipples, wringing a gasp from Piper. The sensation it triggered traveled with lightning speed straight to her center.

  Piper’s eyes slid shut.

  Cool air touched her breasts as his palms left her skin, only to be replaced by the warm, wet feel of his mouth closing over a nipple.

  She moaned deep in her throat, her hands reaching for his shoulders to hold herself upright. She damn sure didn’t trust her knees in that moment.

  Ethan sucked on the hardened tip the way he did everything else…with power and skill.

  Piper’s clit began to throb with every pull of his mouth on her sensitive nipple.

  She stepped in closer, seeking, craving. Hell, she wasn’t sure exactly what she sought. She only knew that Ethan alone held the power to relieve the ache pulsing deep inside.

  Her nipple abruptly popped free of his mouth, and her eyes fluttered open in time to watch him free the button on his jeans free, jerk down the zipper, and drag them down his legs.

  The sight of his thick erection straining behind the material of his boxer briefs stole Piper’s breath. She reached for him.

  “No,” he growled, gripping her wrist. “Don’t touch me. I won’t last if you touch me.”

  Piper’s inner walls clenched.

  He peeled the boxer briefs off and stood before her in all his masculine perfection. Piper had never known a male body could be so utterly flawless.

  Ethan stepped forward, wrapped his hands around Piper’s waist, and lifted her onto the bed. “Lie back.”

  With butterflies in her stomach, her heart pounding in anticipation, Piper laid back on the bed and watched him from beneath her lashes.

  His fingers went to the waistband of her cotton shorts to drag them slowly down her legs. A low rumbling sound vibrated from his chest.

  Piper lifted her gaze to his and stilled. Were his eyes glowing? She opened her mouth to question him on it, but then he dropped to his knees and pushed her thighs apart. Piper lost all thought.

  The feel of his hot, wet tongue coasting up the inside of her thigh had Piper near panting in anticipation.

  “You smell so fucking good.” The tip of his tongue circled her throbbing clit.

  Piper cried out with the sensation of him teasing her most sensitive place. She could feel herself swelling, growing wetter, preparing to be penetrated by him.

  “Ethan, please…”

  He suddenly jerked back, gripped her hips, and flipped her over. “Don’t move.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ethan was losing control. He could feel his eyes burning in their sockets, knew the shift would damn near be inevitable. He’d also seen the brief confusion in Piper’s eyes as she’d gazed into his own.

  The feverish glow in a shifter’s eyes was usually the only warning of an impending shift before a wolf took control and emerged.

  It had taken Ethan years to tame the wolf inside, to control his shifts and live a halfway normal life. But Piper threatened that control. Everything about her called to the wolf within.

  Ethan wanted nothing more than to tame her, to sink his teeth into the fleshy pad of her shoulder and dominate her incredible body.

  But the man in him, that part of him that craved her acceptance, her love, wanted nothing more than to pleasure her, to hold her close to his heart and never let go.

  Her beautiful ass lay before him, smooth and tan. He ran his palms over the soft swell of her flesh, dragging them back down to her thighs.

  She moaned as he pushed her legs apart and touched her heat with the tips of his fingers.

  “Beautiful.” The guttural sound of his voice caught him off guard.

  A light sprinkling of hair appeared on the backs of his hands.

  Ethan’s heart began to pound as he fought to control the wolf clawing him apart on the inside, demanding to be free, needing to mate.

  Piper arched her hips in invitation, and the wolf roared its way to the surface.

  With a snarl of surrender, Ethan buried his face against Piper’s sweet, wet pussy and drove his tongue inside her depths.

  A hoarse cry ripped from her throat to fuel his already frantic need to take her.

  Ethan licked and sucked her into a frenzy, pushing her thighs farther apart to gain better access.

  Her body began to shake, her hips bucking against his roaming mouth.

  An animalistic sound came from Ethan’s throat as wolf and man battled for dominance.

  Ethan released her with his mouth, placed his knees on the bed between her open thighs, and gripped his throbbing cock.

  “You better hold on,” he demanded in a deep, guttural voice before thrusting into her waiting heat.

  Piper cried out with his initial penetration, her hands gripping the edge of the mattress in front of her.

  Ethan grabbed her hips, jerked her up onto her knees, and drove into her as deep as her body would allow.

  His vision tunneled on Piper’s shoulder as the room changed to a light shade of red in his peripheral.

  The sting of his teeth extending did little to slow his pumping hips, but it was the smooth skin of her shoulder that held his attention the most.

  His wolf demanded the submission of its mate. And Piper was his mate, whether she knew it or not.

  She turned her head to the side, the look on her face one of ecstasy.

  Ethan dropped down over her, driving into her again and again.

  He swiped his tongue over her neck, taking in her intoxicating taste.

  His gums began to throb in time with his thrusting cock. His mouth opened against her shoulder, her scent filling his nostrils.

  No, Ethan mentally growled, fighting against the urge to bite. If he bit her, he would lose her for
ever.

  Jerking his face away from her shoulder, Ethan raised up, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the feel of her tight vaginal walls wrapped firmly around him.

  Breathe through it, he mentally growled, his hold tightening on her hips.

  And then she came.

  Ethan could only hang on as she contracted around his swollen cock, her cries of release echoing inside his head to further tempt his tormented wolf.

  His only release exploded from him with a force that buckled his knees. He dropped down over her, his hips jerking forward with ever jet of his seed that wrenched from his body.

  In all his life, Ethan had never had to fight so hard to hold onto his humanity as he did this night.

  With one last shudder, he lifted up onto his elbows to remove some of his weight from Piper’s back and brought his wolf to heel.

  Regret was instant. He’d taken Piper almost savagely, foregoing any finesse he knew himself to be capable of.

  He lowered his mouth to her ear, his breathing uneven. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head, a languid smile touching her lips. “That was incredible.”

  Rolling off her, Ethan brushed her hair back from her face. “I wanted to go slow with you.”

  Piper reached up to touch his cheek. “I didn’t want slow. I was too turned on for that.”

  His damnable wolf stirred to life once again. As did his cock.

  The sound of the door opening downstairs brought Piper’s head up. “Someone’s here.”

  “Are you expecting company?” Ethan asked, sliding from the bed to gather up his clothes.

  A female voice suddenly called out from below. “Piper, honey, it’s Mom!”

  Piper jumped from the bed, pulling on her clothes with a quickness that would have been humorous at any other time. She ran her fingers through her hair. “Stay here.”

  As if he’d planned on going anywhere, Ethan thought with a grin. “Piper?”

  She turned back as she reached her bedroom door. “Yes?”

  “Hurry back. I’m not finished with you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Piper took the stairs down to the kitchen to find her mother staring at the half-empty whiskey glass on the bar.

  Bess looked up as Piper stepped into the room. “Did I come at a bad time?”

  Piper blushed. “You didn’t notice the car parked out front?”

  Her mother turned pink as well. “I didn’t pay it any attention. You’ve never had a man over before, I— Well, I-I’m sorry, honey. I’ll come back later.”

  Following her mother to the living room, Piper touched her on the arm. “Wait. You came by for a reason. What’s up?”

  “Oh,” Bess breathed, obviously mortified she’d caught her daughter in an undesirable situation. “I wanted to get your opinion on the invitations I had made for your father’s birthday party. It’s in four weeks. I should have gotten them done sooner. And I’m babbling. I’ll bring them by tomorrow…when you’re alone.”

  Bess spun and grabbed the doorknob.

  “I’ll call you in the morning,” Piper assured her, watching as her mother scurried onto the porch and down the walkway.

  Closing the door, Piper engaged the deadbolt to prevent anyone who had a key from waltzing in unannounced.

  She meandered to the kitchen, refilled their glasses, and carried them upstairs.

  What she saw when she entered her bedroom, took her by surprise.

  Ethan had removed the covers and pillows from Piper’s bed, and in their place he’d laid shredded strips of his T-shirt.

  “Come here,” he demanded, his hip propped against the corner post at the foot of her bed.

  Piper swallowed hard, nervous yet more than a little curious.

  She took a healthy swallow of her wine, set the drinks on her dresser, and moved to stand in front of him.

  “Is everything okay?” he questioned, his arms crossed over his powerful chest.

  It took all Piper had not to gawk at his massive erection. “It was just my mother. She’s gone now.”

  “Remove your clothes.”

  Her pussy clenched.

  Pulling her tank top over her head, she dropped it to the floor and stepped out of her shorts. Ethan wanted her again, and fuck, but she wanted him just as much.

  “What are you going to do?” she whispered, watching him push away from the post.

  Instead of answering, he picked up a strip of the cut-up T-shirt and eased around behind her. “Do you trust me?”

  She did trust him. Strange as it seemed. “Yes.”

  “Then close your eyes.”

  Piper did as she was told. Her lids drifted shut as he covered them with the cloth, securing it behind her head.

  With her world thrown into darkness, Piper’s senses came alive. She could almost feel every breath that Ethan took, hear the whisper of cloth as he retrieved another from the bed.

  He took hold of her hand and turned her around, helping her lie down on the bed and securing her wrist to the top of the post with a strip of the cloth.

  Piper’s heart began to pound. She’d never been in such a position before.

  Her body began to heat up with near frantic need.

  Ethan gripped her other wrist, tied it with the soft cloth and secured it to the other pole.

  The sound of his footsteps padding across the floor could be heard over the thundering of Piper’s heart.

  He returned a moment later, tipping her wineglass to her lips. “Drink.”

  Piper took a healthy swallow, feeling the cool liquid drip down her mouth as he abruptly removed the glass.

  The feel of his warm tongue licking up her chin sent shivers up Piper’s spine.

  He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, capturing the remnants of the wine resting there.

  Piper leaned into him, needing more, silently begging him to give her his tongue.

  He pulled back instead. “Spread your feet apart.”

  Pipers stomach flipped. She opened her legs and gripped the poles her wrists were tied to.

  “More,” he demanded, nudging the insides of her ankles with his bare feet.

  Piper felt exposed, her body open to him in a way she’d never thought herself capable of. But it had to be the most exhilarating feeling imaginable.

  He touched the cold, wet wineglass to her right nipple before rolling it across the left one, hardening the tips into straining points of pleasure. “You like that, Piper?”

  “Yes,” she breathed, her nipples throbbing with the need to be touched.

  The feel of his teeth raking over one of the hardened points wrenched a gasp of pleasure from her.

  He gently bit down, flicking the tip with his warm, wet tongue.

  “Ethan, please,” she moaned, her back arching in attempt to get closer to his heated mouth.

  He moved to the other one, giving it the same pleasurable torment. “Please what?”

  “I need…”

  He licked his way down her ribs, stopping to dip his tongue into her belly button. “Tell me what you need, Piper.”

  Lower, his tongue moved, swirling along her skin, his teeth nipping at her abdomen.

  “I need you,” she breathed, moving her feet farther apart.

  He swiped his tongue across her mound. “You have me. Now tell me what it is that you want.”

  The deep, demanding growl of his voice severed any inhibitions she might have clung to.

  In a voice she barely recognized, Piper answered. “I want you inside me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ethan stared up Piper’s body, taking in every curve, every dip and valley. She had to be the sexiest woman ever built.

  With her eyes covered and her lips swollen from his kisses, she gasped, “I want you inside me.”

  Her words kicked him in the gut with enough force that he came a little.

  A howl trapped in his throat, so close was he to shifting.

  Grateful that she couldn’t
see what he knew to be present in his eyes, Ethan leaned in and closed his lips over Piper’s wet pussy.

  She cried out the second he sucked her swollen clit into his mouth.

  Gripping her left thigh, he draped it over his shoulder, and brought his hands around to her ass.

  Ethan pulled her tightly against his face, held the suction he had on her clit, and swirled his tongue around the tiny bundle of nerves.

  Piper went wild, rocking her hips in time with his ever-moving tongue. The cry that ripped from her throat was probably heard down the street.

  Ethan didn’t slow, he held her in place, lashing her again and again until the evidence of her release saturated his tongue.

  He noticed that her leg shook as he unhooked it from around his neck and set her foot on the floor.

  Slowly rising to his feet, Ethan cupped her mound in his hand and brought his lips to hers. “Taste yourself, Piper.”

  He closed his mouth over hers, glorying in the moan vibrating from deep within her. Or had it come from him? He wasn’t sure anymore.

  She abruptly sucked his tongue into her mouth, and Ethan lost it.

  “Fuck,” he snarled, gripping her ass. He jerked her feet off the floor and impaled her, thrusting balls-deep into her hot, wet pussy.

  Ethan had never felt anything as incredible as being inside Piper. She was everything he wanted, everything he needed. She was warm. She was heaven…she was his.

  Slowing his thrusts, Ethan lifted her higher against him, rocking into her with long, calculated strokes. “You belong to me, Piper.”

  She moaned in his ear, straining against him.

  “Say it,” he demanded, rolling his hips.

  Another moan slipped past her lips. “Yes.”

  Ethan ground against her, pulled back, and sank into her once more. “Say you fucking belong to me. Tell me you’re mine.”

  “I’m yours,” she gasped. “Ethan, please!”

  Her words drove Ethan over the edge. He flexed his hips and pistoned into her with the power only a shifter could wield.

  Every sexy sound that passed her lips drove Ethan further toward the abyss.

  Piper screamed, her body seizing with the power of her orgasm.