20 Shades of Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Demelza Carlton

  “O-Osiris.” Sex rubbed against his greedy mouth, and he took everything she had to give him. “That’s…that’s…fuck, I can’t think.”

  Isis rarely swore. But Osiris had no problem getting a four-letter word or two out of her during sex. When he was really on top of his game, like now, he could reduce his mate to moaned babbling.

  Mouth pressed against her center, Osiris’s ruthless tongue and lips waged war against Isis’s self-control. It was the type of war where both sides wanted him to win.

  She screamed and bucked her release.

  Osiris held her still with strong hands on her hips, eating at her through one orgasm and straight into another, and then into a third. He didn’t stop until his mouth was filled and his face drenched with her juices. Even then, he kissed her sex, her ass, the back of her thighs, helping to bring Isis down from the euphoric rush of her release.

  He wiped his face on her nightgown before crawling from below her and standing. As soon as he was level with Isis, she slammed her lips into his and kissed the shit out of him.

  Hiking up her dress and Isis at the same time, Osiris slipped his weeping dick inside of her. Damn, she was wet. And they would wake the children if they screwed against the door the way he’d intended.

  Isis wrapped her legs around his waist, and Osiris backed away from the door. His legs and arms were strong enough to hold Isis’s weight while they fucked.

  “I hope you’re well-rested because I’m not letting you out of this room or off my dick until you’re filled with my seed and hatchling.”

  “Big talk, rock dragon.”

  “I can back it up because I got a big di—”

  This time, it was Isis’s kiss that shushed him.

  Epilogue

  Dragon Kingdom of Nebty

  Three Years Later

  The shiny black egg reminded Isis of the charcoal briquettes Nut used to burn in the fireplaces at Philae Manor. On Nebty, there was no use for fireplaces or even four-walled homes. The Cave of Dep, where Isis and Nephthys were born, was the closest structure on Nebty that compared, in Isis’s heart, to Philae Manor.

  Although most of the dragons had returned to Nebty, many of them maintained their human homes and visited the human realm more often than dragons did before the century separation from Nebty. Older dragons, like Nut, Makara, and Nour, adjusted to the change quickly. Others, dragons too young to remember Nebty or born in the human realm, found the transition to the island kingdom difficult.

  Isis had laid out a relocation plan, taking into consideration the emotional upheaval of leaving one home for that of another. Even Isis had found it strange to spend so much of her time in her dragon form when she never had before. The compromise had been her hybrid form until she got used to being a full-time dragon for the first time in her life.

  On Nebty, it was unsafe for a dragon in human form. The island nation wasn’t made for the small and delicate body of a human, so those who’d come to prefer that form needed to take precautions when interacting with the environment and other dragons.

  Now, however, three years into the transition, most dragons had settled in nicely and reconnected with their ancestral home.

  The space in the cave was tight, but Isis managed to squeeze her big body inside and wrap it around the black dragon egg.

  “What’s taking so long?” Osiris, on his stomach and face filling the mouth of the cave and blocking out most of the sun, looked from the quiet egg and to Isis. “It doesn’t take this long.”

  “It takes as long as it takes, my love. I came early, and Nep came late. Why don’t you go check on the children?”

  “I’m not leaving. As soon as I do, something will happen, and I’ll miss it. Besides, if it weren’t for your mother, the fairies would be right in there with you. If I go back now, everyone will return with me. Is that what you want?”

  It wasn’t. Dragonkind, like Osiris, waited impatiently for the birth of the first hatchling of their king and queen, as well as the first dragon born on Nebty since their return. While not all dragons were hatched in the Cave of Dep, the twins had been. It was also where King Geb had made his stand against the Demon Kingdom and the traitorous dragons by sending his mate and hatchlings away. It seemed fitting for Isis’s baby dragon to be born there as well.

  “It’s too bad. We’re here anyway.”

  Isis’s inner human groaned at the sound of her mother’s voice and the fluttering of tiny Yumboe wings. A second later, Citrussong, Rainblossom, and Olivebloom joined her in the cave. They landed on her head and began talking at once.

  “Only one baby dragon,” Olivebloom complained. “Aunt Nephthys said as much as you and Father… I forgot the rest.” Silver hair and pearl body leaned over and right in front of Isis’s left eye. “I already have two sisters. I want a baby brother.”

  “No, we want a sister dragon.” As usual, Citrussong spoke for Rainblossom.

  The children began to argue, their high-pitched voices echoing through the cave, their fairy dust falling onto Isis and the black egg.

  Osiris moved back. From the open space, Isis could see her mother, sister, Makara, and the Tyets. Behind them were the warriors, Bek and Lateef. If Isis left the cave, she imagined all Nebty would be waiting.

  As day turned to night and nothing happened, the dragons began to fly away, disappointed, but none more than Osiris. Nut and Nephthys were still there. The Tyets had left but promised to return soon.

  Isis secretly wondered if something was wrong with her hatchling. It had taken her a year to conceive. She’d delivered the egg with no medical complications, but the incubation had lasted much longer than anyone thought it would. What if the baby never hatched? What if something was terribly wrong?

  The egg shifted and fell onto its side.

  “It moved.” Osiris stuck his head inside the cave. “Did you see that, the egg moved?”

  Of course, she saw, but Isis was too afraid to respond, too afraid to believe that her and Osiris’s dream was about to come true.

  A crack from the top and then down the middle. One leg kicked a piece of shell from the egg. A head and then another leg. More of the egg cracked and fell as the small body inside pushed its way to freedom. Isis could do nothing but stare, in awe, as her hatchling demolished his egg until it lay in dark pieces on the cave floor.

  Even when the little form was free, Isis didn’t move, no less breathe. The baby dragon stumbled forward on weak, wobbly legs. It was then she went into action, catching her baby with her big, red nose.

  “We have a son.” Osiris licked the body of their hatchling. “A rock dragon son. He’s beautiful.”

  “He is… and healthy.”

  The way Osiris looked at her told Isis he’d known how frightened she’d been that he wouldn’t be healthy. That goddesses help them, something awful would happen to this hatchling the way it had Asim. When they’d returned to Nebty, they hadn’t left their daughter behind. She was now buried in a meadow surrounded by blue forget-me-nots and down the hill from Geb’s final resting place.

  Osiris moved away from the tunnel so Isis could exit with their hatchling. He whined but didn’t move from where he’d fallen on her face. Once out of the Cave of Dep, Osiris used his tail to settle their baby onto a patch of soft grass. He squirmed and whimpered but neither opened his eyes nor tried to walk again.

  “Ahhh, look at him. He’s a mini Osiris. A little hard work and he’s out like a light. Typical male.”

  “Shut up, Nephthys.”

  “You two be quiet and step aside so I can see my grandson.” Osiris and Nephthys made way, and Nut moved forward and took in the sleeping hatchling. “I forgot how small baby dragons could be. He reminds me of you two girls. Geb looked the same as you, Osiris, when Isis and Nephthys came into the world. Proud and willing to do anything to protect them. I know you will raise him well, fierce yet kind.”

  As Osiris had done, Nut licked the newborn, a form of blessing. Nephthys leaned down and did the same.
Isis was the only one who hadn’t.

  She nudged his head with her snout. He opened red eyes and looked at her. On the inside, Isis wept her relief and good fortune and then blessed her son.

  “What should we name him? It’s your turn, Osiris. I named our daughter, it’s only right you have the privilege of naming our son.”

  Isis knew he wouldn’t select Set, Asir, or even Geb. While those were fine dragon names, they held too many painful memories. Their son didn’t need the burden of carrying any one of those names. Isis would be fine with naming their son after his father, although she didn’t think Osiris would do that either.

  “What about Horus?”

  Isis’s eyes fell to her son. “It means light. A fitting name. Guiding light, dawn of a new day, light at the end of a tunnel. Horus. Our son.”

  Osiris nuzzled Isis’s neck. “The light of my life.”

  She nuzzled him back, their son asleep between them. “Sweetness and light.”

  They ignored Nephthys’s gagging sound before she and Nut lifted into the air with a “Congratulations, sis. I love you. You too rock head.”

  “Ray of light,” Osiris continued, shifting even closer.

  “Light touch.” Isis’s tail stroked her mate’s flank, more sensual than ticklish.

  “Keep that up, and I’ll get you with another hatchling.”

  “That’s my goal. Citrussong and Rainblossom didn’t get their dragon sister. A shame we didn’t have twins.”

  “So, you want me to light your fire again?”

  “That was corny, even for us. But yes, I want you to… thrust into the limelight.”

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling author, N. D. Jones lives in Maryland with her husband and two children. She writes what she sees as a dearth in the romance genre--African/African American love with a paranormal twist. She spends a lot of time developing the mythology of her novels, as well as the execution of the paranormal element. When she writes a book with witches and shapeshifters, for example, she thinks it’s important to show what it means to be a witch and shapeshifter. That’s one thing a reader of books by N.D. can look forward to. The paranormal is not a sidebar in her novels. It’s center stage and critical to the plot.

  N.D. is the author of two paranormal romance series: Winged Warriors and Death and Destiny. She's also embarked on a science fiction romance series, Forever Yours. N.D. likes to read historical and paranormal romance novels, as well as comics and manga.

  To read more paranormal romance novels by N.D. Jones, from angels and demons to witches and shapeshifters, begin with her complimentary audiobook and eBook versions of her Fire, Fury, Faith novella, the first book in her Winged Warriors series.

  Also by N.D. Jones

  Read more from N.D. Jones at

  https://www.ndjonesparanormalpleasure.com/

  Wicked Woods

  Kailin Gow

  Wicked Woods

  Published by Sparklesoup Inc.

  Copyright © 2010 Kailin Gow

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  For information, please contact:

  www.Sparklesoup.com

  First Edition.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  ISBN: 1597486310

  ISBN: 978-1597486316

  Created with Vellum

  For my awesome editors, cover artist, and publishing team. Thank you for helping me make the story of Briony and the townspeople of Wicked, MA come alive.

  Prologue

  Briony Patterson was in bed, unable to sleep, fearing that simply closing her eyes would bring forth the monsters she thought lived in the dark. Except for the full moon shining through the window of her room, it was dark. Very dark. So dark Briony could barely see her fingers in front of her. Scary things happen in the dark. Bad things happen in the dark. As far as Briony could see, there was a lot of darkness in front of her, laid out in acres over acres of woodland.

  Briony could not close her eyes into blissful sleep, for this was the same house her parents and little brother had stayed in before they vanished forever, leaving her an orphan, leaving her alone, except for Aunt Sophie, who owned this little bed and breakfast at the edge of the Wicked Woods.

  Briony turned, trying to make herself more comfortable in the rickety antique bed. It was the wrong bed. Briony’s bed was small, and comfortable, and hundreds of miles away. The Edge Inn was nice enough, but Briony still couldn’t think of it as her room. Thinking that would be like admitting that she would never be going back, that her parents and little brother weren’t waiting for her in her real home. Of course, they weren’t, but that only made it worse.

  This wasn’t home, this old-fashioned little place in the town of Wicked, Massachusetts, even though her aunt was working hard to make it feel that way. It was too antiquated, with its exposed beams and its leaded windows, too isolated, and above all too different feeling. Had her brother had this room? No wonder Briony couldn’t get to sleep.

  She closed her eyes for a second. It was still hard to believe her entire family was gone. Missing. Vanished. Into the woods, never to be found…into the very woods staring at her right outside the windows of this seemingly cozy little guest room.

  Although Aunt Sophie was kind enough to take her in after her parents and little brother’s disappearance, Briony knew Aunt Sophie didn’t want her here to complicate her life. Aunt Sophie lost Uncle Pete in the same excursion into the woods that took away Briony’s family. The last thing Aunt Sophie wanted in her life was probably a teenager.

  But Aunt Sophie was the only family she had now, and Briony was Aunt Sophie’s. Briony didn’t want to be here, away from her home in Florida, away from her friends, away from the life she once had. Briony took a deep breath. Adjusting to this new life would be hard. She missed her old life, she missed her parents, and even her irritating little brother Jake, but it sure beat being homeless. She experienced being that for about one week after her family’s disappearance, and her house was sold to pay bills she didn’t know about. Briony found herself without a home for nearly a week, staying with friends, then a shelter…until Aunt Sophie could claim her as her legal relative and move her over to Wicked. Somehow, there was a paperwork mixed up, which Briony couldn’t understand. Great Aunt Sophie and Uncle Pete had always been part of her family, but Briony had never understood her mother’s connection with Aunt Sophie, besides Aunt Sophie being a distant relative.

  Briony got up and went over to the full-length mirror in one corner. Her honey blonde hair was a mess from all the tossing and turning she had been doing, trying to get to sleep. Her blue eyes were just starting to take on that hollow look that came when you went without sleep too long, making her normally pretty features look older than their sixteen years.

  Outside the window, something howled. Briony was used to Florida, where the only sounds at night were of cars, and horns and occasional sirens. Now though, she found herself living next to about a thousand acres of woodland, complete with mysterious howling creatures. She didn’t even know if what was out there was a stray dog or a wolf deeper in the forest.

  Briony moved over to the window, staring through the diamond pattern of the glass at the world outside. Even with the moon out, there wasn’t much to see here on the very edge of town. It was so much darker out here at night than in the cities she was used to. It took some getting used to.

  She should have been getting used to it last month, when her family came up to stay with Great Aunt Sophie and Uncle Pete. It hadn’t sounded like much fun, even then. Slogging around in the wilderness wasn’t really for her. Thankfully, Briony’s parents had agreed, and she had gone off to cheerleading camp instead. T
hat had been so much better, right up to the point when the phone call came through to tell her that her mother, father, brother and uncle were gone, just like that.

  Something moved in the darkness, out beyond the window. Briony forced herself not to jump. It was probably just a small animal or something. Except that when it came again, Briony couldn’t see anything. Instead, all she could see were shadows, shifting as a deeper darkness on the edge of the trees around the inn. Oh yes, the Edge Inn, run on the edge of the forest by Sophie Edge and her husband. That seemed so funny now that there were things out there, didn’t it?

  Wrapping a thick robe over her nightclothes, Briony set off downstairs, knowing that there was no way that she would sleep yet. She had only gone to bed because Aunt Sophie had suggested that it might be good to get an early night, what with starting at Wicked’s High School tomorrow. Well, that and she suspected that her great aunt probably needed some time alone. It couldn’t be easy trying to be strong for Briony when Aunt Sophie had her own grief to deal with over the loss of Uncle Pete. Briony knew that her aunt would never show any hint of it around her, because that wasn’t the kind of thing Aunt Sophie did.

  Briony tiptoed downstairs, determined not to wake anyone, though with no guests currently at the inn, there was only Aunt Sophie to worry about. Briony found her asleep in the lounge. She lay in an armchair, wrapped in a robe so voluminous that it made her look vaguely like a yeti and snoring in tones that probably accounted for the lack of guests. Two fluffy pink slippers poked out of the end of the robe. Her graying hair was tied back. It made Aunt Sophie look older than usual, showing all of her fifty years.