Hearts Unleashed: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by C. D. Gorri

  Declan’s smile went from pleasant to a triumphant power grin in three seconds flat. “I don’t have a wife, and I definitely don’t have any children, not yet anyway. Probably has something to do with having a wife.” He winked.

  Jennifer blushed at the avalanche of information Declan was providing. She wondered if it was wrong of her to be relieved that there was no Mrs. Declan.

  “What time did you say?” Jennifer asked, wanting to make sure she had time to be presentable.

  “How’s seven tonight?” Declan glanced at his watch to calculate the time it would take to prepare the food and get ready for his guest.

  “Sounds good, I’ll see you then,” Jennifer smiled. Okay, so it wasn’t going to be as bad as she thought making new friends, especially when they looked like Declan.

  As soon as he’d left her front yard, she closed the door and raced to the kitchen. She finished making herself the cup of tea she had planned to have, and then she was off and running upstairs to shave her legs and underarms. A little landscaping down below helped her feel more feminine and sexy, even if nobody got to see it.

  She painted her toenails while her hair dried around the large volume rollers she’d put in. She flicked through the clothes she’d hung in the wardrobe a couple of times looking for something to wear and then finally selected a summer dress that wrapped around and draped to accentuate her curves. The color was a dark plum red, and it matched the nail polish on her fingernails and toenails perfectly.

  As she looked at herself in the mirror, she wondered if it could all be that easy to leave her old life behind. She had her savings which would keep her going for a little while. She was hesitant to touch the inheritance her grandmother had left her as she had hoped to keep it for a rainy day. “Oh and it’s just blazing days with no gloom and doom in sight,” she said with a note of sarcasm to her reflection.

  With a shrug of her shoulder, she grabbed a shawl off the bed and walked out of the bedroom, turning the light off on her way out the door.

  Giving it some delayed thought, Jennifer pondered returning to her art, signing it Jennifer Taylor by using her mother’s maiden name. She would also look into other things after dinner with the hunk of handsome next door. She pulled the front door closed behind herself and confirmed it was locked. She supposed that came from living in the city, but there were still criminals living all over the place nowadays. As she walked across the lawn, moving towards Declan’s place, she felt as if she were being watched, and she paused long enough to glance around. Unsuccessful in identifying the reason for the feeling, she walked the remainder of the distance to her neighbors front door.

  The evening began with a little awkwardness as Jennifer wasn’t sure of the relationship between Declan and Colin. Although it didn’t take long for them to be seated at the table, things quickly went from murky to crystal clear in the time it took to open the cans of Coke Declan passed out to everyone from the fridge. With a Tsssk-pop, it felt as if her heart had exploded in her chest.

  “Are the both of you related?” Jennifer asked them.

  “Yeah Declan are we related?” Colin probed, taking the opportunity to find out if Declan could be the ‘D’ from his mother’s letters.

  “You know we aren’t,” Declan narrowed his eyes on the youngling as he took a slurp from his can. He returned his attention to Jennifer and explained how the young male came to be at his dining table. “I’m a bounty hunter and this young troublemaker skipped on his bail. So I tracked him down and now he’s my responsibility until we can clear things up with the bondsman.”

  “Oh,” Jenn knew her eyes were as wide as an anime doll, but she didn’t seem to be able to convince her brain to tell her eyes to blink.

  “And you said you’d help me find my grandmother Lillibet,” Colin added, taking the toilet brush upside Jennifer’s head to that of being a wet one.

  Jenn choked on her mouthful of soft drink, coughing as her throat spasmed while trying to control the traffic jam happening in her esophagus. Jenn’s eyes watered as oxygen became an issue, and she slapped herself on her chest while Declan patted her back. As the episode passed, Declan’s hand settled in the middle of her back, and he rubbed circles which made it feel like she had a storm brewing inside her. She was so messed up, but then she’d always been a bad judge of character when it came to men.

  “You okay?” Declan asked with honest concern.

  “Yeah. It just went down the wrong way,” Jenn admitted. Declan served the steaks with whole baked potatoes, baby carrots, and beans. Although it was simple food, it was delicious. While chewing her food, it gave her time to think. The trouble was that she didn’t know either of these men from Adam. Jenn had no idea how long Declan had lived next door to her grandmother, and she had no information about any of her father’s side of the family.

  She must have zoned out as she became lost in her thoughts until Declan’s hand zapped her back to reality as he touched her forearm. “Sorry,” she jumped.

  “I was wondering if you’d had enough to eat, there are still some potatoes left,” Declan offered.

  “God no,” she laughed. “I’ll be in a carbohydrate coma if I eat anything else.”

  “I’ll have another if you’re offering?” Colin said without any remorse for cramping Declan’s style.

  “Sure, help yourself, they’re in the kitchen.”

  “Not worried I’ll sneak out the back door and hoof it?”

  “I have faith that you’d be in custody within the hour.” Declan stood to gather his and Jenn’s plates and to clear the table.

  Jenn noticed that although Colin seemed to be baiting Declan, he wasn’t biting.

  “Just for that you can do the dishes,” Declan chuckled.

  “Dude what did your last slave get locked up for?” Colin replied, throwing in an exasperated “Argh!” for good measure.

  Jenn laughed at the both of them, “On that note I think it’s time for me to run for the door without paying the check.”

  “Ouch!” Declan placed his hand on his heart and was genuinely sad to see the night draw to an end. He walked Jennifer to the front door and held it open while he helped her put her shawl on. The air outside had become crisp, and the chill indicated that maybe there was fresh snow somewhere west of the range. Declan’s hands lingered on Jennifer’s shoulders, and she couldn’t ignore how great he smelled. She turned to thank him for an amazing evening with delicious food and fantastic company. Their eyes met, and it was as if time stood still. There was no way of knowing how long they stood there until Colin’s voice broke the spell, “Bra got game! Get a room.”

  Declan looked at the ceiling in a token effort to find strength, and Jennifer blushed, “Thanks again.” Her hand touched the center of his chest, and Declan’s hand captured it and held it there. His wolf howled inside his head, savoring the touch. The gesture accepted by his wolf as one of familiarity. It was because Jennifer recognized him as her mate, and secretly, Declan hoped that were true.

  Chapter Seven

  Jennifer unlocked the front door and leaned back against it as she pushed it closed. It was too much of a coincidence that Colin had a grandmother named Lillibet because that’s the name she had called her grandmother when she was only three. The story her mother had told her was that she wasn’t able to pronounce Elizabeth, so Grandma Lillibet was the name that stuck.

  Even as an adult, she had sometimes fallen back on her pet name for her grandmother in conversation.

  Jennifer pinched her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger while considering the possibilities. She raced upstairs to the attic to find the family tree and see if Colin’s name was on it.

  After studying the parchment several times, even though his name wasn’t on it anywhere, she knew it was true in her gut. There were three possibilities. The first being that a child was born without her grandmother’s knowledge. The second being that her grandmother had forgotten the family tree was hidden in the secret compartment. And the t
hird being that perhaps it wasn’t her grandmother’s desk with the secret compartment. All she knew was that there was something about Colin that told her they were related to each other. Jennifer wished she could put her finger on it, but for now, it was a mystery for another day.

  Downstairs on the second level, she got ready for bed. Jennifer eagerly climbed under the covers and fluffed them around her. She plumped up a second pillow and placed it behind her back. She unlocked her iPad and scrolled through her unread library of eBooks. Eventually settling on a Shifter’s Unleashed anthology, she heard a wolf howl, and she froze to listen carefully for the direction it was coming from. Only it didn’t happen again. She flicked through to the first one in the collection and began reading. She became so engrossed in the story that she’d finished it before she knew it. Jennifer raced to the toilet and then climbed back into bed. She thumbed through a few emails, unsubscribing from some and others that looked important, she filed to read later. In the end, she decided to put her iPad down and turn off the light. She snuggled down under the covers and easily fell asleep.

  She had wild dreams of being chased by a wolf. She was barefoot, and the mud was wet and cold as it squished up between her toes. She didn’t like it, She tried to hide, but the wolf always knew where to find her. The moon was full, and it sat proudly in the night sky. As she lay on her back behind a fallen tree trunk, she could see it directly above. It looked surreal that she felt as if she were to reach her hand out, she would be able to touch it. The wind picked up, and the top branches began to sway, obscuring her ability to see the moon. She sneezed and rolled to stand. Wait! What the hell? She looked down at her feet. Only they weren’t feet anymore. They were paws, and she had four of them. The wolf that had been following her was gone, and she was the wolf. She still thought like she was human. The dry leaves to her left rustled, and her ears perked up. Her body tensed in preparation for chasing something. Great, she thought; next, she’d be eating roadkill. Even in wolf form, she threw up a little bit in the back of her throat.

  The sound of other wolves in the distance captured her attention more than chasing rabbits or furry little critters, and she raced off in their direction. She knew her mouth was open, and her tongue was hanging out the side, but the sense of freedom made it all okay.

  She found a group of wolves, but the alpha was fierce, and she was an intruder in their terrane. Even so, she felt an unexplainable pull towards the alpha, and she heard her wolf take ownership, ‘Mine!’

  The alpha’s nose lifted to the air as though he could scent her, and she cowered. Not ready to be confronted by the leader of the pack. As she was about to stand, the weight of the alpha held her down, and his muzzle took hold of the back of her neck. His growl carried so much force her knees almost gave out. Wait! Did wolves have knees? It didn’t matter because she did, and she was kneeling in front of him, as naked as the day she was born. No longer a wolf with fur to protect herself. His chest was firm, and his arms were holding her gently even though she knew he was strong enough to hurt her. Her head bowed down because she didn’t know if she wanted to know who the alpha was when he wasn’t a wolf. He cooed in her ear, trying to calm her, but her heart was still racing, and her body had already been ignited by the alpha’s display of strength and dominance.

  “Are you mated?” the alpha softly asked as he sniffed her neck to familiarize himself with her scent.

  She shook her head, “No.”

  “Then I suggest you run away little wolf,” the alpha snarled. “Or you will be.”

  Jennifer had always wanted what she shouldn’t have, and the alpha had called her little wolf. She took a deep breath and turned her head to meet the ice blue eyes of the alpha. She tilted her head as if to object. His beast rose to the challenge as she disobediently glared at him over her shoulder. He found that he’d never wanted any female more than he wanted this little wolf. He bared his canines in a warning, and she wiggled her naked bottom back against his thickness. “I will claim you with my cock if you do not shift to your fur and run away now my provocative intruder,” the alpha gave a final warning.

  Jennifer’s body was ignoring her brain and doing whatever the hell it wanted to do. Her pussy was wet and slippery and ready to be taken. If he was going to play hard, then so was she.

  She turned in his lap and straddled his hips. She wanted to feel the alpha’s size buried deep within her vault. Jennifer rotated her hips and stroked the alpha’s shaft with her juices. The alpha possessed great strength, but when it came to this female, he had none. She was his mate, and he could not resist her forever. The alpha tilted his head back to the full moon and howled. Jennifer reached down between them, and her hand circled his cock. Lifting up, she positioned herself to take him. He was thicker and longer and bigger than any other male she’d been with, and as she lowered her body down, working his manhood between her lower lips and into her cave, she couldn’t believe how good it felt to be filled. The alpha placed his hands on her hips and pulled her down onto his length, filling her so totally.

  He rocked her hips back and forth, creating a friction that burned all the way to his soul. The alpha wanted to claim her mind, body, and soul, only she was not fully aware of what she was offering him by initiating intimacy. She was claiming him as her mate. No female would dare to dominate the alpha in such a manner without first mating with him. Jennifer welcomed their passionate interlude, and her head fell with unbridled satisfaction to the alpha’s shoulder after having the most climactic orgasm of her life, even if it were just a dream. She felt the alpha’s hot semen pumping into her vessel as her eyes fluttered closed.

  Jennifer woke to feel a sense of relaxation like she had never experienced before. Eager to start the day, she threw the covers back and found mud all over the sheets, and it looked to have gotten there from her feet. Both of which had mud caked on them as though she’d been a three-year-old playing in mud puddles. Lost for words, she raced to the bathroom and jumped into the shower to wash it off. After fifteen minutes in a hot shower, she was clean. Walking out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, she stripped the bedding and put it into the bathtub to soak. She hoped that the mud didn’t permanently mark the white sheets. However, if the worst happened, she would bleach them. Lastly, she cleaned up the patchy marks on the floor rugs and the polished timber floors. She dropped the towel into the wash basket and dressed in some comfortable clothes. She thought it odd how her muscles ached as if she’d had a raunchy night of passion. The moment only temporarily sidetracking her mind from wishing she knew what had happened, but the only answer she could think of was that she’d experienced a sleepwalking episode.

  It was strange that she would have one of those incidents as she hadn’t had one since she was a child. Even then, she hadn’t remembered anything from it. The account she recalled was one her parents had told her about.

  Chapter Eight

  Declan stretched and wished he was waking up to find his mate in the bed beside him. He was pleasantly surprised by the previous night’s events. Declan finally had to admit that his wolf had been right. Jennifer was perfect in every way. She was absolutely the only female he wanted to spend his life with. His thoughts quickly turned to Sue-Ellen, and he smiled to himself. As far as the entire pack knew, Sue-Ellen had always kept an eye out for the opportunity to become the Alpha’s mate. He would need to sit Sue-Ellen down as soon as possible and explain that he had already imprinted on his mate and that although their bond had only just begun, it was a solid beginning in the eyes of the Alpha.

  Declan called a meeting with Sue-Ellen for the earliest time he could arrange. He needed Sue-Ellen to understand there would never be any change to the way he felt about his female.

  He heard the knock at his door and knew it was Sue-Ellen by her scent. It made his nose burn and not in a good way. “Come in,” he gestured with his hand for her to take a seat on the opposite side of his desk. When she paused, Declan put some growl into his voice, “Don’t test me S
ue-Ellen you won’t like how it ends,” his hand tightened around the arm of the chair, and the timber winced under his strength.

  “I call you here to prepare you in private,” Declan started, then changed his tactics when Sue-Ellen gave him what she obviously thought was a sexy smile. It induced shivers up and down his spine. “I wanted to forewarn you that I have found my mate and I won’t be available for your coming heat.”

  Sue-Ellen jumped up from her seat, “Impossible!” she snarled. “You have made it very loud and clear that there are no women in the pack that you’d consider mating, so where is this female from?”

  “She has just moved to the area,” Declan explained. “And I would appreciate it if you would keep this between us until I announce it to the pack.”

  “So you won’t mate me and now you want me to keep your dirty little secret?” Sue-Ellen stood up and walked towards the door. “Fuck you, Declan.”

  “Are you really going to disobey your alpha?” Declan questioned for absolution. Depending on what the female shifter decided to answer, it would be whether he would tell her she was no longer part of the pack or not. The Alpha always had the ultimate last word. He would call for the council to decide if he would have her charged with being a sycophant. Declan was almost a hundred percent sure that she would be removed as a pack member because of how she treated the rest of the pack. Declan removed his phone from his pocket and began to dial the first in the chain for the council.

  “Alright,” Sue-Ellen surrendered. Her shoulders fell forward, and she lowered her head for her eyes to look at the floor. “I am sorry Alpha. Your announcement took me by surprise and it was a knee-jerk reaction. I hope you can forgive me?”

  “I will give you a pass this time Sue-Ellen. However it will be the only free pass you get. Defy me on this and I will see you removed from the pack and blacklisted from every other pack within my reach.”