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

by C. D. Gorri

  Echo, along with Arcadia, Smoke, and Largo greeted Cisco and Kibu with great affection and much head bumping and licking, communicating in Wolf Speak their gratitude and relief that Cisco had chosen the momentous day of the battle to return.

  All of them, Arcadia included, had blood of their enemies on their maws, crimson drips of it spattered on the ruffs of fur around their necks.

  Cisco told his brother that he and his pack had found territory nearby, and would be consistently available in the future.

  In the meantime, he and his pack of Wolfshifters would require rooms at the lodge, so he hoped Echo would put them up for free.

  Epilogue

  The battle had been decided, the danger vanquished, and all of them headed to the Lodge to shift back into human forms, shower, and rest. All three of her mates commented on Arcadia’s bravery during the battle.

  Sighing blissfully and surrounded by love and fur on all sides she snuggled more deeply into the heat emanating from the huge male forms surrounding her.

  “A girl could get used to this,” she decided.

  Thank you for reading!

  *.*.*.*

  Where to Find More of P. Mattern

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  More Titles by P. Mattern

  Queen of the Fireflies

  Gwitches

  Phucky the Elf Plays Matchmaker

  American Handmaidens

  Pretty Dragons in a Row

  Cavareen

  Goldilocks and Her Harem of Bears

  The Ghost Pepper Sagas

  Beat You Down

  Cinderelevant

  About P. Mattern

  Smashwords USA Today HEA Hot List, Amazon Bestselling and Award Winning author P.Mattern, aka “Mama Fang”, is the author of over 70 books and novellas. Born with a stylus in her tiny hand she wrote stories to entertain classmates in elementary school and won awards for fiction and poetry in college. After being laid off from her professional job in mental health, she began writing down all the stories she had carried in her head. She was inspired by Anne Rice and her differently abled son to write Book One of Full Moon Series World of Azglen about a widow and her adult handicapped son who becomes brainy and strong after being bitten by a vampire. Soon her children J.C. Estall and Marcus Mattern joined her in writing Full Moon Series. She is the author of the Amazon Bestselling Vampire Princess Trilogy, Queen of the Fireflies, Andy of the Damned, Strident House, Shock of Night, Vampire Orphanage, Forest of Bleeding Trees and others.

  Black Heart By L.A. McGinnis

  Black Heart © copyright 2021 L.A. McGinnis

  Edited by: Editing 720

  Black Heart

  To save everything she loves, Tessa will marry a monster.

  He thinks he owns me.

  He thinks he’s won.

  He has no idea what he’s up against.

  In the Darkfell clan, my life isn’t my own—not until I turn twenty and the King claims me for his. Once I’m blood bound to him, I’ll never become queen, which is the whole twisted purpose of this.

  Insurance I’ll never rise up against him.

  But when he threatens my men, my family, in exchange for my obedience, I discover there are four reasons for me to fight him. A warrior in exile, a poet with the face of a god, my very best friend and the man I once betrayed.

  I’m told to choose, but I want them all.

  Chapter One

  Contessa

  I’d always hated my name. I mean, who names their kid after a royal title?

  Traditionalists, I guess, and one thing was for sure: vampires lived and died by their traditions.

  Especially the bastard who’s doomed me to a life of servitude.

  Despite my best intentions, my gaze went back to the open letter on the cushion, scribed in blood on the king’s cream stationery, my heart pounding in my throat as I read it over again. The invitation itself appeared to be innocuous, a formal summoning to the palace, giving me a time and date to appear.

  The threats in the letter were not so innocuous.

  In fact, they were profane and richly detailed. So much so that they clearly showed Viktor, our king, had spent many hours envisioning them.

  My fingers paused, still wrapped in Rafael’s dark curls as he slept in my lap. Some of the fear drained out of me as I focused on the contrast of his long, dark lashes against the gold of his skin, but then I began worrying his hair once more, savoring the silken feeling of it against my fingertips.

  Rafael, at least, had the good sense to be born a commoner. He was still a Vampire Born, instead of a Vampire Made, but his life was thankfully separate from the whims and dangers of being born into one of New Orleans’ royal families.

  Unlike me.

  No, I had the bad fortune to be born a Cormier, and was doubly cursed to be the eldest daughter of Hugh and Lilliana of the Beaumont Cormiers, one of the seven royal houses of the Louisiana Darkfell Clan. Add to that the fact I was nearing my twentieth birthday, and my luck just couldn’t get any worse.

  At least, I hoped not.

  Beneath my hand, Rafael stirred, shifted, then tucked an arm beneath my legs as he slept, my palm resting on his head. If it weren’t for him, I might have lost my mind months ago, as the king’s deadline drew nearer and my options dwindled by the day.

  The letter was just my final warning.

  Outside my room, I heard the quick shuffling of feet, a vendor, perhaps, rushing to put the final touches on my coming-of-age party, or the caterer with his latest meal proposal. Or perhaps the florist responding to another of Mama’s last-minute changes. Whoever they were, thankfully, the sound faded as quickly as it appeared, leaving Rafael and me in peace.

  I was completely exhausted, strung out from too little sleep and too much stress, and I repressed my flare of frustration, because I knew Rafael could sleep through a nuclear blast.

  Because I wasn’t mad at him.

  No, I was mad at myself for being born a female.

  The door pushed open a hair and Mama stuck her head in, not one hair out of place, her dress smooth and unwrinkled. She surveyed the two of us with quiet satisfaction and closed it softly. She, out of everyone, understood exactly why my thoughts were clouded these days.

  Not that she could do anything about it.

  None of us could.

  As Viktor—our cruel, morally bankrupt king—had crudely reminded me in the letter, I belonged to him, and there was nothing, short of death, that would get me out of this.

  In the human world, twenty years old was a glorious time to be alive, the future ripe with possibility, your childhood still so close you could touch it. College and marriage and children were ahead of you, or a grand career.

  Anything else you could imagine.

  But for us—female Darkfell vampires—turning twenty was the most dangerous time of our lives, for that was the night the king claimed you as his own, blood-bonded you to him for life, then threw you away like tomorrow’s trash.

  For me, that night was only two days away, and I felt the seconds ticking away with every shallow breath I drew.

  Chapter Two

  Markus

  I took the steps two at a time and pushed through the servants’ entrance without knocking.

  I didn’t have time for pleasantries or bullshit, and the rear door into the Cormier mansion guaranteed me I wouldn’t have to deal with either. Striding down the narrow hallway, I ran a hand through my short black hair and straightened my shirt.

  I was a total
mess, couldn’t keep my hands from clenching as I stalked the down the hall, knowing that in two days, Tessa would be taken from us.

  And there wasn’t a fucking thing I could do about it.

  I found her in the drawing room, staring out into space, Rafe dead asleep in her lap. Her brown eyes shimmered with tears; her sunlit hair was an aurora of pale blond around her head. I drank her in, but she was so lost in thought that I didn’t think she even noticed she was crying.

  I didn’t wonder what Tessa was thinking about.

  We were all thinking about it, all of us scrambling to save her.

  I’d flown to Chicago to liquidate all my assets, to do my part to prevent Viktor’s claiming of Contessa, although given our king was a psychopath, our well-laid plan might not work.

  This has to work, I told myself angrily. We have nothing else.

  Tessa and I’d been best friends since we first drew breath. My mother had been Countess Lilliana’s lady-in-waiting, and Tessa and I had spent our entire lives together.

  From womb to tomb, we’d once promised, and I meant to keep my side of the bargain.

  Tessa was the reason my heart beat, why I stayed in New Orleans. As stupid as it sounded, the reason I got up in the morning. Without her… My breath shuddered out of my lungs as more tears spilled down her face.

  She finally woke from her daydream, smiling when she saw me.

  “Markus. I didn’t… I thought you were coming back late tonight?”

  “I couldn’t stay away.” I glanced down at Rafael, still dead asleep in her lap as I leaned in to kiss her. She tasted of jasmine and lemons, and I skimmed a thumb across her cheek to brush away the tears as I kissed her again, deeper this time.

  As if wanting her this badly could save her from the king.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Viktor’s sloppy, dark scrawl on an open letter, and reached for it, but Tessa got there first, sweeping the damned thing off the seat, where it fluttered beneath the settee, out of sight for the moment.

  Good fucking riddance.

  Contessa Cormier was the most beautiful female born in a hundred—maybe a thousand—years in the Darkfell Clan. My lungs grew tight while I pushed her nearly white hair back from her beautiful face and searched her melted-chocolate eyes.

  Viktor, the bastard king of Darkfell, had set his eyes on Contessa long ago, when we were practically children, and made no secret of the fact. And why should he?

  He controlled everything in our world.

  Everyone except Tessa, and her subtle rebelliousness drove him mad. She’d always defied him, played his twisted court games with enviable ease, was always able to outmaneuver the king. But I was done thinking about Viktor.

  I sucked her tongue into my mouth, her low moan finally waking Rafael, who cursed softly, then shoved me away.

  “Va te faire foutre, Markus. I was fast asleep, thank you very much,” he grumbled, shaking his ridiculous hair out of his eyes and sliding off her lap to settle in right beside her, his face buried in her neck, a protective arm thrown across her waist. “We had a long night.”

  “Good,” I told him, grateful he’d stayed with her and kept her busy. “I flew back from Chicago this morning, and got here as quickly as I could.”

  “Oui, I see that.” Rafael briefly met my eyes. “Good trip, I hope?”

  “Just glad to be home.”

  He nodded, but apprehension filled the air with a sour-sweet tang.

  He was worried as hell, despite his indolent bohemian façade. But he’d protect Tessa, if this scheme went south, if the king reacted badly. Rafe wasn’t a fighter, but he’d give his life for Tessa.

  We’d made a bargain, the two of us. Sworn a year ago, when Tessa turned nineteen. Never leave her alone, never let her out of our sight. Keep her fed, keep her strong, and keep her mind occupied. We couldn’t take on the king and his armies, but we could at least do that for her.

  “I’m right here,” she snapped, her eyes glowing gold. “Don’t talk around me as if I’m not.”

  But when she patted the other side of the settee, I went to her, my fingers already massaging her tense shoulders. Up close, the strain of her coming birthday was evident on her face. I ran a finger up her cheek, bringing out a tentative smile.

  “Sorry, Tessa. I know I left at the worst possible time. But I’m here now.”

  “Yes,” she said, licking her lips. “Yes, you are.”

  Kissing Tessa was like coming home for me. I never felt like I was back in New Orleans until I’d seen her, tasted her, had her.

  Rafael pulled back as I wrapped a hand behind her head, practically devouring her as she slid her hands down my shirt and tugged it out of my jeans, then over my head.

  “I’ll leave you two,” Rafael said with a grin, sliding off the couch.

  “No, stay,” Tessa told him, catching his hand as he went to step away, and pulled him down with the two of us so she was sandwiched between us, unbuttoning my jeans as Rafael began to unlace the back of her corset. “Yes.” She sighed gratefully. “Get me out of this damn thing.”

  We turned into a mess of hands and laughing kisses as Rafael and I vied for her lips, turning her face back and forth between us as we undressed her, Rafael stripping himself at the same time.

  “Lock the damn door,” I finally told Rafael, realizing it stood wide open and the house was full of vendors and journeymen readying the manor for the celebration. I was certain the king had plenty of spies around, keeping an eye on his newest bride.

  Rafe sashayed back to us, swung his hips, then leaned in and grabbed a fistful of my hair, tilting my head back as he raked his teeth along my neck while Tessa’s eyes grew veiled.

  We’d let her watch us together before, but right now, she was all that mattered, and Rafael released me with a low laugh, only to steal Tessa back away from me, curving his hand beneath her chin, kissing her thoroughly as I watched the two of them.

  I relaxed, watching her skin flush with desire, the gentleness with which Rafael held her.

  The three of us had been together for years, since we were teenagers just learning about sex, to knowing exactly how to please one another. Now our lives were about to be torn apart, and I wasn’t sure how we’d ever piece ourselves back together.

  “Stop thinking about it, Markus,” Tessa said softly, and I pulled myself out of my dark thoughts to find her watching me intently, the tips of her fangs sticking over her bottom lip. “We still have two days.” Those sharp white points began to worry her bottom lip.

  “Yes, we do,” I agreed, pulling her over to me, shifting so her hand could slide down the front of my jeans and encircle my cock. I’d been gone a week, and the damn thing was engorged to almost painful proportions as she stroked it, sliding her thumb over the head, smearing moisture around as she crawled up onto me, straddling me.

  She stood me up and then mounted herself on my cock, her delicious, wet heat sliding down so slowly that I thought I was going to come right then and there.

  It had been a while, after all.

  Rafael stroked her back as she rode me, the tips of her breasts dragging along my chest with every wave of her body, her hands braced on my shoulders, mine clasped on her waist, my eyes never leaving her face. I came hard and fast, my hips bumping her knees up off the couch, sweat dripping down her back as my hands slid off her waist.

  She moved to Rafael, mounting him in the same manner, and he bared his throat for her, blueish veins sticking out between the tendons. She struck hard, then made tiny little sucking sounds as she fed, him fucking her the entire time, her breasts and curls bouncing with every stroke, never severing her mouth from his throat.

  After a minute, Tessa licked the punctures closed and squeezed her eyes shut, a sure sign she was close.

  I watched her face as she orgasmed, how her body went rigid before her eyes flew open, her mouth working as a string of unintelligible sounds came out. Then she collapsed on Rafael’s shoulder, sated and, for the moment, unwor
ried about her future.

  “God…what would I ever do without you two?” she asked softly, reaching out and stroking my chest. I kissed the top of her head and pulled my jeans up, buttoning them as I searched for my clothes, her sad, dark eyes following my every move.

  “You’ll never have to find out,” I told her fiercely, yanking my shirt over my head. Rafael licked up her neck as she made a sound of agreement, a little growl that made me want to push him out of the way and flatten her to the floor, spread her wide, and take her over and over again.

  Just the thought of Viktor touching Tessa filled me with rage, followed by the inevitable frustration as I reminded myself that we had a plan in place to save her.

  In the meantime, we’d keep her happy, keep her fed, keep her strong for what was coming.

  While trying to prevent a ruthless king from claiming what was ours.

  Chapter Three

  Contessa

  After Markus disappeared—probably to find Father—I slid off Rafael and went silent when he handed me my discarded clothing then laced me up, planting kisses on the nape of my neck with every pull.

  There was a sense of doom to everything now, as if these next two days were a long, drawn-out walk to the gallows.

  Rafael was slow to dress, and he was first generation, which explained some of his idiosyncrasies, like sprinkling Middle French through his speech. I expected his parents, like most older vampires, still used it as their first language.

  Rafael’s parents had named him well—he was a classically beautiful, perfectly built specimen of our race, nothing but smooth muscle and golden skin, topped off with a tangle of dark curls. Like all born vampires, his eyes were pale, lit from within by an invisible glow, an indescribable shade of blue, almost purple, that contrasted perfectly with his dark brown curls.