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

by C. D. Gorri

  The two males looked at one another, then back at her. Both smiled at the same time, showing off pointy teeth like they thought they’d scare her. Silly deadfucks. Belle shifted partially, allowing her teeth to shift too. Difference being, hers were bigger and sharper. The scent of their confidence shifted to wary. Ah, so they were unaware of what they’d be facing.

  “Were you told you’d be facing cute little fairies with wings? Jenna, be a dear and show them a fairy with wings, will ya?” Belle yelled watching as her friend ripped the head from one of the vampires while singing.

  The two men looked behind them in time to see her friend in action. Goddess, she really was a sight to behold when she was playing. The eight were down to...Goddess, she only counted four or five heartbeats including the two in front of her.

  “Absofuckinglutely, my friend. ‘You know that I’ve seen. Too many romantic dreams. Up in lights, falling off the silver screen. My heart’s like an open book. Da da da da da. Sometimes nothing keeps me together at the seams.’ Wahoo, this is soo much funner than pretend,” Jenna cheered, slicing a male in two from his groin straight through his skull. She walked through his two halves as he dropped to the sides.

  “Are you singing Motley Crue while...dear Goddess, you literally cut him in two, Jennaveve. The Cordell’s are gonna freak the fuck out if you come home with all that blood on you.”

  Her two creepers decided to stop talking and attacked her at the same time. She dropped to her knees, slamming her fists into their groins with enough force if they’d ever wanted children, that was now a lost cause. Her hands broke through to the other side, holding wittle bitty man bits. Honestly, they should tell her thank you.

  Her mind came up with a song that would’ve been appropriate for the situation. She refrained from singing ‘cause she knew Jenna would gloat for days.

  The vampires fell to their knees, holding their poor wasted groins that used to hold their family jewels. She got up to her feet, jerking both males’ heads back by their slicked back hair. Her hands felt dirty with all the blood and other yuck on them.

  Suck it up, buttercup. Belle rolled her eyes at the dragon’s murmur, the need to end these two quickly riding her. She sensed another male moving closer toward the main house. His intention clear to her with the slow way he moved, like he didn’t want to draw her attention while he used the other deadfuckers as bait. Silly bloodsucker. With a twist of her wrists, she took both their heads, tossed them in the air, and shot two flames toward the bodies, followed by another set of flames toward the heads. ‘Too easy,’ her dragon rumbled.

  The male stalking toward the house walked with a confident gait, his scent not as obnoxious as the others, but he still needed to die, again.

  “Halt, female, and I’ll let you live. I’ve only come for the girl not to harm you or the others. If you stay out of my way, the three of you will continue to breathe. That’s you, your weird friend, and the girl’s mother. Fuck with what I want, and I’ll kill you all, after I’ve had my fill.” He turned fully in the darkness, facing Belle with glowing red eyes.

  Belle wrapped one arm over her chest, the other she bent and tapped her cheek, pretending to think. After a few tense seconds, she dropped her arms. “Okay, I thought about it, and well, I decided you can eat a bag of dicks. I mean, you probably already have, what with how you smell and all. I ain’t judging you or anything. You like to eat cock? You do you boo. However, it’s a no for me on the whole ‘you taking the girl thing’, on account of the fact I don’t share well with others thing.” She made air quotes as she spoke, watching his red eyes narrow. Vampires were so fun to rile.

  “Are you insane?” he asked, tilting his head to the side like he was trying to figure her out.

  Chapter Seven

  “Are we really having a conversation about who is and isn’t sane? Because I gotta be honest with you, you can’t be packing a full lunch here, fella. Look around you. You’re the interloper in my world. Your friends are all dead. By my hand and my bestie over there. Jenna, will you stop fucking singing? You’re making my ears bleed,” Belle roared.

  “How rude. I sound just like Adele. If y’all were drunk, and I were drunk, and Adele were drunk. Okay, fine, everyone would have to be drunk for me to sound like her, but dammit, I rock out with cock out.” Jenna flashed next to Belle.

  “You totally do, My Queen. I mean, not with a cock, but you rock. Did you kill all the fucketydeadfucks that were left?” Belle asked, changing the subject before Jenna broke out in song again.

  “Yeah, they were pussies. You killing him, or am I?” Jenna fluffed up the tutu like skirt she had on and straightened the leather vest so that her breasts that were threatening to spill out didn’t.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you two? I’m a master vampire with great power. I’m four hundred-and-eighty-five years old. I’ve killed thousands of women much better than the two of you. Why are you not cowering in fear?” He levitated off the ground with each word he spoke, getting closer to where Belle stood.

  “Jenna, how old are you?” Belle asked, keeping an eye on the male as he creeped closer.

  “Ack, I don’t know. I lost track after a thousand or something. How about you?” Jenna moved a few feet away, circling behind the vampire.

  “After the third or was it fourth thousand, I stopped as well. Or was that when Lula turned three thousand. How rude of you to remind me how truly old I am, young man. I think you deserve a time out for such an infraction. Did you know when you go to Hell, you get endless amounts of fire and brimstone? No, well, now, you do. Ps. You’re welcome. So, I hope you enjoy that sort of stuff, since you’ll be going there.” She waved her hands in front of her like she was giving him a grand entrance.

  Belle should’ve realized he was being too complacent, but she was tired and honestly, she missed things. Not him, the male who captured her heart and left her again, dammit.

  “Stupid whores, he said you’d be easy.” The male lunged at her, a silver blade that smelled like Dragonsbain coming down in an arc. The poison that would kill her instantly assaulted her senses as visions of Lula and Nikai flashed through her mind. Goddess, it’s true. When you’re on the verge of death, you really do see your life flash before your eyes. Ugg, she hated that shit.

  She lifted her arm, holding the scream inside as she sent a message to Lula with her final breath.

  A roar ripped through the night, flames danced before her, licking over her flesh like a lover’s caress. Belle opened her eyes, stumbling backward as she saw Nikai holding the vampire in his right hand.

  “You dared to harm what is mine? Do you know who you fucked with, bloodsucker? Did the fool who gave you that weapon, tell you what punishment you would face for daring to harm the very air she breathed?” Nikai’s voice was scary calm.

  She’d seen him angry and excited. Goddess, she’d been turned on by all of his emotions, but the male in front of her was on a level she’d never witnessed from him before.

  “I need the girl for my clan to survive. With her blood, we won’t need to hunt humans and starve or wallow in fear during the daylight. It’s not fair,” he growled, his face losing even more color.

  “Tell me where you got the blade from, and I’ll let you live. Lie and I’ll kill you and your entire clan.” Nikai shook the male.

  “Um, can I vote on killing him anyway?” Jenna piped in.

  Belle elbowed Jenna, grinning at the other woman’s mumbling.

  “I don’t know. It’s been in our clan for hundreds of years. A male came to us with another male. He gifted us the dragon and left him with my master. We were able to survive and thrive as long as we had that little bastard, but then fifteen years ago, he slipped away with the help of a Panther Pride.”

  Belle stilled, her dragon slipping into Nikai’s mind and sharing what she knew of Egypt and Asia. Blood dripped down the vampire’s neck, pooling into a glass container so it didn’t contaminate the Fey soil. Both she and Jenna had ensured they’d inc
inerated the other kills, not allowing the foul blood to reach the rich soil. With every drop the male lost, the weaker he became, allowing Belle access to his mind. Nikai trailed her, his strong presence ready to strike if the vampire so much as flinched wrong.

  She slid through his memories, bypassing the last decade and a half. The vast farmland that housed his clan was startling. The mostly male group were savages, holding females in cages and against walls like animals. She wanted to throw up as he kicked a cage with what appeared to be a shifter cub inside, the little ball of fur shaking in fear. She quickly realized the little shifter was Asia as he squatted down, his smile nasty.

  “Time to get up. I have a surprise for you, kitty.”

  Belle wanted to close her eyes, but she didn’t. She needed to see, she needed to be strong for her friend. A large male had been drug into the dark room, his battered body looked as if he’d been tortured for—hundreds of years.

  “Ah, do you smell her, Jabari?”

  “Mine,” he trilled, sounding more dragon than man.

  Asia whimpered, her panther body now that of a young woman. “Please, I just want to go home. I won’t tell my pride about any of you.”

  The vampire rushed to where she lay curled in a ball and jerked her up by her hair. “Your pride is nothing. I will kill every last one of them if you don’t do what you’re told. He’s your mate. Tell me that is not true.”

  Asia shook her head, crying out in pain as he backhanded her. The male they called Jabari roared, getting to his feet, only to be slammed back to the ground. The chains attached to both hands and feet rattled loudly.

  “You try that again, and I’ll kill her right in front of you, dragon. You want to live, and you want her to live, then you will mate her.”

  “I’m too weak...master,” Jabari snarled.

  “I thought you dragons were all powerful. I’ll give you a day of rest to get it up and get it done, then I’ll come back. If you haven’t succeeded, I’ll take her myself and then kill you both.” The vampire slapped Asia then walked out the door.

  “I’m sorry, mate. I’ve been here for hundreds of years without food or light. I...I don’t know if I can,” he whispered.

  Asia crawled to Jabari, her hand shaking as she reached to touch his shaggy hair. “Don’t be sorry. I...I sensed you and came looking. My cat, she’s difficult to handle sometimes. My mom,” she whimpered then wiped at her eyes. “My pride is surely hunting for me. They’ll come and rescue the both of us.”

  “What’s your name?” he asked, trying to sit up.

  “Asia. What’s yours?”

  “My name is Jabari. I am from the Dragon Realm. Your people have no chance of saving us, trust me. I need you to listen to me and do what I tell you. You need to run when the guard comes for his morning rounds. He’s a shifter and not as powerful as the vampires. I can subdue him long enough for you to go. Don’t look back, don’t stop, and never tell anyone about this place. Please, for your safety, you must do this.”

  Belle noticed neither of them were moving their mouths. They weren’t just mates, but truemates. For Jabari to think Asia would leave him, the male was clearly out of his mind. They had already formed a link that was unbreakable unless one of them died.

  Asia only nodded, but they sat together for a few hours as the dark night began to lighten. She didn’t need to see more to know that was the night that Egypt was created, or that Asia had fled like he’d asked her to do. How Kenneth caught her, Belle wasn’t sure, but the bastard hadn’t taken her back to that place where her truemate had been. She wished she knew if Jabari still lived, but the male in front of her had been the one who’d slapped Asia. He’d been the one who held Jabari and then lost his place of power after Asia escaped and then Jabari made his own miraculous escape. Goddess, she really hoped the male was still alive.

  “End him so we can deal with the next bump in our road, Nikai.” Belle wrapped her arms around herself, wishing it was Nikai’s instead.

  “As you wish.” Nikai gave a final squeeze, popping the bastard’s head off. Jenna shot a blast of lightening toward the body and head, keeping either from touching the ground.

  “Well, that was anticlimactic.” Jenna dusted off her hands and looked around. “So, you want me to handle telling Asia or you wanna do it? I got my kid gloves on.”

  “Ah, you got blood on your kid gloves, Jenna,” Belle pointed out, her friend’s cosplay outfit did indeed start out with long white gloves, which were now covered in vampire matter.

  “Well fuck me running.”

  An hour later, Belle led Nikai into her home on Fey. He wasn’t sure why he was so damn nervous, but dammit, he felt like a boy all over again.

  “Are you thirsty or hungry?” she asked, waving toward the kitchen area. Something delicious was bubbling in a pot, making his mouth water. He wondered if Belle had cooked whatever it was or if she had fairies who prepared food for her.

  “I would like to talk to you first. Your home is beautiful, Belle. This reminds me of...” He couldn’t continue without saying their place.

  “Thank you. How did you know to come? Oh Goddess, have you been here the entire time?” Her eyes narrowed on him.

  Nikai paid close attention to the way her hair lifted when she was angry. His breath stalling at the way her pink tresses glowed. Yes, his mate was most assuredly a battle dragon. She just didn’t know it. And Goddess, she was even more lovely in her anger.

  “Nikai, I’m this close to kicking you in the dick.” She held her thumb and forefinger together as she shifted her eyes toward his manhood.

  He placed his hand over said area. A vision of her ripping out the two males’ groins and continuing through their backsides, without breaking a sweat, appeared in his mind.

  “No, I was with my father when I felt this—pull to come to you. I don’t know how to explain it other than my dragon and I felt you were in grave danger. We flashed here to your glen with the intention only to ensure you were safe. My plan was to leave with you none the wiser. However, for over an hour I found myself taking in the beauty of the surroundings until the stench of death nearly made me lose my concentration. Mind you, I had a harder time keeping quiet listening to you and your—friend banter back and forth. Seriously, she’s a little odd.”

  His mate popped her hands onto her very curvy hips, glaring up at him, then she hit him with a smile that would light up the darkest realm. “She really is, but Goddess, she’s awesome. Um, thank you for swooping down and saving me.”

  He moved until a scant inch or two separated them, dying to touch her. “I would give my life for you, Belle. If I could turn back time, and— “He knew better than anyone that life happened the way it was meant to, but fuck all if he didn’t wish he could change things. Even still, he wasn’t going to lie and say he didn’t wish he could’ve been with her all those years.

  “I’ve missed you every single day since you’ve been gone, Belle. Not a single day has gone by that I haven’t ached for you or wondered where you were. I went to bed every night wondering how you were and if you were happy.” His hands twitched with the need to touch her, but he had promised her he’d let her choose. Although he had hated her for leaving, he’d never hoped for her to hurt, not like he had been.

  “I’ve never stopped loving you, even when I hated you.”

  Nikai swiped the tear from her cheek before it could fall, uncaring that he was preventing a jewel from forming. If he could, he’d ensure she never shed another damn tear for the rest of their lives. “You are the only woman I will ever love. Fuck, tell me I can touch you, Belle.”

  “Yes, please.” Her arms came up, wrapping around his shoulders.

  The leash he had on his control snapped. Years of need where he’d longed for her, needed her, surfaced in a white-hot rush. Now, he filled his arms with his mate, the only female created for him. “I love you, Belle. Forever and ever, until the end of time, and even then, I’ll love you even longer.”

  “Shut up
and kiss me, Nikai. I need to know I’m not dreaming.”

  He didn’t need to be told twice. Bending, he sealed his lips over hers, tasting Belle for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. She was so sweet, like liquid sugar melting on his tongue. He swept his tongue inside, licking along the front of her teeth, memorizing each pearly white tooth, then moved to the roof of her mouth. Before the night was through, he planned to have mapped every square inch of her body with his lips, his mouth, his tongue, his fingers, and his body. There wasn’t going to be a part of her that wasn’t covered by him, touched by him. He would show her how much he loved her, coveted her. He would own her, body, and soul, but she would own him as well.

  He lifted his head, breathing hard, puffs of smoke coming from the both of them.

  “You taste delicious,” he told her.

  “Mmm, I can’t wait to taste more of you, too.” She nipped his jaw, then his neck, lifting her hand, she swirled her finger, leaving herself standing naked in front of him.

  “Oh, I love the way you think, mate. Next time I’ll unwrap you properly like my precious little gift. This time though, I think expedience is best.” In a blink, he was as naked as she.

  “Eeep, are you bigger than before?” She nodded and pointed downward.

  Nikai lifted her into his arms, chuckling at her words. “You are too good for my ego, my love. I have no worries that you can handle everything I give to you.”

  “Yeah, well you’re not the one who is gonna have a freaking oak tree stuffed up her hooha.” Belle bit his neck, soothing the little sting with a gentle lick.

  “What is this oak tree?” he asked, sniffing the air to find the proper direction toward her bedroom.

  Belle’s laughter rang out, tinkling like the silver bells he remembered from their youth.

  “Oh, I have so much to teach you, Nikai. But first, let’s forget trees, and things, and ooof,” she said, the air rushing out of her as he tossed her onto her bed.

  “Is this ooof anything like you and me making love?” Nikai placed one knee on the bed and then the other, crawling over the large space until he had her caged beneath him.