Hard Luck

by Romy Lockhart

  “I can’t believe this is almost over,” I tell Damon.

  He nods, his gaze distracted. He must be starving. What Nero did to him drained him. He probably could use a few pints to get back to full strength.

  Dean hangs up and smiles. “She’ll call to confirm once she has it buried in a remote location.”

  “Okay,” I say, a sigh of relief exiting my lips. Getting rid of the imminent threat of my possessive ex looming over us takes a heavy weight off my shoulders. It finally feels like everything’s really, truly going to be okay. “I’m going to take a bath. I’ll be in my suite if anyone needs me.”

  I get no arguments, though Dean gives me a lustful glance as I leave. He’ll come see me later. Right now, I’m looking forward to relaxing alone.

  Being able to take my time in the tub, knowing I’m not going to be called on to do a master’s bidding, is still very novel to me. I know I should be grateful that Bronson didn’t keep me on a short leash, but slavery is still slavery, even if it has perks attached.

  I lay back in the hot water, letting the abundance of sweetly scented bubbles surround me. My head on a folded towel pillow, I close my eyes and let every last drop of tension drain from my body.

  I’m free. I have three men who love me and a real chance to have a family. I’m on the way to finding my heaven, and no matter what, I’m a million times happier than I’ve ever been. Nothing can take this from me. No-one.

  The creak of the door swinging inwards makes me wonder how long I’ve been soaking. Either I dozed off without knowing it, or Dean’s patience wore thin a lot quicker than I thought it would.

  I open my eyes and sit up. Finn looks at me from the doorway, his expression one of longing.

  “Finn! When did you get back? I thought you were with your daughter.”

  His form shimmers and I realize in stunned silence that I’m not looking at Finn right now. The man in front of me is Nero. My breath catches as he walks toward me, morphing into our old professor. His most commonly used guise around me. I should be thankful he isn’t staying in his demon form all things considered, but honestly, I’m still just in shock that he’s even here.

  “You can pretend you don’t want something, Maeve, but you can’t lie to demon.” He kneels beside the bath and his hand comes close to my cheek before it skims along the chain of my charm. I pull the pendant away from his grasp, irrationally afraid that he might try to become my master even if it’s not possible to do so without my consent.

  He sighs softly. “Look at the charm.”

  I frown at him. “How did you get here?”

  He dips his head toward the charm. I unclasp my fingers and look at the pendant. Shock fills me on seeing the amethyst stones surrounding the emerald green of my own charm.

  “No,” I tell him. “I didn’t accept this.”

  He smiles wryly. “You accepted it the moment you claimed me as your mate.”

  I curse under my breath as the familiar blue-eyed gaze of my favorite professor burns through me, setting my body flush with desire. Nero is mine. He was always meant to be mine. I feel it with such iron-clad certainty that I struggle to find any reason to refuse his lips when they land on mine.

  He kisses me softly, as if he’s afraid I’ll shatter beneath him.

  “My vampires…” I murmur, when he backs away.

  “They’re busy helping a witch bury a perfectly normal geode right now.”

  He seems to find the idea amusing.

  I clear my throat. “They’re mine, too, Nero. I’m not…”

  “Giving them up for me?” He asks, raising his blond eyebrows. “I didn’t ask you to.”

  Considering how possessive he was when we were in hell, I’m not sure how much I believe this protest. “The human is mine as well.”

  “This one?” he asks, shifting form and dragging Finn’s accent out in a teasing manner. “Is that all, or do ye have more?”

  “I won’t give up any of them, and I won’t put them at risk.” It hits me what I’m doing and I try to shake off the bad feeling that it gives me. I can’t control Nero. That’s like trying to control a hurricane. It won’t make any less destruction, no matter what I do.

  “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine,” he says, getting to his feet. “Are ye coming out of there, or am I coming in to join ye?”

  “Stop using Finn’s form,” I tell him, knowing he’s doing it to try and entice me. “It doesn’t suit you.”

  He shakes it off and shifts swiftly back to the blond haired, blue-eyed Adonis who frequented my bedroom in hell. “Better?”

  I nod, and he helps me out of the bath, not bothering to wrap me in a towel. He wants to look at me. It’s been a long time and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing so I let him look.

  “Nothing’s changed,” he tells me, picking me up in a deft move that knocks a surprised squeal from me. “Well, one thing has.”

  He carries me to the bedroom and lays me down, not elaborating any further.

  My wet body dampens the sheets, but somehow I think that’s going to be the least of my concerns in another few seconds. He dissolves out of his clothes and moves over me. Everything happens so quickly, but I don’t think about stopping for a single second.

  This is crazy, but it feels right. I trust the feeling.

  “Wait,” I tell him, gazing over his perfectly chiseled, very human features.

  He sighs softly. “I’ve waited centuries for this moment, Maeve.”

  “You think I haven’t?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks, apprehension hiding in his softly spoken tone.

  “This,” I tell him, running my hand over his cheekbone. “You took this form because you knew I found it attractive.”

  “You don’t like it anymore?” he asks, his smile starting to creep back. “Too blond?”

  “If we’re going to do this, I need it to be with you,” I tell him, fixing my gaze to his. “The real you.”

  He frowns a little, reaching out to brush my damp hair away from my face. “Are you sure?”

  “I want the real Nero,” I tell him, watching as his form ripples before me. His perfectly tanned and toned body replaced by hard charcoal muscle, bigger than most humans can ever hope to achieve. I’m dwarfed by his size in my human form, and his gaze refuses to meet mine.

  Instead, he lowers his head and kisses me softly, the feeling of his skin against mine instantly pushing my body toward all-consuming hunger for him. I wrap my arms around his big, hard body and refuse to let go.

  He breaks the kiss and risks a glance in my eyes. “This is better?”

  “It is,” I tell him, my body flushing at the sound of his voice.

  He runs the head of his cock through my slick folds, and I gasp at how much bigger it feels than it ever did in the past. Apparently he gave me the full experience with our old professor, duplicating every part of his human form. This is going to be the first time we really sleep together. My heart pounds harder as he teases me with the tip of his cock.

  “How big are you?” I ask, wishing I’d thought to look before. If only I hadn’t been so incredibly tempted by him, I might have. I doubt it would have helped me to douse the desire I can’t seem to contain around him.

  He smirks. “Big enough.”

  Then he pushes inside, stretching me a little more than I’m used to and making me gasp as I realize just how big he really is. I groan under his weight as he pins me to the bed and begins to thrust. Incredibly, he seems to get even bigger once he’s inside. I ride the fine line between pleasure and pain as my demon mate holds me down and forces me to take every last inch of his incredible cock.

  “Oh, Nero,” I cry out as I come hard under him, my climax pulsing through my body in waves.

  He leans in a little to kiss my shoulder before he grasps my hips in his powerful hands and rocks me on his shaft. “You look so beautiful taking my real cock,” he tells me, his gaze searing through me.
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br />   “It feels pretty beautiful too,” I murmur, making him smile.

  “It’s finally happening,” he tells me, as he moves a little faster.

  I gasp as he seems to throb inside me, making his cock feel even wider than before. “What is that?”

  “You’re my mate, Maeve. I know you love those other men, but our bodies were made to do this.”

  “Made to do what?”

  “In our chosen forms, my cock will swell and stay locked in place until I fill my mate’s cunt with my seed. We’ve started to mate,” he explains, somehow not freaking me the hell out.

  “We have?” I ask, trying to move and realizing he’s right. His shaft is swollen and locked into me. We won’t be going anywhere until I’m pregnant. Why does that sound so familiar?

  “I wasn’t sure if you knew,” he tells me, stroking at my ass. “But the moment you accepted my demon form I couldn’t resist.”

  “You’re my mate,” I tell him, feeling it more with every passing moment.

  “I am, and you’re going to have my baby.”

  He thrusts harder, groans and kisses my shoulder. I wait for the swelling to subside, expecting him to move. When it doesn’t, he wraps his arms around me and rolls so I’m on top.

  I can barely move if I try to get off of him. I guess I’m not pregnant yet, then.

  “How long do these mating rituals last?”

  He reaches up to stroke my breasts. “Hours. Days. However long it takes.”

  I find the best way to rock on him, though every movement makes me gasp and moan in pleasure with a hint of pain. He’s so damn big.

  “Do you regret it?” he asks, his gaze drifting from mine.

  I slow my movements and shake my head. “You’re mine. You’ve always been mine.”

  Later I’ll worry about what it means. Right now, I want to stay in my demon’s arms.

  I hope you enjoyed Hard Luck. This novella follows on from Lucky in Love, which was originally published in Lucky Between the Sheets, with the title Charming the Djinn. The characters demanded their story be expanded on and this isn’t where it ends! There’s one more novella in this series, titled Lucky Streak.

  If you’re looking for another short and steamy read, be sure to check out my seriously steamy snake shifter novella, Venom’s Kiss. This was originally published in Falling for Them Volume Five.

  Looking for full length novels? Here’s a list of my other works:

  If you love stories about unusual shifters, you might also like Flashing Her Gators, which is a standalone that’s slower burn with eventual steam, and features multiple POVs.

  If you prefer faster burn standalones, Ruby’s Pride is the first in a series of steamy fairytale standalones which also feature shifters.

  Love twisted fairy-tale retellings? Then check out Devilry, a super steamy reverse harem version of Snow White with seven sexy vampires and one deadly assassin.

  Need a complete series with serious steam and multiple POVs? Make sure you check out my completed low fantasy Rock Goddess Reverse Harem Series.

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