Such Violent Delights: A Holiday Paranormal Romance Anthology

by S. L. Jennings

  I laughed that I was thinking about his cock already, but I saw the outline of it yesterday, and really, what girl wouldn’t be thinking about that concealed monster?

  The whole arena, which had been buzzing with excitement, grew silent as the oldest elder, Matti, stood.

  I may have rolled my eyes at her superior look, but I kept my mouth shut. To speak up to her right now would end up with my powers bound. Of course they wanted you to think that you had a say in our town, but really you didn’t. Elders rule, everyone else drools.

  “Mates are a rare bond in our world. The powers that be chose another to become our equal, and to merge that strength creating a better bloodline for our coven.”

  Always about the bloodlines, never mind love or anything silly like that. Being mates was still just about having babies in their point of view.

  “The Mother has chosen this human as a mate for Lana Jade, our second most powerful being in the coven. Rare gifts, unseen for centuries, lie inside her strong warrior exterior.” She looked at me proudly, and I kept my face stone still, not giving her the satisfaction of my disobedience. The woman hated me; it was as simple as that. I think it’s because years ago, she and my dad had a thing, but then he found my mom and fell in love. They were not mates, but they loved each other enough to stay together. Then they had a baby, and—boom—they created a badass. She could have had a child with his strength, but he didn’t want her bloodlines. Bitterness oozed out of her every time she was near me—I could taste it on my tongue like baking chocolate, acrid and disappointing.

  “We gather now, to test the mate’s strength. A human is no match for our kind, especially one as powerful as Lana. He must prove himself worthy if the blessing of The Mother and our coven shall be bestowed upon their mating.”

  Blah, blah, blah.

  Running away with A.J., just to escape this, was sounding more appealing with every word that fluttered eloquently out of her old, pursed lips.

  All the elders around her nodded. Apparently they were fully on board with potentially killing my mate. Probably was the only entertainment they could create for themselves, since our town was boring.

  “You shall fight three, and in the end, if you are not dead, you will face your next trial in three days’ time. Blessed be the fate of thee.”

  I think that was her way of wishing him good luck. I guess she didn’t hate him entirely if she gave him a short blessing.

  A.J. would have to fight, and kill the other men before they killed him. It was archaic, and really against our own way of life, the idea of killing another. But somehow the trials got away with this gladiator sport. I guess it took us back to the days when you proved you were better by being stronger that everyone else.

  Three men stepped into the arena with Asher and A.J.: Barrette, a blacksmith for the horses in town. He was tall and had big burly muscles from hard labor at his farm. Next to him stood the smug Lawson, an asshole that liked being at the center of attention. He was usually all show, but in this case maybe he was trying to prove something. His tanned face looked up at me, and he winked.

  My stomach clenched and a burning grew in my throat. I would rather puke up my guts than touch him.

  Instead of looking at the final man, who I knew was a gym and chemistry teacher at the college a few towns over, I turned to watch A.J. He was assessing the men and staring daggers at Lawson for winking at me.

  That sick feeling I had just seconds ago was quickly replaced by a burning need to feel his warm skin against mine, to taste those corded muscles and breathe in his musky scent.

  We were both turning into feral animals for each other—the base instincts to claim and own were pounding in our blood.

  Asher clasped A.J. on the shoulder before turning and walking away to safety near his wife.

  “Begin,” Matti declared, and the whole arena transformed, the elders working their unique magic. Trees sprouted from the ground like daisies, and rocks rolled until there were places for the contenders to use as ambush points. To the four men in the arena, it looked like they were in a forest. To us, it was like watching a movie. I could see why they chose this particular setting. Our people got their strength from the earth and the energies of every living thing around us. Not only was the moon giving the three men strength, but they would be able to draw from the trees, the grass, the dirt. A.J. was even more at a disadvantage than it originally appeared.

  “You’ve got this, mate!” I yelled, hoping he heard me before the hunting began.

  Chapter 6

  A.J.

  I heard Lana’s sweet voice calling me her mate as everything around me changed.

  We were now in the woods, and I had three men out for my blood.

  I didn’t believe in murder, so my hope was that I could incapacitate them without having to resort to killing. They didn’t specify that I needed to end them in order to win; I just needed to beat them and come out alive. So that’s what I would do.

  The forest was quiet—no sounds of footsteps, or even the wind blowing through the leaves. The silence gave me chills, as if I was walking in a haunted cemetery and a zombie was going to jump out and eat my brains.

  Feeling out of sorts in my surroundings, I decided I needed to get some clarity about my situation. Walking on silent feet toward the closest tree, I grasped onto a branch and hoisted myself up. I’d get a good view from a higher advantage point.

  Just then the branch I was about to reach for stretched out and grabbed me.

  “This is just too easy, human.” The dickface who had winked at Lana was standing below. His hands stretched out then swatted, as if he was backhanding a fly beside him. Not too threatening, except the branch mirrored his movements, knocking the breath out from my lungs, and sending me tumbling. My back slammed harshly against the cold dirt, but I couldn’t lie there and give into the pain of falling. Rolling onto my feet, I just managed to dodge the coward’s kick to where my gut would have been.

  Hand-to-hand combat I could do, which gave me an advantage, because as far as I knew, they weren’t trained for that.

  My fist connected with his bony jaw, his torso twisting with the momentum of the hit. He recovered, turning back to me with pure hatred in his narrowed eyes. Realization dawned that I was not just some random, puny human.

  He tried to fight me then with his powers, but he was as reckless with that as his attempt to punch me.

  Vines rushed over the ground, coming for my feet, but I dodged them, jumping and latching onto an overhead branch. I used my momentum to swing above the man, dropping onto him and slamming my elbow down onto his hard skull.

  The vines fell to the ground, as did his body.

  He’d survive, but he’d have a killer headache to remind him of his defeat.

  I wanted to scan the crowd for Lana’s reaction, but all I could see was dense forest, and I still had two men out for my death.

  Quickly, I moved about the woods from one exposed tree root to another, not leaving prints in the dirt to point them in my direction.

  “You don’t belong in our world, human.” A whisper echoed through the trees, but it was impossible to pinpoint the direction it came from.

  A solid punch to the eyebrow knocked me back a few steps. My head rattled, and my vision blurred momentarily.

  My eyelid instantly began to swell, and my temple was throbbing. I looked around, my hands up and ready to defend myself as I moved to see who had landed the hit.

  There was no one.

  Then horrible pain erupted in the middle of my back, as if a large boot had kicked me. My torso bowed out, and I fell to the ground.

  I grabbed a handful of dirt on my way up from the ground and spun around on the ball of my foot, tossing the dirt as I turned.

  Someone was playing ghost, and I needed to find out who.

  Ah, it was contestant number three who was covered in dirt.

  Realizing he was no longer invisible, he called upon a heavy wind to blow against me. My body sl
ammed hard against a tree, like being thrown against a wall. Shit! I was getting my human ass handed to me—my back was aching, my eyebrow was leaking blood onto my cheeks, and my right eye was swollen. A sharp pain in my side suggested I might have broken a few ribs from that kick to the spine.

  I tensed my fists against my side and roared.

  I would not accept failure. These fuckers had no idea who they were fighting—too much was riding on my success in these trials, and I’d be damned if I would let anyone take that from me. I’d trained, I’d fought, and I was smart as hell.

  Digging my foot into the ground, I took off and threw my shoulder into the man’s abdomen, taking us to the ground in a tackle.

  Over and over, I punched him, my fists throbbing from the impact. His face burst with blood but I was relentless.

  Finally his head slumped to the side. His chest continued to rise and fall, but he was out cold. He, too, would live.

  Two down, one more to go.

  Instead of waiting for him to find me, I took off in pursuit.

  I was done playing defense.

  Using the skills Echo taught me about tracking, I found the man in no time, the toughest-looking fucker of the three.

  He saw me as I neared, and decided now was a good time to tease me and try to mess with my head.

  “I can see your energy—your anger—and your desire to prove yourself.” I took cover behind a tree as he spoke, watching as he walked carefully in my direction.

  “You’re like every living thing in this forest, giving off your own energy scent.”

  Interesting. Why was he giving me insider info?

  “Lana will move on from you, trust me. Our kind doesn’t stay with one person. We like to dabble, and I plan to enjoy her at least once. Those sexy tits, and long black hair wrapped around my fist? Mmmmm.”

  If he was as good at reading energies as he said, then my blaring red aura of rage was giving me away like a beacon.

  I looked down at the mud beneath my boot and an idea hit me.

  If it worked for Arnold in Predator, maybe it would work for me.

  As quickly as possible, I took off my shirt, tossing it in a ball ten feet away from me then covering myself in mud. Changing my energy by mixing it with another, I grabbed some leaves and stuck them against myself.

  “Gotcha!” the man said as he popped around a tree in the direction of my shirt.

  I’ll be damned.

  I attacked, fully taking advantage of his obliviousness to my location. “Who’s gotcha now, bitch?”

  I looked like a crazy mud monster, but a mud monster that was gonna win this trial and kiss the hell out of my mate as soon as it was over.

  Chapter 7

  Lana

  He did it!

  Barrette realized his mistake a few seconds too late. A.J. had chopped the back of his head, officially knocking out all three men.

  I was up on my feet, screaming so loudly I swore the arena vibrated.

  Matti and the other elders were glaring in my direction for the outburst, but I gestured with my hands that they could blow a load. Of course their horrified expressions only made my smile brighter.

  The arena transformed back to its original appearance, with A.J. in the middle, three fully grown warlocks lying on the ground, unconscious.

  He looked like shit—bloody and bruised, but alive.

  There were no fucks given as I raced down the stone stairs to the dirt where he stood, leaping onto his body like a monkey on a tree.

  He let out a pain-filled groan, but brought his hands up to keep me against him.

  “You did it!” I squealed, kissing his cheek and whispering a spell to seal his open wounds, stopping the blood from oozing down his face.

  “I did.” His voice was hoarse, and I lowered myself down to the ground quickly. Even though it was obvious he didn’t want to let me go, he was in pain and needed medical attention.

  “Young man, you have proven your strength worthy of a mate. But there are two more trials. We shall see you in three days.” Matti spoke to A.J. and then turned to leave, the other old farts following behind her.

  A few concerned friends of the men on the ground came rushing over to help tend to their injuries.

  They would probably wish they had been killed once they woke up, knowing they got bested by a human with no extra abilities. In my opinion, that was their flaw: they underestimated him.

  Boo for them, win for me.

  “What do you say we get you fixed up and then celebrate?” I waggled my eyebrows at him, hinting that I wanted to have some naughty time with him, but suddenly we were swarmed by Hero Society members, everyone congratulating him, saying they never had a doubt. Even his sister told him that he kicked ass.

  Must be nice to be surrounded by people who liked you for who you were, not the strength of your magic.

  “Let’s get you home and healed.” Phillip, A.J.’s brother-in-law and original Hero Society member, touched him gently on the shoulder.

  Mina nodded, clearly in big-sister mode.

  “I’ll take care of him.” The declaration flew from my lips, and silence settled among the crowd before me.

  “I am his mate, after all.” I hoped that eased their worry. He was doing this because of me; patching him up seemed to be the least I could do.

  “Perfect idea. You get to healing my little A.J. and making him feel all better.” The tall, dark-haired beauty winked at me with a big grin on her face. I looked at A.J. with an eyebrow elevated, and he simply shook his head at the woman.

  “I’m Lilith, by the way. We haven’t met yet officially, but I like you. You look like you could bust some balls and keep him happy in the sack.”

  Well then. This whole arena just got slightly more awkward.

  “And I’m leaving. We’ll see you tomorrow, A.J.” Mina turned and dragged Phillip with her. Everyone else congratulated A.J. and me before making their own departure.

  “Family.” A.J. laughed, and while it seemed crazy, every single one of those people in the Hero Society was his family, and a lot more loyal than mine.

  “At least your family doesn’t try to kill your mate because I’m different,” I offered. He shook his head and looked around.

  Right, he was probably ready to go relax and get off his feet.

  “This way.”

  I noticed a bit of a lag in his step, so I gently raised his arm over my shoulder, hoping he’d use me for support. Granted, I was much smaller than him, but I would try.

  Silently we walked to my Jeep, and I drove him home.

  Turns out he lived in one of the apartments above the Hero Society headquarters, which happened to also be above and below an Italian restaurant. We popped in to grab a pie before they closed and rode the elevator up to his place.

  “Welcome to my lair.” He opened the door, and I wasn’t sure what I thought it was gonna be like, but what I saw actually surprised me. It was calm and felt serene.

  The decorated Christmas tree in the corner by his couch made me smile. It was an assortment of colors and odd ornaments. He was a festive man at least. I liked that.

  “I thought you said you were a computer genius.” The words blurted out faster than I could have tried to rein them in. I expected wires and computers and all things technology here, but it wasn’t. We’d talked about our lives a little before, getting to know each other, and who we were.

  “I have all that down in headquarters. Here I wanted peace. Separate work and home life.”

  He stood in his fancy kitchen and grabbed two glasses and plates. The apartment was decked out with expensive appliances and nicely made wooden furniture.

  Of course he had a large TV with a few gaming consoles, but that was it as far as technology went.

  He poured some water into cups and pulled a chair out for me to sit.

  “I said I would take care of you not the other way around,” I teased and plopped into my new spot beside him.

  He smirked and pushe
d me in before going back to his seat.

  We ate in silence, and then he made his way slowly down the hall to take a shower. He didn’t push me to join him, but he didn’t say I couldn’t, either.

  What was a girl to do?

  Chapter 8

  A.J.

  “Scoot over!”

  The door to the shower opened, and a bare-fucking-naked Lana waltzed in.

  Natural instinct demanded that I cover my junk, which was hardening at the sight of her body getting hit by the shower spray. But, this woman was my woman, and I refused to hide.

  Her eyes roamed over me and then twinkled when her gaze landed on my now fully hard cock.

  “Come to make sure I didn’t slip and break more bones in the shower?” I teased, enjoying that she’d made the decision of inviting herself in. The shower was large enough for the two of us, but I didn’t want to assume she’d want to be in here with me. I wasn’t really sure of the rules about this thing between us.

  Her head rose as those beautiful, coffee-colored eyes landed on me.

  “That and to touch what’s mine—you were teasing me with your shirt off during the trials, so I wanted to see it up close. Maybe lick it. That’s how you claim things, you know. Lick it and it’s yours.” Her smile was devilish and promised such sinful pleasures.

  My hands reached toward her, lightly grasping onto her slick skin, pulling her body closer to mine.

  “So lick here?” I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her wet shoulder before flicking my tongue against it.

  “It’s mine?” I grinned against her flesh, feeling a shudder roll through her body beneath my touch.

  “Licking law says so.”

  “Then I think I’ll lay claim here.” My head moved closer to her head, tongue following along her collarbone then up the column of her neck, slowly, making sure every cell in her skin knew who it belonged to.

  Her hand reached out on its own, wrapping around my length, making my teeth nip at her ear and groan. Her hands were so small, barely fitting around my cock, but her touch was perfect.