The Red Shoe Chronicles : A Fantasy Romance Anthology

by N. R. Larry

  The magickal red shoes were a gift from the Fairy Godmother, enchanted to grant her fantasies for 48 hours. But will they spell disaster instead?

  For all the black lives we’ve lost throughout history. The fight isn’t over until all are equal.

  Thanks to Nicole Shane, a member of my Gracen’s Lip Biter Facebook Group, for suggesting the title of this story. Much thanks and mega huggles.

  Chapter 1

  Red Shoes

  Rose Jeffcoat

  Jed fucking Night.

  Her boss and the sexiest man Rose had ever met.

  Dragons and elves didn’t mix, and Jed had the most dragon personalities she’d ever met in a man. He was bossy, dominant, blunt, ambitious, and driven by an animalistic nature to protect what he considered his property. As a pacifist, all of those things should drive her batshit crazy, and sometimes they did.

  Still, those traits also turned her on. It heated her blood the way he prowled the office when she informed him of a cursed object’s location. Oftentimes, she crossed her legs to disguise the way her body reacted to him and dampened her panties. Being part animal meant he could smell her arousal, but she did everything she could think of to hide the evidence from him. There was no telling how he’d react if he knew her secret desires. And she needed this job.

  Sighing, she—everyone, except her mother, called her Rose—blew out a breath and fanned herself with a handheld, heavy-duty fan made of upholstery fabric. She’d picked up the item at the souvenir store in the Botanicals Garden in Birmingham, Alabama. Just her luck, she’d crossed over into the human realm when the city experienced a record setting heat wave. If she wasn’t being tormented by lust for Jed, she might as well suffer a different kind of heat.

  Waving the fan toward her face, all it managed to do was circulate more hot air, further reducing her ability to breathe the humidity into her lungs. She hoped Godmother wasn’t late for their meeting. Rose couldn’t take much more of this infernal temperature.

  And ‘Fairy Godmother’ was a stupid name for a business. Even weirder was that the lady had asked to be called Godmother. But whatever. Humans were weird. She wished she’d picked a better season to go on an acquisitions run for the hexed items Jed bought. Rose wasn’t unaccustomed to the summer temperatures in the human realm, but the Southern humidity made her sweat like a man. Not a good look on an elf with pale skin that burned easily. Thank the elven goddesses she remembered their special-made sunblock. Nothing in the human realm would aid her delicate skin. Despite elves’ abilities to connect with at least one of the five elements—air, earth, water, fire and spirit—they couldn’t tolerate the UV rays without sunblock. Even though they made the high-power product, most elves ventured out of the protection of their homes after sunset.

  Perched on a bench in the Botanicals Garden, Rose observed the few patrons in attendance. Parents with their toddlers in strollers, babies held to shoulders while bundled in blankets as if it were forty degrees outside. There was also an elderly couple, the male carrying an umbrella to provide them some shade. Sweat ran down his temple, but he trudged along beside his beloved enduring the heat.

  Humans are strange. Or too stupid to live. No one should venture out into these ludicrous temperatures.

  “You look toasty,” a woman said to her right.

  Rose turned her head to find a salt and pepper haired lady with kind eyes that were a shade of violet, sitting on the seat next to her. Those eyes weren’t human, so Rose surmised she was a mixture of paranormal and human. An unusual happenstance since supes rarely visited the human realm. But the woman’s mutt status explained how she could discern if an object was cursed.

  Well, that was if she was Rose’s seller. “Are you Godmother?”

  Godmother gave Rose what she called a ‘Granny smile’, a bit condescending and a tad amused. Instead of answering Rose’s question, Godmother used her foot to slide a huge bag emblazoned with ‘Happy Birthday’ toward Rose. “The items we discussed.”

  Rose stared at the bright colors of the bag, wondering if Godmother knew tomorrow was Rose’s birthday. She’d stopped celebrating at two hundred, but the implied gesture tugged at her emotions. Living in a realm where birthrates were low, and people lived an infinite time, only the young observed birthday parties. Rose had forgotten how special those commemorations were.

  Clearing her throat, Rose leaned over to glance at the two items inside the bag. Two of the ten Dybbuk boxes. Each box aligned with the Tree of Life concept from the Kabbalah. If opened, they released evil forces that cursed people and caused wars. The Holocaust, Korean War, Desert Storm, and the current ‘war on terror’, all related to these two pieces. Jed owned three more of the boxes and was on the hunt for the other five.

  Humans had no idea that dragons existed or that they protected all thirteen realms. Cursed objects in the human realm was their biggest threat because the boxes unleashed forces few mortals could resist.

  “This is for you.” Rose glanced away from the Dybbuk boxes to find Godmother holding another bag that also read ‘Happy Birthday’. “Since tomorrow is your birthday—”

  “How do you know that?” Suspicious of the woman’s intentions, Rose declined to accept the bag until she could understand Godmother’s motives.

  “I know things.” Godmother placed the bag in Rose’s lap. “And I want you to celebrate with these beautiful shoes. They’re magickal.” She giggled, but Rose didn’t look at her because she was too busy staring at the bag resting on her legs.

  Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t dabble with magick. Curses aren’t to be taken lightly.”

  “These aren’t cursed.” Godmother scoffed and waved her hand as if brushing off Rose’s concerns. “Just a little bit of magick infused into them to grant your wildest sexual fantasy for forty-eight hours.” She leaned closer and whispered, “You’ll be even more irresistible to that dragon of yours.”

  Rose ripped her gaze off the bag to peer at the elderly woman. “He’s not mine. Jed Night is only my boss.”

  Godmother gave her a smile that clearly implied, ‘No one believes that bullshit.’ Aloud, she said, “Either way, they’re a gift for you. I hope you’re brave enough to wear them.”

  The idea of dominating Jed did have some appeal, but she had no idea why. Not when in all her fantasies he ruled over her, just like he did in real life.

  In a huff, Rose grabbed the handle of the bag the shoes were in and the Dybbuk bag. “Either way, I’ll accept them.” At least it’ll get them off this realm of innocent sheep. “But I won’t wear the shoes.” She’d place them with the rest of Jed’s collection and find satisfaction in her small part of saving humanity.

  Godmother shrugged. “They are my birthday gift to you, so it’s your choice.”

  I choose not to play with dark objects. But…

  Chapter 2

  Goddamn Dreams

  Jed Night

  Rose Jeffcoat’s curves seduced Jedidiah even in his goddamn dreams.

  Ample tits heaved as he brought her to climax, gasping as pleasure overtook her curvy frame. The soft indent of her belly quivered and a light sheen of sweat covered her flesh.

  Jed couldn’t wait to bury his dick inside her and finally know what it felt like to be surrounded by her wet pussy. With her arms resting over her head on the pillow beneath her neck, he moved between her thighs, shoving her legs wide so his hips fit the curve of her body.

  He wedged the crown of his dick at her soaked cunt and…

  Covered in sweat, Jed woke up from the wet dream with his dragon pressing against his skin and a raging hard-on.

  “Fuck.” He beat the mattress with his fist, pissed off he’d been denied the remainder of the dream.

  Rose was his goddamn employee and he shouldn’t crave her. After two years of working closely with her, he wanted her more now than the first day she walked into his office for an interview. He’d been so enamored by her curves and shy demeanor he’d hired her on the spot,
employing her because elves rarely worked outside elf-owned businesses.

  In his high-powered world, women were as predatory as the men, though. Just not elves. In the two years since he hired Rose, Jed enjoyed observing her hound after the cursed objects he purchased. She wasn’t at all shy in her quests to purchase the hexed items for him. She seemed to understand the need to hide them in his vault to protect potential victims.

  She worked tirelessly at her job and had once even taken steps to steal an object the owner refused to sell. He wouldn’t call that ethical, but he promoted the behavior with monetary backing and a huge bonus.

  The versatility of her personality called to him. Coupled with her sassy wit, proving she could hold her own against him, further inflamed his desires. When she thought he wasn’t looking, she peeked at him through her long lashes. Or maybe that was his imagination and longing, instead of reality.

  Jed wondered what she thought about him in those moments. Was she imagining him between her legs making her come harder than ever before… just like in his dreams? Or was she resisting the urge to wrap her fingers around his neck and strangle him?

  He liked to think it was the former, but figured it was the latter.

  I have smelled her desire, though. Of course, that did not mean it was directed toward him. It was arrogant to think it was. Wishful thinking, I guess. Even dragons held unattainable dreams.

  Groaning at his messy wants, he fisted his hard cock and squeezed the base. Anticipation burned his gut as he forced himself to wait for his first rough tug.

  That’s what he’d do to Rose. Make her wait for pleasure. He wanted her to whimper and beg him to fill her up before he shoved inside her. He craved the tremble of her skin as he trailed his fingertips over her nipples.

  What color were her nipples? Pale pink? That would fit her pale skin tone.

  Oh, to wrap his hand in her pink hair, dominating her, and owning her as he pushed inside her channel.

  Would she allow him to tie her up?

  Christ! That thought left his cock dripping over his fingers.

  What he wouldn’t give for one night to stare into her green eyes while he fucked her.

  Jed slowly drew his hand upward and ran his thumb across his weeping slit, groaning as heat spread outward from his loins.

  Flashes of Rose flit through his mind. The stilettos she wore to add height to her five-two stature tilted her succulent ass in a sexy curve, the loose slacks she wore inflamed his senses and he yearned to see what she hid beneath her clothes. The buns she twisted her hair into beseeched him to set it free so he could smooth the locks over his sheets.

  She’d be even more tempting with bed-hair the morning after.

  Rose was everything he wanted.

  And he couldn’t have her because she was his goddamn employee.

  In his frustration, Jed jerked on his cock, forgetting to build the moment.

  He’d thought about firing her and then asking her out on a date. That would land him with a hefty settlement for wrongful termination. Aside from that, she was instrumental in his world. She was the best acquisitions curator he’d ever hired. He wouldn’t be as effective without her. She read people better than he could, which said a lot because he possessed an excellent bullshit meter. The dirt she could dig up on people on the all-realm internet amazed him too. That skill was hard to imitate.

  On the other hand, any sexual connotations he uttered would end in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

  Either way he was fucked.

  Beneath his palm his cock swelled, close to blowing. He squeezed the base of his dick again, cutting off the juices flowing, and cupped his balls in his other hand.

  His breath froze in his lungs and his sacs throbbed.

  Thanks to his wealth, Jed could have any woman he wanted.

  But not Rose.

  Never Rose.

  He was fucking pathetic. A man with clout in the dragon-dominated world and he hungered after the one woman he couldn’t have.

  With that in mind, he yanked on his dick and let all thoughts go as he drowned his misery in an unsatisfying hand job.

  “Fucking, pathetic asshole,” he snarled into the silent room.

  His cum pooled on his stomach, annoying him. He was no better than a horny teenager chasing the head cheerleader.

  Irritated by his crush that could go nowhere, Jed climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Using a wet towel, he cleaned off his release and splashed water on his face.

  Looking in the mirror, he muttered to himself, “Your obsession will lead to disaster if you don’t get it under control, you stupid fuck.”

  His good name was on the line and he had to get his head on straight. Besides, elves were anti-conflict, and that reminder worked better on his mood than the cold water he splashed on his face. Elves were timid creatures and not known for elevated passions like the dragons. Hell, if she ever saw his other half—the dragon feared by elves for their fire-blowing range—she’d probably cower in fear. Although, he’d seen her confront some of the most powerful people in their world, without batting a lash, tepidness was bred into her DNA.

  Most elves rarely ventured into the dragon-ran cities, but erected villages in the countryside, providing for their communities with homegrown produce.

  Yeah, Rose was a vegan. Dragons consumed large amounts of meat. When he had the opportunity to chase down a meal, he took it. Nothing was more invigorating than capturing his food.

  Sighing, he shook his head. “Rose is taboo, motherfucker. This infatuation is bullshit.” He shoved away from the sink and strode to his home office located downstairs in his penthouse.

  No way he could sleep now that he’d jacked himself off to the thoughts of his sexretary. Okay, so she wasn’t his secretary, but he’d dubbed her that in his mind about a year ago and it’d stuck.

  Once in his office, he glanced at documents Rose drafted on the acquisitions of potential dark objects. Might as well work while he was awake. Two pages in, he realized he couldn’t concentrate on the information. His mind kept returning to Rose.

  Frustrated with his single-minded focus, he shoved away from his desk. If he hit the exclusive club, Liaisons, he could potentially find a woman willing to slate his lust.

  Or maybe no one would amuse him there. It’d be hard to displace Rose from his mind. She’d been gone for two days. They’d become a well-oiled machine in the office, so maybe he just missed the hell out of their office dynamics. Maybe when she returned, the dreams would stop.

  “Or maybe I’m just fucked,” he grumbled as he walked out of his home to visit Liaisons, the club he’d co-founded.

  Chapter 3

  Cursed Objects

  Rose Jeffcoat

  Rose stepped through the portal between realms into Jed’s vault of cursed objects. The square, rainbow moonstone ring on her right middle finger, given to her by Jed, allowed access to the dragon-made portals. Only dragons could enter the gates without a dragon key, which meant few individuals were granted passage. They weren’t dubbed Distrustful Dragons by the elves for no reason.

  Jed was waiting for her. That realization caused her heartbeat to stutter hard against her ribs. He leaned a hip against a counter he’d crafted to host the Dybbuk boxes, three of which already rested atop it. She didn’t understand why he showcased the items he collected. Much like a museum, each bore a metal plate detailing the object’s lore and power. It was macabre to say the least, but dragons were known for eccentrics.

  The question that bothered her most, though, was how had he known she would return now? Did dragons have the gift of sight, also? Or had he just been randomly waiting on her?

  “Successful acquisition?” he glanced at the packages she gripped. His brother, Wylde, entered the room from behind him.

  “When have I let you down?” With her hands full, she tilted her head in greeting to Jed’s oldest sibling. “Hey, Wylde.”

  Focused on Rose, Jed’s grunt served as an acknowledge of his bro
ther. “Bring me anything fun?” Jed flashed her a playful grin.

  Few witnessed this side of him and she loved that he felt comfortable enough with her to show his good-humor. She elevated her eyebrows. “If you’re into blight and disfigurement, then yeah, I’m sure the demon in the Dybbuk would be happy to provide that type of fun for you.”

  Wylde snorted.

  Jed glanced over at his brother but said to her, “A little bondage never hurt anyone.”

  She felt her eyes widen at his reply. Licking her lips, she glanced about the room, catching Wylde’s frown as she considered Jed’s curious disposition. What had happened while she was between worlds?

  “So…” she said. “Are we pissed at someone?”

  “No.” He palmed the back of his neck, verifying his frustration over something. She’d worked for him long enough to recognize his telltale signs. “Just one of those fucking days that’s turned my mood.”

  Nodding, she pretended to understand. Violence wasn’t bred into her race, so she couldn’t wrap her head around the need for inflicting pain. But she was used to his sour moods, so she chose to ignore it.

  Jed cleared his throat. “What was your Fairy Godmother like?”

  “Who is this Fairy Godmother?” Hands stuffed in his pockets, Wylde walked closer.

  “My contact for the items. She looked like your typical human granny. Graying dark hair, sweet features, but it’s deceiving because you just know she’ll bust your ass if you cross her.”

  Wylde chuckled. “Descriptive, Rose.”

  “Just honest.” Rose held out the largest bag containing the two Dybbuk boxes. “This one’s mine.” She hefted the bag with the shoes to indicate the one she planned to keep on a spur of the moment decision. A shiver lanced down her spine, shocked by her declaration. She’d planned to donate the shoes to his collection. But something strange prompted her to claim them. Magick in them, probably. “Shopping spree,” she explained, feeling a little disjointed by her lack of impulse and her lies.