The Red Shoe Chronicles : A Fantasy Romance Anthology

by N. R. Larry

  Holding Karl in a tight embrace, I whisper in his ear, “Goodbye, brother.”

  I twist his neck. His lifeless body falls onto the bed.

  I can’t breathe.

  Jessie throws her arms around my waist when I double over. She embraces me from behind as I howl, collapsing on top of Karl, sobbing and cursing.

  She strokes my back and murmurs, “Let’s get out of here before Merriam bursts my wards. She’s been going at it for a while. I’m spread too thin to fight her.”

  I teleport the three of us to Karl’s place in Palm Desert, not far from my company’s office in Palm Springs. Being a survivalist, the guy was ready for Doomsday to strike at the drop of a hat. He customized his home until he turned it into a bunker. Not to mention his military skills and security expertise make it impossible for anyone to trace us. Still, there’s the threat of the supernatural.

  “Could you…?”

  “On it.” Jessie replies to my unfinished request as she creates wards to shield us from magically enhanced tracking devices.

  Once she’s done, I bury Karl in the backyard, choking as I do, Jessie never leaves my side.

  “We’ll make them pay, Nick,” she promises when I drop the shovel on the ground.

  “And we’ll enjoy every second of it.”

  One doesn’t exact revenge on a centuries-old coven without careful planning. Designing a massacre takes time. It also brings Jessie and me together. In the next couple of weeks, we split the days between hatching a plan to bring down the Hekate coven and fucking like it is the last thing we’ll ever do it.

  Aside from the blood bond connecting our psyches, we had to develop mutual trust, which is essential during kinky sex, the kind we favor. Tonight, Jessie’s in charge. She ties me up to the bedposts and blindfolds me. It has become my new favorite thing. Without eyesight, her fingernails raking my chest, or her teeth grazing my nipples, become more intense. As do her tongue licking my erection, and her mouth sucking my cock.

  Almost there.

  “Don’t stop,” I beg when her body abandons mine.

  She laughs, and I feel the mattress dip on either side of my hips. “My favorite position,” she whispers in my ear, snatching the blindfold off.

  Her dark green eyes sparkle as I match her movements, thrust for thrust. She cries out her ecstasy, her voice bounces off the walls.

  When I find my release, my wolf howls, but I keep it in check. Sweat covers both our quivering bodies. Jessie leans forward to kiss me, freeing my wrists. I sit up straight, holding her close as she wraps her legs around my waist and locks her feet behind my back. Without breaking our kiss, I untie my ankles and kneel on the bed, keeping her wrapped around me, ready for the next round.

  “Are you two going go at it again? Fourth time tonight! Jeez Louise!”

  “What the fuck?” Jessie and I turn toward the voice.

  A translucent Karl sits on the chair beside the bed. His chair. His bed.

  He shakes a finger at us. “Listen up for I don’t have much time. I haven’t gotten the hang of this apparition act yet.”

  I couldn’t find my voice even if I had something to say. I glance Jessie’s way and find her lips moving, but she doesn’t make any sounds. Glad to know we’re on the same page. Blank. I refocus on the ghost of my best friend.

  Karl nods toward Jessie. “She was correct about the binding, but it wasn’t holding back powers. The witches erased my memories. Death has brought them back.”

  When I open my mouth to interject, Jessie’s fingers dig into the back of my hand as it rests on my thigh. I purse my lips and let Karl say his piece.

  “I followed Devon when he first met with the coven. I thought he was being tricked. I was trying to protect him. My mistake. He knew exactly who they were and that they wanted to destroy your family.”

  “What?”

  Jessie scowls at me, but adds in a soothing tone, “Let him finish, Nick.”

  Karl nods at her before resuming his narrative. “Devon envied your powers. That much I had always known. He resented your old man for the fact he was human. I loved him like a brother, but his mind went to very dark places at times.” Karl’s broad shoulders move up and down in a shrug. “I never thought he’d go that far.”

  My stomach drops. “But Becky betrayed me.”

  His ghostly head shakes at my outburst. “She did not. She was trying to save your ass. When Devon promised to deliver you to the coven, she tried reasoning with Merriam. The hag didn’t like Becky’s choice of loyalty and killed her without flinching.”

  Jessie’s turn to gasp. She laces her arm around mine. We exchange glances and my heart skips a few beats. Both of us have been deadly wrong. Nor Becky or my Dad were to blame for our heartaches. That changes everything.

  Unaware he’s turned our world on its head, Karl goes on. “Devon made a pact with the witches. He would lure you into the coven’s headquarters in exchange for being killed too. He figured if both of you died it would drive your father insane. He hoped his actions would send him to hell. I did some digging since I got to the other side. Part of his plan worked. He is in hell, but the demons didn’t roll out the red carpet as he had expected. In his delusional mind, he didn’t take into account their reaction to a human planning a demon’s death to enrage another. He tried to convince the fiends to turn him into one. He argued he would prove himself worthy because of his ruthlessness. They didn’t buy it. Finally, he claimed his lineage. Dead end. Turns out Nick senior didn’t beget Devon. That’s why he didn’t get demonic powers.”

  “What the fuck?” Jessie and I yelled.

  I recover from the shock first. “He also didn’t have mom’s shifter gene.”

  Jessie squeezes my hand, which comforts me.

  Karl enlightens us, “When a shifter mates a human there’s a fifty-fifty chance there. Your mom’s first husband was a regular dude.”

  I gasp. “Do I even know my family?” I shake my head and search Jessie’s face. “I thought dad was mad at me for having survived his first-born.”

  She doesn’t flinch at the mention of my old man. Instead, sympathy emanates from her as she nods. “I know. But I bet he dreaded losing you.”

  “You’d win that bet, Jessie. Nicholas made me swear I would have eyes and ears on Nick twenty-four seven.”

  Although Karl’s revelations have shaken the foundations of my beliefs, one thing remains constant.

  I hold Jessie’s gaze. “I’m still vanquishing those hags. Are you with me?”

  With a resolute nod, she replies, “Always.”

  Karl shimmers and disappears.

  “I could summon a couple of demons from the security firm to land us a hand, but I want to do this myself.”

  She doesn’t blink. “Agreed.”

  “Let’s do this.”

  We get dressed in a hurry. Standing in the middle of Karl’s bedroom, we hold hands as I teleport us to the coven’s headquarters. We pop up outside the mansion.

  Jessie scans the house, then delivers her verdict, “They’ve reconfigured the protective shields.”

  “That figures. Plan B it is.”

  Jessie conjures a map of the witches’ mansion as I shift. Stealth and speed are the two things we need the most to break into their bunker and my wolf has them in spades. Thanks to our blood bond, Jessie projects the information from the map into my mind as I penetrate the building and search for the room where the witches keep their potions.

  No problem there. Locating a tiny, unlabeled vial in the vast room proves harder. Each time someone enters the storage area, I hide in the shadows until they’re gone. When I find the potion, I shift back into human form, and drink it.

  The bitter liquid burns my throat and stomach. I almost puke. My knees give out from under me and I tumble to the floor. Cold spreads through my limbs and a terrifying thought pops inside my head.

  Jessie’s voice suppresses it. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already.

  I telepath
ically reply. Sorry. In my world, trust is a rare commodity.

  So is love yet you loved your brother, my sister, and Karl.

  I love you.

  The thought surprises me, but I don’t take it back. It’s the truth and there might not be another chance for me to say it to Jessie face-to-face. Her silence terrifies me more than the idea of dying.

  I love you too. Now get the hell out of there.

  Before I do, witches pour into the potions room. As I send a handful of witches flying across the room, I smile. The damn thing I’ve just drunk works. I’m immune to their protection spell.

  I flash out of the house, grab Jessie and pop back in. We didn’t rely on her powers to breach the coven’s stronghold because it would have taken too long to break the new sealing spells.

  Between the two of us, we vanquish the Hekate witches, except one. We save Merriam for last.

  “This is for Becky,” Jessie shouts as a flick of her wrist hurls the old hag across the room.

  We take turns breaking every bone in Merriam’s body.

  “This is for Karl,” I grunt as I send her flying upward.

  She hits the ceiling and bounces. Her limb body crashes against the shelves on a wall before falling to the stone floor.

  “This is for Devon,” I add as her body takes off again and smashes the last standing table in the room.

  Among the wreckage, her toothless smile curdles my blood. “He hated your guts.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I loved Devon and you put me through hell making me watch as your underlings tortured and killed him.”

  She cackles. I wave my hand, her neck snaps, and silence fills the room.

  After avenging Becky, Devon, and Karl, I don’t exult as I anticipated I would. I don’t get the adrenaline rush I used to get after a kill. I do feel Jessie’s arm around me, her soft body melding against my stiff back.

  She whispers in my ear, “Welcome to my world.”

  I cover her hands with mine as she crosses them on my belly. Tipping my head back, I rest in on her shoulder. “How do you mean?”

  She kisses my neck and I feel her lips curve in a smile. “People who regret killing, even when it’s for a just cause.”

  I turn inside the circle of her arms in time to spy the glint of mischief in her stare. “You’re saying I’m getting soft?”

  She moves her arms from my waist to my shoulders, then shakes her head. “You’re just growing a conscience. You’ll get used to it.”

  Her lips part in a wide grin and I cannot mistake her intentions. She is pulling my leg. A shimmer of heat in her eyes suggests there’s more to her actions than mere amusement.

  Two can play this game. And I excel at this sexy sport. I zap us to my place. The coven’s dungeon is far from ideal for what I have in mind. Not even my playroom will do. I land us in my bedroom. Jessie clutches at my shoulder to recover her footing. She arches an eyebrow.

  I shrug. “I’m not sure I know how to do this.” I run my nose along hers, pecking the corner of her lips. “Having a conscience, I mean.”

  Her smile turns sinful. “I’ll help you out. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. We kicked some serious ass today.”

  My heart turns a couple of cartwheels, beating against my rib cage at the promises in her stare. I need confirmation tough. “We’re a good match, don’t you think?”

  She spears her fingers through my hair, lacing them at my nape. “The best.”

  She tiptoes until her lips claim mine. I grab her hips. She wraps her legs around my waist. We kiss like we need each other’s breath to survive. I walk us to the bed, where we tumble, and spend a few hours finding out what else we do well together.

  At dawn, Jessie’s lips on my chest wake me up. With a finger under her chin, I lift it until our eyes meet.

  Returning her wide grin, I repeat the words we’ve spent the night whispering. “I love you.”

  She snuggles under my arm, her head pillowed on my chest. “Love you more.”

  I rest my chin on her silky red hair. Tracing her arm with a finger, I confess, “In you, I’ve found my match and I’ll never let you go.”

  She glances up. “Good. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

  The End

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  About the Author

  Liz Gavin is a USA Today Bestselling author of sexy Contemporary and Paranormal Romance. Her books have made it to #1 in countries as diverse as Japan, the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Australia, and her home country, Brazil.

  In her sexy stories, one finds smart, independent women, who don't need rescuing by knights in shining armor. They indulge themselves in steamy action with swoon-worthy Alpha males with big hearts.

  Read More from Liz Gavin

  http://lizgavin.com

  Midnight Skies

  Brea Viragh

  About Midnight Skies

  She studies the stars while her love life crashes and burns.

  Amateur astronomer and recent Ph.D. graduate Eden Daniels has always been fascinated with the cosmos. Her father had told her how the stars watch over the earth though they are millions of miles away. Until an accident at work brings a pair of magical red high heels into her possession courtesy of a snarky fairy godmother, Eden never guessed how closely those stars watch.

  Her fairy godmother assures Eden that the red shoes will bring her every sexual fantasy to life. Eden scoffs at that idea…until the Orion constellation manifests as a very real, very naked man in her bed who claims to know her desires. The mythological hunter’s smile promises delivery and satisfaction.

  But her fairy godmother omitted a very important warning: that even mind-numbing pleasure comes with a price tag attached. And danger lurks behind every wish.

  Chapter 1

  Eden Daniels stared at the computer screen until her eyes crossed but she still couldn’t make the numbers do what she wanted. As though sheer willpower alone would get the equations to work and she’d suddenly, miraculously, solve the equation that had plagued her for the last three months. Okay, six months.

  Plagued her almost as long as her dry spell with men.

  “Come on,” she told the screen. As if it would make a difference.

  Her whole body ached from sitting too long. She leaned back and slipped her eyeglasses lower, rubbing at the pinch in her nose where the guards pressed too close to bone. She’d had enough of this trial and error and failure.

  Her reflection stared back at her from the oversized monitor. Pert nose, wildly curling auburn hair piled in a messy bun at the top of her head. Lips on the small side, cheekbones too pronounced from all her missed meals. She might have been pretty in the right light, the right setting, but none of that ever mattered to her.

  “This is never going to work!” Eden groaned out, needing to hear the sound of a human voice even if it was her own.

  Alone in the computer lab for hours on end, she’d slowly lost her ability to socialize with others. But she had done it to herself. She’d made the choice when she decided to pursue her PhD in astronomy, theory and observation.

  Because she’d been determined to come up with a comprehensive formula allowing space travel to stars and distant galaxies using the speed of light.

  She was clearly out of her mind.

  The numbers began to blur on the screen and she pushed the wheeled chair back, rising on unsteady feet and nearly toppling over when her own legs failed her.

  “Seriously, guys.” She stared down at her worn brown moccasins. Comfortable, better for hours of wear. “You’re supposed to provide support. You’re useless.”

  The moccasins didn’t answer her. The same way the computer wasn’t giving her the answers to her equation.

  She needed a break.

  The rest of her colleagues—whom she was pretty sure didn’t even know her name—had left for the day.

  Eden made her way down the clinical gray-and-white hallway t
oward the break room, where hopefully she’d left a granola bar for herself or else she’d be forced to borrow food from someone else. They didn’t take kindly to her late-night foraging. She’d already been told of that during her department’s last meeting, where the director of the air and space program in Houston, Texas, struggled to place her face. Calling her everything from Elizabeth to Eleanor to Emily.

  Nope. None of those.

  Eden sighed, pawing through the cabinets. Maybe she needed to take a longer break. Not just twenty minutes, but a week. A week or two to try and get her head straight because the late nights put her in line for a burnout. Or a breakdown. Whichever came first.

  She didn’t find her granola bar and instead grabbed a bruised apple from a communal bowl. It would have to do.

  Crunching on the fruit, she took a stroll around the halls before returning to the lab she’d claimed, the desktop marked as her territory.

  The workplace was small and squat, but she had enough room for two monitors, her keyboard, and an assortment of memorabilia she’d collected over the years. They were all stars. Plastic and porcelain, metal and glass, they littered the desktop and barely left her any room to maneuver.

  Her father would have been proud.

  Look up, Edie bear. You see the constellations? You see Orion up there? The stars are always watching. Billions of miles away, they see everything. Talk to them. They’ll listen.

  Losing him to cancer was the kick in her ass she needed to finish her doctorate.

  Hearing his voice in her head, Eden sat back down at the desk, the apple finished and gnawed down to the core, and tried to get to work. Try being the operative word. Her eyes hurt, her head hurt, and the bridge of her glasses pinched her nose hard enough to bruise. When was the last time she’d gotten more than four hours of sleep at a time?

  Not lately, for sure.

  Another hour of lost work had her ready to scream. “Why isn’t it working!”