The Paranormal Council Complete Series 1-5

by Laura Greenwood

  "I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me. I'm not normally like this," she said, looking away as if she was ashamed of herself. Hating that she felt that way, and giving into an urge he'd been feeling since meeting her, he captured Eden's hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Eden looked at him quickly, her eyes betraying what the gesture truly meant to her.

  "I know you're not," he said truthfully.

  "How could you possibly know that? You've known me all of today," she shot back, sounding more sad than annoyed.

  "Some things you just know," he said softly. "Besides, technically we met yesterday," he pointed out, and received a tinkling laugh from Eden. It lit up her face, with help from the setting sun behind her. In that moment, Tony vowed that he'd do anything he possibly could to make her laugh like that again. Preferably every day. And preferably, for the rest of their lives; however long that might be now.

  Tony pushed those thoughts away, not wanting to voice them quite yet. It was far too soon for him to even be thinking those kind of thoughts. Instead, he did something that was potentially even more dangerous.

  Tugging on Eden's hand, he pulled her to him in a flurry of bright pink hair. He tucked one of the strands behind her ear with his free hand, and cupped her face. The look in her eyes as they met his told him that she knew what he was about to do, and that she wasn't going to do anything to stop him.

  Closing the distance between them, he pushed his lips against hers. It took Eden mere seconds to respond, with the sweetest kiss that he'd ever shared. He dropped his hold on her hand, and slipped the arm around her waist, pulling her to him and melding their bodies together.

  It was Eden who changed the tone of their kiss, nipping at his bottom lip, thankfully without using her fangs. Even so, biting took on a whole new meaning for him, and he realised that it was now even more of a turn on than it would have been previously.

  The kiss took a more passionate turn, and images of the two of them entwined, with his teeth sunk into Eden's neck flashed through his mind.

  Instantly, Tony jumped back, and Eden watched on with a hurt look on her face.

  "What's wrong?" she asked, nerves tainting her words.

  "I had visions of biting you," he admitted, equally as nervous. This was new territory for him, and he wasn't sure what to do about his thoughts. But he did know that he had to trust Eden.

  "So?" she asked, her head cocked to the side in question.

  "Well that's bad, right? Means I need to feed?" He asked uncertainly. He wasn't too sure how well the idea of feeding actually sat with him, though he supposed he'd have to do it at some point. To his surprise, Eden began laughing.

  "You don't need to feed," she said through her laughter.

  "But..." he started, not knowing quite what he actually wanted to say.

  "It's a natural reaction to being turned on," she said in a matter of fact tone.

  "It is?" She nodded, before leaning close so that she could whisper in his ear.

  "I like the idea of you biting me," she whispered, her hot breath playing against his ear lobe and making his inner fantasies go into overdrive.

  "You do?" he half-squeaked.

  "Almost as much as I like the idea of biting you," she added, and his thoughts took a different turn; this time they were closer, with her on top of him, leaning towards his neck and baring her fangs. Tony shivered at the image, not able to fully express how hot the whole idea was to him.

  Eden stepped away from him, with a cat that got the cream look on her face. She knew that she had him, and given his body's reaction to the thoughts, she was right.

  "I can prove it to you, if you want," she said, her eyes glinting with a combination of playfulness and desire, with something else lurking just underneath. She held out her hand, and without a moment's hesitation, he took it.

  5

  The moment Eden was through the front door, she whipped her smart grey dress over her head and threw it to the floor. She was just thankful that she'd put matching underwear on earlier in the day, and that the bright pink set looked good against her pale skin, not to mention matched the colour of her hair. Sometimes, it was the little details like that which made her feel more confident.

  She was also glad that women's clothing had moved on so much from the late nineteenth century. It was safe to say that Victorian England wasn't fun for a hot-blooded vampire; by the time all her layers and bustles had come off, the other party had fallen asleep. Not that she couldn't change that, but it just took time.

  "Eden." Her name came out like a groan, and she purred inwardly, before closing the lid firmly on that part of her. Naively, she believed that denying it would mean that it wasn't a real problem. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, despite clearly being as desperate as she was to go further. She warmed to him all the more.

  Slinking forward, she started the process of undressing him, enjoying each glimpse of skin as it was revealed. He helped, and was soon standing in front of her just in his boxers, leaving her with absolutely no doubt that he was as into this as she was.

  Eden wasn't usually this eager to jump into bed with someone, even at her worst point, she still made sure that they'd been on a few dates first. But she'd also never felt the way that Tony was making her feel with only a few words or a stray touch. This really was something completely different and unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Or at least, the wanting to take someone against her front door bit was new.

  "Eden?"

  "Sorry, lost in thought," she answered, feeling guilty for not paying more attention to him for a moment.

  "If you don't want to do this, then we don't have to," he said, though the look on his face said that he'd be disappointed if they didn't.

  "Oh, I want to," she said, holding her hand out, and dragging him towards the bedroom once he'd taken it.

  Once there, she quickly got rid of the rest of what she was wearing, and was pleased to see that Tony had done the same. Not feeling too sure of herself, she lay back on the bed, and was rewarded by a predatory gleam in Tony's eyes. She imagined that in the future, they could have some real fun with that side of their natures. Play hunting was common among vampire couples as far as she knew, probably because it satisfied so many of their natural cravings.

  Tony crawled up her body, pressing a hard kiss to her lips, before trying to move back down her body. Eden grabbed his arm to get his attention and shook her head.

  "This is for biting remember," she said.

  "I want to make it good for you though," he answered instantly with a pointed glance downwards. Eden licked her lips, enjoying the thought more than she wanted to admit. Men going down on her had never really done the trick before, so she tried not to think about it too much. But the image of Tony between her legs was making her more and more turned on by the second.

  "It'll be good no matter what," she said with a grin, pulling his face back to hers for another kiss.

  Wanting to prove her point, she took one of his hands with hers, and guided it between her legs, knowing that the moment he made contact with her, he'd know just how much she wanted this, and how little she needed to be ready for him.

  A low groaning came from Tony as he pushed two fingers into her. Eden broke the kiss to let out a moan of her own. It was better than she'd been imagining, and she planned to enjoy every minute of it.

  "Please," she murmured, not quite sure what she wanted, but knowing that she wanted more. Withdrawing his fingers from her, Tony took himself in hand, and Eden watched down their bodies as he guided himself to her. She hadn't realised how hot the view would be until that second, and it gave her so many more ideas going forward.

  "Yes," she groaned as he pushed into her, finding a rhythm that sent them both a little crazy.

  "Can I?" Tony panted, and she nodded, almost instantly feeling the pressure of his fangs against her neck. They must have already descended, much like hers were threatening to do.

  A sharp prick of the skin, and his teeth su
nk into her properly. She worried for a moment that he didn't know what to do, but his instincts kicked in, and he began drawing blood. While human blood was needed in order to survive, vampire blood was supposed to taste sweeter. Though Eden wouldn't actually know; she'd tried to avoid vampire lovers. There was something about knowing that you might have to keep running into them for eternity that put her off. The irony of that, given her current situation, wasn't lost on her.

  As Tony drew blood from her, in time with his thrusts into her, she began to lose all sense of reality, giving herself over to the sensations going on between them. Tony pulled back, gently lapping at the wounds on her neck.

  "Are you going to..." he trailed off, his panting growing louder as he also lost himself to the feel of their bodies moving in time, but Eden already knew what he meant, and let her fangs descend.

  Gently, she bit into his neck, pulling his blood into her, like he had. It was even sweeter than she expected, and she felt her fangs lengthen within in him, not even fully noticing how abnormal that was.

  The already building pleasure built more, and Eden tore her mouth away in time to scream as it exploded within her. It was safe to say that in all her years on earth, she'd never once felt like that before.

  Tony roared his own release, before collapsing onto the bed beside her, both of them breathing heavily and trying to regain some semblance of control.

  "Wow," Tony murmured contently, "that really was something,"

  "It was," Eden responded, thinking about how oddly her teeth had just responded. “Shit," she half shouted, sitting bolt upright in the bed as she realised exactly what her teeth's behaviour meant.

  "What?" Tony asked, sitting up next to her and placing a comforting hand on the back.

  "I need to go see someone.”

  "Not another man I hope," Tony tried to joke, but his uneasy smile told her that he was actually worried about that.

  "No, there are no other men," she told him, placing a reassuring hand on his knee. "But we do need to go out. I know you own a suit, but do you own a tux?"

  "Yes," he answered hesitantly.

  "Good, you're going to need it. We have a party to go to," Eden said. She just had to hope that one of the people she was looking for would be there. And that paranormals tended to party late, so even though they'd spent the first part of the evening in bed, they'd still have plenty of time to find out what she needed to.

  6

  Tony wouldn’t lie to himself, he was nervous. He’d been a vampire for less than a day, and now he was about to walk into a room full of other paranormals. Eden hadn’t told him exactly what did and didn’t exist, but his imagination was running away with him.

  “Have I told you that you look beautiful yet?” he said, biting on his lip nervously and leaving a small nick with one of his fangs. Eden’s eyes glazed over for a moment as they tracked the bead, and he found himself wishing they were alone again. He hadn’t realised how little he knew about sex until he’d experienced it with Eden earlier. There was definitely something different about her.

  “Only about ten times,” she said, laughing.

  “That’s a hundred times too few,” he said with a wink, relaxing a little more. Other than physically, he didn’t really feel that much different from when he was a human, and he was on edge waiting for the blood lust to set in. Though maybe like the other stories about vampires, that was just a myth too.

  “Have you always been such a smooth talker?” she teased.

  “Pretty much.” He shrugged, his tux jacket straining over his shoulders. It had been a good couple of years since he’d last worn it, and he’d bulked up considerably recently. “Do we need to do the rounds?” he asked, gesturing around the room. He knew that Eden was here to find someone, though he didn’t know who, nor did he know why. He didn’t actually know anything other than that she’d suddenly got freaked out after they’d slept together. He just hoped that it wasn’t because of his skills. Besides, he may be new to the paranormal world, but he didn’t imagine that their politics would be much different from the human world; parties like this would be where things would be decided. And even if Eden was here to find one person, she was still a politician, and he’d remember that even if she didn’t.

  Eden looked over to the corner of the room, and it took Tony a moment to work out where she was looking. Following her line of sight, his eyes snagged on two tall women, one blonde and one brunette, with a surly looking man behind them. The man looked bored, but that could have been because Tony could only see part of his face.

  He had no idea who the people were, even if Eden clearly had some inkling. But they seemed to be important. Or at least, they were if the number of people stopping to greet them was anything to go by.

  The man turned his head, and Tony got a good look at his face. He let out a small gasp. Eden’s gaze immediately whipped around, concern flashing in her eyes.

  “I know him,” Tony muttered, partly to himself and partly as an explanation for Eden.

  “The man with the two women by the pillar?” she asked.

  “Yes, I work with him. But that means…”

  “He’s a paranormal? Yes. A shifter if he is who I think he is.” She gave him a curious look. Tony wasn’t surprised. He didn’t think he’d worked with a paranormal either.

  “A shifter?” he repeated, not quite knowing what to do with the information.

  “Do you know him well enough to go talk to him?” Eden asked, hope laced through her voice.

  “I thought I did,” Tony muttered darkly, thinking back on all the conversations he’d shared with Kemnebi Davis over the years. And yet, he’d never once suspected that there was anything off about the man.

  “Please?” she asked. Tony held out his arm for her to take. No matter what, Kem and Eden were the only two people he knew in this world, and he’d take his chances in keeping them both on side. Eden slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, the scent of her wafting up at him and reminding him of their earlier tryst. If he could get through tonight, then hopefully he’d get a repeat performance.

  With each step Tony took towards the trio, his nerves grew. Even if he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, nor had he been the one to hide the truth from everyone, he felt like he had. But each step still took him closer.

  “Hi Kem,” he said, after steeling himself.

  “You’re a vampire?” Kem replied instead of giving Tony any kind of greeting. Shock was evident in Kem’s voice and in his widened eyes though, which could explain the rudeness. “How didn’t I know?” His eyebrows furrowed as he looked on.

  “It’s a recent development,” Tony muttered, getting a small titter from Eden, who also seemed surprisingly nervous. “I was more surprised to see you here,” he couldn’t help but add. Kem at least had the decency to look guilty.

  “You know why I couldn’t tell you, right?” Kem asked, looking worried. Tony nodded, shuffling from side to side and feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

  “Hi, I’m Eden Chambers,” Eden interrupted, saving the two of them from their awkwardness. She held out her hand, and Kem took it, giving it a firm shake.

  “Kemnebi Davis,” he said back, dropping her hand and pulling the blonde woman forward with a gentle touch. “This is my wife, Lia. And her sister, Aella,” he said gesturing to the brunette. Tony studied the two women, and saw that their height wasn’t the only thing that they shared. Their features were eerily similar, not to mention eerily beautiful; almost like they were too perfect to touch. A shot of anger went through him as he realised that this meant Kem had also been hiding the fact he had a wife from Tony. He’d thought they were close enough to at least share that.

  “Nice to meet you,” the blonde, Lia, said, offering her hand to Eden. She seemed wary to take it, but Tony placed a reassuring hand on her back, and she did, causing Lia to smile brightly.

  “I love your hair, I wish I could do something like that,” Lia said.

  Eden touched her h
air hesitantly, as if she was self conscious about it. Tonight, she had it pinned back in some kind of bun thing that looked effortlessly elegant but had taken her about two minutes to do. He knew, because he’d watched her do it while cursing herself for dying her hair pink in the first place.

  “Thank you,” Eden said finally. “I’m sure you could if you wanted to.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think I’d have the patience to keep on top of it,” Lia said, drawing an indulgent smile from Kem. There was something about the way the two of them were looking at each other that resonated within Tony. He hadn’t been in a relationship for years, and glancing at the woman stood beside him, he was starting to think he knew why.

  “The Eden Chambers?” the brunette asked, having finished the conversation she’d been having with an elderly looking gentleman. Tony hadn’t even considered that paranormals could look old; he’d have to ask Eden about that.

  “You’ve heard of me?” Eden sounded surprised.

  “Member of the Vampire Elders and the mastermind behind the vampire support groups? How could I not? Especially with all the drama surrounding the necromancers going on. They’ve tried to implement a similar scheme themselves, but it’s not taking at the moment.” The brunette said.

  “How do you know all that?” Eden asked, wide eyed with shock.

  “So it’s not true?” The other woman pouted, and Tony was amused to see the hidden smile on Lia’s face. Clearly she was used to her sister. Kem just rolled his eyes.

  “It is,” Eden said evenly. “I just don’t know how you know. Elder membership is supposed to be secret to non-vampires. And we couldn’t let news about the support groups get out. It would be no good if people thought that vampires were getting soft now,” she joked, but Tony could see a hint of panic in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what the brunette was talking about, but it was clearly something important.