Cimmerian Shade: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Collection

by Kiki Howell

  She turned as she got to the glass sliding door. He’d followed her but kept his distance. “I want you so much, Aaron. Please never think otherwise. I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you.”

  He swallowed, his furrowed brows lifting. “I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you, Adala. I’ll do anything. Anything. Even if it means never touching you again.”

  Goddess, the man was incredible to say something like that. The problem was when they touched, it hurt so much. Only, hurt wasn’t the right word. But the feeling making her tremble was somewhere between pain and sexual ache, and it was so intense she couldn’t handle it.

  “Let’s hope it never comes to that.” She smiled as she opened the door. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”

  He nodded and watched her, his dark brows back to furrowed and concerned. “Adala, I...I...”

  She sighed, wondering what he was having a hard time saying, but she waved. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  He pointed a finger at her. “You’d better.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Come back to me.”

  She turned before her back gave out on her, before the pain grew more. Only, it did. With every step she took away from him, toward Gus, she trembled more and more, feeling like someone had taken a set of screwdrivers into each of her vertebrae and was screwing tighter and tighter. She nearly cried by the time she reached Gus. Once the big Pegasus took to the air and she looked down at Aaron on the lawn, glancing up at her with worry in his brow, she relented and cried.

  What the hölle was going on?

  Chapter Twelve

  IT WASN’T A conscious thought, to kill all the humans, Keira ruminated to herself as she waited for the Furies to show up. She and Astrid, such a naive dís and so beautiful, were in a dark alley behind an oddly quiet bar. The silence in such a human location was disconcerting enough, but meeting the three females who were known as hell-breathing vengeance-seekers wasn’t much better.

  Keira had met them, one of them, by chance. Wrong place. Such a wrong time.

  How odd that the Western civilization, as they liked to call it now, had been in an Enlightenment, claiming a new love of science and reason, and yet burning so many women at the stake for being the subject of gossip. The witch-hunts were absurdly ironic during that time. Of course, the hunts had endured for centuries before John Locke had philosophized that reason would push humanity toward more justice and fairness.

  Keira had been at a burning, holding a twelve-year-old girl’s hand, feeling hopeless and helpless as she watched the proceedings. That’s when Alec, a Fury, had appeared, rescuing the girl, looking at Keira as if she were an idiot. Until that moment, Keira had never thought of defying humans, let alone making her presence known.

  Alec had said, “If you want to save her, then save her.” She’d stretched her black, bat-like wings from her back and knocked the guards unconscious with a swift punch from one of her wings. And Keira, as Hank Williams would later croon, saw the light.

  After that, she no longer wanted to abide by the Norns’ rules of trying not to be seen, of protecting human children yet standing by impotent when the adults grew vicious. And it had been at that moment when she’d wondered if it would be more merciful if she killed them all. That little girl she’d rescued had grown into a beaten and brutalized woman by her husband and later her own son. She’d died alone and scared.

  The idea germinated for hundreds of years—perhaps it would be merciful to kill them. All of them.

  She’d hated the thought at first. Now, it felt right.

  The problem was, she knew the Furies would never understand. They still fought for justice for humans who had none. There were only three of them, so the justice would go only so far in a world populated with seven billion.

  But Astrid might understand. She was coming close to having the kind of cynicism to think about razing the earth, free from humans. But not quite. Astrid saw what could happen to a dís if they used humans. It would hurt the dís almost more than the human. Which was monumentally unfair. Astrid herself was still recovering from using a few human men, her eyes slowly turning back to normal instead of the bloody color they’d turned. And she wasn’t as physically weak. Thank goddess, for Keira needed a strong dís to fight with her.

  Three motorcycles drove into the alley with three petite women driving. Keira recognized Alec immediately. Other than the new leather clothes and a T-shirt that read, “Goddess Forgives, I Don’t,” she was the same gorgeous redhead that she’d met in a dungeon cell hundreds of years ago.

  The Furies stopped, kicking the motorcycle stands in place, and Alec walked over first, smiling.

  “It is you.”

  Surprising Keira, the immortal hugged her, small strong arms wrapped around her back, pulling her close.

  “It’s me.”

  In Alec’s arms, she almost felt like she could let go of this long-held resentment at the humans for killing and torturing so many of their own. But she knew she couldn’t risk it. Wiping the earth free from humans was the only way to go. It was true justice. If only everyone else saw it this way.

  Alec released her and turned to the other Furies. “Meg, Tisi, this is Keira, the dís I met...gosh, when was that?”

  “Sixteen forty-two.” Keira nodded.

  Meg was as short as Alec, but had rich brown hair, almost looking glamorous if it weren’t for her dirty jeans and the oversized red flannel she wore. She also was a hugger, and Tisi, a small blonde who giggled and bounced a lot, rushed in for a hug too.

  “We’re so excited to meet you,” Tisi cooed, hugging Astrid before an introduction.

  “Sorry, yes, we’re excited to meet you too. This is Astrid.” Keira waved at the other dís.

  Meg and Alec hugged Astrid while Tisi kept a hold of her hand. “Your skin is so soft. What do you use?”

  Astrid looked surprised and shrugged. “Um, I started using coconut oil for...well, almost everything.”

  Tisi jumped a little, giggling again. “I just read something about a starlet using it for makeup removal. Ingenious. I have to start using it.” The Fury kept petting Astrid’s hand and forearm.

  Alec pushed at Tisi’s shoulder. “Stop it. You’re weirding them out.” She smiled at Keira. “Sorry, we don’t meet a lot of other females. It’s nice to have girl time, you know?”

  Meg rolled her eyes. She looked the way Angelina Jolie wished she could appear—feminine perfection that plastic surgeons couldn’t come close to. But she seemed by far the most masculine with a Boston Red Sox T-shirt, jeans a few sizes too big, and her hair in a strange, knotted bun on the top of her head. There was a smudge of dirt or grime on her nose and she looked like she couldn’t have cared less about it.

  “Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” Meg folded her arms over her chest. “You’re having problems with human males?”

  Astrid nodded. “Yes, there’s one that’s been—”

  Astrid wouldn’t understand the logic of the Furies, wouldn’t understand how to lie. So Keira interrupted. “Astrid’s cousin, Samuella, has been taken by a man. We think he’s brainwashing her.”

  Meg’s gorgeous face stiffened, grew tense. “Shit.”

  Astrid nodded again. “Exactly.”

  “Is he hurting her?” Tisi, the hyper blonde, grew serious quickly, her green eyes calculating, and Keira knew allying with these females was the right thing to do.

  Astrid shrugged. “Not physically. At least not as far as I can tell. But brainwashing her isn’t helping, you know?”

  That was the perfect thing to say. The Furies looked, well, furious.

  “And there’s a Valkyrie who has been seen talking to a man.”

  Alec tilted her head. “Just talking?”

  “He might be brainwashing her too,” Keira added quickly.

  Meg sucked in a breath. “A Valkyrie is a formidable weapon, if he’s thinking of using her as such. But doesn’t he know she could turn on him and kill him with one touch?”


  Astrid took a shaky breath herself. “These men...it’s like they know exactly how to get inside a female, how to use her to do...things she doesn’t want to do.”

  Keira wanted to smile. Astrid was saying all the right things, hitting every note perfectly. Only, it wasn’t the men who were doing the things she spoke of. Keira knew it was her.

  But in the end, when there would be no more suffering, when the world became a utopia for immortals instead of a cesspool for human indecency, then they would understand. Once it was all over, everyone would see the logic. She hoped.

  Of course, banding together with three Furies wouldn’t mean the end for humans. But it was a start.

  Meg looked at Alec and then Tisi. She nodded after a beat. “We’ll help, dís. In fact, it’s time we introduced you to our soldiers, the berserkers.”

  Yes, Keira thought, even though there was no formal plan, sometimes the best things in life just plopped in your lap, like three Furies ready to kill along with their warriors. This might work better than she ever could have imagined.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ADALA WAS COMING. She’d just texted, and Aaron was so grateful for a second chance. He’d rushed things and let his body do all the talking. Well, much of the talking. As he ran through the backyard for the sweet oats he’d gotten for Gus, he grew klutzy, tripping over water hoses in his excitement and haste. In the small shed where the lawnmowers and other outdoor tools were stored, he scooped the oats into a bucket and thought to make sure Gus had more water than yesterday.

  Yesterday...

  Last night had been a dream come true. He’d not only kissed Adala, but he couldn’t stop remembering the way she’d felt against him, the sounds she’d made, how warm she’d been against his body, the way her nipple felt in his mouth. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his body, especially his cock.

  He’d never thought himself a physical kind of man. Oh, he liked sex as much as the next guy. After his college sweetheart, he’d fucked around for a few years. But it had gotten boring quickly. Especially after his enlistment, he’d wanted to know someone mentally and emotionally.

  Maybe three weeks wasn’t enough time to truly know someone. But he felt he did know Adala. And she knew him without judging him, something extremely rare in his estimation. Sure, he found Adala attractive. Hell, she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen. But touching her? Fondling her? He’d tried his best to not fantasize too much about that. He’d tried to assure himself that being with her was enough.

  And it was.

  Just talking to her was enough for him. It really was.

  But try telling that to his body that felt like he was nearly jumping out of his skin from excitement at the idea of seeing Adala again.

  He left the shed, glancing up in the sky, smiling as a huge black Percheron floated down with his giant wings extended. Gus was a good horse, er, Pegasus. He was all about food—green grass or sweet oats. He was mellow and loyal, never walking or flying away from the backyard.

  Aaron shielded his eyes from the late-spring sun as he watched the Pegasus and owner descend, wondering how it was possible that no one else saw her. He reminded himself to keep his hands off her and to take things slow.

  Slow was good.

  Or they didn’t have to kiss at all.

  Although, that had been...the best he’d ever had.

  But so what? Adala was everything he never knew he wanted. He wasn’t going to fuck it up by listening to his traitorous body that stiffened the second he saw her smiling at him.

  By the time Gus landed, he was already hard and hoped to God he could keep his promise to himself.

  She jumped off the tall horse as Gus lunged for him, took the bucket out of his hands, and flung its contents over a patch of grass.

  Adala frowned at Gus’s manners, as she’d call it, but then she glanced up and like yesterday rushed toward Aaron, throwing herself at him. He caught her this time, smiling, laughing.

  “I missed you so much.” He was always surprised to find himself so open and honest with her. But it was her. He’d trust her with his life. He’d trust her with his heart.

  He’d meant to ask how she was doing, but she quickly kissed him and said, “I missed you.”

  Then she wrapped her long legs around his waist, and Aaron forgot his own name. His mind went blank from a huge rush of energy, begging him to take her inside, undress her, and find out if her skin was soft everywhere.

  She kissed him again, her lips lingering against his. But he pulled away, carrying her toward the house, where he’d prepared a salad.

  “You hungry?” His voice cracked from the strain of not listening to his desire. But so be it. He was going to take things slowly. Damn it.

  She shook her head and smiled at him.

  “I made a salad.”

  “That’s nice. But I’d rather kiss you.”

  She was not going to make this easy. And he’d rather kiss her.

  But yesterday...

  Yeah, he hated to think that something within him or something about him might be making her unwell. And last night, she looked like she’d been in pain.

  He swallowed and did his best to ignore her as he made it into the house and slid the glass door behind. “I made a goat-cheese salad thing. I even followed a recipe. I thought you might like it.”

  She softly chuckled, the feeling vibrating into his body. He felt her giggle through her sex that was hot against his lower stomach. He could move her a little farther down, push his pelvis against hers, feel her core against his cock.

  He had to shake himself to get a semblance of reason in his mind. “I even got this raspberry vinaigrette that you might like.”

  She smiled. “Okay. I have to try it now.”

  He internally thanked her for not tempting him further as he set her down at the dinner table. His body nearly wept as he pushed her away, but in order to take things slow or to not be all touchy-feely, he had to create some physical distance. Or he’d pounce on her for sure.

  He moved to the counter and prepared a couple plates of the salad—God, he never thought he’d be making salad for anyone, let alone a goat-cheese one. After he assured himself that everything looked good, he turned. But there she was, the plates almost touching her chest.

  Shit, she looked good tonight, dressed in a little, almost see-through white shirt with a white tank under it. It was pretty and feminine with brighter white flowers embroidered on the bottom. He guessed she had made the shirt. It was so her. He’d never seen her in a skirt before. It was frilly and showed off her thin legs from the knee down. God, he would have loved to worship her long, golden legs.

  “Are you avoiding me?” she asked, arching a black brow.

  He couldn’t resist that brow. He loved it when she did that, looking like she could see inside him and knew all the answers anyway.

  “Me?” His voice cracked yet again.

  She took the salads and placed them on the counter. “You’re avoiding me.”

  He shook his head, but something bizarre happened. His mouth opened of its own accord and started telling her everything. “I think I hurt you. When we kiss. And I can’t...I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She bit her bottom lip, looking at the small space between them. “You don’t hurt me.”

  “Well, something’s wrong.”

  She nodded. “Okay, well—”

  “I hurt you, don’t I? I make you sick. It’s because I’m human?”

  She shook her head. “I...no.”

  “I can tell by the way you’re hesitating that you’re not telling me the truth. We aren’t...we aren’t compatible. Physically.”

  She shook her head again, blinking a lot.

  He stepped closer. “Well, I don’t care.”

  “You don’t care about what?”

  “I don’t care if we aren’t physically compatible. I still want you. I mean, yeah, I’d love to touch you and kiss you and...but it doesn’t change how I feel. Hell,
I didn’t think I would ever touch you anyway. But I still want to be with you, no matter if we can touch or not.”

  Her eyes glistened, filling with unshed tears. “You want to be with me? Even though you can’t touch me?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I don’t care about that.”

  “You don’t care about the...physicality?”

  “Exactly.” He nodded and stepped even closer, letting her warmth invade the coldness he felt because she wasn’t telling him she felt the same. “I just want to keep being with you.”

  A tear fell from her eye. He tried to wipe the moisture away but something hard and jagged was caught between his thumb and her cheek. He scooped the little pebble, amazed to see a sparkling rock in his palm.

  She sniffed. “When I cry, I cry diamonds.”

  His mouth was agape for about two years, but finally he said, “Holy shit.”

  She nodded and smiled. “Aaron, I’m so different from what you’re used to.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I’m very old.”

  “I like older women.”

  She snickered, but her smile fell away as she said, “I cry diamonds.”

  “Which is cool as fuck. Sorry, I mean cool as fudge.”

  She tried to cover her giggle and did a pretty good job as she continued, “I used to have wings, and I’d fly everywhere. But now I touch a human and kill them. You are the only exception and I don’t know why.”

  He gritted his teeth, gazing at her as her eyes scanned his kicking jawline. “I think it’s because we’re supposed to be—”

  “Why would you want to be with an old woman who you might not be able to touch?”

  He swallowed and bowed his head, thinking of holding her hips, rethought touching her, worried it might hurt her, and balled his hands into fists at his sides. “Because it’s you.”

  Another tear slid from her eye and he caught the diamond as she reached for him. “Aaron, you wonderful, long-lost knight—”

  As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he tried to catch her wrists, but she stepped close and kissed him.

  He pulled away but it took all his strength to do it.