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

by Kiki Howell

  “Understood. I wouldn’t have anyone to tell, anyway,” she said quietly.

  “Speaking of that, this is the safest place I can think of for you to lay low for a while. Would you like to stay here for a few days?”

  “With you?”

  He nodded.

  “Um, thank you. That might be a good idea, even better if I knew where ‘here’ was.” She immediately considered the secrets this place must hold. She hoped she would get a chance to uncover some of them, so she didn’t need to consider the offer for long. She’d always taken a short respite and moved to a new apartment or condo after exacting vengeance on each of her family’s murderers, always shocked by the fact they’d remained in the same area like sitting ducks. It wasn’t in her nature to trust easily, but she trusted Drayden despite his evasiveness. Treva felt safe with him close by and most of all, she couldn’t deny that she wanted to know everything about him. “Okay. Just for a few days.”

  AFTER DINNER, DRAYDEN gave her a cursory tour. “I would take you outside, but we can wait until daylight, when you can see everything.”

  Nodding, she placed her hand on the back of a Queen Anne chair. “You said that one of my benefactors sent you to help me. I only know of one, and he or she has never given me any information about who or where they are. What can you tell me?”

  “I do apologize, Treva. It hurts me to say no to you, but I cannot tell you anything.”

  Not only was she in the dark about her benefactor’s name, but she didn’t even know whether the person was a woman or a man. Their real-time communication had always been text messages using disposable phones, and Drayden’s reticence simply added to her frustration.

  “Please rest. Make yourself at home. I will be away for a few hours. There’s some important business that I must attend to.”

  No sooner had Drayden left than Treva returned to the door leading to a closed corridor he had told her he didn’t use. The concept of forbidden doors elicited memories of her childhood when there were always doors she wasn’t allowed to open or enter. She opened the door to complete darkness, then returned to Drayden’s living area for one of the brass sconces from his wall to light her way. After walking a few feet, she was surprised to see a staircase that seemed to never stop going down. She carefully tipped down the worn, winding stairs, which she estimated to cover two or three stories, until she reached the bottom, only to be presented with a system of tunnels.

  Holding the sconce in front of her, she started down the tunnel, moving as quickly as she could despite limited visibility. When she still found no end in sight after 15 minutes, she wondered if she’d been mistaken. Despite her frustration, she refused to turn back. Just when the twists and turns seemed as if they would never end, she saw a door. She opened it and stepped into what appeared to be a living area. She’d barely taken a few steps when she felt a hand on her shoulder, forcibly turning her around.

  “Who are you and what are you doing here,” the heavy-set woman asked, the burrows in her forehead a clear indication Treva’s intrusion was unexpected and unwelcome.

  “Uh, I’m Treva Evers, a friend of—”

  “Let her go, Carol. She’s Drayden’s nosey human guest, and we don’t want to make him angry. I told him she was going to find her way down here. I tried to tell him it wasn’t that hard and she’s probably not afraid of much of anything from what I’d overheard about her. Women!” the tall, thin man spat the last word at her as he came closer, apparently inspecting her.

  Carol snatched her hand away as if she’d been burned, and addressed the approaching man. “Do you think she could be the one?”

  “There you go getting all romantic, Carol. You just met her.” When the man got within arm’s reach, he extended his hand. “Sebastian.”

  “That’s not romantic, it’s just practical. Drayden brought her here. He has waited and suffered so long, and he deserves someone, the one who can finally free him.”

  “Free him? What is this place?” Treva asked, looking around at artifacts and antiques that appeared to be from every century and every country. Just two or three of the rare pieces had to be worth a sizeable fortune, she thought.

  “Why are you telling her all this, Carol?” Sebastian threw up his hands and raised his voice.

  “Because she cares for him, Sebastian. Can’t you tell?”

  “No. That’s your department.”

  “Yes, it is, so stop questioning me. I know what I’m doing,” Carol huffed. “In answer to your question, dear, this is our home. We call it our little slice of Cimmerian heaven, and we live here, so that we will be safe. Our angel, Shoftiel, with the help of Drayden and Sebastian, protects us, but our home cannot be found without our intervention. You see, we’re in another dimension, and the wormhole or portal is located beneath the tunnel, underwater.”

  Treva had to force herself to blink. The matronly woman had just poured out so much fantastical information, she could hardly take it all in at once, and more than that, she could hardly believe the woman had actually admitted to it all. If she hadn’t been raised by nerdy, science fiction-loving parents, she would have quickly arrived at the conclusion that Carol suffered from dementia. She shook her head, hoping her next question would receive a simpler, more digestible answer. “What is it that Drayden needs to be freed from?”

  “Come, sit beside me.”

  Treva followed her to the dining table.

  “Do you have time for a rather intricate story, my dear?”

  “Yes,” Treva answered quickly. She could hardly wait to learn more about Drayden, the man she was falling in love with.

  “Your Drayden was born a very long time ago to a noble lady, the wife of a marquis to be exact, and her lover, a druid. Born with extraordinary magical abilities, he left home when he was a child because he was called to learn druid ways and customs. During that time, a druidess fell in love with him, and—”

  “He’s back.” Sebastian bustled over and grabbed Treva’s hand. “Come, my lady. I need to get you back upstairs before he notices you’re missing or there’s going to be hell to pay.” He all but shoved her up the stairs, doing his best to get her back in time to keep Drayden from noticing her absence.

  Once at the top of the stairs, she opened the door and slipped down the hall towards the restroom.

  Drayden stood at the entrance of the hallway with an ominous frown on his face. “Where were you? I called your name when I got back and you didn’t answer.”

  “Oh, I had to find the restroom, so I...” She noticed Drayden was staring at her as if she had horns, and he periodically glanced at the door leading to the stairs. “I, um, okay, I can’t lie to you. I went downstairs. Please don’t be angry with your friends. I just had to explore a bit, and I’m very curious by nature.”

  He continued to stare with the corners of his lips turned down.

  “Say something, Drayden. I didn’t mean to upset you or them, but you’ve been so closed-mouthed about yourself, and I needed to know more.”

  “I save your life and bring you to my home against my better judgment, and this is how you repay me? Come. You’re leaving now. I’ll send you back through the portal, and you can do me a favor and forget everything you’ve seen and heard. As far as you and the rest of the world are concerned, I do not exist. In fact, I can help you with that by wiping your memories of me. It will be as if we never met.”

  Anger rushed up from her feet and shot straight to her head, clouding her vision with a dark haze. “Excuse me? I’m not going anywhere, you paranoid prick, and if you touch me intending on erasing my memories of you, you’ll draw back a nub! You should be glad I give a damn about you and want to know more. I don’t care enough about most people to inquire about their present, let alone their past. Anyway, they told me that if I leave, I can’t get back here on my own, so suck it up. I’m staying until I get ready to leave. If you don’t want me going downstairs talking to your friends, why don’t you try telling me yourself?” She grabbed
him by his shoulders, using his strength as leverage to pull herself closer to him, and planted a bruising kiss on his full lips despite his anger. She licked his blood from her lower lip and glared up at him, challenging him to respond.

  To her surprise, he lifted her from the floor, his arms so tight around her waist that she could hardly breathe, and returned the kiss, taking her blood as quickly as she had taken his.

  She felt his tongue sliding along her lower lip, the sensation zinging straight to her core, sizzling as it embedded itself, spreading outward, her excitement building, nearly unbearable until it consumed her.

  She reached up and held his face between her palms, attempting to look into his eyes, but he forced her against the wall, clasped her wrists, and pulled her hands against his chest. She touched his muscles with her fingers, his skin sizzling to the touch, yet velvety soft over coiled strength.

  “Allow the dissonance to simmer. You really want to know me? We have the benefit of time if you but claim it, claim me, and I promise you that fulfillment will come. The longer awaited, the more satisfying the climax.”

  He had such an unusual way of saying things, she thought, but beneath his words, she heard a wealth of genuine need. Time. Long awaited. Claim him? Dismissing her questions about his past for a moment, even his present apparently communal way of life, she realized only one thing mattered. She’d never felt more desirable in her life. His words alone made her want him more, desperate to feel him inside her, the heat from his body enticing, compelling her to move closer. She couldn’t wait to feel his weight on top of her, but his words also reminded her how little she knew about him. Why would such a perfect male specimen live this way, and where did he disappear to when he left her? What was he so afraid she would find out? He possessed the body of a god, and the masculine beauty of his face could easily grace priceless paintings, but despite the answers his friends had provided, she still had more questions, and Drayden seemed more mysterious than ever.

  He lifted her from the floor, positioned her legs around him, and carried her a few yards to French double-doors. Nudging the doors open with his foot, he carried her out onto the veranda.

  Treva glanced to the side and what she saw was unbelievable.

  Drayden put his hand out to the side and white sparks circled it flowing to the stone surface, creating a mattress and comforter from nothing. Winking his left eye, he smiled and placed her on the mattress. Then, he knelt next to her.

  When she felt the smooth surface of a wine glass against her lower lip. She realized he had conjured it the same way he’d created the mattress. She blinked, then smiled and tilted her head to take a sip, licking her lips again.

  Drayden touched her tongue with his own, leaning in to tease her further by running his tongue slowly along her upper and lower lips then covered her lips with his. Firm, nearly unyielding in his movement, he toyed with her, circling her tongue with his own as he splayed his large hand on her back for support.

  She whimpered, unable to help herself as she unfurled her fingers and caressed his hot skin. He felt like everything she’d been missing, his taste interacting with the wine in gloriously heady ways, arousal filling her just as he started, hot and simmering. He said they had the luxury of time, but she wanted him inside her, his weight pressing her into the mattress right now, right this minute, and very likely many more times before this magical night was over.

  Drayden removed the comforter from her breasts and kissed each one, starting with her right breast, then her left, swirling his tongue around her taut peaks and drawing them into his mouth.

  She arched her back, unable to stop pressing her bottom into the mattress, seeking relief. Wave upon wave of pleasure rushed through her, emanating from her core and spiraling outward. A quick intake of air. “Drayden. Mmm.” She couldn’t use words anymore. The feelings he evoked embodied every erotic fantasy she’d ever had, the anticipation and perhaps magic heightening her arousal. She writhed and rolled her hips beneath the comforter when he uncovered the rest of her torso to her lower abdomen.

  Then dragging his tongue straight down the indentation leading to her belly button, he circled it, flicking his tongue in and out several times. Every bit of gentleness seemed to be gone when Drayden gave her a crushing kiss of ownership as he removed the last of the comforter and covered her body with his.

  Treva found herself unable to remove the lusty fog from her mind long enough to notice that she never actually heard him undress...again. Suddenly, his clothes were simply gone, disappearing as if they were never there. This time, she simply added it to his magical abilities, surmising that if he could create objects from thin air, he would be able to return them as well. She arched into him as he kissed her again and pulled away briefly to slide down her body, her soft curves giving way to his solid, heavy muscles.

  He parted her legs, running his palms along the baby soft flesh of her inner thighs before settling between them, his broad shoulders stretching her legs wide as he supported them with his forearms. Her lower belly quivered and she squirmed against him, unable to help herself.

  Drayden glanced up, his brows raised and a half-smile lit up his dark eyes before he dipped his head and ran his nose along the entrance to her pussy, her clit throbbing with anticipation.

  “Oh!” The jolt of pleasure his decadent action produced surprised her, but he appeared to be nonplussed as he slid his tongue into her slit and slowly undulated against the ultra-sensitive nerve endings there. She dug her heels into the mattress. “Mmm.” Her voice sounded husky, foreign, as she planted her fingers in his scalp, plunging through his curly hair, holding on for dear life. It felt like he was folding his tongue, making his way around her clit, closer and closer, but not touching as he licked and sucked like a large wild cat lapping up milk.

  He looked up again, slowly licking his lips and curling his tongue. “Mmm. My lady, you are a delicacy fit for nobility.”

  Treva inhaled quickly, her nerve endings firing on her exhale as she exploded, heat rushing straight to her head. Her heels lifted from the bed of their own accord and dug into his back as she wrapped herself around him, holding him closer. Something about knowing Drayden enjoyed her taste, curling his tongue, licking his full, perfect lips overtook her before she could anticipate her reaction. The combination pushed her over the edge, while she remained only dimly aware of his moving back up her torso, the sensations in her body demanding full attention.

  She heard unintelligible sounds coming from her mouth, her vaginal walls contracting ravenously for him as she opened her heavy-lidded eyes, gliding her hands down the length of his sculpted chest to show her appreciation by wrapping both hands around his shaft, long and thick, the head reaching past his navel.

  She licked her lips, desperate for a taste of him. Oral sex had never been her thing, but until Drayden, no one else had ever activated every pleasure point, and her body craved more contact. The voice inside her head screamed for him to fill every orifice at once, starting with her mouth.

  Releasing a ragged breath, she tried to speak. “I want—I want.”

  He narrowed his gaze, watching her as if searching for something in particular. “Say it. Tell me what you want.”

  “You!” she managed to answer, her breathing shallow. “I just want you!”

  He groaned and chose that moment to slide two fingers inside her as if he needed further proof before he rose up on his knees, effectively slipping from her grasp. He then positioned his thighs under hers and lifted her from the mattress in one swift motion.

  She inhaled, releasing the breath as a gasp when he held her above him, slowly lowering her onto his cock, her inner walls slowly stretching to accommodate him—inch by glorious inch, still convulsing from the previous climax.

  She wrapped her arms around his broad back, clinging to him as he lifted her again, nearly pulling completely out before he plunged inside her again and went completely still. He closed his eyes as her writhing, overstimulated vaginal walls
clutched at his length, throbbing, pulling him deeper, as she tilted her head and nipped his bottom lip, drawing blood and then sucking the blood away.

  They gazed into each other’s eyes, his cock pulsing inside her as he spoke without words.

  Suddenly he shifted, placing her on her back again, still lodged inside, then he began to move. And oh, God, the way he moved, pulling almost completely out, then delving between her slick walls, each thrust igniting fire at her core, volcanic blasts of pleasure causing her to writhe against him, the tips of her sensitized breasts pressed against his hard chest.

  His pectoral muscles jumped, vibrating as he supported his weight with one arm and slid his other hand to cup her behind, moving her with him as he developed a steady, driving rhythm, in and out, plunging faster, harder, and deeper as her body welcomed him, drawing him in until he filled every millimeter.

  She felt the eruption building, starting at her core and fanning outward, firing every nerve into action as he continued thrusting faster, harder, his pace frenzied as his tethers of control weakened and snapped, their bodies combusting in unison. He roared, sending shock waves through her as she tightened her hold on him, shards of ecstasy rolling over her, wave upon wave as she lost herself, melding with him.

  Euphoria washed away every concern, every fear. She relaxed, sated, lulled by his steady heartbeat, and allowed her breathing to return to normal.

  For the first time in her life, she wanted to possess a man, this man, to know everything about him, and to never let him go. It had taken the mysterious, magnificent Drayden Sorcher all of two days to make her fall in love with him.

  Afterwards, she rested her head on his chest, drawing tiny, imaginary circles around his navel while he twirled her hair around his fingers. “It’s so beautiful out here,” she said.

  “It’s never been more beautiful than this moment, and that’s because you’re here.”