Wicked After Dark: 20 Steamy Paranormal Tales of Dragons, Vampires, Werewolves, Shifters, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More

by Mina Carter

  The Universe had definitely known what She was doing when She created Kyndel for Rayne. They were perfectly mated and now expecting their first child. Aidan couldn’t be happier for them. He had to laugh, though. Rayne was even more protective of Kyndel now that she was expecting and she refused to be babied. It was a riot to watch them together.

  Unfortunately, his own issues took precedence over the home life of his Commander. Aidan had to apprehend the traitor before he hurt anyone else. Andrew was already facing charges of treason from the Tribunal. Not to mention, Rayne wanted him dead for hurting Kyndel, something Aidan couldn’t blame his Commander for. If someone ever touched his mate, he could only imagine the rage that would overtake him.

  His mate? She was nothing but a dream, a memory he visited every time he dared to close his eyes. The long black waterfall of her hair hung almost to her waist. He knew it would be thick and heavy in his hands. Her eyes were bluer than the sky he soared across on a clear summer day, and her smile lit up his entire world. He leaned back into Kyndel’s incredibly comfortable couch and closed his eyes to bring the picture of her back to his mind.

  She had a figure that begged to be explored by both his hands and his mouth. He longed to taste every erotic curve and seductive valley. Her full, perky breasts that rode high on her chest would flush across the top when she was aroused, of that he was sure. And, oh heavens, her arousal would be like nothing he‘d scented before. She always smelled of honey and vanilla, but when she was aroused, it would be as if her tantalizing aroma had been warmed by the sun. She was sweet and fresh and she would be all his, if he could ever meet her outside of his dreams. He couldn’t keep his hands from rubbing against his erection as it pushed against the zipper of his jeans.

  Just the thought of the woman he dreamt about every night and had actually scented in this very city repeatedly made his cock stand at attention every time. He tried not to think about her long shapely legs because it brought the image of them wrapped around his waist while he drove into her to the forefront of his mind and made thinking damn near impossible. The longer he sat there daydreaming, the harder it got to deny the need to take his throbbing cock in his hand and handle his arousal on his own.

  He unbuttoned his pants and lowered his zipper, his erection springing free. Fisting himself, he began to pump his hand up and down, picturing his beautiful mate. Aidan was completely lost to his own pleasure, imagining his hand was hers, that he totally missed the sound of the key in the lock. A glimpse of very black hair coming through the door was all he saw as cock in hand, he used his dragon speed to run to Kyndel’s bedroom.

  Hidden behind the door, he scented the air.

  Oh shit! It’s her… my mate!

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  Andrew sat across from the little apartment his brother had been staying in for the last six months.

  Why didn’t Aidan just give up?

  If he was trying to show Andrew he was sorry for what Andrew had endured because of his weakness and cowardice, it was too little too late. He was going to have his revenge. He was going to watch the life drain out of every last one of the Guardsmen. He was going to dance on their graves… especially Aidan’s.

  They left him to suffer at the hands of the wizards, knowing he was still alive. The blood oath they’d taken when initiated into the Dragon Guard allowed them to know if their brethren still lived. It was their insurance policy in battle.

  Some insurance policy.

  Andrew had been alive and trapped, and none of them came to save him. Claimed they didn’t know. He had blacked out that night, but was sure he hadn’t died. He was still here after all, wasn’t he?

  The wizards bragged about all the ways they had to shield him from dragon magic, but he hadn’t heard or read of any that were stronger or could negate the blood bond they shared. His brother, the coward, had left him. The others hadn’t even tried to come back for him. They were all cowards. They all had to die.

  The looks on their faces had been priceless when Rayne’s mate had pulled the mask from his head. He wished he had a picture of their expressions when they realized he was very much alive.

  Absolutely fucking awesome!

  But then that idiot Devon had surprised him. Left him with no option but to flee. Now here he was, barely staying a step ahead of Aidan while making plans to lure those idiot Dragon Guards to their death. They had all underestimated him… in life and in supposed death.

  He was so lost in thought he almost missed the little beauty going into the very apartment Aidan was in.

  Well, well, well… now isn’t this interesting?

  Maybe she was something he could use to get the jump on his pain in the ass brother.

  About Julia Mills

  I am a sarcastic, southern woman that would rather spend all day laughing than a minute crying. I have 2 of the most amazing daughters ever created, a menagerie of animals and a voracious appetite for reading. I decided to write the stories running through my brain and am having an absolute blast!! I read my first book, Dr Suess’ Cat in The Hat, by myself at 4 and have been hooked ever since.

  I believe a good book along with shoes, makeup and purses will never let a girl down. I know for a fact that all heroes in all the books I have ever read or will ever write pale in comparison to my hero, my dad! I am a sucker for a happy ending and love some hot sweaty sex with a healthy dose of romance.

  I am still working on my story but can guarantee you that it will contain as love and laughter as I can cram into it!!!!! Dare to Dream! Have the Strength to Try EVERYTHING! Never Look Back!

  Julia XOXOXO

  Dare to Dream!

  Fate Will Not Be Denied!

  Visit me at Julia Mills, Author or Facebook!

  DARKNESS UNLEASHED

  An Order of the Blade Novel

  By Stephanie Rowe

  Copyright © 2013 by Stephanie Rowe.

  Cover design © 2013 by MJC Imageworks.

  ISBN 13: 978-0-9886566-3-5

  ISBN 10: 0988656639

  Chapter One

  THE AIR WAS razor-thin. Oxygen was sparse. Vegetation had been cruelly stripped by the harsh winds that raked across the mountain, exposing raw rock, ice so thick it never melted, and earth that could not flourish in such brutal weather. What in hell's name was a woman doing traveling this mountain path alone? And what was her destination?

  Grimly, Calydon warrior Ryland Samuels dropped to one knee. He traced his fingertips over the gritty surface of the rock. The cold numbed his fingers instantly, but it wasn't the biting wind that had tried to tear life from his hands. The damage had been caused by the residue of death that was coating the boulder.

  The fragments of death indicated he was still on the trail of Catherine Taylor, the angel of death he'd been tracking for almost three weeks. "She’s nearby," he said to his two teammates, who had accompanied him on his trek. "The trail is fresh." Staying on one knee, he braced his forearm on his thigh and searched the horizon. The Northern Cascade Mountains of southern Washington stretched far ahead, a seemingly endless maze that could hide—or kill—a woman with ease.

  Except she couldn't hide from him.

  He wouldn't allow it.

  As for the mountains killing her with their brutality? He doubted it would be very easy for a few towering hills of rock, snow, and cold to kill an angel of death. He just didn't see her getting knocked down by freezing temperatures and a little bit of frostbite. It was more likely that the earth itself would kneel to her, cease all adverse weather, and submit to her safe passage.

  He grinned. Yeah, angels were powerful shit, and he was about to find the one he'd been hunting for seven hundred years.

  "You see her?" Thano Savakis, one of Ryland's Order of the Blade teammates, rode up beside him on his new horse, a massive magical beast he'd named Apollo. His dark hair was even shorter than it used to be, and his heavy black jacket covered his thighs, hiding straps that Ryland knew were there, holding his jean-clad legs to the sad
dle.

  Thano was the only one of the Order less than five hundred years old. Although he hadn't even hit his fortieth birthday yet, he was a kickass warrior, and the one Ryland had specifically chosen to accompany him on this mission. The rest of the team was covering the seaboard of Oregon and Washington, dealing with a sudden increase in rogue Calydons, a proliferation that didn't make sense.

  The Order of the Blade was an elite group of Calydon warriors whose mission was to protect innocents when Calydons went rogue, descending irretrievably into the state of violent insanity that would result in a swath of death and destruction that would end only when they were destroyed. The Order members were the only beings powerful enough to cut down a Calydon who had crossed that deadly line. Formed over two thousand years ago, the Order was comprised of the few warriors capable of surviving battles that no one should survive, while plunging their weapons through the hearts of men who had once been their friends, sons, neighbors, or even fathers or other family.

  There were nine of them left. Only nine. Not enough. But Ryland was going to make damn sure they didn't lose any more, and that the Order was protected enough that it could begin to grow again and become the force it had once been. With the recent murder of their leader, the team had started to fracture. No leader had stepped up to pull them together. Ryland didn't give a shit about being a leader, but he was damn well going to make sure the Order's protective triumvirate of guardian angels was safe.

  Catherine was the only one of the trinity still at large. After the other two had almost been killed, he wasn't taking any chances. The Order had too many enemies, and as one of their guardian angels, Catherine would inherit those enemies.

  "No, I can't see her yet," Ryland answered Thano. "But soon." He gestured with his hand to indicate they should continue forward. He began to work his way down the steep slope, to a lower altitude where snow and ice had succumbed to the warmer temperatures. "Let's go."

  "Wait." The third member of their party, Zach Roderick, halted them. He was standing on the top of a jagged rock, his face raised to the wind, as if he couldn't feel the cold, which Ryland knew was true. His calf-length leather jacket was flapping around his legs, revealing a white T-shirt and baggy jeans. His only concession to their trek through the mountains was a pair of heavy hiking boots, but Ryland knew those were more for traction than protection from the cold. "There's heat coming from over the northern peaks. Massive amounts of heat."

  Ryland turned to look where Zach was pointing. He frowned at the dark storm clouds that seemed to be dumping snow onto the distant mountains. It was summer, but the mountains were still caught in the thrall of winter brutality at their highest altitudes. They were at a lower altitude right now, so they were graced with patches of bare ground instead of snowdrifts, but Zach was pointing toward a higher elevation. Nothing hot should be coming from there. "Heat? You're sure?"

  Zach cast him a baleful glare. "You're asking me if I'm sure I feel heat? Really?"

  "Shit." Of course Zach knew what he was talking about. The man had an up close and personal relationship with fire that none of them understood. If Zach had the inside scoop on why he could do what he did, he wasn't talking. But the guy could pick up heat from a thousand miles away, and he knew when things were out of balance.

  Ryland ground his jaw, knowing that there was only one thing in this region that could generate heat of that nature, but it was buried deep below the earth, never to be exposed to earth's surface. Not it. She. "Keep an eye on it," he told Zach.

  "As if I wouldn't." His voice edged with tension, Zach kept his attention focused on the distant mountains, on the heat that only he could sense.

  Although Ryland had wanted only Thano with him, he'd allowed Zach to come because Thano had requested it. After being incarcerated and tortured by a black magic wizard for several months, Thano had returned with a broken body and the ability to do some weird shit with violet fire. Things were changing every day with him, and no one knew where things were leading. It made sense to bring a fire expert along just in case Thano suddenly went up in flames.

  But Ryland and Zach had never been buddies, and he didn't like having someone along who was ready to cut him down at any moment, literally. Although everyone on the team was pretty damned certain that Ryland was on the edge of going rogue at any second, Zach was the one who Ryland sensed was actually looking forward to finally having a reason to take him out, ending the threat that they all felt he posed to the Order. If Ryland so much as drifted near the line of going rogue, Zach would kill him first and check facts later.

  Not that Ryland blamed him. As annoying as it was to have to watch his back with Zach all the time, he knew that Zach was the only one who really saw him for what he was.

  Not that he had time to spend thinking about Zach. Night would soon be falling and he wanted to have Catherine under his protection.

  Yeah, he didn't think the mountains could hurt her, but he wanted her where he could keep her safe anyway. If she was who he thought she was, the safety of the entire Order depended on her survival. "Come on."

  He began to jog down the side of the mountain. Behind him was the clatter of Apollo's hooves on the rocks, footsteps that could turn into complete stealth when the horse chose. Zach gave a grunt of irritation, but he leapt off the rock and broke into a steady run to catch up.

  As the three warriors continued their slip-sliding descent down the rocky cliff, the sensation of death grew stronger. Ryland's adrenaline began to jack up, and a warning began to prickle at the back of his neck. The black brands on his arms that were in the shape of machetes began to burn, as the weapons strained to be released. Death was near. Was it Catherine?

  "Is that her?" Thano was beside him now, Apollo loping with ease as Ryland sprinted along. "Is she the death we're picking up?"

  Ryland glanced at Thano in surprise. "You can sense that?" The cold, ominous feeling of death was thick now, cloying to his skin. Prior to now, neither Thano nor Zach had been able to pick up Catherine's trail. He looked over at Zach, who had caught up to them. "What about you?"

  Zach shoved a strand of his dark hair out of his face. "In about two seconds, I'm going to call out my weapon and start attacking the air, so yeah, I feel it."

  Ryland swore. Up until now, he'd been the only one who could sense Catherine's aura, which meant either she had changed in some way, or else there was something else ahead of them casting the lethal scent into the air. He flexed his hands, readying to call out his weapons, as they continued to sprint down the mountain. Below them was a dark grove of trees that seemed to be defying all odds by surviving in this barren area. He frowned, studying the grove as they neared it. The darkness seemed to undulate between the trunks, as if it were a living creature, taking deep breaths, waiting for them.

  Recognition nudged at the back of Ryland's mind, and he instinctively slowed. "Wait a second."

  Thano reined in Apollo, and Zach slowed as well. "What's up?"

  Ryland stared at the trees, straining to see into the darkness that was too impenetrable given that the sun hadn't set yet. "I don't know." But he'd seen it before. He knew what was hiding. He just couldn't remember. It had been too long.

  He came to a complete stop, and his teammates lined up beside him, three warriors abreast.

  Apollo lifted his head and flared his nostrils, the great black beast fixated on the grove. For a moment, there was complete silence, a standoff.

  Then there was a scrabble of claws from a cliff to their right. Ryland spun that way, searching the rocks, but he saw nothing. Then, from the other direction, another scrape. Then, from behind them, another. "We're being hunted."

  "By what?" Zach held out his arms. There was a loud crack, a flash of black light, and then he was holding a three-pronged steel sai in each hand, weapons that matched the black brands etched on his forearms. Every Order of the Blade warrior carried the marks of the weapon that had chosen him when he'd come into his power as a Calydon. Bred for violence,
a Calydon warrior could call out his weapons at any moment, a simple mental summoning that made the steel weapons appear in his hands, instruments of death that were an exact match for the symbols etched on his arms.

  Thano called out his halberds, the long hooked spears looking deadly as ever, with another crack and a flash of black light. "Maybe it's local wood elves inviting us to a night of drunken debauchery and singing. You know how those guys like to party." Apollo snorted, but didn't move, his gaze still fixed on the woods, as if he knew that's where the threat was coming from.

  Ryland's weapons burned to be called out, but he didn't release them. Memories were pounding at his brain, struggling to surface. "I know what's after us."

  "Well, then stop messing around and fill us in." Zach turned as there was another scrape, his sai up and ready.

  Shit. What was it? Ryland could almost remember, almost connect with the memories from seven hundred years ago. "Give me a second—"

  There was a guttural growl from deep in the woods, and suddenly something black streaked out of the woods right toward Zach. It was a misty, shadowy creature with claws and horns that were so faint they were barely visible. Ryland recognized it instantly. "Son of a bitch. It's a talrak!" What was it doing on the earth's surface? They never came out into the light. Ever.

  Zach released a battle cry and swung for the beast.

  "No!" Ryland shouted. "Don't fight it!"

  But Zach jammed his sai into the creature as it lunged for him. His blade disappeared into the shadowed torso, and then the head of the creature became visible, taking shape from the misty outline of its body. Red glowing eyes. A scaled face. A horned nose.

  "Zach!" Thano urged Apollo into a gallop as the talrak raked its claws over Zach's chest. He hurled his halberd into the creature, but the moment he did so, its shoulders became solid, taking true form.

  "Don't fight it!" Ryland shouted. "You're feeding it!" He whirled around, frantically searching for something he could use against it. A Calydon weapon would never work. The talrak would absorb its violence, using the dark energy to make itself corporeal. If it became fully corporeal, they were in serious trouble. He needed something pure and selfless to kill it. Shit! What the hell would fit that bill up here?