Paranormally Yours: A Boxed Set

by Alisha Basso

  I wanted badly to come up with a retort but my wrists began burning again. All of my small movements caused my skin to tear and bleed in earnest. Blood trickled slowly down my inner arms and I looked at him, biting my lip in pain as a rough bit of rope rubbed into my wounds.

  An odd look had taken over his face. He tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes. Breathing in slowly I could hear the air enter and leave his lungs and then he moved.

  In a blink, he was straddling my hips.

  I jerked with shock, sucking in a huge gulp of air I slammed backward. He placed his hands on my arms. Bending low, I held my breath as he brought his face close to my neck. I whimpered as he smelled his way up my neck and past my ear until he was sitting straight up again. I couldn’t speak. My brain was too busy deciding how it should react. I was still pissed, but sadly, that emotion was warring for dominance with my mounting alarm and sadly, my incredible desire for this beautiful shit head of a man. He gently placed his hands on the ropes at my wrists all the while his breathing was slow and controlled. I thought he was going to untie the rope, until I felt his warm tongue sliding down my arm, following the ribbons of fresh blood.

  I stifled a shriek. His mouth was hot; the feeling was more sensuous than it should have been, considering what he was doing. I should have been freaking out, but, for some strange reason, I was incredibly aroused. It had to be due to the fact that he was gorgeous and currently sitting on top of me. His tongue was velvet soft, making things low in my body wake up from their long slumber.

  Seth stopped licking my arms and gently untied the rope. He held both of my wrists over my head with one hand in an incredibly strong grip that said, don’t even try it. I was dumbstruck. He drew my wrists close, again, his tongue bathed the damaged skin. Oddly, it actually started to feel better. My heart hammered and I was beginning to hyperventilate. What the hell was happening? I thought wildly.

  He gently grasped my jaw with his free hand, turning my gaze to meet his. I slammed my head back, knocking my skull on the hard wood of the headboard. My skin chilled and I felt the air leave my lungs as I stared into the black shinning eyes of a monster.

  He had my blood on his lips and a smile stolen from a nightmare.

  EIGHT

  I was having one of those denial episodes the human brain seems to grant you in moments of sheer terror and I just stared. My mind refused to make sense of what I was seeing. I knew what I was looking at but it wasn’t possible so it couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be real.

  He couldn’t be. I blinked rapidly as the truth stared at me with lifeless eyes.

  Seth was a vampire.

  Everything Lucian said finally made sense. Impossible as it was, he was telling me the truth. No way would I ever have believed him. My heart sank, that was why we met in a church. That was why he wanted me to stay at his house. Damn, I could be such a jackass! But who could blame me?

  He’d gone completely still, hovering close to my face as he allowed me time to process. At least I hoped that explained his calm. Oh God, his eyes were scary as hell and I squeaked as he leaned closer toward me. His grip on my jaw became unyielding. I yelped and tried to move even further back but the headboard was halting any progress. I could feel his breath on my cheek.

  This was it, I was dead. His breath continued to steam my cheek as I wracked my brain. Then I had a flash of intelligence. I remembered what Lucian had told me. He said I was The One. If vampires were real, then I had to trust that the Madea were real as well.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to sense the ring. I didn’t have much trouble because it was presently pushing a hole through my jaw. I blew out my breath and relaxed my body. Concentrating on the cool metal, I felt it tingle against my skin. Then I had it. A connection.

  I pictured Seth flying backward onto the floor.

  Instantly, his hands were gone. My eyes shot open as he was violently jerked from my body. I scrambled to my feet and stood up on the bed, rushing to the edge, I looked over. Much to my astonishment, Seth lay on his back! His head was at an odd angle. Apparently he was knocked out cold.

  A voice in my head screamed, Move!

  Jumping off the bed, I ran to him and quickly fumbled for the correct hand. The ring was on his pinkie finger. I slipped it off and shoved it onto my middle finger and then I bolted back onto the bed as fast as I could. The whole thing took only a few seconds. I stood back, since I had no idea how long it took for a real vampire to come to, I braced myself.

  Needless to say it didn’t take long. Almost as quickly as I settled on the bed, he was up. One second he was lying like a broken doll, and the next, he was growling and snarling like a rabid dog. He looked like he might pounce on me, so I held up my hand. The ring reflected brilliantly in his eyes, and I screamed, “Stop!”

  He took a step back and threw his hand in front of his face. His utter bewilderment was almost funny. His eyes grew huge as I watched him realize that I had gotten the best of him. Obviously, he had underestimated me.

  He tensed. If he leapt, I was toast.

  “Stand back,” I yelled in warning, “or you’ll find your ass right back on that floor.” My voice never shook and I actually felt pretty confident.

  His eyes bled back to their beautiful silvery-blue and he visibly gathered himself.

  “You surprise me, Grace,” he said, his voice mild. His eyebrows drew together, betraying his anger. “I must admit, I was unsure the ring would work with only your touch. The legend said as much. I am pleased to see that we will not be disappointed.”

  I could taste the lie. He was disturbed. I could feel his anger like heat on my skin. In fact from the second I put the ring on, I felt strange. My body was humming with energy, as if I had chugged a gallon of Red Bull with an espresso chaser. I wasn’t sure if it was the power coursing through me, or the fact that I just knocked Seth on his ass, but I was feeling pretty bullet-proof.

  The look on his face told me I’d better not be too overconfident.

  “Well,” I smiled, my hands on my hips, “now that we’ve established that the ring truly belongs to me, what do you suggest we do?” I pursed my lips, my brows high, “I am not sticking around if that’s what you think, you’re crazy. And, well, easy conversation might be a little awkward, considering the circumstances that brought me here.” I took a small step backward. Regardless of how I was feeling, he was still a scary vampire with a pretty long reach.

  He ignored me and held out his hand, presumably to help me down from the bed. I blinked at his outstretched hand and then I let my eyes slide up to settle on his face. God, why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? I felt my face fill with heat again. Oooh! I thought, utterly exasperated with myself. This was absurd! I blew out a breath and gave him my hand.

  With this small contact, my mind was suddenly flooded with a rush of turbulent thoughts. Seth, oh God I was in his head. He was furious. I had, in a simple moment of miscalculation, royally screwed his epic plans and his mind was racing to find a way to overcome me. Oh, my God! I just read his mind. I wasn’t sure how, it just flooded in! But his weren’t the only voices in my head. There was a sea of buzzing conversations. My mind was full, like an old radio tuned into too many stations at once. I shook my head, massaging my forehead with my fingertips, and stepped toward the edge of the bed. His hand was warm. Didn’t vampires have to borrow their warmth? It made me wonder who his dinner was, and if they had been willing. I turned my head, glancing at his beautiful profile. Yeah, it was pretty easy to guess that they were probably more than willing.

  I was kind of dizzy and sort of stumbled when I stepped off the bed. I probably looked like a drunken hippo. Seth braced me with little effort. The bed seemed taller than it had been when I was leaping for my life and I had to practically hop to sit on it. I was trying to tune into his head again when something happened to my vision. It began to blur as the voices in my brain cleared and then inexplicably, my mind was sucked into a conversation. It was close. I pictured the h
ouse I was in. Yes, they were just outside the room. A man and woman were arguing. I reached out with my mind and focused. It felt like my mind was taking a walk without my body. It was an incredible sensation. I didn’t fight it, and the voices grew louder.

  “Why did he have to take her?” the woman sounded pissed. “It’s not like he needs another piece of ass.” There was jealousy in her voice. “It’s an intrusion. Perhaps he just wants to play with her a little, then goodbye, off to a shallow, unmarked grave in the desert.”

  “You sound like a shunned little bitch in heat,” the man was speaking low, his tone harsh. “Arian told us she was the one. Do you know what that means, Chloe? It means, Seth works her over a bit, she begs for her life, offers him anything to spare her. Then our boy gets her to use her powers for us. She’ll be our little puppet. As long as Seth holds the strings, we’ll be invincible.”

  “I still don’t believe it. She was not that impressive, and how do we know she’s not a fraud? I don’t believe this human is worth even a second of his time.”

  “You’re jealous and it makes you stupid. You’ve gotta see the bigger picture. If she is a Madea, we’ll have unlimited power. Think of it, you want a small country? Done! You want that asshole at the Quickie Mart to fry to a crisp? Done! And that’s thinking small. We could control the weather, tell the future, whatever! If those legends are true, all we've got to do is think of it. Seth will scare her a bit, and it’s done.”

  “I think you’ve gotten stupid, Edmond!” the woman hissed. “Would you listen to yourself? She is nothing! The legends are all bullshit. Seth doesn’t need her, none of us do. The quicker everyone realizes that, the better off we’ll all be.”

  I slammed back into myself. I guess my mind had heard enough. The rest of me agreed. “It would seem your little minions don’t think I’m very special,” I stated mockingly. “Well, at least your bitter little girlfriend doesn’t.” I turned to face him, my arms folded. “Edmond, on the other hand, well, he seems to have some real big plans for me. In fact,” I narrowed my eyes, “it would seem you had some pretty big plans for me yourself.” I stared at him, my eyebrows high in accusation.

  He looked equally amazed and uncomfortable. Clearly he didn’t expect this little turn of events. Well, the ring was just shocking the shit out of all of us today, wasn’t it? Thank heaven it was on my side.

  “So,” I continued, “the plan was what? Scare me to death? Make me so afraid that I’d do anything that you wanted me to?” I stood up, then turning, I shoved him as hard as I could onto the bed and he fell back. He looked a little shell-shocked. “Let me give you a little tip, Oh Mighty Vampire,” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “The next time you try to scare a woman into submission, try not to turn her on first.”

  I held my fists at my sides and leaned over, placing my face close to his. He met my eyes, his jaw clenched in irritation and then he lowered his eyes and I did too and then I wanted to die. Horrified. I stood and covered my face with my hands. For some reason the people who make flimsy little slips of silk tend to design them for sex. I was not here for sex, despite the fact that he was a dream made flesh, I had to concentrate on my anger and getting out of here. Yet, I had just flashed him almost all of my breasts. It was hard to be strong and dominating when your nipples are peeking out of your clothes. I lowered my hands from my flaming face and met his eyes.

  He stood quickly; a fluid motion that forced me backward. His expression made my stomach clench. Sweat rushed to my palms and my breath quickened. He took a step closer forcing me back. My breath caught as he closed the space between us, stalking me, until I was pressed firmly against the wall. My hands came up to press against his hard chest. I could smell his hair, his skin. He was so close. I looked up into his eyes; part of me expected him to be terrifying, ready to strike. My breath left my body, he was so beautiful that my arms went limp. I felt drunk.

  He slowly lowered his head, a test of my will. I was torn. I wanted to run, but I wanted to stay. His mouth was just a whisper away and I licked my lips. That small invitation was all that he needed and he was on me. He pushed his soft lips to mine, molding my mouth, kissing me expertly. I was hot all over as he pulled my tongue into his mouth with delicious suction. I explored the velvety warmth, swirling my tongue over the needle tips of his frightening teeth. There were no traces of my coppery blood left on his lips. His hands were strong, firmly holding me to him, molding themselves around my ribs, sliding up to cup my breasts. He was commanding the kiss; his mind was inexplicably opened to me. All of his thoughts were carnal, his plans for dominating me turning quickly toward another form of domination.

  He pushed me back onto the bed, his eyes burning into mine. I released his hair from its confinement and it spilled around us in a heavy curtain of silk. Soft and heavy, it covered us like a sheet. His short nails scratched along my skin as he drew the thin straps of my slip off my shoulders. Slowly, he traced a line down the center of my chest. He massaged my breasts. Lowering his head, he lightly nipped the skin of one white mound. I could feel the twin points of his sharp teeth graze my skin. I was burning with too much lust; suffocating as I feasted on sensation. My body was cheering me on, while my brain was whispering in a tiny voice, trying in vain to remind me that I was not a slut. No matter what the guy looked like, I would never go this far so early but my body was a traitor, thrilling in his every movement.

  His hands were everywhere now. The smell of his skin was an intoxicating blend of spice and man. It fogged my head, making me forget myself. I was completely tuned into him. His thoughts poured into my head like wine and I purred inside. He wanted me. He thought I was beautiful, amazing and so damn sexy. That spurred me on even more. Every insecurity I had didn’t occur to him. I was reeling in euphoria, until, sudden and unwelcome, one thought crept to the surface. Hunger and desire of another sort began to take hold of his mind. He wanted inside me. His body and his teeth. That thought stopped me cold. His desire for blood was growing rapidly as he neared his limit of resistance. We hadn’t gone far enough for him. He was leading me towards the final act very slowly but now he was losing his control and he didn’t mind.

  “Wait,” I stammered. “No, I can’t be doing this, not with you.” I was panting, my voice barely a whisper. I had to stop this. No way was he getting another drop of my blood. I had to move. My god we could have had sex. I wanted to cry.

  He was on his hands and knees, glaring down at me. I wiggled, squirming out from under him.

  “Seth,” I breathed, “Seth!” I tried to push at him, “I can’t do this, and I won’t do this. Whatever you had in mind can’t happen.” He sat back and I quickly rolled, fumbling to the edge of the bed. I hopped off and took a few steps away. I needed more space between us.

  “We aren’t finished here, Grace,” he whispered. I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath, “You want me as much as I want you.” He tilted his chin down. Looking up at me through his hair, he said, “Why not take me?” His eyes swirled, becoming darker. “I can be anything you want me to be.” He slid slowly over to kneel on all fours, “I will do anything and everything you want me to do. I have no inhibitions, I will never deny you.” He crawled toward me and I felt my resolve weaken. His hair was so long, the ends pooled onto the bed, blending in perfectly with the sheets. He rose to his knees, “Come back to my bed, Sweet.” He held his hand out once again, the other hand went to his shirt and began the slow torture of unfastening the buttons. My eyes were riveted as he slowly removed the garment, his beautiful hands sweeping slowly across his skin. “Would it be so terrible to give in to me?” he whispered. His eyes were intoxicating pools, promising passion and danger.

  I was in so much trouble. The picture he made was impossible to resist. He was lust. His chest was pure male perfection. My eyes followed a small trail of black hair from his navel down into the dark waistband of his pants. His abs were strong and clearly defined under his perfect pale skin.

  I knew in that in
stant what I had to do…Run away.

  I couldn’t stay another second in the same room with him. No way was I that strong. In one quick movement, I turned, grabbed for the doorknob, twisted it, and yanked it open. My bare feet sank into the lush carpet as I moved. I was running full out but the hall seemed to go on forever. Then, unexpectedly it spilled into a massive white room. I spun around, frantically looking for a door or a window. I couldn’t see a single one. It seemed the only way out was the way I came and that was not an option.

  I ran to the center of the room. It held several solid, stark white couches. Huge paintings of abstract naked people hung on the walls. It was like standing inside an expensively decorated marshmallow. Moving deeper into the room, my eyes surveyed the furniture. My gaze fell on a shape and I froze. I was not alone.

  Lounging on an overstuffed sofa, like a contented kitty cat, was a petite woman. Her short blond hair made her look like a little pixie. However, judging from the look on her face, she was an angry little pixie. She shot off the couch and stalked towards me on impossibly high heels. They sank into the carpet with each step. She should have been stumbling, but she moved gracefully. She wore too much white in the form of a denim skirt that could fit a toddler, and a shirt of torn mesh with a white tank top underneath. Her clothing was a little too eighties for my taste, but who was I to judge?

  “And where are you off to, human?” she sneered the word as if it were dirty. Her top lip curled to reveal her tiny pointed teeth. This had to be Chloe, the little twit that was having such a hissy-fit about me earlier. “Did Seth tire of you so soon?” she simpered.