Paranormally Yours: A Boxed Set

by Alisha Basso

  I giggled and carried him to my room while the three OS wardens watched. When he saw what Nock had crafted, his eyes softened. “You made me a cave. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, Lily Starbuck.”

  I didn’t give Nock away. He wouldn’t want me to. When I set Flynn down, he peered in and made a soft snorting noise of pleasure. “A hoard. You also provided me with a treasure.”

  “You saved my ass. It’s worth something.”

  He chuckled and changed into a man. A hot little man with a kilt around his hips, his chest bare and wings of fire.

  Rising into the air, he planted a small kiss against my cheek and then disappeared inside his new cave. When I peeked in, he was stretched out on the gold, back in dragon form and fast asleep.

  “How long is that…animal staying?” Nock inquired sullenly, his arms folded over his chest. “Like we can afford another mouth to feed.”

  “He can’t get back through his portal. It seems that he was accidentally pulled through by whatever spell the mage wrought when he tried to kill the OS wardens. His gate is locked. He’s stranded from his loved ones and home. So, I don’t know. There’s some charity in that gremlin heart of yours, Nock. You built him a cave.”

  “Harumpf,” he said, flushing. “No I didn’t.”

  My voice went soft. “Yes, you did.”

  “Hey,” he said, “maybe it was your Fairy Godmother Gnome. Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo,” he said and went invisible.

  “There’s pizza,” I said to the empty room.

  “It wasn’t me,” he grumbled. “It was those freaking house fairies you’re so fond of mentioning. They did my dirty work. Yeah, I’m a gnome house fairy slave driver.”

  “Sure you are. C’mon. Let’s go eat.”

  It was a good thing that I did make three pizzas. By the time they were devoured, it was getting late.

  I pulled out my cream puffs and set them on a plate, lightly dusting them with powdered sugar. As soon as I set them in the middle of the table, all three wardens reached for one.

  They took bites. Three identical looks of bliss suffused their faces. When they opened their eyes, all of three them gazed at me worshipfully.

  I smiled. “Told you. Worth the wait. I’m going to take the garbage out. I’ll be right back.”

  Fox started to rise, but I motioned him down. “No, enjoy your dessert.”

  I went out of the apartment and down the back stairs to the dumpster. Heading back into the apartment building, I felt a presence behind me, but before I could turn around or react, I was pushed inside the door and against the wall.

  The scent of spring filled my senses and almost overwhelmed me. The scent brought everything back. “What the hell are you doing with three OS wardens?” Talon growled.

  “Back off,” I said, shoving fruitlessly at his chest in an attempt to brazen it out. “That’s really my business, isn’t it? I don’t remember agreeing to collaborate with you.”

  He took another step closer, and my breath suddenly felt trapped in my chest. So much for being brazen. “No, you didn’t agree to collaborate with me, but I didn’t expect you to cozy up to the OS, either. Are you trying to cut some kind of deal with them?”

  “You don’t trust me? Seriously?”

  “We’re not exactly friends.” His voice held a soft, controlled frustration.

  I didn’t back down. I might not be the most experienced person in the world when it came to relationships, but I knew what this part of his frustration was all about. OS Shaman Fox Echohawk. He was jealous. “We’re not exactly enemies.”

  “What we have is a Mexican standoff, ana’astar.”

  I wanted so badly to touch him. I suddenly had a craving to hear that musical resonance to his voice. He didn’t coerce me or enrap me. He just stared at me with those tri-colored green eyes. I remembered with a catch to my breathing and my heart what he’d looked like with only a fraction of his glamour on. Yeah, life was so damned unfair. “I’m tracking down the same mage that OS team is trying to catch. I had information they needed and I want answers. We came to a compromise.”

  His brow furrowed. “Wait, the rogue mage? The one leaking game monsters?”

  “Yes. How do you know about that?”

  “We get alerts from the OS.” His eyes were roving over my face, and he was still too damn close. I pushed at his chest again, but he didn’t budge or soften his stare. “A compromise?”

  I tried to keep my hands from wanting to mold over his muscles. My hands were not cooperating.

  “What compromise?” he insisted.

  “I’m working with the OS.”

  “What?” he groaned. “Are you kidding me?”

  “Would I kid you, Agent Sunstrike?”

  “Lily, you should just drop this and, as of right now, avoid the notice of both the FDA and the OS. Neither of us is forgiving. It’s healthier for you. Go back to catering and cooking. What you do best.”

  “I know you’re not trying to say that my place is in the kitchen,” I growled.

  He was undaunted. “Get out of this before you get hurt, or worse. What do you owe your business partner? She stabbed you in the back, betrayed you in so many ways.”

  Memories flooded over me. Memories of the Olivia who had taken in a destitute and scared woman. Olivia, who had given me clothes, taught me, loved me like a sister. All the times we had worked together through the night, both of us giving all we had to give so that our business flourished.

  My hands curled against Talon’s leather jacket. “There was good there. She saved me. I don’t know what her reasons were for what she did, but she gave me something precious. She was my family. I know you don’t understand, because you have your full memory, not just a fraction of your life. But I can’t let this go. I can’t.”

  “Lily,” he said softly, compassion in his eyes. I’d seen into his heart, into his soul. I knew him like no one else knew him. We had melded in more ways than the fae word indicated, not just a meeting of the body. With Talon and me, that couldn’t easily be forgotten. So I knew that compassion. It was warm and strong, the color of it a soft-hued yellow. “Dammit, Lily. You’re going to be foolish and do what you want. I can’t stop you.”

  “No, you can’t. But can I count on you?”

  “You’re asking me to go against my oath. Against the FDA, and against everything I’ve worked for.” He closed his eyes and stood there for a moment.

  His chest pressed against my hands.

  “What we shared…”

  “Wasn’t long-term. We agreed, Talon. It has to be this way.”

  “My head knows that, Lily, my logical, methodical mind knows that, but it doesn’t seem to do any good. No commitments, right?” His voice was just-rolled-out-of-bed rough.

  “What are you saying, then?” I asked, tipping my chin up slightly as he shifted closer. I was trapped between hard plaster and wood and an even harder fae. “What is it you want, Talon?”

  “Something forbidden. Something I shouldn’t want. Can’t have.” His lips curved then, and my knees went totally wobbly.

  His eyes were so dark, so deep, I swore I could fall right into them and never climb back out. And with a fae that was very possible. And his smile made it dizzyingly clear that he was on the verge of compromising more than his promise to the FDA.

  I couldn’t let him do it. My heart protested, but there was no getting around it. I was so tired and couldn’t protect myself from this kind of full-out assault on my senses. Or on my mind. Or…hell, what part of me didn’t he affect? He muddled me up far too easily. I needed clarity and toughness right now.

  I heard clomping on the stairs and Fox’s voice. “Lily?”

  Talon tensed and the sword at his hip materialized. I swallowed. Hard. “Talon, stop it!” I hissed. Then called out, “Yes, I’ll be right up.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. Just a minute.” I heard his retreating steps. “Is that all?”

  �
�No,” he said, stepping even closer, invading my personal space. “I don’t like that shaman.”

  “No kidding,” I said exasperated.

  But everything went liquid when he lifted his hand, barely brushing the underside of my chin with his fingertips, and tipped my head back a bit further. Goddess help me, I let him.

  “I think about you,” he said, his voice nothing more than a rough whisper. My skin tingled as if the words themselves had brushed against me. “Too often. You distract me.”

  “That could be fatal. Stop thinking about me.”

  “I…can’t,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure how to defuse this, because it seemed as if my willpower had simply drained out of me. What made me shiver wasn’t his attempt to seduce me with his power. It was his refusal to manipulate me with his power that shook my resolve.

  “Get over it,” I said, trying to infuse my voice with as much toughness as I could possibly muster.

  His smile broadened as his mouth lowered slowly toward mine. “Lily, you’re not as tough as you try to act.”

  I had a split second to decide whether to let him kiss me, and spent a moment lying to myself that I was actually strong enough to do the right thing and turn my head away. Who was I kidding? My body was alive around him, humming in anticipation, and it was all I could do to keep from grabbing his head and hurrying him the hell up.

  Just a stolen kiss. That was all.

  His lips brushed across mine. Warm, so achingly soft, but the right amount of firm. He slid his fingers along the back of my neck, beneath the weight of my hair, sent a delicious little shiver all the way down my spine.

  He dropped another whisper of a kiss across my lips, then another, inviting me to participate. I think if he’d tried to coerce me this would have been over already, but even though he could—he knew it and I knew it—he didn’t.

  “This could be the death of us both,” I hushed out on a heated breath.

  He closed his eyes and just hovered over me, not responding. Then they popped open, his glamour still in place. Oh, how I wanted him to drop it.

  I held his gaze for what felt like eternity, then slowly lowered my eyelids as I closed the distance between us and kissed him back.

  His fingers tightened against the back of my neck when I opened my mouth on his, then pressed a bit harder as he accepted the invitation.

  The scent of leather mingled with spring made me melt more as I surrendered myself to the feeling of Talon Sunstrike sliding his tongue into my mouth. And I remembered him like his soul was a part of mine and my soul was a part of his. I heard a deep, sensual groan, and realized distantly that it was my own.

  I slid the palms of my hands up the butter-soft leather to his neck. He twisted and made a soft cry when they skimmed over the bite marks on his neck. Fanning out over his broad shoulders, my fingers sank into the hard muscle I remembered there, then burrowed into all those satiny red waves, the silver clasps in his hair cool against my seeking fingers. He pressed his hips into me, growling just a little as I traced his soft but firm tapered ears all the way to the point.

  He fit perfectly between my legs and I pushed back, cradling the hard bulge that pressed there as I clutched at his head to keep his mouth on mine.

  Abruptly his head jerked up and he stepped away from me, turning toward the back door. The dark-haired fae came through, Laric Brightblade, I think his name was.

  “What is taking you so long?” the fae said eyeing me then Talon.

  There was a rush of cool air that I welcomed against my hot skin. Reality flooded back in a painful rush. “He was bothering me with more inane questions,” I said angrily. “Do you have any?”

  He looked at me, then at Talon. I walked between the two males and put my foot on the first step.

  “You’re wasting your time on a wild goose chase. I have nothing to say and nothing to hide.”

  I looked at Talon and his face was carefully neutral.

  “Don’t bother me again,” I said, and his eyes shifted to mine as he got my message. It was suicide for me and a career-ender for him.

  I kept moving as the wonder of his touch swirled within me. I pushed it away as disaster toyed with my nerve endings and chased me up the stairs.

  Chapter Sixteen

  After sleeping like the dead for twelve hours, I woke up to find most of the packing was close to completion. I silently thanked Nock for using his house fairy magic, since, if I said it aloud he would deny everything. He was probably looking forward to his new closet space.

  I accessed my phone to find that Katie had given my name out to two of her friends and then she’d passed it on to two others, panicking when I realized I was looking at six jobs within the next two weeks.

  I sat on the edge of my bed and bit my lip. There was only one thing I could do.

  “Nock,” I called.

  He appeared in my room with both hands over his eyes. “Are you decent?”

  “She’s the most decent person I’ve ever met,” Flynn said preening his wings.

  He huffed. “I meant is she naked? Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “No, she’s not naked.”

  Nock dropped his hands. “Why can he stay in your room and I can’t?” Nock said with a pout and fat bottom lip.

  “It’s only temporary.”

  He seemed mollified, but still gave the small dragon a nasty look.

  “Why did you call for me?”

  “First, thanks for doing so much packing.”

  “It wasn’t me.”

  “Nock…never mind.” I didn’t have the energy to argue with him about domestic chores. “I need to see your aunt today. Can you dirt elevator me?”

  “Sure. Does he have to come?”

  “Yes, he’s part of our family now. Besides, Tilly would love to get a look at him and make his acquaintance.”

  I shooed both of them out of my room and took a long, hot shower. Afterward, I looked in the mirror and saw my living tattoo was quiet, just hanging out on my shoulder. Unable to help myself, I looked for it and found Talon’s small tree of life still etched into the base of the wave. I closed my eyes as the memory of being with him overwhelmed me. My heart beat faster and my body heated while I gripped the sink and tried to breathe around the hot memory of his mouth, those vines, and the way his magic felt pulsing against my skin, surrounding me. Our connection to the Earth. I trembled with the memory.

  I pushed it all away. I had to let my infatuation with that damn fae go. I had made that clear to him last night. Why couldn’t I get the same message through my own head? I thought of Fox then and pushed thoughts about him away, too. I was working with him now. It wasn’t a good idea to have those kinds of thoughts about co-workers.

  Fox would be a better relationship choice. What was I thinking? Talon wasn’t a choice. He wasn’t a possibility. He was nothing but risk tied up with danger wrapped around disaster.

  I could lay this whole thing at Olivia’s feet, too. If not for her, I would never have even had sex with Talon. I wouldn’t have met him. Wouldn’t that have been a shame? “Dammit,” I muttered, going out into my bedroom and angrily shoving myself into a pair of faded jeans and a white peasant blouse. I shrugged into a blue hoodie.

  Emerging from my room, I called for Nock, and I was so preoccupied with what I wanted to ask Tilly, the dirt ride was over before I realized it. Flynn was the one making most of the conversation, so tickled about being under the earth. He was impressed with Nock, but my little gnome friend wasn’t quite ready to accept the legendary dragon just yet.

  “Tilly? Are you here?” I called as Nock deposited us into the main room of his aunt’s home.

  “Lily? Is that you?” she said coming out of the kitchen wiping her hands on an apron. When she saw me, her eyes lit up. “What brings you here so early in the morning? Have you had breakfast?”

  “No, not yet.”

  Then she saw Flynn and went still. I saw her reach for a chair before sitting down
heavily into it. “A dragon of Tser. Good Tweek!”

  I rushed over as Flynn spread his small wings for balance.

  “What is it? Are you all right?”

  “It’s the shock of seeing something mythical,” Nock admonished me. “We should have given her some warning.”

  “It’s not that,” Tilly said. “He’s a harbinger.”

  I looked at Flynn, but he looked just as puzzled as I was. “Harbinger of what?” I said.

  “The black dragon.”

  “Tilly, there are no black dragons.”

  “Yes, there is,” she said. “One big, evil monster, but no one has seen him for…forever. No one really knows what happened to him,” she said, looking at me with something like awe in her eyes. “No one has seen him in a very long time, but there is a prophecy that states:

  He will return on the wings of the legendary

  The forerunner

  The harbinger

  And when he comes, the sky will go black

  The Earth will tremble

  And be no more.”

  “Auntie, that’s an old wives tale,” Nock snorted. “You read that to me like a bedtime story.”

  I wasn’t going to say anything, but portents of doom and destruction didn’t seem like good bedtime reading for little kids, gnome or otherwise. Seemed like a setup for a nightmare.

  Tilly tutted and visibly pulled herself together. “I am happy to meet you my little friend,” she said, bowing.

  Flynn inclined his head regally. “It is an honor to meet one so versed in the ways of dragons,” he replied.

  “Well, let’s get you all some food.” She went into the kitchen and served up eggs and toast for us and raw chicken for Flynn.

  As we sat down to eat, Tilly said, “What brings you down to see me, Lily?”

  “I want to know if you’d be interested in helping me out with some cooking like you did when I was ah…incapacitated a few days ago.”

  “Right,” Nock snorted, “incapacitated.” His aunt cuffed the back of his head and he shoveled more eggs into his mouth, giving me a knowing look.

  She beamed. “Of course. I can help out. Were your clients pleased?”

  “According to your nephew they were ecstatic. I can’t thank you enough. You saved my bacon. I wish you’d accepted some of the money.”