Midlife Strife: A Paranormal Women's fiction Novel (Bells and Spells - Book 1)

by M. L. Briers

  When Josh put her down on her feet; Amber didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or jump back on him for a few seconds just to finish off what he’d started. She’d been so close to seeing stars that she practically tore her clothes off with a little help from him.

  “You know there is something I have to do, right?” Josh said and made her brain switch back on.

  “Oh yeah!” Amber said, more than enthusiastic about getting skin-on-skin with him. It felt like a clawing need within her, and it might just have been fate’s magic, but she knew there was more than one happy ending to their union.

  Josh’s brain took a nosedive into his pants the instant she pinged the bar of her bra open, and her full breasts sprung free. He wasn’t sure if he was drooling or not, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away, and the hungry growl just about summed up his next move.

  With his jeans halfway down his shins, and his eyes glued to her breasts, he was more than vulnerable when she launched herself at him, and he fell backwards onto the mattress with his mate on top of him.

  Josh’s beast roared to life and woke him up from his drool-fest. In a heartbeat; he’d rolled her onto her back and came down on top of her. That was better; that was how it should be.

  At any other time in their lives, she could take the lead, but tonight was their first time, and he was claiming her as his mate.

  “Bite,” Josh said out of the blue as his chain of thought caught up with him.

  “Now?” Amber asked a little shocked that they were going to get to the bit she was nervous about before she’d had her bell rung, in a good way.

  Josh shook his head, but his mind was still on catch-up.

  “No?” Amber asked with a little chuckle. He certainly looked like he’d had his bell rung, and not in a good way.

  “Later,” he said.

  “Then what are we waiting for?” she asked with the wickedest smile that Josh had ever seen.

  “You to say yes,” Josh said as if she should have known that already.

  “I’m – naked and just threw myself at you – literally. How much more of a yes do you need?”

  “I need you to agree to be my mate – once I’ve claimed you, Amber – there’s no going back,” he said, and boy did he look serious.

  That gave Amber pause for thought. What did she really know about him, except his father had come for Scott?

  CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

  ~

  Now Marilyn felt like it was nineteen eighty-five again. With the nostalgic tunes playing on Claudia’s phone, and a bottle of beer in their hands, they sat stargazing on the roof of her home. Boy, did they have a great view.

  “I can’t believe the golf guy was going to kill you,” Marilyn said, interrupting Claudia as she chugged the last of the beer and reached for another bottle from the fast depleting six-pack next to her. “I thought they were supposed to be boring.”

  “Oh, they are, most of them,” Claudia said, smacking the bottle top off on a tile.

  “I guess you do have that effect on men,” Marilyn said and snickered into her beer.

  “Thanks for the sympathy,” Claudia tossed back. “Soon to be granny.”

  “Now that was below the belt,” Marilyn said, fingering the grey at her temple that she’d meant to get fixed before Claudia arrived. “Maybe I should just go grey with dignity,” she said like it was an afterthought as she stared off at the stars.

  “There is nothing dignified about letting yourself go…”

  “It’s not letting go, it’s connecting with nature, and nature wants me to be grey.”

  “Well, nature wants you to be dead at some point in the future, but I expect you to fight that as well,” Claudia tossed back.

  “About Amber…”

  “No!”

  “But, shouldn’t we…?”

  “Nope!”

  “Just a little…”

  “Not happening,” Claudia said, reached for another bottle of beer, and shoved it at her. “You’re falling behind.”

  “I’ll be falling off the roof if I have any more,” Marilyn muttered.

  “Maybe the vampire can rush and save you,” Claudia said with a sing-song tone that caused Marilyn to do a double-take.

  “Would you stop about Neal and…?”

  “I would love to hear the end of that,” Neal said, from behind them, and Marilyn’s shoulders practically covered her ears as she stared ahead, mortified. “But, as a gentleman, I should warn you that I’m here.”

  “Gentleman?” Claudia snorted a chuckle. “Please, you pee standing up like the rest of the patriarchal masses.”

  “Oh, a feminist,” Neal said, and both women turned to stare at him. “I love feminists,” he said enthusiastically. They both started to turn back. “Very tasty.”

  “That’s it,” Marilyn said, turning in place to scowl at him. “You should leave – this roof is a man free zone.”

  “That’s sexist,” Neal said.

  Marilyn looked at Claudia, who shrugged in return. “Kind of is,” Claudia said.

  “Well, maybe that’s one in the eye for all your years of being a male chauvinist pig,” Marilyn reasoned.

  “Can I get a beer?” Neal asked and reached for one. Claudia slapped his hand.

  “Maybe you should have thought ahead before joining the party,” she said.

  “If I’m to be subjected to all of the ills of men then I’d like to numb it with a beer,” he said. But Claudia didn’t look swayed by his argument. “And I just saved your life.”

  “That’s true,” Marilyn said.

  “Can’t you ask for blood, not beer, like a normal vampire?”Claudia replied.

  Neal’s gaze flicked to Marilyn then back to Claudia. “Are you offering?”

  “Nope,” Claudia said and handed him a beer.

  “Tease,” Marilyn chuckled, snatching a look at Neal before she went back to gazing at the stars.

  “Is this some kind of reclaiming your youth thing?” Neal asked, and Marilyn snapped a look at him.

  “What?” Claudia scowled. “Because we are in the prime of life we can’t sit on a roof drinking beer?”

  “You can do as you please,” Neal replied. “I was just asking for a friend.”

  “Prime of life?” Marilyn shook her head.

  “Now you’ve started her off again,” Claudia admonished him. Then she turned her attention to Marilyn. “If you mention middle-age once more tonight I will personally push you off the roof.”

  “What’s wrong with being middle-aged?” Neal asked. “I’ve been that way for a few centuries and…”

  “Oh, sure,” Marilyn snorted. “A silver fox – what would you know about slippage and gravity?”

  “I know I may have a cure for that,” he offered, and she turned a scowl on him. “Or not.” He didn’t want to get back on her bad side if he’d ever left it.

  Maybe now wasn’t the time to offer the key to eternal youth. His blood could do that – just a sip or two a day, and it would slow down the ageing process, maybe even turn it back a little. A lot of his blood and then a permanent slumber, and she’d never have to age a day ever again.

  If the death glare she was giving him was any indication of her feelings on the subject; he’d keep that news to himself.

  ~

  Amber had to consider the most important thing; fate. If fate said they were the perfect fit, then she needed to trust in that. The fact that he was eye-candy and had rock hard abs didn’t even cross her mind – more than every other time she looked at him.

  It might have been like getting a marriage proposal on the first date-not-a-date – he had rescued her from a possible untimely death – at the hands of his father, but she didn’t think that counted as dating.

  “Yes, I’ll be your mate,” she said, almost sure it was the right thing to do.

  What marriage didn’t start with second thoughts? Sure, those thoughts were normally at the church; him with a fast car waiting, her with the urge to run for the hills
– so what if she was naked under his sex-god body with soulful puppy-dog eyes staring hopefully back at her.

  Everybody’s journey was different.

  Amber knew she’d made the right decision the moment he smiled – it wasn’t just any smile, it was like she’d given him the best Christmas present ever, and what that was going to be, she didn’t have a clue because she knew nothing about him.

  Oh, Goddess – was this a mistake? She wondered, and then his lips came down on hers, and the only thought in her mind was – more. More of him, more of his hard body, more of his kisses, and more of what was pressing against her thigh – she so wanted that to be somewhere else – and pronto.

  When he broke away from kissing her, she realised she could breathe. That didn’t last long. He started a downward journey that was leading to one place, and he may have taken a detour, licking, nipping, kissing her body along the way, but when he got to where he was going – who needed to breathe?

  Amber was swept up in the moment. She wasn’t sure how many moments it took to reach the top of the mountain, but when he got her there; he wasn’t teasing, and that tight knot exploded within her like the biggest damn firework she’d ever encountered.

  Hell’s Bells! If this was the rest of her life with Josh, then she didn’t care if he farted at the dinner table, left his socks on the floor, and the toilet seat up. Everybody had their little trade-offs, and this was hers.

  But it didn’t stop there, and why would it? Amber was craving the main event even before she’d caught sight of him on all fours climbing over her body, like a predator – like a big, bad wolf.

  His dark eyes were locked and loaded on hers, and there was a hungry look that said; she was going to enjoy this.

  “You haven’t changed your mind?” he growled, a literal growl that rumbled along with his words, and boy was that as sexy as hell.

  “What are you nuts?” Amber said and tried to hook him around the neck to bring him to her, but he snagged that wrist, and then the other, and pushed them down against the bed.

  Wow. Amber had never really thought that being caged in by an alpha male would be her thing – but how wrong could one girl be? She did know that if he sprung a whip on her, he was going to get it back where the sun didn’t shine!

  No worries there; Josh had something much better than a whip in mind, and as he slowly entered her; the silken walls tightly sheathing his hard length, she made the kind of sound a man would die to hear again, and again.

  Josh’s beast pushed forward; the need to claim her, to put their mark into her skin to ward all others away was overwhelming. He’d never known a feeling like it before; every inch of his mind, body and soul vowed to protect her for the rest of his life.

  Some bonds could never be broken; this was one of the most sacred.

  Josh felt the fire within his blood; the need to claim her was clawing within him. He wrapped a strong arm around her body and drew her against his chest. He had a rhythm that had captured the feminine heart of her and was taking her right back up that mountain, and Amber voiced her encouragement the whole way there.

  When he released the tight hold he’d kept on his beast, his fangs elongated, and he quickened that rhythm in deep, long strokes that took her to the hilt and back, bringing her so close to the next orgasm that she couldn’t breathe in anticipation of what was to come.

  Josh dipped his head and held his jaws open over the smooth, soft skin of her shoulder. The moment that he felt her inner muscles pulse around his length; he bit down into her flesh and tasted her blood on his tongue.

  Josh’s beast roared within him. The claim was made, the mark sealed into her skin by his tongue, and his beast retreated. Now, the fire grew within his blood for the completion of the bond between them.

  Amber held on for the ride. Ecstasy and pain had mixed with Josh’s bite, but she didn’t have a mind to think on that bite or how it would look when he flipped her onto her hands and knees on the bed and entered her to the hilt.

  Damn, she’d known it was going to be a wild ride, but her body was responding to him in ways that she’d never known. Amber didn’t care about how she looked, if she was giving as good as she got, or even if there would be a next time. She was all in and being thoroughly loved by the man that she’d spend eternity with.

  Josh’s arms came down on either side of her as he caged her in, and she could feel his chest brushing her back as he rode low over her. The deep thrusts that took her back and forth on his hard length rubbed over the sensitive nub of nerves, and she could feel that storm brewing inside her once more.

  Holding on for the ride was right. Amber fisted the sheets, arched her back, and accepted everything he had to give.

  Josh’s muscles felt like they were on fire; twisted and taut to breaking point as he lost his mind and soul to his mate. The moment she cried out; he let go of that tether to the real world and embraced the bond.

  The instant that he felt the buzz whoosh up his spine; he threw his head back, buried his length to the hilt, and felt the explosion throughout his body.

  The mating howl that burst from within him rattled the furniture around them, but neither mate noticed – caught up together in a world of pleasure as their souls united as one.

  CHAPTER FORTY NINE

  ~

  “She’s a little defensive about her age,” Claudia whispered to Neal from behind her hand, but Marilyn heard her anyway.

  “I’m not defensive; I just think we should age backwards,” Marilyn said and laid back against the slate tiles to look at the sky above her.

  The sound of a wolf’s howl ripped through the peace of the night. Marilyn shot bolted upright like a vampire from the grave, and almost lost her balance in the process. She recovered – the same couldn’t be said for the bottle of beer that skidded off the roof and smashed on the patio below.

  “The heart wants what the heart wants,” Claudia said.

  Neal chuckled. “And when did you start writing a cheesy help column in a newspaper?”

  “I’m just saying – you can’t fight fate,” Claudia said. She noted the way Marilyn just stared out into the distance, her mouth open, and her shoulders back up around her ears. That didn’t look good – she might have to swap beer for tequila.

  “Well, poop!” Marilyn bit out and turned a slow look towards Claudia. “I lost my beer.”

  Claudia snatched the last beer from the pack and held it out. “And Amber just might have made you a grandma,” Claudia grinned.

  If Marilyn wasn’t about to have a meltdown about her daughter mated to a shifter, then she was fair game in the teasing department.

  Marilyn snatched the beer and grumbled. “Well, at least I’ll know what to get her as a just mated present,” she tossed back.

  Claudia looked at the empty bottle in her hand and sighed. “I need more beer. I’ll be back.” Then she gingerly picked her way back across the roof tiles and headed back in through the open window with a squeal and a thud as she slipped and dove in headfirst. “I’m good!” she shouted back.

  “Must have landed on your head,” Marilyn said and chuckled.

  Claudia’s head and shoulders popped back out of the window. “I heard that.”

  “Nothing wrong with your hearing then,” Marilyn tossed back.

  “Do we want snacks?” Claudia asked.

  Neal grinned again. “Stop teasing.”

  “Bite – her,” Claudia said and disappeared again, leaving them alone.

  “Now that’s an interesting thought,” Neal said, moving to sit beside Marilyn.

  Marilyn offered him a little side-eye. “I guarantee you’ll lose your fangs,” she said.

  Neal leaned in toward her. “It’s not like I haven’t tasted your blood before…”

  “Extraordinary circumstances,” she reminded him.

  “But still,” he said and left it there. Neal had managed to put that memory in her mind, and he hoped she’d be thinking about it.

  “Why ar
e you here?” Marilyn asked, trying to shake the memory of him feeding on her. There were reasons, and they were good ones, but she didn’t want to rekindle the past – not tonight – maybe not ever.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he said.

  “Fine, tell me about Roland,” she said. The vampire was still out there, even if Josh’s father was trying to throw him off Scott’s scent.

  “It’s a done deal. Cain isn’t dead, and Roland is satisfied that Scott is,” he replied.

  “What if…?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge if it comes to it,” he assured her.

  “We?”

  “I’m staying for a while,” Neal said, and she wasn't sure what she thought about that.

  “You too? This weekend has turned into quite the town reunion; maybe we should have a party at the high school.”

  “Claudia’s staying?”

  “Won’t that be nice for you?” Marilyn offered him a smirk, but he didn’t answer her. “So, why are you back?”

  “Didn’t we just cover that?”

  “You didn’t answer.”

  Neal stared straight ahead. He had a choice to make. Lie or tell her the truth. “You want the truth?”

  “I asked, didn’t I?”

  “I came back for you, Marilyn.”

  Marilyn felt the rush of a breeze just as his words hit her, and boy did they hit her hard. She turned to look at him, but he was gone, and now all she had were a whole lot of questions that she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers to.

  “Well,” she said, raising the bottle to her lips and hesitating as she thought long and hard about the vampire’s words. “That’ll make life interesting.”

  The End.

  Thanks for reading.

  I hoped you enjoyed the first book in the new series.

  Some of you asked for longer reads. I hoped this hit the mark.

  Please, let me know what you think, and if you could leave a review on Amazon that would make my day. I’d love to know if you’d liked your visit to their world; who is your favourite, and if I’m hitting the spot?