Howl & Growl: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by Various Authors

  He drank of her sacred blood, tainted her essence as He fed from her, but she was wrapped in His arms. Still felt that shaft pulse with life inside of her as He drank deep.

  Though that time… that time she didn’t feel the all-encompassing corruption. She didn’t feel like how before he had altered her physically as well. Her ivory skin remained as it was, her pale hair as pristine as it was when she’d first taken the elixir.

  Whatever had happened to her, she was his body and soul, but her dainty flesh retained its alabaster perfection as her Master fed off of her, cradled and doted upon her with the soft touches of His hands.

  He brought her to oblivion and beyond with His vampiric bite, as He drew so deeply of her. She trembled with fear and pain, pleasure and glory, and her eyes fluttered shut yet still she could see. The dark expanse of the void, yet it was marked with such oddities, cerebral beings that were both living and dead, moving and not.

  Life sparked before her eyes, and in her many years, she knew there was nothing that could compare to that terrifying sensation of being bled for His purposes.

  His needs.

  ~~

  Lhea had drifted off in her Master’s arms, the loss of her blood having left her faint. She awoke in that very same hold, her Master’s grasp having kept her warm and secure. Though the surroundings had changed, and she found herself back in that comfortingly deranged bedroom of His.

  In His own special way, her Master adored her more than the stars could attest to. He cradled her as the rumblings shook his tower and awoke them both.

  His eyes were open immediately.

  “They’re back,” he hissed, and rose up immediately.

  “Noo,” she whined, even before she was fully conscious and aware of what was happening. But slowly it seeped into her addled mind and she clung to Him more closely. They couldn’t take her from Him. They wouldn’t! Her fingers dug into His flesh as her eyes widened and stared upon His visage.

  He held her in both arms, looked down at her, then rose up from their resting place. He climbed the dark tower with her in tow, nude and fluttering upon gossamer wings, a leash of darkness pulling her with Him.

  As He reached the top, He hesitated, and through His dark magics the clothes about His person shifted and grew. The black things became a full robe that covered Him entirely, shrouded His face and she knew why without needing to see.

  Out onto the open platform of the tower, the dark clouds of His realm waged war with the blue sky. Light and Dark magic waged war in the very heavens, as he fought to keep back the light. But He was winning, at least enough to keep the sun’s powerful rays from destroying Him.

  Below, ringed about the great tower, were the forces of the fellowship. The dwarven siblings had brought a small army of woodland dwellers, and held weapons of a strange sort targeted upon the tower itself.

  Her Master pulled her to the ledge and snarled in frustration.

  “Release the faeries!” came the demands of the merchant Orodreth, amplified by some strange brass funnel implement.

  It was as though her world was being once more upended, and she let out a terrifying wail, her entire body shook with the sound of absolute sorrow.

  “Noooo!” she cried out again, louder and longer as she looked at her Master with such anguish, her wings fluttered violently in the sky. She clutched to His arm, that collar and leash making it impossible to get away, even if she wanted to.

  Her Master bellowed out over the dark forest, His voice carrying far and wide with such rage.

  “No! She is mine! The whole of her being is mine! Her very soul is mine! Her heart… mine!” He quaked with a rage she could feel through her clinging hold. He would never let her go, no matter the cost.

  The tower shook again, but it wasn’t because of the army of the fellowship outside. No, she felt it, a different hum in the air as she fluttered. A different aura.

  Though the night time was her Master’s domain, He still wielded might in the day. And from the ground and out of the roosts in the twisted trees, His own forces of mangled, maddened creatures arose and a great battle was about to begin.

  But Lhea clung to him, fluttering towards his ear. Her words were like the barest drips of water after a thunderstorm as she breathed them out.

  “Master, let Fillia go. They’ll leave me to you...” Her voice trembled, but she was convinced it was the right choice. The only choice that would free her from the threat of losing Him.

  The world below was in chaos, the elves, dwarves and their assorted allies were moving inwards, frightened by the oncoming storm of creatures, great and hideous.

  Her Master seethed however.

  “I promised you I would release her, but to let these fools think they had forced my hand?!” he responded to her with such anger, not directed at her, she knew, but the ones below. The same sort that had banished Him long ago.

  “Master,” she breathed out, that innocent face and those dark tears so beguiling. “It’s a small price for our peace,” she murmured, and it was so odd to think of what they had as being peace. It was cruel and corrupt, but that was where their hearts lay.

  It was where she needed to be.

  The army below them spoke first, the dwarven man calling forth one final time.

  “Release them or we shall be forced to retaliate!”

  Her Master looked ready to leap down from that dizzying height then and there. But He restrained Himself.

  “You may take whatever faeries wish to go! But that is all!” He retorted, and with a nod He silently instructed her to do something she instinctively knew.

  There behind them were the doors to the tower. Beyond that, another. And somehow, as if her Master had transmitted the thoughts into her brain, she knew where her sister lay. It was as though she simply understood his grand design, the path beneath the non-Euclidian layout of his manor.

  Fluttering upon the winds, Lhea followed the path, her dainty hands delicate as she moved to open the cell door. There her sister sat in confusion, the sudden light having blinded her.

  “Fillia,” she said, both love and urgency in her tone as she went to the other faerie, so withered and weak from her captivity. Lhea reached out for her sister fairie’s hand, touching it so gently.

  “He’s let you free, if you wish it,” Lhea said tenderly, head tilted to the side as she looked over the other faerie woman.

  Her Master spared them no look, but held her leash as it stretched out to allow Lhea the distance to perform her task.

  “Let’s go Lhea!” Her sister said, and tried to pull her along with as she dashed up and fluttered into the air. Though instead of pulling Lhea with her, they spun about together, Fillia gazing in confusion at her sister fae. “Let’s go before it’s too late!” she insisted.

  “You go,” Lhea said softly, pulling herself in to brush her lips against Fillia’s cheek, the scent of that purity so strong in the non-corrupted fae. “Go dance in the sunlight.”

  Fillia’s brows furrowed, and though the weary faerie was invigorated by the chance for escape, she was equally as confused by her sister’s insistence.

  “Come on!” she tugged again, pulling Lhea with her a few feet through the air, before she looked to the leash. “Come with me!” she said, and then grabbed for the leash to try and break it. Though the dark magic that made it up instead sent her spiralling back with a jolt and a shriek.

  Lhea shook her head, platinum hair spilling around her shoulders and her nude body, the dark teardrops etched into her cheeks though fresh ones didn’t spill.

  “Fillia, dance for me in the sunlight. I’m staying,” she said, her voice resolute.

  Her sister faerie looked at her aghast as she cradled her own hurt hand. While below the two armies prepared to battle. Fillia turned, almost ready to fly off, but looked back at Lhea.

  “We’ll come back for you!” she pledged.

  “Don’t!” Lhea said, moving towards her, eyes clear and wide. “Never come back here. Never t
ell anyone where I am. As far as the world should know, I’m gone and forgotten.”

  Fillia’s eyes teared up, sparkling like diamonds.

  “I can’t forget you... leave you here…” she stammered sadly.

  “Fillia,” she whispered, “I said I’ll protect you. Let me protect you,” she pleaded. “I’ll be fine.”

  “No,” she muttered lowly, her voice sounding wounded. “Why would you offer to stay here? We will come back for you!” she pledged.

  ‘I love him, Fillia.” The words were simple, but filled with such powerful emotion before she looked towards her Master. “He’d let me go. If I wished it.” Perhaps it was a lie, but it was a lie she believed.

  Fillia looked stunned, her pale pink lips parted to argue with her. Then a strange thing happened, a look of disgust crossed her face.

  “You’re sick!” she said. “He’s a monster!”

  But the longer their drama went on, the more would perish below. Lhea knew that.

  And so she simply nodded, allowing her sister to feel such loathing towards her. Towards them.

  “Fly away now, sprite,” she bid her before turning her back on her faerie sister. She would save her, and sacrifice their relationship to do so.

  Filla flew away, but not without looking back in horror at her lingering sister. She watched over her shoulder as Lhea flew back to her Master’s side upon her leash.

  “Now leave my lands!” bellowed her Master in a rage that shook the foundations of his very tower. The two armies at a standoff as the faerie girl flew down to her rescuers.

  Far down below, the fellowship at the heart of the army discussed events. Clearly they knew that Lhea had returned to her Master of her own accord. They wouldn’t fight for her any further, Lhea thought. Would they?

  “We need more! Too many have been lost due to you,” shouted the dwarf. But then a strange thing happened, the merchant Orodreth spoke up once more.

  “Give us some token or treasure to make payment for the loss of those you’ve slain!”

  Her Master trembled with rage but her hand was on His bicep, seeking to calm Him.

  “He’s a merchant,” she said softly into his ear. “Only concerned with gold and baubles.”

  Her Master let loose an outraged cry, but then ebbed. A calm came over Him, she could sense it. He made a decision.

  The battlefield stilled, but then a great rumble came from within his tower. Footsteps.

  The gates came open, and a monstrous troll emerged, warped even darker than most of its kind by her Master’s dark magic. It was a great beast of war, a weapon of last resort for her Master’s army.

  A hush fell over the crowds below, as the great monster strode towards the opposing army.

  But then, it did a strange thing. As the throngs of crawling armoured centipedes and other nasty creatures scurried out of the way, it tossed forth a chest before the army of the fellowship.

  “Get gone. My patience is entirely worn,” He said with such sneering distaste that carried over the armies below.

  Lhea watched then as the events unfolded, the two forces at odds, though finally… at long last, they parted and the blood shed was averted. Her eyes went to Him, and behind those clear blue orbs was a new level of appreciation.

  ~~

  Despite sating her Master’s needs for blood and lust, Lhea did not succumb to the toxic darkness that had polluted her flesh before. She was, in her own way, the same faerie who had been taken by him so long ago.

  It was only her heart that had been tainted.

  Yet that was all that need be to enjoy her new life. To accept her strange, un-fae like existence.

  Her nights were filled with music and dance. Though a strange thing had begun to happen to her as of late. She found herself less and less able to dance about and frolic in that spry manner she was accustomed to.

  She’d been unchanged in all her many years as a faerie, an immortal being. Yet as her Master played upon his flute and the halls danced, the many deranged creatures performing for her at his behest, she couldn’t help but cradle that strangely changed belly of hers.

  It was round and bulging, hard, and not at all like a belly ought to be. It should have disturbed her, disgusted her even! To see her petite proportions to twisted by her Master’s seed of corruption. Yet something about it… without knowing anything more, she only felt it was temporary. And wonderful.

  Something to feel blessed by, just as she had when he’d warped her body the first time to his will.

  And so instead of hiding it, feeling herself well up with doubt and self-pity, her dance instead reflected her joy at the changed shape.

  Though her movements were no longer as graceful and lovely — and she could no longer even fly hardly, let alone perform pretty maneuvers while doing so — her Master smiled down upon her as He played his instrument. The dark lord of the manor ever so pleased with her.

  In His torture, she’d found peace. Love. And purpose. All but one were things frolicking faeries were not meant for.

  END

  ***

  About the Authors:

  J.E. & M. Keep love to combine fantasy, scifi, horror, romance and mystery into exciting and titillating novels.

  They are long term, loving partners in a very happy relationship and because of this, they love to torture their characters. Dark romance touches all of their stories in one way or another, from elicit trysts to forbidden love.

  Some of their work contains dubious consent and erotic pain, so it's not for the faint of heart. Their stories are often called twisted and arousing -- at the same time.

  All work is 18+, trigger warnings available on the second page of every book. If you want to hear about new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

  Website: http://www.jmkeep.com

  Newsletter: http://www.jmkeep.com/newsletter

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jmkeep

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/jmkeep

  http://twitter.com/jekeep

  You can find J.E. & M. Keep’s books on:

  AMAZON

  ***

  Soul of the Dragon (Her Dragon’s Bane)

  By Harmony Raines

  Chapter One - Serena

  “So you’ve come to offer yourself to me?” He circled her like a vulture, his eyes assessing her body.

  Serena swallowed her growing panic, and nodded once, not daring to move more than a fraction. The dragon was more intimidating than she could ever have imagined, even in this, his human form.

  “And you know what will be expected of you?”

  A small incline again, showing her knowledge of exactly what he would do to her. For the last four years it had been made clear she was to remain pure for the sole purpose of being given to the dragon. It had also been made clear what would happen if she did not.

  Refusing to do this would have terrible consequences, and not just for her, she had to think of Charlotte too. Charlotte who she had not seen for over two months, and who would suffer a terrible fate if Serena did not lie in this beast’s bed.

  “You will come here the night of the full moon and remain here for five days, and five nights, subject to whatever I desire of you.”

  She nodded.

  “Do you not have a tongue?”

  “Yes.” It came out at less than a whisper. She tried again, “Yes.” The last thing she needed was to offend the dragon, if he sent her away, all would be lost. She had to do whatever he asked of her, both now and when she returned. That had been made clear to her; get him to breed with her at all cost.

  A shudder passed through her, men had hurt her all her life. Hurt and controlled her, now she was to be traded to the worst of men, a beast that could change into a dragon. She had been told that they ate the flesh of virgins that weren’t suitable as mates, or did not conceive after the moon rites were complete. She had five days to endure the touch of this creature, and then carry it’s offspring inside her womb. It repelled her.

  So why
did her body feel alive every time he drew close to her?

  Her body, subjugated for most of her life, did not know what freedom was. Born to a loser mother she had been traded into the hands of men who wanted her for their own gains. Only now did she know the full extent of her worth to them. Her body for the dragon’s soul.

  That was her secret. She could allow herself no sympathy for this creature, who now moved so close to her she could feel his warm breath on her face. The heat from his very flesh penetrated through her clothes, and her pulse beat in a new rhythm, in time to his heart. The air grew warm, and time ceased to matter, only the two of them were present in this world.

  Satisfied, he moved away, the bond at once broken, and she wondered if this intimidating creature of fire also contained magic. Magic that could enthral her, and entrap her. She could not let that happen, there was too much at stake.

  “Strip.”

  “What?”

  He spoke slower now, his voice tinged with sarcasm. “Take off your clothes.”

  “I...”

  “I wish to see you before I make my decision.”

  Tears pricked her eyes, he had control of her, he knew it. He was the same as every other man in her life, wicked and cruel. He didn’t deserve her sympathy. That knowledge would at least make her deceit easier on her conscience.

  Serena slipped the strap of her simple dress off her shoulder, and then the other one, letting it slip to the floor. She wanted to cover herself with her hands, being naked in front of anyone had never been natural. Even as a child she had been too round, her face carrying puppy fat that she never grew out of. Instead her whole body had grown curves, leaving her with too generous breasts, and a bottom and hips lush and round.

  “I said naked.” His voice cut through her thoughts.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, afraid he would send her away for disobeying him. She had to concentrate, and find a way of making him want her, too much depended on her, she couldn’t mess this up.