Voracious Vixens, 13 Novels of Sexy Horror and Hot Paranormal Romance

by Travis Luedke

  “All righty,” Tam said cheerfully, leaping from the bed. “I say we go fix up your room and make it all fit for your humanlike deliciousness again.” Tam paused. “I said ‘deliciousness’ out loud, didn’t I?”

  Instead of embarrassing her further, Freddie stood as well. He moved at a slower pace than Tam had. She wondered if it was out of habit, or if he was still adjusting to his old form.

  “Am I going to get good mattresses?”

  “Sure thing, babe,” Tam answered with a smile. She never got tired of making Freddie happy. “If super-duper mattresses is what you wish, then it’s what you shall have.”

  Heading for the door, Tam welcomed the relief from his stare as she focused on imagining the amazing room she’d create for him.

  “When you’re done with those mattresses, I wish you’d let me eat you for real.”

  Tam gripped the doorframe to stay upright when her knees went weak at Freddie’s words. She didn’t turn and look at him. She couldn’t.

  “Wish granted,” she said, sealing her own fate.

  The room was tiny. It was made even more so by the massive black wings standing out from Samuel’s shoulder blades. An array weapons hung from his waist and more from the walls. He seemed twice as dangerous, than ever before.

  “Where are we?” His eyes fell closed as if he was in pain at the question.

  “I’m going to kill Tam,” he growled.

  “It’s not her fault. I wished for it.” He shook his head.

  “She didn’t have to grant your wish.”

  When he opened his eyes, she flinched against the coldness inside them.

  “Welcome to my humble abode,” he said with a sweeping bow. “May the Gods have mercy on your soul should any of them catch you here.”

  Turning in a slow circle, she took in every detail. She was reminded of Freddie’s bare living quarters, except Samuel’s room had something Freddie’s did not. The painting she’d done of the mirror world, the one with compass as its center, hung on his wall. She hadn’t known it was missing, but she didn’t catalog her paintings every day. It wasn’t a surprise.

  Walking over to it, she stroked the canvas lovingly before stepping away from it.

  “I would’ve given it to you,” she told him as she moved back to him. “I would’ve given you anything.”

  Ella watched as if from a distance as her hand lifted to touch his skin. His chest felt ten degrees warmer than the rest of the room. It was so hard it didn’t give at all underneath her palm. The coldness left his face, replaced by sharp planes of lust.

  “Don’t toy with me.”

  She shook her head. His voice was every bit as hard as the muscles in his chest. She knew she’d truly hurt him.

  “I no longer wish to be a plaything,” he confessed, sounding as if the words had been ripped from his throat. She knew there was nothing she could say to prove to him she didn’t feel that way. Samuel could never be anything less than everything.

  Stepping closer, she prayed he wouldn’t pull away as she leaned in. Pressing her lips to the skin next to her hand, his chest shuddered underneath her kiss.

  “I’ll beg,” she whispered against his skin as she encircled his waist with her free arm. “I’ll drop to my knees right now and plead for you not to send me away. I don’t care. I’ve never had any pride when it came to you.”

  As if the muscles in his neck ceased working, he dropped his forehead to the top of her head. He made no other move to touch her.

  “Only secrets,” he whispered.

  His deep breaths fanned across her hair. Clinging desperately to the last shards of her breaking heart, she clutched him tighter. Frantically, she tried to memorize every detail. The texture of his skin, the smell that was his own, and exact measurement of how far her arms needed to spread to accommodate his large frame. Those things became the most important details in the world to her. When he was gone from her life, she’d only have these memories of him.

  However, she hadn’t lied. She’d drop to her knees and beg. If Samuel wanted to send her away, then he’d have to drag her body from this place to do so.

  Anxiety gripped ahold of her, threatening to choke the air from her lungs.

  “I love you. Please don’t leave me?”

  Samuel jerked backward as if she’d punched him. Ella let her hands fall helplessly to her sides.

  “What?” His lips peeled away from his teeth in a snarl.

  “Please don’t leave me,” she repeated. She’d beg. She really would.

  “What did you say to me?” he growled.

  Her mind scrambled to understand the reason for his sudden hostility, but she came up blank.

  In an unconscious motion, she lifted her hand to her chest, attempting to rub away the pain building there.

  “It’s right here,” she admitted. Tears sprang to her eyes. “It is killing me right here.”

  With a single step, he was invading her space and crowding her with his body. Burying his fingers in the hair at her nape, he tugged her head back roughly.

  “Don’t fuck with me on this, Ella.”

  Her eyes fell closed at the sound of her name on his tongue.

  “What did you say to me?” he demanded, once more.

  In a whisper so low she wasn’t sure she even made a sound, she confessed, “I love you. I’m so in love with . . .” His mouth descended upon hers, cutting off her words.

  His tongue fought hers for domination. She wouldn’t back down. If he needed to strip away the last shreds of her being, then he could do so. At least she’d know she tried.

  Samuel wanted Ella to hurt. He needed her to feel the sting of his pain, bleeding for him the way he bled for her. Only the knowledge her body was more fragile than his own kept him from tossing her through the air to his bed. He feared himself more in that moment than ever before. Stripping the tiny shorts from her body, he lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist. At the last second, he remembered his sword and willed it away. Purposely, he didn’t hide his wings or remove his plaid. He wouldn’t give her more of himself than he already had. A few short steps had her back against the wall. He was buried inside her. Punishing her mouth with his teeth, he ground his hips against her core. Despite the pain stabbing him in the chest, he needed her pleasure this one last time. When her body tightened in his arms and her pussy clenched around his cock, he disengaged his body from hers without seeking his own release. Her eyes seemed unable to focus and her lips were swollen from his kisses. It was a look that made a man want to pat himself on the back. He was no man.

  Tugging a plaid from the end of his bed, he wrapped her body inside and clutched her tighter to his chest. Spreading his wings wide, he shot into the air. The walls of the palace disappeared into a fog. Ella grappled to hold him tighter. Solid ground no longer existed.

  “I would never let you fall.” At his assurance, she relaxed in his arms.

  Samuel moved through the realms in a matter of seconds. They were back inside her bedroom with barely a beat of his wings.

  Settling her on the bed, he kissed her cheek. She didn’t beg as she’d claimed she would. He was grateful for it. There was only so much his heart could stand. She had Freddie back now. After everything she’d been through to achieve it, she’d eventually choose him. Samuel had no intentions of watching her slip away. It was better this way.

  He could feel she knew it was it over. He stood to leave. She touched his arm, capturing his attention.

  “I love you.”

  “And I believe you,” Samuel admitted. “But you love Freddie more. I don’t want to be your second choice.”

  She opened her mouth as if to argue. He disappeared before she had the chance. He’d been nothing all his life. It was easier to accept than a half-life with someone else.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Randall was the first to notice the change in Ella. She could’ve kept her secret longer if she hadn’t become so efficient at getting to work on time since Fr
eddie’s curse had been broken. In hindsight, she realized it would’ve only taken her an extra fifteen minutes at home to get past the morning sickness. Unfortunately, arriving to work five minutes early had become a huge part of her survival routine.

  Hugging the porcelain throne, she pressed her head to the cool surface, uncaring of any germs. She was immune to most mortal diseases. There wasn’t anything she could catch at this point that could make her feel worse.

  “Oh dear. Oh dear,” Randall chanted while hovering in the doorway of the bathroom. Any other time, she would’ve been mortified by anyone seeing her like this. Now, she felt too bad to care.

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “You can kick Samuel in the balls,” she answered, refusing to lift her head. Well, it wasn’t as much a refusal as an inability. Either way it wasn’t happening.

  “Is there anything I can do that doesn’t involve coming in contact with another man’s testicles?” Randall tried again. “Perhaps, I can call someone.”

  Finally managing to tilt her head at an angle, she met his eyes. “I’d rather you didn’t.”

  He made a face as if to argue, but gave her a short nod instead. “I think this calls for an old remedy rather than a medicinal one. How about some soda and crackers?”

  Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared. Ella was pretty sure she blacked out for a minute, because when a pair of shoes came into her line of sight once more, they were Freddie’s instead of Randall’s.

  “Traitor,” Ella whispered, but her heart wasn’t in it.

  “Come on, baby girl. Let’s get you home,” he said as he lifted her from the floor and into his arms. Wrapping her arms around Freddie’s shoulders, she tucked her head into the crook of his neck.

  “I wish you would’ve said something,” he told her quietly as he carried her to the car. She knew it was as far as any lecture from him would ever go. Unfortunately, she didn’t know how to respond.

  There was no good explanation for why she held so tightly to her secret, other than it was Samuel’s baby. This was all she had left of him.

  “I’m sorry,” she said lamely as he clicked her seat belt in place. His gaze met hers. A muscle in his cheek flexed as if he was grounding his back teeth.

  “You shouldn’t be sorry. You should be pissed.” He slammed the door closed at the words, punctuating his point.

  “Why?” she asked the empty car. Why should she only be pissed when she was already furious?

  ***

  Going in search of Tam, he found her in the great room, sitting alone. She didn’t look up as he entered. He knew she knew he was there. Tam wasn’t one ever to get caught off guard. Throwing himself down in a seat against the wall, he decided to confess all.

  “I miss Ella.”

  “‘Bout time, stupid,” Tam answered, sounding as if she wasn’t really listening. Instead, she kept her focus on a big ball of thread. She appeared to be knitting. He cast away the ridiculous notion. She’d never knitted a day in her life.

  “She chose another man over me,” he added, choosing to ignore her earlier slander of his intelligence. The ball of yarn bounced off the side of his head. She hadn’t given him time to react, and he hadn’t seen it coming. It didn’t help matters that one of the needles was still stuck down in the ball. It pinged off his head.

  “Um. What the hell?”

  “I’ve recently realized something,” she answered. “You’re a big ass idiot.”

  “Damn, Tam. I’m pouring my heart out to you while you call me names and throw things at my head.”

  “It could only help your fat ass head,” she shot back, and Samuel didn’t know how to react. Tam had never been truly angry with him a day in her life. It was obvious she was now.

  Reaching down, he scooped up the pink and blue mixture of yarn where it had landed on the floor. He turned it over in his hands.

  “What are you making anyhow?” he asked in a valiant attempt to salvage their conversation.

  She released an offended sounding sniff. “It’s a baby blanket.”

  They knew very few people capable of producing offspring. His curiosity was effectively piqued. “Do we know someone having a baby?”

  “We know them very well,” she answered. “Freddie is going to be an uncle,” she added slyly.

  “How odd,” Samuel remarked, swallowing down the taste of bitterness coating his tongue. When it didn’t work, it spilled over into his words. “One would think if he had a sibling to care for him, then Ella wouldn’t have been forced...” Everything became remarkably clear.

  Dropping the ball into his lap, he covered his face with both hands. He let his head fall back against the wall behind him. When it didn’t do enough to shut out the screaming in his brain, he banged his head twice more as hard as he could until a spike of pain shot through him causing his ears to ring. Every time he thought he had nothing else to lose, he learned there was still more. Rock bottom always seemed to have a rock bottom basement he didn’t know about until he was sitting in it.

  Moving to stand over him, Tam snatched up her yarn and kicked him in his shin.

  “Fuck, Tam! What was that for?”

  “I don’t think you beat yourself up enough for my liking,” she answered. Popping her hands on her hips, she drew herself up to her full height as he rubbed his bruised shin.

  “And for your information,” she added. “While you were having your hissy fit about Ella killing herself, you should’ve stopped to wonder why. Did you ever think she was doing it so Freddie could have his freedom and the two of you could have a life? Not to mention, my magic is mostly bound by words, but you could have cured Freddie any damn time you like. However, you chose not to, so don’t you think it’s about time you stop playing the damn victim?”

  Tam’s rant stunned him speechless, which was probably a good thing in the face of her anger.

  ***

  It was a feather. A lone quill that caught her attention, and she knew she wasn’t alone. She could feel his presence even though he remained hidden. Pretending not to notice, Ella tugged the covering from the mirror, staring at her reflection.

  “This was my mother’s speculum, her portal between the realms. It’s almost as old as time itself. It’s been hidden in almost every country around the world at some point. This house belonged to my parents, or rather the reflection of this house did. I left out a few details that night at the café.”

  The room fell away as she pictured the crystal land she’d once lived in. Her father’s long hair was so blond it almost appeared white. His eyes were the color of the sky. As if his light needed a balance, her mother had been dark haired, dark eyed, and dark in complexion. She could remember every detail of their appearance as if it had only been a day since she’d last seen them as opposed to years.

  “As I said, my mother did indeed fall in love with my father when she attempted to lead him to his end. It wasn’t due to a long journey. When she’d gone to collect him, he wasn’t alone. She told me once she loved him and his son instantly.”

  A smile touched Ella’s lips at the memory of her mother brushing her hair while telling her stories of true love and great warriors.

  “The feeling was mutual. They loved her immediately as well. Freddie’s mother is a Succubus. She abandoned him as she moved on to her next victim. My parents married in secret. My mother became Freddie’s mother as sure as she’d given birth to him. Ten years later, I was born, and their love only grew stronger with each passing year.”

  Ella ran the tip of her finger along the glass. “Then, one night, when I was eight and Freddie was nineteen, the other Valkyrie came for us. Our parents had gained confidence in our safety since no one had found them in all their years of hiding.” She stopped to swallow past the pain of that night. Pressing her palm flat against the cool surface, she forced herself to continue.

  “They cut down our father at my feet. I can still feel the hem of my nightgown, soaked in his blood, slapping agains
t my ankles as I tried to run away. It slowed me down. Freddie tossed me over his shoulder and my mind went blank as I concentrated on trying to breathe. The impact of his quick pace cut off my air. When we reached the edge of the mirror, Maman kissed us both before shoving us through and sealing it from ever being penetrated again.”

  The looking glass blurred before Ella. She knew she was crying, but she made no attempt to wipe away her tears.

  “Everything I knew was gone in an instant.” Focusing on the spot in the mirror where she knew Samuel to be, she added, “Everything except for Freddie.”

  Appearing behind her, Samuel cradled her head with his chest. Sliding a palm over her abdomen, he quietly sent his love to their child. He also sent up a prayer of thanks when she didn’t pull away, but neither did she welcome his touch. It was no less than he deserved.

  “You accused me of keeping secrets when it came to you, and you’re right,” she admitted. “But you kept secrets too. It’s my fault. I should’ve pressed. No, I should’ve wanted to know, but I didn’t. A part of me expected I wouldn’t be able to hang onto you. I was right. It was easier not to know what I was losing.”

  Samuel met her gaze in the mirror so she could see his shame as he made his confession. “Where I am from, my kind are kept as slaves. Do you understand what I am saying? Slaves for every purpose,” he emphasized. Ella sucked in a shuddering breath, but nodded her understanding.

  “I was granted my freedom three thousand years ago, but three thousand years is nothing in the face of eons of service. I’ve known no other life. There has never been a single thing that was mine alone until I met you.”

  Pausing to gather the strength needed for what he knew he must do, Samuel braced himself against the pain.

  “Tam told me about the baby.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  She looked...destroyed. He hated it. He hated himself.

  “No. You don’t see. I understand what it’s like to have nothing. For a moment, you showed me a different life. I was so scared of losing it, of losing you, I took away your choices. I could’ve cured Freddie the first time we met, but I didn’t. I didn’t know that he is your brother and I was afraid,” he confessed. “I could see your love for him and I wanted to keep you. Therefore, I did nothing. In the end, it didn’t make any difference because I still lost you.”