Shifters in the Shadows: Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Sexy Shifters, Dangerous Vamps, & Things That Go Bump in the Night

by J. K Harper

  Within moments, the heat had her gasping. “Nate, oh, God. That feels so good.”

  When he brought his mouth close again, she expected his tongue or his lips, but all he did was blow a hot stream of air onto her already sensitive peaks, and she arched her back. The constant pulse in her clit grew stronger.

  “Do you know what I’m going to do now, Megan?”

  She shook her head, not quite able to catch her breath.

  “I’m going to spread this oil all over that gorgeous pussy of yours.” Nate adjusted his jeans, trying to give his cock a bit more room before he added some of the clear oil onto his fingertips. He took his time, coating his fingers with the pad of his thumb, warming the oil. “Spread your legs for me, love.”

  Megan moved to do as he asked, eager for his touch. She stiffened at the first stroke of his finger from the top of her slit all the way to her entrance. Within seconds, the sensitive flesh heated and tingled.

  “Please, Nate,” she begged. “I need to touch you.” She needed to do something. Otherwise, she would explode into orgasmic bliss before much longer. But when she reached for the waistband of his jeans, he stopped her.

  “This is about you. About your pleasure. There’s no need to rush. I’ll gladly love you all day and all night, and still not have enough.” To prove his point, Nate slipped his fingers down over her clit and to her opening again. He dipped one finger inside her to the first knuckle, spreading the oil in her most sensitive area, then used his thumb to stroke across her clit.

  She wasn’t sure which she enjoyed more, the heat of the oil or the pressure on her throbbing nub. What she did know was that she needed more.

  He withdrew his finger, replacing it moments later with a second. Pleasure rushed through her, and she couldn’t help thrusting up to meet his invasion, taking more.

  “Naughty girl, trying to take what I’m not ready to give,” he chided. Nate pulled his fingers out, then without warning, gave her clit a little tap.

  The slight sting followed by an explosion of pleasure left her gasping. Tiny spasms grew into powerful waves, clenching around nothing. She needed Nate inside her. Now.

  “I’ll keep going if you promise to behave,” he told her, the teasing glint in his eyes telling her that he wasn’t stopping even if she didn’t.

  She bit her lip to keep from smirking. If getting her clit spanked was her punishment, she wasn’t sure she wanted to, anyway, but she nodded her agreement just the same. “I’ll be good.”

  “Good. Because I’m not anywhere near done with you yet.”

  This time, when Nate thrust his fingers inside her, he pushed them all the way in before he lowered his mouth to her breast. He flicked her nipple with the tip of his tongue as he moved faster, in and out.

  Moaning, she clutched the sheets on either side of her, trying to keep her promise. “Nate, I can’t hold on.”

  “That’s the idea, love.”

  Her eyes rolled back a little as he scissored his fingers deep inside her, adding to her pleasure. Just when she didn’t think she could take anything else, he sucked her nipple between his lips. It was too much. Her pussy tingled from the oil. His fingers speared into her, filling her, and his mouth on her breast had her arching into him, desperate for release.

  The pulse in her clit throbbed fast and hard. Nate pressed onto her clit with his thumb. Wave after wave of heated pleasure crashed over her. Her pussy clenched around his fingers, squeezing them tight as she came around them.

  Nate kissed up from her breast to her neck, then nibbled along her jaw before he finally captured her mouth.

  “Now it’s my turn,” she whispered when he moved down her neck again.

  “Soon, but not yet. I’ve learned the feel of you and touched every inch of your soft skin. Now I need to taste every part of your delicious body.”

  Her pussy clenched again at his words. Who in their right mind would say no to that? She sure as hell wouldn’t. “Yes, but I want to do that, too.”

  Nate grinned. “I look forward to it, love. But for now, I want you to enjoy this. I need to feel your hands tugging on my hair as I feast on your pussy.”

  “Oh, God,” she moaned as the image he’d created filled her mind.

  Nate set out to lick and taste every inch of her body. By the time he was done, she was quivering, and he’d gotten his wish. She’d grasped his hair and yelled out his name as she came for him a second time.

  He lay on his side, facing her, as she came down from her orgasm, and she was able to breathe again. His feather-light caresses lulled her into such a relaxed state that her eyes drifted shut. Oh, she wasn’t falling asleep, not by a long shot. There was way too much she wanted to do with him—to him.

  “I’ve never seen you look more beautiful than you do right now with your hair all mussed up from our lovemaking and the satisfied smile on your lips,” he told her almost reverently.

  She opened her eyes and turned into his arms. “You know what would make me even more satisfied?” she asked as she stroked a hand down his chest.

  “I might have an idea.”

  “You. I want your cock inside me again. I want you to fill my body like you fill my heart.”

  * * *

  Nate moaned. His cock twitched hearing those words coming out of her pretty mouth. The memory of Megan’s delicate fingers on him, her lips around his cock, had him as hard as steel, and she hadn’t even touched him yet.

  A very small part of him considered the consequences of giving in to his carnal desires, but loving Megan in mind, body, and spirit was all that mattered. Seeing the joy shining in her eyes was worth anything the Gods and Goddesses could dream up for his punishment. So when she reached for the snap of his jeans, he didn’t stop her.

  He smiled at the cute, little growling noise she made when the zipper fought going past his engorged cock.

  “Lay back,” she ordered, her voice soft—sexy.

  Unable to deny her, he did as she asked, then lifted his hips to help her when she struggled to get his jeans down. The second his jeans hit the floor, she was on him. She straddled his hips and pressed her chest against his. Her slight weight, the softness of her curves, the breathy sounds she made as she kissed her way up his chest, they all had his blood rushing in his veins to pool in his shaft. His balls ached with the need to release.

  “I can’t wait any longer, Nate. I need you now,” she said as she tried to position herself on him.

  With a quick flip, he had her lying on her back, staring up at him with her eyes wide and her lips parted. “I can’t wait anymore, either,” he told her as he took hold of his cock and penetrated her channel.

  Megan wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled down as he pushed more of his cock into her heated pussy. Moments later, a tingle started on the head of his cock, shooting down to the base. And when he was all the way inside her, even his balls tingled. He hadn’t anticipated the heat of the oil transferring onto him, but damn, it felt good.

  “More,” she pleaded when he slid most of the way out and entered her again. “Faster.”

  He had wanted to go slow and easy this time, to show her his love in the physical form, but she wouldn’t have it. She urged him faster, harder with every upward thrust of her hips. The smack of flesh on flesh, combined with her breathy sighs, was more than he could take.

  “I won’t be able to last long like this, Megan. We have to slow down,” he warned. If she wanted to, as hard as it would be, he’d take it down a notch, but his balls were already tight and ready to blow.

  “No, no, no,” she chanted. “No slowing down. Feels too good. Fuck me, Nate. I need you to. I need it hard and fast.”

  Her fingernails dug into his back, scoring his skin, adding a degree of pain to the pleasure erupting inside him. Wrapping his arms around her back, he pushed her chest forward, then captured her nipple between his lips, sucking hard in time with his thrusts.

  She whimpered and sighed, moaning louder and louder. Nate released i
t with a pop, then immediately took the other one in, grazing the tight tip with his teeth, nibbling on her flesh until she was quivering around his cock.

  “That’s right, love. Come for me. Come all over my cock,” he said for her benefit, but the words sent pleasure shooting down his spine and into his shaft. His balls tightened, and when she screamed his name, shaking and shuddering around him, he exploded. His cock jerked hard, over and over, as he released his seed deep into her pussy.

  Nate didn’t know how long he lay there, his body covering hers, but he never wanted to move. Her fingers stroked up and down his spine, and every time his cock twitched, she sighed, and the muscles inside her quivered once more.

  He would have stayed there longer, but a heavy pounding at his door pulled them from their bliss.

  Chapter 12

  Nate didn’t want to answer the door. He didn’t want to leave his bed, and he sure as hell didn’t want to leave Megan alone so soon after their lovemaking. But hiding would solve nothing. If the High Angels wanted him to pay for his actions, then he would. He’d beg for mercy for her, but he expected none for himself.

  “It’s going to be okay,” she told him as she snuggled beneath the blanket he’d tucked around her.

  He nodded. He wouldn’t lie, he couldn’t promise that all would end well, but he was willing to fight for it. “Just rest while I take care of this, love. No matter what happens, remember that I love you so much.” He gave her a tender kiss before he yanked his jeans back on.

  Megan smiled at him. “I know. I love you, too. Now, go get rid of Jordan so you can come back to bed.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He shouldn’t have been surprised when he opened the door and found Jordan there, but he was. How had she known that?

  “Are you going to invite me in?” Jordan asked when Nate stood there and stared at him.

  “Yeah, sure.” Nate stepped aside and let him in.

  “Where is she?” he asked as though it were the most normal question in the world.

  “Does it matter?” Nate’s heart pounded. Jordan had been his friend for as long as Nate had been an angel, but he was a High Angel. He had the power to make him pay for his transgressions. He could even send him straight back to Hell if he wanted to. “Don’t punish her. Whatever I’ve done to piss you off, it has nothing to do with Megan.”

  “It has everything to do with Megan,” Jordan replied, his voice entirely too calm.

  “Why? Why did you cast me from Heaven?” He wanted to pretend like it hadn’t hurt to be thrown on his ass after all his years of service, but he couldn’t. “What the hell did I do to deserve that? Why punish her?”

  Jordan shook his head, then in a totally unexpected move, he threw his head back and laughed. “You, my friend, are an idiot. You didn’t get cast out of Heaven. I didn’t send you away. And before you ask, no one else did, either.”

  Nate opened his mouth to argue, but nothing except sincerity shone in Jordan’s eyes.

  “You were blocked from coming back to Heaven because you were too stubborn to take the gift offered to you.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Nothing Jordan said made sense. What gift?

  Jordan sighed. “Think about it for a second. What gift did you want more than anything? For you and you alone?”

  Megan. The answer was simple. It—or rather she—was all he had ever wanted more than anything. Nothing else mattered. His breath caught in his throat.

  “That’s right. The Gods and Goddesses deemed you worthy of a mate. They searched your soul and decided to present you with love. With Megan.”

  “I don’t understand. Why not let me visit Heaven?”

  “Because you, my friend, kept going back to her more determined than ever not to allow her to get close to you. Hell, you stopped letting her see you at all.”

  “But she’s a daughter of the Original Seven, for crying out loud.”

  “And yet, they chose you to be her mate. Think about that.”

  Jordan looked over Nate’s shoulder and smiled. “Megan. I’m pleased to see you looking so well. I have to admit Hell did nothing for your complexion.”

  “Thank you. I don’t think Hell was very good for Nate, either.”

  Jordan nodded. “I won’t keep the two of you. I will warn you… The High Angels expect a traditional wedding. It’s not often one of their own are blessed with a mate.”

  Nate choked on his saliva. “What do you mean, one of their own?”

  Jordan grinned. “Oh, did I forget to tell you? Megan was your last earthly mission. You and Megan can visit there if you’d like, but you’ll be guiding new recruits and lost souls from your place in the Heavenly Realm from now on.”

  His mouth gaped open.

  “I think what Nate is not quite managing to get out is thank you,” Megan supplied with a giggle.

  “Are you okay with all that?” he asked her. “We haven’t discussed any of this.”

  Megan wrapped her arms around his waist. “Of course, I’m okay with it. I’ll be with you. Married, no less.”

  “Married.” He smiled. “Yeah, I think we need to get married. Right away. Do you want children?”

  “I think those discussions are best had in private. I’ll take my leave now. It’s good to have you back, buddy.” Jordan clapped him on the shoulder as he went to the door. “Congratulations. You deserve all the happiness Heaven will bring.”

  Nate’s heart had never been more full.

  “Come on, mate. I think we can have those heavy-duty discussions a little later. For now, I’m feeling a little hungry again.” Megan said as she licked her lips and pulled him toward the bedroom.

  “Good thing I had a lot of fruit on that tray.”

  She grinned at him. “Who said anything about fruit?”

  About the Author

  Élianne Adams, is a self-proclaimed tropical climate Princess, so how she managed to be born and live in snowy Ontario, Canada is a complete mystery. She loves to read (and write) romances that lure you into different worlds, the kinds that suck you in until the very end. Her paranormal romance books feature sexy as sin fire breathing dragons, gryphons, phoenixes, and jaguars. If those sexy Alpha shifters aren’t quite up your alley, she’s also got wolves coming soon.

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  Also by Élianne Adams

  Return to Avalore Series

  Call of the Dragon

  Rise of the Phoenix

  Once Upon a Fiery Christmas

  Lost in Magic

  Dragon Blood Series

  Releasing her Dragon

  Her Gingerbread Dragon

  Finding His Dragon

  His Secret Dragon

  Dark Wolves Series

  Torment

  Betrayal

  Bear Naked for Halloween

  by Edith Hawkes

  Lee

  Megan was just as beautiful as she had been before I’d left. My heart thumped painfully at the sight of her spiral curls blowing in the cool breeze. It was one of the things I loved best about her. Her dark, nearly black hair was as wild as my love for her. My first thought was to jump out of my car and run to her, but I wasn’t sure that would go over too well. It had been too long. I had to take this slow if I was to get my wish to have her back.

  I craved her touch, her scent, and warmth. Even after all these years the scent I remembered so well drifted through the open window like a memory of the past. It was ingrained into my heart. Now that I knew the whole truth about my strong feelings for her it was unbearable to hold back. I wish I’d known then. I wouldn’t have left.

  Leaving Megan was one of the hardest things I’d ever done, but even today I couldn’t regret it. There were things about me that she didn�
�t know and wouldn’t understand. Hell, I hadn’t even understood it myself—not then. The other part of me was strong, but not quite human. At nineteen I was a mess of confusion and disgust. Now though, it was still strange, but at least now I knew I wasn’t alone, that I wasn’t a freak. I only hoped she could forgive me and accept all of me too.

  I watched as a little girl with dark brown curls bounced out of the house carrying a doll in her hand. She smiled up at Megan and took her hand.

  A child?

  She had to be four or five.

  Sweat dripped down my brow, and I wiped my face, never taking my eyes off of the girl.

  The girl was mine. Oh God.

  She was just as beautiful as her mother. The tiny miniature version of Megan twirled gracefully amongst the fallen autumn leaves, full of smiles as she danced towards their car. I watched mesmerized, tears threatening to spill. In my heart I knew it was true; even though all of her colorings were the spitting image of her mother, that was my child. There was no doubt about it. She was so close; I longed to hold her … to hold them both.

  The bear inside of me perked up and rumbled happily at its kin. I felt the shift in my eyes that had become second nature. My turned golden eyes stared at my mate, my child, and my bear roared with glee. We were home now.

  Taking a deep breath, I knew I had to calm down. My bear couldn’t take over. With regret—not wanting to lose sight of Megan and the girl, my daughter—I closed my eyes and worked on my breathing. It was the first thing I had been taught at the den. It was important to be in the driver’s seat at all times. I shoved down my emotions and then opened my eyes again. They were back to their normal deep brown, but Megan and the girl were driving away. My heart tugged to follow, as if a metaphysical chord linked us together.

  I couldn’t follow—not yet. I needed to get my shit together. If I shifted in front of her too soon, she’d run away and never look back. Marcus, my mentor, warned me about having a human mate. It was a difficult balance. There was no way to really be gentle about it, but shifting right now was a recipe for disaster. I needed to see Megan alone first. She had to listen to me; to forgive me, not that I deserved to be forgiven. I’d thought about it the whole drive back to my hometown. In my head she always jumped into my arms thrilled that I’d come back, but I knew that wouldn’t happen … it was a pure fantasy and I wasn’t that much of a fool to realize she would be pissed. This wasn’t a fucking movie.