Beyond The Veil
Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set
Elianne Adams - Annie Nicholas
Gina Kincade & Kiki Howell
Lucy Leroux - K. de Long
Ever Coming - Holley Trent
K.C. Stewart - Rozlyn Sparks
Sylvina Storm - Rachael Slate
Lisa Swallow - April A. Luna
Crystal Dawn - Sky Purington
Phoenix Johnson - Angelica Dawson
Tierney O'Malley - Rebekah R. Ganiere
Naughty Nights Press ● Canada
20 USA Today, Amazon, International, and Award Winning Bestselling Authors in one NEW sizzling magical paranormal romance boxed set.
Beyond the Veil is 'Where Magic Happens,' and the alpha men and their sassy, head-strong and independent women, heat up the pages of this steamy and engaging collection of stories.
Limited time deal so grab it while you can!
Table Of Contents
Beyond The Veil: Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set
Note To Our Amazing Readers
Credit To The Editors
Bump in the Night by Elianne Adams
Bootcamp of Misfit Wolves by Annie Nicholas
What Lies Within Us by Kiki Howell and Gina Kincade (Second Edition)
Cursed by Lucy Leroux
Dreamers by K. de Long
Dreaming of her Wolf (A BBW Stepbrother Shifter Romance) by Ever Coming
Prince in Leather by Holley Trent
Too Far Gone by K.C. Stewart
Fangirl by Rozlyn Sparks
Destined by Sylvina Storm
Moon Borne: A Halcyon Romance by Rachael Slate
Between by Lisa Swallow
Book of Light & Shadows by April A. Luna
The Witch and the Warrior by Crystal Dawn
Quest of a Scottish Warrior by Sky Purington
Persephone by Phoenix Johnson
Not Your Bitch by Angelica Dawson
Wolf’s Soul by Tierney O’Malley
Red the Were Hunter by Rebekah R. Ganiere
About the Publisher
Note To Our Amazing Readers
First, we would like to thank you for taking the time to read our Beyond The Veil boxed set. You are welcome to share the links to this set with as many friends as you like, in fact we'd love it if you do, just please don't share your copy.
The authors in Beyond The Veil wanted to provide our readers with a tantalizing taste of our world building and characters in Beyond The Veil, so prior to the release of this boxed set we also released a free boxed set called Under The Veil, available at the same retailer you purchased this one from. So, if you haven't downloaded Under The Veil yet, what are you waiting for? Don't miss out on the extra boxed set of short stories available to you right now for free!
We hope you will love our short stories as much as you've enjoyed our novellas, and we are so happy to see you enjoy everything we have put together just for you, so we are determined to ensure you have it all. If you don't know about it, how can you grab it, right? *grin*
If you're of a mind, please consider leaving us a review on the distributor site you downloaded this boxed set from, or even better, on both the Under The Veil & Beyond The Veil series of boxed sets. Reviews are our way of life, our bread and butter, and our driving force. Hearing your thoughts, knowing what you liked, and even what you may not have liked as much, encourages us to keep writing every single day. Knowing you're out there waiting for the next dreamy, steamy read means the world to us authors. Your reviews are the best advertising and motivation we could ever have, and we appreciate each and every moment, every reflection and feeling you put into your reviews. They don't have to be big, oh no, not at all; even one-liners will do. Every word from our readers is cherished and remains in the minds of our authors as they craft the next great book. So thank you, if you do review. We adore you!
Credit To The Editors
We would like to take a moment to give due credit to the individual editors of each author in this boxed set. The hard work, time, and dedication to the craft of editing–and it is an art just as much writing is–often goes unappreciated as our editors sit quietly behind the scenes watching and reveling in our successes.
Some readers may not be aware of the grueling hours, hair-pulling nights, and crazy days our editors spend going through our manuscripts to make them the very best they can be. Let there be no doubt about it, grammar and punctuation, sentence structure, revision after revision, proof reading, and line-by-line editing, the whole shebang, we count on you. It is not an easy job, to be sure!
We, the authors of Beyond The Veil, want to give them all a huge shout out for putting up with us fretting, fuming, and sometimes even breaking down over suggested changes to our work. We know you do what you do because you want the best of the best for our readers. We know perhaps it's not said often enough, but without our editor's guiding hand, keen eyes, tenacity, and patience, many of us would surely go off the deep end.
So, to you, editors, for all the support you give, the hands you hold, and the love you pour into each and every one of our amazing books:
We couldn't do it without you. You rock!
Beyond The Veil: Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set
First Edition April 2016
ISBN: 978-1-926514-28-4
Published by Naughty Nights Press, LLC
http://naughtynightspress.com/
Credit to the individual editors of each author.
Copyright © Naughty Nights Press 2016:
Elianne Adams - Annie Nicholas - Gina Kincade - Kiki Howell - Lucy Leroux - K. de Long - Ever Coming - Holley Trent - K.C. Stewart - Rozlyn Sparks - Sylvina Storm - Rachael Slate - Lisa Swallow - April A. Luna - Crystal Dawn - Sky Purington - Phoenix Johnson - Angelica Dawson - Tierney O'Malley - Rebekah R. Ganiere
All rights reserved. This book is copyrighted and protected by law.
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this ebook are products of the authors' imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the authors.
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Bump in the Night by Elianne Adams
Chapter One
“Stop looking at me like that.” Libbie threw her hairbrush onto her dresser, glaring through the mirror at the woman behind her. “I don’t care who he is, or what danger he might be in. It
is none of my concern. And I don’t need the headaches.”
“But he doesn’t deserve this. He’s a good man. He was a wonderful husband. I can’t go until I see him happy again, or, at least, safe. Please. I have nowhere else to turn,” Jennifer whined. Her body shimmered, her form becoming hazy.
“I. Don’t. Care.” She just couldn’t do it. Not ever again.
The woman huffed, and stomped her ghostly foot, and then she was gone.
Libbie closed her eyes and sighed. Three times this week, this woman had come to her and begged for help, and all three times, she’d given her the same answer. What more did the woman want? For you to help her damned drunk of a husband, that’s what. But she couldn’t do it again. She wouldn’t. The memory of Pete, the last man she had tried to help, surfaced, making her insides quiver, and clench. Excess spit pooled in her mouth, and as it always did when she thought of him, bile rose to burn her throat. The entire scene played over and over in her mind, bringing every sharp, agonizing detail of his death to the forefront. The remembered thud of him hitting the ground echoed in her ears, along with the evil laughter following him all the way down before he hit the ground made her recoil even now, months later. Her stomach knotted as she tried to control her reaction, but it was no use. Rushing to the washroom, she pulled her hair to the side, reaching the toilet just in time to keep from emptying her heaving stomach all over the floor.
Jordan, her boss, had offered to remove the memories of that awful night, promising not to take anything but those horrible memories away, but she had refused. There was no turning back time. Pete was dead. Had she been a better daemon she would have been able to save him. She wasn’t, and she hadn’t. She had to live with that guilt. Washing it away like it never happened wouldn’t bring Pete back. Nothing would.
Brushing her teeth after she’d been sick was always a joy. Her gag reflex worked overtime, but she managed to get the nastiness out of her mouth. Already running late, she didn’t have time to brush her teeth three times before April got there. Why on earth had she agreed to go out? She should have made more excuses, found a good reason not to go, but her best friend had caught her in a moment of weakness. April had made great arguments, but in the end, she hadn’t given her a choice, not really. The guilt she had piled on had been enough to have Libbie agreeing to just about anything. She’d become a bit of a recluse, in fact, Libbie hadn’t gotten out for more than work and groceries since that horrible night. She hadn’t wanted to meet friends to have drinks or even coffee, and they were worried. The thing was, none of them understood what being responsible for someone else’s death was like, and she hoped they never would. It sucked. Big time.
When she had tried refusing the invitation, April had come barging in and told her she was going out, and that was that. She had thrown the witch costume on the couch and told her to be ready at eight. When Libbie had been about to refuse again, April had looked at her with her eyes brimming with tears. “Please,” she had begged. “I miss my best friend. You’ve holed yourself up in this little house and never leave anymore. I’m worried about you. We all are.” And with that, Libbie had agreed.
She had no desire to be with a bunch of drunken Halloween revelers. Hell, she saw enough ghosts as it was, but as much as she hated to admit it, April was right. Libbie hadn’t been much of a friend over the past nine months. Even if she thought she could get away with digging in her heels and not going, she couldn’t stomach the thought of hurting her friend with her refusal. With a long sigh, she headed back to the bedroom and finished getting ready.
When they got there, the bar, aptly named The Witch’s Brew, was packed. It wasn’t a huge place, but, according to April, it was the place to be on Halloween night. Libbie readjusted the bustier top over her breasts with a tug, hoping to restrain the girls long enough to keep from embarrassing herself. She couldn’t even blame April for the revealing costume. She hadn’t bothered to spare it a single glance after her friend had thrown it on the couch until she was getting ready, leaving her no time to shop for another. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by her body—if anything, she liked her curves—but she wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend, least of all the kind she was likely to find at a bar.
As soon as she walked in, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her, but after a quick glance around, she gave up trying to figure out who it might be. Too many people, and too much noise.
“Yeah, this is going to be fun,” she uttered under her breath. Maybe if she were lucky, whoever it was would stay away from her, and she wouldn’t have to deal with some touchy, feely guy who couldn’t take no for an answer. Or better yet, maybe she could sneak out, and April wouldn’t notice she had left. She had already told her she was heading to the ladies room as soon as they got there, so she didn’t bother trying to yell at her over the loud din of the bar.
Libbie shuffled on her feet. The line for the ladies room hadn’t budged in at least five minutes. What the hell was taking so long in there? Shifting her weight, she caught a glimpse of long, flowing blond hair out of the corner of her eye. Groaning, she turned toward the wall, admiring the tacky decor, hoping against hope that Jennifer hadn’t spotted her.
***
Jay saw the gorgeous redhead the moment she stepped foot in the bar. Hell, he wasn’t the only one. Every other man in the room had as well. They would have had to have been blind not to notice her. When he spotted April come in right behind her, his heart accelerated, and his whole body tightened. That couldn’t be the elusive Libbie. April had warned him that her friend might not show tonight, but he hoped that wasn’t the case, and that the beautiful creature who had just walked in was his date for the night. A blood red bustier pushed the mounds of her breasts up in a sexy display that had his mouth watering. The skirt hugged her curves in all the right places, then flared at the bottom. The suggestive costume left little to the imagination, making him want to growl at every man in the bar, warning them against even looking at her, much less touch her. Mate! Mine!
Jay nearly dropped his glass at his wolf’s outburst. His mate? His heart raced again, and his palms grew damp. It wasn’t that he wasn’t ready to be mated, he was, but he had given up on finding his a long time ago. After all the years of being without her, had fate finally blessed him with his mate?
Setting his Coke on the table, he sat straighter, watching as the woman veered away from where they sat while April went alone to the bar. Damn. It didn’t matter. Just because she hadn’t come in with April didn’t mean he couldn’t introduce himself. The woman disappeared around the corner leading to the washrooms, and he fought the impulse to follow her.
He tried paying attention to his friends, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from where his mate had disappeared. He would have been oblivious to April’s approach had she not plunked a tall pink drink on the table in front of the empty spot right next to his. “She’s here.” She mouthed the words at him, then smiled wide, her hands flapping in front of her like an excited teenager. April had been trying to set him up with her friend for weeks, but each time they made plans, the woman had flaked out and not shown up. If it hadn’t been for April’s insistence that she was perfect for him, he would have told her to forget about it.
Jay took a deep breath, ready to ask her where her imaginary friend was when a sweet scent wrapped itself around him. Snapping his head up, he spotted the redhead heading toward the bar. With furrowed brows and a deep frown, the woman looked pissed. She stopped next to a man who was practically falling off his bar stool and tapped him on the shoulder. Maybe this beauty wasn’t April’s friend after all. Not that it mattered. As much as he’d hate to disappoint April, and his apparent date, there was no way he was leaving the bar without meeting his mate.
Chapter Two
Libbie knew without having to ask which of the drunks in the room belonged—or had belonged—to Jennifer. A man in his early thirties, slouched on a bar stool, stared into a glass of whiskey. So intent on drowni
ng his emotion in his drink, he didn’t notice her until she was right next to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hi,” she said when he looked at her. His tried to focus his bleary gaze, but by the way he kept blinking up at her, she doubted he’d managed it.
“How’re you doing tonight, sssugar?” he slurred and gave her what she supposed he meant to be a smile.
“I’m fine, but you,” she said pointing her finger at his nose, “are not.” A small shiver raced down her spine as the gaze she’d sensed on her earlier found her again. She struggled to keep her attention focused on Kurt.
“Is that so? It just so happens, I’m not feeling any pain at all.” He smiled again at his own joke.
“Being drunk doesn’t mean you aren’t in pain. It just means you’ve drowned it in liquor, and shoved it aside instead of dealing with it.” She met his gaze, challenging him to deny it.
“Fuck. You don’t know a damned thing.” He motioned to the bartender for another drink before downing what was in his glass.
“I know you’re in pain.”
“Are you going to ease my pain tonight, sugar?” He looked down at her chest and up again, openly leering at her. When she didn’t rise to the bait, he shrugged. “So what makes you think I’m in pain?”
“She told me so.”
“How very fucking mysterious. Who told you so?” he asked, with a hiccup.
“Jennifer.”
“Fucking hell.” Kurt staggered to his feet, sending his stool crashing to the floor behind him. Slamming his palms onto the bar, he rounded on her again, swaying a little with the sudden motion. “Who put you up to this?”
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