How It Is

by T. S. Joyce

  The needy noise in her throat made his dick ache to be in her. He wanted to make Cora feel good. Rewards for mending his splintered soul. Rewards for caring about a man who hadn’t been salvageable. Rewards for taking the pain from him. Rewards for caring.

  Did she even realize what she was doing to him? How loyal she was making him?

  Krome could turn her worry off. He could empty her mind and make her feel good, and take her fear away. He kissed her and eased her knees farther apart, and slowly…excruciatingly slowly…he slid his cock into her. And fuuuuuuck, she felt so good. He eased back and pushed into her again, reveling in the sound of his name whispered from her lips.

  Cora’s body arched to him when he went deep, so he stayed there, thrusting deep, hitting the spot he’d learned on her, and fuck, he’d meant for this to be about her, but the pressure was already building in him. With a grunt, he gripped her hands again, pinned them against the bed, and bucked into her harder. She was crying out now…God she was so sexy. She was close. He could tell by the sounds she made, by the way she moved against him, by the way she gripped his hands and threw her head back.

  He slammed into her harder, harder, faster. She was so slick and it felt so good to fill her. Hell, he was close too. Krome gripped her waist and eased up, slammed into her as he spread his wings out behind him. Her eyes were on him as she gripped the pillow behind her head. Her tits were bouncing with the rhythm he set, and fuck he’d never been so turned on. Nothing could touch this. Perfect woman. Perfect mate. What? She would make a good queen. What? Perfect….perfect….

  “Krome!” she screamed out, and he knew he had her.

  His fingertips dug into her soft waist as he pulled her against him over and over. His. She was his. He knew her body, knew he could own her like this.

  Her orgasm gripped his dick and she cried out. Krome couldn’t hold on any longer. Not when she was milking him like this with those strong pulses of her release. He dropped down to her, pressed his chest against her bouncing tits and drove deep…deeeeep…

  A groan escaped him as his dick seized and spilled the first jet of cum into her. Harder and harder he throbbed as he hugged her tightly against him. How could anything feel this intense? This consuming?

  Everything in him was reaching for her, and when he opened his eyes, hers were trained on him, and wide.

  “What?” he asked.

  Cora cupped his cheeks, then his shoulders, then ran her hands under his arms to his back.

  And that’s when he noticed it. The purple smoke that always accompanied his changes wafted in a thick cloud around them. When he tried to stretch his wings, he couldn’t.

  He couldn’t because they weren’t there anymore.

  He’d chosen a form and withdrawn them into his body.

  “Your wings,” she whispered.

  He pulled her up fast, still buried deep inside of her, and he hugged her to him. Mind racing, he told her, “It’s okay. It’s good. It means my wings are healed enough for me to change.” Into this form. Who the hell knew if he could change into his crow?

  Cora had done this.

  She’d healed him enough that he could choose a form and shed the ‘in-between.’

  He felt strong. He felt okay. He felt no fear, no pain.

  Because of her.

  Cora made him stronger.

  “You’re mine,” he murmured, pushing her hair out of her face so he could level her with a look and show her the honesty of his words. “You’re mine, do you hear?”

  A smile curved up her pretty lips, and she nodded.

  “No one will hurt you because you’re mine.” Krome settled her back on the mattress and pulled out of her, tried something he hadn’t dared to since the wings had been broken. He morphed through air, and appeared at the desk. Smoke filled the air and it had a purple tint to it. Fuck, he felt strong. He felt powerful. She’d done that. When he turned to Cora, she was sitting on her knees on the bed, eyes wide and lips parted. “You just disappeared and…and…”

  Krome grabbed a pen from his desk and tried it again. He appeared beside the bed, on his knees. The smoke was thick. Much thicker than it ever had before, and darker too. What was happening to him?

  “Come here,” he said low.

  A wicked gleam took her eyes, and her slow smile matched it in seconds. God, she was stunning.

  Slowly, she eased to the side of the bed, placing her feet on the floor on either side of him. “I thought kings bowed to no one,” she whispered.

  Krome bit the top of her thigh gently, and then said, “They only bow to queens.”

  “Mmmmmm. I like that.”

  Krome gripped her leg and began to draw something he never thought he would draw on a woman. He drew his family crest right at the top of her right thigh. It was a crow with branches reaching for it, and a shield behind it.

  “To claim a woman, a crow has to show her his crest, and give her the choice to stay or go. He has to give her a gift to show his intention. You don’t have to say yes, Cora. Women have power in Murders. There aren’t many of them, but they are coveted. You can say no, and move on, but know this. My crow has chosen. I have chosen. Wherever you go, I can find you. If you are ever in trouble, you can call out my name and I’ll hear it, even if you don’t choose me back.” He finished the final line of his crest and blew on it gently to make sure it dried well. “I never thought I would show this to anyone.”

  “What changed your mind,” she asked softly.

  He dragged his attention from the crest he’d drawn on her thigh to her eyes. “I trust you.”

  She wouldn’t cripple him with a bond. She wouldn’t use it for evil, because down to her soul, she was good. Cora was a healer, not a destroyer.

  He reached behind his neck and unhooked the silver necklace his father had given him the night before the war with Cyrus Bane.

  Her eyes rimmed with emotion as he leaned forward and clasped it around her neck. It hung perfectly between her breasts, emphasizing their curves. Queen.

  She placed her hand on the silver crow skull pendant, and nodded slowly. “You have to come back to me today. Promise me.”

  He couldn’t make promises he didn’t know if he could keep though. Not to her. Cora deserved better than empty promises. Instead, he told her again, “Wherever you are, I’ll find you.” In this life or the next.

  That part, he didn’t say out loud, but from the flash of worry in her eyes, he knew she understood.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Where are we going?” Cora asked.

  Krome slipped his hand to her thigh, right over where he’d drawn his crest, and gave her a gentle squeeze. The saturated morning sunlight created a crown of light around his profile. Mussed dark hair, cheekbones that cut like glass, straight proud nose, black eyes and tattoos all up his muscular neck. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt today that hugged the curves of his muscular arms and defined chest. Truth be told, she missed when he’d had to exist without a shirt on because of the wings, but at least he seemed more comfortable. If she’d met him like this, she would’ve only thought him a perfect specimen of a man, not a half-crow, half-sexy-manimal.

  Across her mind drifted a flash of memory from this morning’s naked party. Krome hovered over her, his eyes intense on her as he bucked into her, and lordy…Cora blinked hard and tried to clear her head before her cheeks went to blushing. “I think you’re the sexiest man in the world.”

  He huffed a surprised sounding laugh. “You haven’t met every man in the world.”

  Well, true, but that didn’t change her opinion. Boys like him just didn’t exist. “Where are we going?” she asked again.

  “It’s a surprise. To me.”

  “Oh. Well, that answer makes no sense. This is a really nice truck,” she pointed out, sliding her hand against the side of her leather seat. It was a fully loaded Chevy Silverado. Black exterior and interior to match Krome’s eyes. And hair. And crow. Good lord, she had a crush on a crow. Half crow, s
o not as weird. His hands had felt really good on her boobs. She’d had too much coffee. Everything was confusing. “And you have a very nice house. Is that for all of the crows? Or just the king?”

  “It’s mine. The truck is mine, too. The boys all have day jobs and cover their own bills.” He gave her a smirk. “I have a day job, too.”

  And that’s what she’d been getting at. Did the other crows have to pay for his life because he was king of the Murder? Apparently not.

  “Let me guess. Stripper?”

  Krome chuckled and shook his head. “I find people’s stolen things,” he told her. “My clients tell me what was stolen, and I set a fee to track it down, and then I retrieve it.”

  “Like a bounty-hunter slash detective?”

  Krome’s grin was easy and crooked and made her heart do little flip-flops.

  “Something like that.”

  “What kind of stuff do you find?” she asked.

  “Oh anything. Tires and rims that get lifted off someone’s car, or farm equipment. Animals that are lost. I’ve retrieved an entire herd of longhorn cattle before.”

  “And what do you do with the thieves?” she asked.

  The smile faltered. “I make sure they know they’ve done wrong.”

  Right. So no calling the police. His clients must come to him when they wanted justice done under the table.

  “Do you kill them?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Do you hurt them?”

  His jaw constricted. “When they deserve it.”

  “Do they hurt you?” she murmured.

  “Sometimes they try.”

  “So, it’s dangerous work.”

  “It’s work that suits me.”

  All careful answers.

  He took a left onto a dirt road and she tracked the mailbox as they passed. “We both do work that suits us.”

  “Your work is more noble. You save birds.”

  “And you protect people’s property and possessions, and give them peace of mind.”

  A quick glance over at her revealed a flash of something softer in his eyes. “I like the way you see the world. You can put a positive spin on anything, can’t you?”

  “It’s my superpower. That and making homemade apple turnovers. I learned the recipe in Home Economics in high school and I’ve perfected it through the years. I’m kind of famous in my own mind for them.”

  He chuckled a warm, inviting sound. “You’ll have to make those for me soon.”

  “I don’t make them for ghosts, Krome. You have to come back after the challenge for me to make the effort.” She’d meant it as a joke, but as the words had tumbled from her lips, the reality of the day nearly bowled her over. Softly, she said, “I used to wish Atlas would live forever. He made me happy, and I made him happy. Life was good while he was around. Life made sense. I had a purpose. I had a friend.”

  “What are you saying?” he asked.

  She gripped her hand around the pendant on his necklace, hanging down the v-neck of her shirt. “You’re my Atlas now.”

  His expression was full of surprise as he cast her a glance, then back to the road. To her, then back to the road.

  “You asked where we’re going,” he said low. He jutted his chin at the cabin that came into view beyond the pine forest. “I’m taking you to the Banes.”

  Cora jolted upright in the passenger’s seat. “What? Why?”

  “Because I trust them more than I trust my people right now. At least with human life.”

  A bearded man stood on the porch, a cup of steaming coffee cradled in one hand, his other hand shoved deep in his pocket as he leaned on the porch railing above the stairs. He wore a dark frown and his eyes were a lightened shade of gray she’d never seen in a man’s face before.

  He looked terrifying.

  Behind him was a woman with mouse brown hair pulled up into a messy bun, and worry in her deep-set green eyes.

  “Is that Moore?” she asked. “Is he the one who broke your wings?”

  “No. That’s his brother, Auxor. Behind him is his mate. He’s the first one who broke the rules.”

  “I don’t like this.”

  “Everything will be okay. Stay there.”

  She thought he meant stay in the car while he talked to Auxor, but nope. He turned off the truck and walked around the front to open her door, like a gentleman. She only puckered out her bottom lip a little and made an “aww” sound quietly before he pulled her out by the waist and tugged her by the hand toward the terrifying bear shifter.

  “You trying to die today?” the man asked in voice that sounded like sand paper grinding against gravel. A long growl rattled his throat at the end and lifted chills all over Cora’s body.

  Krome didn’t answer until they were standing right in front of the stairs. “I have a favor to ask.”

  Auxor belted out a single laugh that echoed through the woods, but the look on his face was anything but amused. “You. You have a favor to ask me.”

  “I’m Gweneth Smithers,” the woman said, stepping forward.

  “I’m Krome.”

  “I know who you are, feather-nuts.” Gwen lifted her chin, and asked, “Who’s she?”

  Cora cleared her throat and stepped out from behind Krome. “I’m Cora Peterson.” She was still holding Krome’s hand, so she lifted it in the air. “I’m with this guy.”

  “Are you human?” Gwen asked.

  “Human as fuuuuck,” Cora said, punctuated with a little nervous laugh.

  Gwen shocked Cora to her bones as she grinned big. “Oh my goodness, this is awesome. Ha ha. The crows are pairing up with humans.”

  Krome huffed a sigh and looked like he wanted to leave, but Gwen was putting on quite the show, slapping her knees and cracking up. Auxor just stared at Krome suspiciously.

  “Hey, hey,” Gwen said between laughs. “Krome, remember that time when you tried to kill us all because bears and humans were pairing up? And then…hahaha…and then! And then you did it yourself?”

  Cora pursed her lips. It probably wasn’t funny, but Gwen’s laughter was contagious.

  Krome rolled his eyes closed like he was counting to three before he spoke again. “There’s a coup happening in my Murder. I have to fight to stay king today, and if I lose—”

  “Which he won’t!” Cora said, because positive thoughts made the world go round.

  “—which I probably won’t, my second feels like Cora knows too much about us.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Auxor said. “You and your Crow Blooded asshole friends have watched us since we were kids, like little stalkers, you’ve made up all these rules we have to follow, you started a motherfucking war with us and tried to end our lineage, and now you want us to protect your girlfriend?”

  “She’s…” Krome glanced at Cora. “She’s more than that.”

  “Say yes,” Gwen whispered. “I can make her my friend. Wait, do you like margaritas?” she called out.

  “Uh…yes? Especially on Taco Tuesdays?” Cora answered, confused.

  “She likes margaritas, Aux. Trinity and Aurora hate tequila. They said no when I invite them over for margarita book club. I want her. Make it happen.”

  Aux’s sigh turned into a snarl and he pinched the bridge of his nose before he said, “Will I be able to fight the crows that come for her?”

  “Yes,” Krome said.

  “Then we’re in.”

  “He’s been really bored since the war,” Gwen tattled. “All the boys have been in a funk. Y’all don’t even spy on them much anymore. Look.” Gwen gestured grandly to the trees around the cabin. “No crows in the trees even. And you showed up in human form. Snore. If we protect her, slash if I make her my pet friend and feed her margaritas while you do your little punchy-punchy stuff with your second, does this mean we can make an alliance?”

  “No,” Aux and Krome both barked out.

  “Mmmmm, that doesn’t work for me and Cora,” Gwen enlightened them as she t
romped down the stairs toward them.

  “Gwen, what are you doing?” Aux demanded, rushing after her.

  “Retrieving my third best friend. What do you want to do today? I have twenty-seven chickens we can cuddle, and I have a pet pig that needs a bath, or we can take the side-by-side out in the woods. And later we can do gourmet pizza night at Beauman’s Pies in town,” she said, marching straight up to Cora. “Kiss him goodbye, we have shit to accomplish.”

  Cora stood there like a bump on a log, just frozen in place, and they all had to exist through a loaded moment where she couldn’t remember how to speak a single word of English. When her language skills returned to her, she admitted, “All of that sounds like fun, and I love chickens.”

  “She loves all birds,” Krome said.

  “Clearly,” Aux growled.

  “Um, I’m afraid of pigs though, so maybe let’s skip the pig bath part.”

  “Mmm. Your clothes are covered in blood stains,” Gwen pointed out.

  Cora looked down at her purple scrubs. Krome had washed them last night, but they definitely still had darker splotches all over the front. “It’s Krome’s blood.”

  That should’ve disturbed the hell out of Gweneth Smithers, but she only responded with, “Whoo, kinky,” and then told her to, “Say your goodbyes to sir-frowns-a-lot, and I’ll meet you in the barn.”

  “For what?” Cora asked as the hellion strode away.

  “For pig snuggles.”

  “What? Why?”

  “To get you over your fear.”

  “Oh, I really don’t think we need to—”

  “This is what third best friends do,” she called without turning around.

  “Oh, no.” Cora couldn’t tell if she liked Gweneth Smithers, or if she was terrified of her.

  “Is she a bear shifter?” Cora asked, concerned about going into a barn alone with someone who could literally eat her.

  “No,” Krome said, frowning at Gwen’s receding back. “Just a weird little human.”

  Aux stood there with his hands on his hips, also watching his mate make her way to a huge red barn. “I want to defend her, and tell you not to insult her or I’ll kill you, but killing you would make my bear go insane, and also, you aren’t wrong. She is weird.” A slow, proud smile spread across his face and Cora thought he didn’t see ‘weird’ as a bad thing. And then the smile fell from his face and he lowered his voice. “Hey remember when we were at war a few days ago and you came after everyone I love and we could’ve killed your entire Murder of motherfuckers, but we didn’t? Don’t push us. If this is some kind of trap, or trick, or your little girlfriend is going to spy on us for you, just know my mate will have her feelings hurt, and that shit doesn’t fly around here. Gwen wants to be friends with your lady, and you can do this the easy way and be genuine, or you can do it the hard way, but know this. I won’t break your wings like Moore did,” Aux growled out, closing the space between him and Krome. “I’ll fucking rip them off.” He gave Krome an empty smile and clapped him on the shoulders. “Good luck not dying today. Hope you keep your Murder.”