My Paranormal Valentine: A Paranormal Romance Box Set

by Michelle M. Pillow

  “Yes.” He drew lazy circles on the inside of her wrist with his thumb—a soft caress that befuddled her mind.

  “Do you still think that?”

  “No.”

  “When I first told you about the wedding, was the werewolf thing your only reason for refusing?”

  “No.”

  “What else?”

  The heat in his gaze scorched her skin, or maybe her visceral response to this man was the culprit. Either way, the truth was dragged from her lips. “This.”

  He tipped his head in question, clearly wanting clarification. Time to take a risk. She hadn’t used her sexual radar in centuries. She hoped to Zeus the skill wasn’t rusty, that she was reading his signals right.

  Never taking her gaze from his, she slid out from under the covers and climbed into his lap, straddling him. No mistaking the evidence of his desire. With excruciating slowness, she lowered her lips to hover above his, not quite touching. “This.”

  She didn’t have to wait long. With a low groan he covered her lips with his, his tongue sliding along hers. He tasted of champagne and something delicious that was simply Cas. He tangled his hands in order to angle her mouth better. Leia was lost to his kiss, his touch, her body taking over from her mind as she surrendered to the sensations that had been building since the first moment they’d met. This thing between them went way beyond the desire brought on by a werewolf mating. This weekend had only exposed what they’d both tried to ignore.

  She whimpered and rocked against him. Not enough skin. With frantic fingers she reached for the buttons of his shirt, but he placed a hand over hers, stilling her actions.

  “Are you sure?”

  She gave the question the consideration it deserved. “Yes.” With her free hand, she smoothed the fine material of his tux shirt over the toned muscles of his chest, savoring the heat of his skin. He shuddered at the touch. “I may have to stop working for you, but we’ll figure that out later. For now…”

  She raised her gaze to his to see an answering need reflected back at her.

  “I’ll take for now, but promise me you won’t make any decisions about later without discussing it first.”

  “I promise.”

  He released her hand and she undid the buttons on his shirt. Not in a rush like earlier, but one at a time, teasing him with light brushes of her fingertips with each inch of exposed skin. His breath quickened with every touch. Finally, she peeled the shirt off him. With a grin she leaned forward and gave him a playful nip on his peck, at the same time releasing a wave of pleasure through them both, a perk of being a nymph.

  In an instant, urgency took over and together they caught fire. Holding her in his arms, he stood, then lowered her feet to the floor.

  He gazed down at her body, encased in the tiny black negligee. “Damn, honey. You’re killing me.”

  She giggled even as she delivered a smile worthy of all nymphs. The rest of their clothes were divested in a rush, with heated kisses between every move.

  Leia squealed as he spun them around and tumbled her back to the bed. He followed her down and she wrapped her legs around his back. Hovering above her like this, his hot skin a brand against her own, claiming her, felt so right.

  With incredible gentleness, he smoothed her hair back from her face. “I’ve been waiting for this so long, I don’t want to rush.”

  Her eyes widened. “So long?”

  He nodded. “Since that time we worked together on the Huntington contract late into the night. You were helpful, smart and challenging.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “So you lust after my brains and sarcasm?”

  He grinned. “Yes. Plus, you touched me.”

  She smoothed her fingers over the dark stubble on his jaw. “I’ve touched you before.”

  He leaned into her caress. “Yes, but that was the first time. And it was electric.”

  She remembered. “I thought it was just me.”

  He shook his head. Then he lowered himself and took one rosy peak of her breast into his mouth. Warmth and heat and the rasp of his tongue assaulted her senses. She groaned and tangled her hands in his thick hair, holding him to her. He groaned as another wave of her power pulsed through them. The more she let go, the less she could control it.

  After giving attention to each breast, he proceeded to explore her body in a leisurely drive-her-to-the-edge kind of way. No part of her went untouched. She adored how every caress was like he worshiped her body. Finally, when she was on the point of begging, he made his way back up to her lips. He captured her in a drugging kiss as he ran a hand up the inside of her thigh where he slipped a single finger inside her.

  He groaned low and pulled back to grin down at her. “So ready for me.”

  “Mmhmmm,” she agreed, distracted by what he was doing with that hand now.

  He rolled on a condom and positioned himself at her entrance. “So damn sexy.”

  “You’re not the only one who’s been thinking about this.” They both gasped as he eased inside her, pleasure throbbing, escalating.

  “How long?”

  She tossed her head back as he started to move, rocking her hips into his, matching his rhythm.

  “How long, Leia?” He stopped moving.

  She opened her eyes to find him hovering above her, an intensity in his gaze she’d never seen before, even as passion tightened his features. “Too bloody long.”

  He grinned, and she sighed as he started to move again. Slowly the pleasure built inside her, then not so slowly. Cas thrust inside her with strokes meant to drive both their pleasure higher, entwined with her own pleasure-inducing abilities, until, together, they toppled over the edge into another world, one filled with exquisite sensation. He didn’t stop his thrusts until both of them were satiated, drained.

  Leia relished the weight of his body on her as they lay locked in replete contentment. She refused to think about the later. The consequences and next steps. Not yet. She still wanted now too much, and worrying about later tended to ruin now.

  Cas buried his face in her neck, then hummed in appreciation. “You smell like rain, and mountain springs, and me.”

  She opened her eyes to find him watching her with a lazy, satisfied smile playing across his lips. “Gods you are incredible woman. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  The shadow of his wife niggled at her, but she pushed the unfair concern away. “I find that hard to believe given how long you’ve lived, but thank you.” She stretched, luxuriating in the way his gaze followed every curve of her body, showing off like the nymph she was, accessing a part of her she hadn’t in way too long.

  He captured her face between his hands, suddenly all serious intent. “I mean it, Lyleia.”

  She turned her head to kiss his palm. “I believe you.”

  He nodded, satisfied. Then stood and scooped her into his arms.

  “What are you doing?” Even as she asked the question she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “I’m making us a bath. I’ve heard a man hasn’t lived until he’s made love to a water nymph in the water.”

  The rumors were true as water amplified the effect of their pleasure giving and receiving ability, partly why gods pursued them as relentlessly as they once had. The experience become addictive. Panic surged through her. She laid her palm over his heart. “I don’t do that.”

  He paused and looked down at her. “With anyone?”

  She shook her head.

  “Ever?”

  She glanced away. “I guess you could say I’m saving it for my forever guy, not just one night of passion.”

  A single finger under her chin tipped her gaze back his way. “I won’t say I don’t want it, but I get it.”

  “You do?” She’d expected the ego she knew lurked behind that easygoing exterior to rear its head.

  “I had forever once. So yeah, I do.” He went from seriously sweet to hearstoppingly intense in a nanosecond as he gave her a wicked grin. “Besides I
have lots of other fantasies where you’re concerned.”

  “I may have a few of my own,” she murmured, body humming.

  “Like what?”

  She toyed with the hair at the back of his neck. “Like…can demigods really go all night long?”

  Dimples flashed as he grinned. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

  She squealed as he spun fast, showing a small hint of the extra strength and speed demigods often inherited.

  Chapter Eleven

  She needed to recharge her system.

  With that sole need in mind, she tossed back the covers and tried to stand up, only to be stopped by an arm curling around her waist and dragging her back into bed.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Cas nuzzled her neck.

  She laughed. “You’re insatiable, and I need a shower.”

  He didn’t let her up. “I wasn’t the only insatiable one.”

  She giggled, then sobered, deliberately serious. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He grunted his amusement as she peeled his arm from her. Not bothering to cover up, she padded across the room naked.

  “I could get used to that sight in the mornings.”

  She didn’t respond to his mumbled comment, pretending not to hear. Reality wasn’t something she was ready to face yet, and those words came under the heading of later.

  Once she was in the bathroom, she decided a shower wasn’t going to cut it. She needed water immersion. With a flick, she turned the knobs for the oversized spa. Once the tub was filled she lowered herself in and leaned back, closing her eyes with a sigh, and letting the magical properties of the water seep into her skin. In an instant she was transported in her mind. Rather than bathwater, the pristine water of a warm spring surrounded her, the air fresh and clean.

  “What have you done?”

  The whispered words were barely audible. Leia sat up with a jerk, sloshing the water over the side of the tub. “Calliadne?”

  But her sister wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

  Must be more tired than I thought. She lay back in the water.

  “What have you done to us, Lyleia?”

  Her eyes flashed open. This time the voice was unmistakable. Calli was trying to talk to her.

  Leia sank beneath the water and waited. “I’m here, sister.”

  A shimmering version of Calli’s face swam before her eyes, iridescent and rippling with the water. “You’ve brought destruction on your own people.”

  “I knew what I did last night wouldn’t make you happy, but I did it for the right reasons.”

  “Your actions have brought death upon us.”

  Leia gripped the sides of the tub hard. She hadn’t hurt anyone last night. Stirred them up and pissed them off, sure. “What are you talking about?”

  “Kaios had come to us before you did. He threatened us with a fate similar to yours if we did anything during the mating ceremony that resembled that prophesy. It’s why we couldn’t help you. Now he’s here, and he’s brought a warlock.”

  Calli’s image wavered and faded. Seconds later, pain exploded through Leia, like a shard of ice being stabbed into her brain and down her spine. She curled in on herself and screamed in agony, the sound gurgling out into the water still clear as day to her nymph’s ears. She knew this pain. It could mean only one thing. One of her brethren was dead.

  Arms plunged into the water and scooped her out. “Leia?” Castor’s frantic voice penetrated the haze of pain.

  She pried open her eyes. “My people are under attack,” she gasped out.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Through sheer will, she swallowed the acrid taste of bile and forced the pain from her body. A couple deep breaths and the agony wasn’t gone, but pushed back, a handy gift from the gods for all nymphs, in order for them to function while protecting the natural element they served.

  “Put me down.”

  He stood her up, and she ran to the bedroom and started pulling on clothes—whatever was at the top of her suitcase, which happened to be jeans and a black t-shirt.

  “What are you doing? What’s going on?”

  “Kaios is attacking the nymphs by the chapel in the woods. He has a warlock. I have to help them.”

  Castor didn’t ask more questions. Instead he started pulling on his own jean and t-shirt.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Coming with you.”

  “No—”

  “Demigod.” He pointed at his chest. “I’m coming with you.”

  She didn’t argue. In silence they finished dressing, she pulled her hair back in a quick and messy ponytail, and they rushed from the room. Castor pulled out his cell phone. “Marrok. We have a problem.”

  He quickly explained the situation to the werewolf alpha, then hung up and put his phone in his pocket. “They’ll be right behind us. With help.”

  “No help.”

  “Why?”

  “I bullied my people into a display of nature to fulfill a prophesy and help two good people. I’m not ruining all my effort, and Marrok and Tala’s opportunity, to take down the asshole werewolf responsible.”

  “You sure?”

  Not really. The last time she had tangled with Kaios she had lost everything, and consequently everyone, dearest to her. “Yes.”

  He pulled out the phone and handed it to her as they reached the car. “You call them. I’ll meet you there.”

  She frowned even as she reached for the phone. “How—?”

  “I’m a lot faster than any car.” Right. Demigod.

  She dialed as she got in the car and strapped in. Marrok picked up immediately and she told him the same thing she’d just told Cas.

  “I’m still coming,” Marrok insisted. A female voice sounded from another room. “So is Tala.”

  “Okay. But no one else.”

  “Agreed.”

  She hung up and headed into war.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Kaios!” Castor bellowed.

  He had made it to the chapel, which appeared peaceful except for the dry-as-a-bone lake and riverbed. Finding no one there, he’d made his way down the path and across the bridge, into the forest. There chaos reigned, and the scent of ill-used magic hung heavy in the air.

  He bellowed Kaios’s name again. No answer amidst the harshness of screams and shrieks. At the side of the river, he found Calli curled into a ball with her hands clasped over her ears. Blood was oozing from her eyes, ears, and nose.

  “Where is he?”

  She couldn’t answer. The rasp of her lungs told him she might be inhaling blood as well.

  “Calli? No!” Leia appeared at his side. He didn’t ask how she’d found him.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “She needs water.” She pulled a bottle from her backpack. He hadn’t even realized she had it with her. She poured half the bottle over Calli’s face, then tipped it to her lips. The nymph gulped it down as fast as she could. The bleeding stopped and her breathing improved.

  “How’d you know?”

  She glanced at him. “It happened to me when I lost my spring. Nymphs are used to being in their element most of the time.”

  “You don’t need water.”

  “I do, but I’ve gotten used to going without for long periods. I take lots of baths and carry water everywhere.”

  “Help the others,” Calli choked.

  “Is there any water left?”

  Calli shook her head.

  Leia turned to Castor, her face pale and pinched with fear. “I can’t help you.”

  “What if I can get you water?”

  Hope speared through Leia at his words. “Can you do that?”

  “Son of Zeus. Remember?”

  The rumor was that his twin brother Pollux was Zeus’s, but Castor’s father was mortal and Zeus had only made Castor immortal when Pollux had begged. But if he could bring down rain…

  “Do it.”

 
Castor stood, his feet planted wide, his hands balled into fists at his side. His deep blue eyes changed color as she watched, swirling to a stormy grey. She shivered as a cold wind whipped through the trees. The previously fluffy white clouds above gathered, forming a massive thunderhead that grew black and heavy with rain.

  Cas raised his hands, and lightning illuminated the sky. In a rush of sound, a deluge descended on them, and in seconds she was soaked to the skin.

  In her arms, Calliadne sucked in a grateful breath and sat forward.

  “We have to fight,” Leia told her. Her sister nodded.

  Together they stood and clasped hands.

  “Keep it coming,” she called to Cas. He didn’t break his concentration to acknowledge her words, but the rain continued to pour down.

  Together, through sheer will, she and Calli manipulated and directed the water. Raindrops banded together to coalesce into first a pool at their feet, then a raging river, and finally a wall of solid water.

  “Hold on to something,” Leia warned Cas. He wrapped himself around the trunk of a massive tree, his fingers digging in as though the thing were made of butter instead of hard pine.

  Leia and Calli sent the wall of water crashing through the trees, taking out everything in its path. Nature in full force could be a real bitch. So could a pissed off nymph or two.

  With a roar to rival a tornado, the torrent slammed up against the mountainside as far as mile away.

  Cas reappeared, still clinging to the tree, as the water receded. He spat out a wad of leaves and pine needles. “Did you get him?”

  Leia shut her eyes and listened with her soul for the sounds of the other nymphs who made this place their home. At first only silence greeted her, but then—screaming.

  She gasped. “No. He’s going after the Hyleoroi nymphs, forcing them out of hiding.”

  Tears poured down her face as her brethren, the nymphs who were watchers of the wood, came under attack.

  “Cas,” she screeched.

  Fury and concern pumped through him at Leia’s obvious distress. He had to fix this. Now.