The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance Page 4

  What was going on?

  This took hallucinating to a whole new level.

  He raised his fingers to his nose - the fingers that had just been inside her — and smelled Lilin’s musk. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

  Now his hallucinations included her smell?

  Lilin grumbled as she walked in the Hall of the Lost. Her hair caressed her naked buttocks, the air felt cool against her breasts, and the marble floor smooth beneath her bare feet. She’d been summoned to Queen Rusalka of the Unseelie Court. No doubt because of her failure.

  She’d almost had Archer. Almost had him.

  There would be no resisting her tonight.

  Her shoulders tensed and her skin tingled as the Unseelie Fae guards drew open the massive gold-leafed doors of Rusalka’s receiving room. The guards were dark-green skinned with pointed ears and fierce expressions. They carried even fiercer weapons.

  Lilin walked along the intricately carved footpath that led through the chamber to the Queen’s throne. Walking into the chamber was like walking into the forest, complete with trees, fresh earth, and wildflower blooms.

  Queen Rusalka was like all Fae: her features were ageless but she was centuries, if not millennia, old. She bore the darkness of the Unseelie.

  A crown of white-gold thorns was perched upon her long ringlets and she wore a black gown as usual. Each gown was different and beautiful, but always black. Black gemstones sparkled on the bodice of her gown today, and a diaphanous skirt sheltered her small, always bare, feet.

  Lilin knelt before the Queen and lowered her head.

  “You have been unsuccessful.” Queen Rusalka’s sharp tone echoed through the trees in the chamber. “Twice. I commanded you to retrieve this mortal’s soul and bring it to me. But you failed.”

  “Yes, my Queen.” Lilin wanted to rush to explain what had happened this second time - the interruption that broke her hold on Archer - but she bit her tongue knowing that would gain her a worse punishment.

  A dangerous growl rose within Rusalka’s throat. “Fail again and I shall see you suffer a mortal’s life.”

  Before Lilin could stop herself, her head shot up. “Mortal? As in human?”

  Queen Rusalka narrowed her black eyes. “You dare to question me, Succubus?”

  Lilin lowered her gaze. “Of course not, my Queen. I shall take Archer Dane’s soul. Tonight.”

  Three

  Archer stood at his wet bar with a shot of whiskey in one hand, the bottle in the other. What happened to him last night and this morning? The more he thought of it, the more absurd it seemed. Christ. Last night he had even imagined this Lilin woman had wings.

  He swore he could still taste the sweetness of her mouth on his tongue, smell the rain-washed scent of her hair and her musk on his fingers.

  In one swallow he downed the whiskey, then poured another shot as the drink burned his throat and warmed his chest. If he was going to lose his rnind, he might as well do a good job of it.

  He downed the second shot and turned towards his fireplace - and almost dropped the bottle.

  Lilin stood inches from him, her wings slowly opening and closing. With his hands full, he had no chance to react as she reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her for another earth-shattering kiss.

  Something about her kiss drove all thought straight from his brain. She teased him with her tongue, darting it inside his mouth and drawing it out again. She nibbled his lower lip and he groaned. Then she pulled him down so that his knees landed on a throw rug on the hardwood floor.

  Damned if his knees hadn’t been giving out on him anyway. When they were kneeling, never breaking their kiss, Archer set the shot glass and the bottle to either side of them. As soon as his hands were free, he tried pushing her to the floor, but she took control and rolled him onto his back so that she was on top.

  Her pelvis rubbed against the front of his jeans in a slow, tantalizing movement. At the same time she purred and nibbled his lower lip.

  Archer groaned and cupped her breasts, perfect and soft with large, hard nipples pressing against his palms. Lilin moaned and rose up enough that Archer could suckle one breast then the other. Her skin tasted unlike any woman he’d known. Just like the exotic scent of her hair.

  Definitely too many clothes on him. Lilin - she was perfect. Perfectly naked.

  The fact he was kissing a strange woman who’d appeared and disappeared in and out of his life - and freaking had wings -barely registered as she moved her mouth to his ear and darted her tongue inside. “I want you, Archer.”

  He groaned, moved his hands from her breasts and felt for her wings. They were gone. All he felt was the smooth skin of her back. He continued on, skimming her flesh to her hips then cupped her bottom.

  Lilin licked a path from his ear, along his stubbled jaw, to the base of his throat. She unbuttoned his shirt and tugged it out of his waistband so that his chest was bare. Her hands never stopped exploring him. Her touch - magic. Every place on his skin that she caressed sparked as if a small electrical charge ran through him.

  Her mouth, her tongue . . . He wrapped his hands in her silky hair and gripped it in his fists as she worked her way down his chest, kissing, licking, nipping his skin. He hissed and she gave a soft laugh. Like wind chimes.

  Lilin continued, her tongue tracing a path from his abs to the top button of his jeans. She unbuttoned them and tugged the zipper. He didn’t wear underwear and she made a sound of pleasure as she released him.

  A growl rose in his chest as he clenched his hands in her hair as she took him in her mouth. God, he was flying. His body wasn’t his own. It belonged to Lilin, a woman he didn’t even know.

  The thought jarred him a fraction of a second before she took even more of him inside her warm mouth.

  She dug her fingers into the sides of his jeans and dragged them down. He reluctantly let go of her hair while she tugged off each of his boots then stripped off his socks and his jeans. He rose and ditched his shirt, leaving nothing but skin against skin as she crawled back up him.

  Lilin’s musk was strong as she rubbed herself against him, bracing her arms to either side of his head. “Do you want me, Archer?” she asked, her accent stronger.

  Irish? What the hell. He didn’t care who she was or where she came from. He just wanted to be inside her.

  But they needed protection.

  She gave a cry of surprise as he rolled her over so he was on top. God, she was beautiful. Her silver eyes were filled with desire. Her skin was so fair but pink wherever his hands touched her. Silvery-blonde hair surrounded her like a halo against the forest-green rug they were lying on.

  Archer pressed himself against her - he was dying to be inside her. “Condom,” he barely managed to get out as he pushed himself onto his haunches.

  For a second, Lilin looked panicked, but the expression faded as she gave him a smile. “I am protected.” She held her arms out to him. “I won’t get pregnant.”

  Some of the haze in his mind started to wear off. “I don’t have sex with a woman without a condom. Period.”

  “Come.” She reached up to draw him to her but he pulled away.

  Something wasn’t right. Something about all of this was off. He blinked and shook his head. “What am I doing?”

  She looked irritated. “You were about to make love to me.”

  “Like hell.” He got to his feet and she stood too. “I don’t trust a woman who argues against using condoms.”

  Lilin sounded sad as she said, “Goodbye, Archer.”

  She faded away.

  “Shit.” Archer pushed his hand through his hair.

  His clothing was scattered across the hardwood floor. The bottle of whiskey lay on its side, a puddle of liquid surrounding it.

  He swore he could smell her, and he was still moist where her mouth had touched him. And he was buck-naked.

  He was losing his goddamned mind.

  For the first time in longer th
an she could remember, Lilin was in tears. She hadn’t remembered what it felt like to cry until this very moment.

  She wiped her eyes before she passed through the doors into Queen Rusalka’s chamber. Lilin found it difficult to walk under the Queen’s disapproving glare.

  The moment Lilin knelt before Rusalka, the Queen’s harsh voice cut through her like a blade. “You failed, Lilin of the Succubae. You were given three opportunities, and you are found lacking.”

  Lilin hated the tears in her voice. “Please give me another chance, my Queen.”

  “My word is law.” The Unseelie Queen’s voice echoed in the chamber. “You are now mortal, Lilin, formerly of the air Succubae. Once you are on Earth, you shall have little time to arrange your affairs before I strip you of all memories of your former life. I will provide you with what humans require to live in their world — what they refer to as identification and the paper they use to trade for goods. I will give you new memories of living your life as a human.”

  Lilin looked at the Queen, fear punching her belly. “Please, my Queen. I will not fail if you give me another chance.”

  Rusalka scowled. “Do you dare contradict me? I demanded that you bleed Archer of his soul. As an Incubus he once disappointed me as you have. I will not tolerate such failures.”

  Lilin’s eyes widened. Archer had been Incubae?

  The Queen’s face grew darker. “After giving him opportunity to adjust to his new mortal life, I stripped his memories. He remembers naught of being Incubae.” Her lips twisted into a scowl. “Rise, Lilin, mortal.”

  All Lilin felt was numb as she obeyed. She didn’t feel changed. Yet. But she was a mortal. A mere human now.

  “I will send you to Archer.” The Queen’s expression became amused. “He may do with you what he will. Throw you out. Fuck you. It matters not.” She gave a slight nod to her guards who stood to either side of Lilin. “Go.”

  Still stunned, Lilin stared at the Queen. She didn’t move until the guards forced her to turn and walk out of the chamber and into the Hall of the Lost.

  Four

  So tired he could hardly see straight, Archer entered his sprawling mountainside home. He’d spent the day on a construction site and he was hungry and in need of a long hot shower.

  He’d also spent the day thinking of the woman - whoever she was, whatever she was - who’d kept appearing and disappearing in and out of his life. What happened on his living room rug had been real. But the way she’d just faded away . . . He was going out of his freaking mind.

  He tossed his keys on the entryway table then strode into the kitchen.

  He came to a complete stop. Again.

  Lilin. In his kitchen.

  This time she had clothes on - jeans and a grey T-shirt with the Grateful Dead logo on it. She sat at the kitchen table, her elbows on the surface, chin in her palms, and a glum expression on her pretty face. Her silvery-blonde hair shone in the evening light coming through the bay window. Her eyes, though, looked more grey than silver as she looked at him. She didn’t smile or get up.

  He rubbed his hand over his stubbled jaw. “What are you doing here?”

  Lilin gave a deep sigh. “No thanks to you I’m mortal now.”

  That made Archer pause. “Listen, lady. I don’t know what planet you came from—”

  “Otherworld. The Unseelie Court.” She rose and draped her forearm on the table. Her Irish accent was stronger now than before. “I was a Succubus. I failed to get your soul for her so Queen Rusalka made me mortal and sent me to you to decide my fate.”

  Otherworld? Unseelie Court? Queen Rusalka? The names rang like bells in Archer’s head, as if he should know them. They had to be from fairy tales read to him when he was a child.

  Not that he remembered his childhood.

  Lilin kicked at the table leg with her white tennis shoe. He saw a hint of her bare ankle. God, she had sexy ankles.

  He shook his head to get the crazy thoughts out of his mind. “I’m tired, hungry, and I need a shower. You know your way out.”

  Lilin’s eyes glistened and his gut ached at the sight of a tear rolling down her cheek.

  “No crying,” he growled. “That’s not playing fair.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I have never been human before. I have no place to go, and I don’t know what to do. There is only one thing I have ever been good at, and I won’t lower myself to do it as a mortal. As a mortal I would be considered a prostitute, using my body to get what I need. I just won’t do it.”

  Archer lifted a brow. “Sex?”

  She sniffed and raised her chin. “If you could remember your past, you would know exactly what I’m talking about: sex and the taking of a human’s soul. In your case, a female’s soul.”

  He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger before looking back at her. “Give me a break. I don’t know what’s going on and I want some answers.”

  Lilin stood and moved towards him. “Did you not wonder how I could appear and disappear? And wings — do you think mortals can grow them whenever they please?” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “I failed, damn you. Now I am as cursed as you are.”

  She was close enough that Archer reached up to cup her chin in his palm and rubbed away the tear with his thumb. “Why is it I want to believe you?” He continued to stroke her cheek. “What is it about the Unseelie Court and the name Queen Rusalka that makes me feel like someone punched me in the gut?”

  Her grey eyes widened. “You remember?”

  “Remember what?”

  Lilin leaned into his touch. “You were once Incubae, as I was Succubae. But you displeased the Queen -I do not know why -and you were cast out and given a mortal’s soul and a mortal’s life. The fact you were an Incubus was probably why you were able to resist me.”

  Archer shook his head. “I should take you straight to the hospital and have you admitted to a psych ward.”

  Another tear rolled down her cheek, this one bigger. “I have no way to prove any of this. Queen Rusalka said I have little time to get my affairs in order before I will be as you and not able to remember my former life.” She drew away from him and folded her arms beneath her breasts.

  Those perfect breasts . . .

  He snapped back to attention as she continued, more tears rolling down her cheeks. “If you do not help me, then I may as well be taken to a hospital. At least then I will have housing and food.” She sighed. “I now know what hunger is. I have not had a meal all day and my stomach makes a funny rumbling, growling sound.” She sniffled as a virtual flood of tears started.

  Archer couldn’t help himself. He was a sucker for crying females. He reached for her and brought her into his embrace. She buried her face against his shirt and sobbed.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered as she tilted her head up to face him. “Where does a Succubus go when she isn’t immortal any more?”

  He squeezed her tighter to him and couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. “You can stay here for now, OK?”

  Five

  Today was sunny and Lilin stood on the porch breathing in clean scents of pine and fresh earth. In the distance she heard the trickle of a creek, and it reminded her of something -something she couldn’t quite remember. It had been nearly a month since she started living with Archer and already she had forgotten much of her life as Succubae. The more she struggled to remember, the harder it became.

  It took a while before she and Archer fell into a routine. Lilin was so grateful to Archer she would have done anything for him, but he asked nothing of her. She had no skills - as an immortal she had even had to use magic to help at his office the day she replaced his assistant.

  She would be a disaster as a human.

  Archer took her step by step through small tasks. First teaching her how to cook, starting with how to boil water. That had nearly been a catastrophe when she knocked over the teakettle and water flooded the b
urner and snuffed the gas flame.

  But she could now spread a substance called peanut butter on bread, although she had problems with jelly - wiggly, sticky stuff. She normally ended up with half on her shirt, but triumphant with the half that made it onto the other slice of bread. The taste was quite pleasant.

  He was a patient teacher, but she knew when he was trying to hide a smile when she was mad enough to scream with frustration. The first time Archer grinned at one of her blunders, she had stomped on his foot. He kept his amusement to himself after that.

  Wind stirred Lilin’s hair, bringing with it the scent of an oncoming thunderstorm. She felt as if she could fly with the wind and soar through the trees.

  What an odd thought.

  It was difficult being around Archer and not sharing his bed. She was sure he felt the same, if the hardness in his jeans whenever he came near her was any indication. But he respected her clear desire not to use her body to gain favour. In contrast to her former life, she would no longer bed a man unless he cared for her, and she for him.

  She wished to please him in other ways. For the time being. She was no longer Succubae and she would learn to live like a human. If it killed her.

  Which it might if she didn’t learn how to run that infernal washing machine. The first time she tried to wash a load of clothes herself, as a surprise for Archer, she’d put too much “detergent” into it. Bubbles had flowed out as if it was foaming at the mouth. In the beginning the bubbles were rather delightful, but it wasn’t long before her delight turned to horror.

  Her cheeks heated as she remembered how she had frantically used the “telephone”, punching in the numbers Archer had left scribbled on a pad next to the phone. He’d hurried home to find her rushing around with towels to mop up the bubbles that kept pouring from the machine’s mouth.

  He’d turned it off and the soap bubbles stopped pouring out of it. She thought she heard him snort with laughter. The moment she shot her angry gaze at him, his features turned innocent.