Watch out for those paper cuts. You never know what awaits your summons.
BLOODLUST AND PAPER CUTS, my latest wicked tale in the #wildshortreads series, is ready to be devoured... plus there's a delicious freebie tucked inside this edition of MIRI AND THE MUSE.
Greetings, friends and fellow book devourers,
We’ve headed into the wild waters of March Madness and I’ve got a wicked tale all lined up for you in my WILD SHORT READS.
This month I’ve been feeling the pull to the page from a couple of delicious monsters desperate for a taste of their fated mate. Who wants to devour a sizzling short about an awakening blood witch and the dangerous monsters she accidentally summons with a iddy biddy paper cut?
(Keep scrolling to read this exclusive MIRI AND THE MUSE morsel a bit further down.)
Before we get down to *ahem* business, I have a wee offering for you…
My beautiful and wildly talented friend
just so happens to have a page-turning enemies-to-lovers begging to be devoured by my subscribers this month… for FREE.Yup, you read that right.
My friends and I have gotten together to offer a new gift to our subscribers every month. So awaken your thirst for the Supernatural Intelligence Network series by nabbing your forever copy of AND SO IT BEGINS today.
But how did this Wild Short Read come about, you ask?
A few weeks back, I shared a cool meme in my Facebook readers’ group THE PHOENIX INFERNO — MIRI STONE’S BOOK DEVOURERS in the run up to LOVE ON THE BEACH (a freaking awesome book signing in Surfer’s Paradise which I’m going to share more about in my next GLIMMERS AND GRATITUDE post).
It showed a pair of lethal looking claws climbing out of a book.
I though the image was both creepy cool and smexy as all get out, so I joked about using it as a writing prompt. One of a long-time readers—yes, Cary, I’m looking at you—immediately challenged me to do just that with my next Wild Short Read.
As I also hadn’t forgotten about my poll on MIRI AND THE MUSE and the subscriber—
—asking for a ONLY ONE BED trope, the two ideas collided in my mind and everyone got deliciously entangled.That’s how we came to have a blood witch accidentally conjuring her fated mates—monsters, both—from another plane. Enjoy!
BLOODLUST AND PAPER CUTS
By Miri Stone
A #wildshortread hosted by MIRI AND THE MUSE
Gods, I moaned. I am so sick of not getting laid. Are all the good ones taken or just fictional?
I’d arrived home in a mood.
Needing to wash off the advancements of horny nerds who thought a female blacksmith was hawt with a capital H, I’d headed straight for the shower. The weekend had sucked. In fact, it was the suckiest of suck. Sure, I’d made good bang for my buck with my wares—the mortgage and expensive materials for my next few batches would be paid for—but I was all peopled out to the point where I wanted to scream.
That was the problem with being an introvert who could pretend to extrovert.
The world was set up for the extroverts. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Plenty of introverts hid in the shadows, but they had to learn to blend. Make an effort. Go to parties and work conferences or—in my case—attend endless medieval festivals and book signings, even the occasional film set. Schmooze. Rinse and repeat.
Sadly, being a book dragon-slash-sharp-and-pointy-things-maker didn’t pay the bills. At least, not without the schmooze.
It was well past time to fall off the cliff of reality and dive head first into my next fantasy filled with feisty heroines, epic adventures, and sexy monsters ready to ravage me out in the wild woods. So I wrapped my hair up in a towel, donned my fluffiest set of pajamas, and made myself a hot cocoa. Snuggling on the couch with my furry companion—a massive maine coon who had planted himself on my chest, happy to have me home where he could keep an eye on me—I began to devour the pages.
Unfortunately, my mood soon darkened beyond repair.
I’d moved past the exciting ‘escape the castle under siege’ bit and now I was stuck with a group of hot and deadly creatures in a questionable inn. Clearly the only sane way to share a bed with their damsel in distress was to play an elaborate game of hide-the-pickle. The fact that she was absolutely up for it was just icing on the cake.
Hey, no judgement. If I was surrounded by a bunch of muscular warriors with bloodlust aplenty, I would also be one hundred per cent in the mood. I looked up and peered hopefully around my empty living room which had essentially been converted into a personal library and weapons gallery.
Nope, I sighed. No hot and deadly males here.
I used to love the steamy bits. These days they just left me horny and pissed off at the Universe. I flicked the page in annoyance.
“Ouch.” With a grimace, I brought the appendage up to my face. “Damnit.”
Sure enough, blood welled—bright and true—on the tip of my finger.
My vocation as a blacksmith meant I was strong as an ox, but I still had a strange propensity to bleed at the drop of a hat. It was beyond annoying. I reached for the little drawer in the cabinet I kept by the couch with a portable first aid kit and went to suck on the offending digit before it could make a mess. The rogue drop, however, evaded capture by plunging gleefully onto my lap, landing with a wet splotch on the open pages of the book.
“F*ck.”
On contact, a roaring sound filled my ears.
At the same moment, the book flew across the room. It hit the far wall—one of the few vertical spaces that wasn’t filled by a bookshelf or display cabinet—and slid to the ground.
The sudden thwop woke the ancient kitty slumbering on my lap.
Over sixteen years together and my valiant Lionheart was still pumped and ready for war. The oversized, one-eyed tom cat had been in more battles than my bank account could handle. Usually he fought off the neighboring wild life—the bigger the better—but tonight he was laser focused on a new threat.
The fallen vessel.
An itching awareness crawled over my skin.
Lionheart sprang to his feet, digging his talons into my legs and hissing up a storm.
“Ow! Easy, tiger.” I reached out to scratch behind his tattered ears, hoping to distract the crazy coot long enough to unhook those lethal claws which were already digging deep grooves into my thighs. “It’s just a book, silly.”
My furry companion did not calm down. If anything, he puffed up more. His muscular body quivered in readiness as a ripple tore through the ether around me. I shook my head, trying to focus, but my vision was starting to blur like I’d been thrust underwater and a weird tugging sensation began to draw from my navel.
What the actual…?
Even though I wanted to run and hide, I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes from the pages of the the fallen book.
Something was coming.
I could feel it.
A dark essence was hurtling toward us, eager to answer the summons.
The lights flickered out and the temperature in the room plunged to chilly depths. My breath came in short plumes of air as the room was consumed by inky shadows.
A shiver traveled down my spine.
The vessel began to jerk and stutter on the ground, pages fluttering in panic as a dark purple fog seeped out. I threw a hand over my mouth to stifle a scream as plum-colored talons appeared from within the book and spread the pages wider still.
With another eager roar, the tug at my navel increased.
I felt raw and powerful.
My veins popped and throbbed in time with each thirsty drag of power.
Clarity cleaved my head into a splitting migraine and I doubled over in pain as knowledge flooded my mind. I was doing this. Somehow, someway, I was drawing something monstrous into the world, and I didn’t even want to stop.
A manic grin split my face as I stood, dislodging my furry companion with a protesting yowl. My bare feet planted themselves on the floorboards, as though I’d done this a thousand times before, and a second invisible lifeline flung out from my navel.
The questing tendril wrapped imperiously around the being at my back and I felt my protector respond. Sluggish at first, then sucking greedily at my offering.
Two contrasting forces began to pour into the room.
Icy purple smoke and a roaring golden flame which collided mid air, swirling themselves into a vortex, and battering my hoodie so the strings flew up at my face, forcing me to shield my eyes. The power built to a terrifying crescendo, bending to a will stronger than time and space—my own—and then the world exploded.
The shockwave didn’t touch me, though.
It blew out from me, like I was the source of that cosmic tear through the veil, standing at the epicenter of a blast. The force of it tore through the apartment, taking out the windows. I barely heard the protesting shriek of breaking glass, however, because a demon was unfolding—right in front of me—while an equally powerful presence loomed at my back.
The demon’s monstrous horns scraped the ceiling. His mouth was filled with terrible teeth and framed by blackberry-colored lips; his eyes looked like two glittering pools of molten onyx; and his midnight-blue flesh was clothed in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants which did nothing to hide what he was packing.
Unable to tear my eyes from his lean and deadly physique, I blindly fumbled my way around the couch so that I had room to retreat. Only, I collided with something solid and impossibly warm instead.
“Don’t freak out, Desdemona,” rumbled the furnace at my back. “Astrial cannot hurt you. Neither can I. We are your guardians. Assigned from birth to protect you once you came into your power.”
“H—how do you know my name?”
“Because I’ve been guarding you for a long time while that lazy bastard slept in his lair.”
“Oh, I don’t think our charge is freaking out, griffin. Not in the least.” The demon looked down at his pants then cocked an eyebrow at me, tut-tutting like I had something to do with his state of undress. “I think she is in the mood to inspect her wares. Our blood witch was quite insistent with her first summons, don’t you think?” The presence behind me grunted. “A veritable powerhouse, just as the wise ones predicted. Everyone will be salivating to make their introductions.”
Not waiting for an answer, Astrial crowded forward.
The demon pressed me between the light at my back and the darkness at my front, causing that new sensation in my middle to bubble and throb in anticipation. It dragged the two males closer, greedy and wanting. Luxuriating in the hot and cold of their opposing signatures which washed over me in heady waves.
I tried to shove it away or cut it off, but the newfound power inside me only growled at my clumsy attempts at control. Panic thundered in my ears while need unfurled in my center, intoxicating and terrifying in its intensity.
The world suddenly felt too bright.
Too murky.
Stuffed oh-so-very full, inside and out.
There was just too much of everything.
“Ignore all of that,” commanded the demon.
His clipped tone held a bite of fear that only caused my power to swell. It was good if my chosen ones feared me, it meant they knew what I was capable of even if I was hindered on this plane by a puny human body.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to cut off the insane thoughts.
“Ground your magic.”
It was no good. If the male was talking, it sounded like the words were being spoken through cotton wool from a million miles away. Prying the eyelids open again, I shook my head in frustration, letting him know I wasn’t getting whatever he was laying down.
Understanding flashed in his eyes.
“Focus, mate, or I shall have to do it for you.”
Astrial reached up a talon and ran it along my throat. Goosebumps erupted over my flesh. I sucked in a breath as the world snapped back into focus, locking onto the being standing in front of me with razor sharp intent.
Only one word spoken thus far made any sense.
Mate.
It blazed like a comet in my center, sending greedy ripples through my entire being.
“That’s right,” he soothed. “You’ve waited so long. We all have. But we’re here now.”
The demon tipped my chin up with that deadly claw. And—for the briefest, craziest moment—I obliged, eagerly tipping my face up to receive the monster’s affection. Astrial chuckled at that easy capitulation, but offered only a chaste kiss in return. My cheeks flamed in mortification. His deadly yet inviting chill had bathed my skin for only a second before he withdrew, leaving me scowling and wanting.
“But first—” The demon dropped his hands to my shoulders, spinning me round so that I was facing the beautiful warrior at my back, then shoved me in his companion’s direction. “—hold her steady, griffin. I must secure our lair. We don’t want any untimely interruptions from while we perform the grounding ceremony, do we?”
I cried out as the darkness—my darkness—tore itself away.
The magic inside me didn’t like that.
Not one bit.
It wanted to haul Astrial back to my side.
With force, if necessary.
“I know, it’s a lot,” soothed the one propping me up. “Breathe through the impulses. Use your box breathing.” I grit my teeth and closed my eyes, willing the collision of atoms in the room to subside. Slowly, the impossible demand in my middle and the kaleidoscope behind my eyeballs began to ease. “That’s it. Good. In-two-three-hold-to-three-out-to-three.”
Once most of the possessive surge had passed, I forced my eyes back open and took in the shape of the hands which were holding me steady.
I had the strangest sensation of familiarity.
In response to my distress, the male addressing me had reached up to firmly encircle my Denim-clad hips. The short cut hoodie and t-shirt underneath had ridden up so half of his wide warrior’s palms were against my clothing and the other half bathed the skin of my waist in dripping heat. Those hands were rough and smooth, crowned in vicious orange claws which dug deliciously into my back in a proprietary fashion.
Sadly, they hadn’t didn’t broken the skin.
Pity.
Ignoring that disquieting thought, my eyes traveled up and over a furry torso. His flesh and downy fur were the color of harvest wheat at the end of summer and the tawny orange of a setting sun. He had a squished, broad nose which reminded me of a lion or a boxer who had gotten into one-too-many scraps. His face was framed with a wild mane of hair, an unkempt beard, and his one remaining eye burned with an emerald flame which beckoned me closer. The other was sealed shut with a vicious scar from a battle fought long ago.
Biting back a moan, I leaned in as his scent—all fireside honey and masculine rage, with just a touch of feline musk—enveloped me like a blanket.
The dangerous proximity felt safe and natural until my eyes slid down that glorious trail at his naval only to discover my companion was naked. Buck naked, mind you, and holding himself a gentlemanly distance away due to his own reaction to our proximity.
My blood flash-boiled at the sight.
“Oh, shit,” I breathed. “You’re naked. Like… so, so naked.”
“It appears I am.”
His smile was self-deprecating and a little crooked, like he was embarrassed to have been caught with his paw in the goldfish bowl. Hang the f*ck on—I recognized that expression.
My mouth dropped open in shock. “Lionheart?!”
“In the flesh, as it were.” My former feline protector now transformed into an otherworldly berserker chuckled and shook his head. “In my homeland, I go by Lionel.” He gave me a goading look. “Have to admit, in all these years, I didn’t envision this as our first meeting. Why did you give the demon sweats and not me, Desdemona? Hm? Any particular reason?”
I shivered at the way his ruby-red lips looked as they wrapped themselves around my name. The emerald flame in Lionel’s eye twinkled, telling me the cocky bastard knew the answer but was going to force me to say it anyway, so I slapped on my haughtiest look.
“I didn’t do anything.” I sniffed, folding my arms and taking a few steps back, causing my lady parts to clench in protest and that other part of me to growl in warning. “And you owe me one heck of a vet bill.”
“Of course.” His playful demeanor dried up in an instant. The griffin matched my formal tone, taking his own generous step back and rearranging his face into an expression of professional courtesy as he offered me a mock-bow. “I don’t have any human money right now, mistress, but I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”
My heart jolted at the sarcastic snarl coming from the one I’d poured my heart out to without reservation on weepy nights. Lionheart knew all of my hopes and fears—and now this stranger, Lionel, had stolen them. Each gentle moment of friendship felt like a boulder settling in my gut.
I glared at the male, feeling the mistrust building like a brick wall between us. Before I could call him out, however, a cool veil of purple mist fell around us causing my magic to preen at the show.
Your chosen companions are powerful, it purred from inside my soul. Our enemies will be hard pressed to breach these walls.
Once the shadows tucked in close, I heard the demon grunt in pain at the effort.
“All right, back there?” Lionel called. “You’re not showing your age in front of our charge, are you, Astrial?”
“You try waiting on ice for a century then being jolted back into existence like a car battery,” grumbled the demon.
“Exquease me?” I growled. “One hundred years, my ass. I’m only just heading into my forties, asshole.”
“Time moves different on this plane.” Lionel offered me a non-committal shrug. “An unforeseen complication, I’m afraid. We will deal with it once we cross the plane door.”
Astrial sauntered over, standing side by side with his brooding counterpart as the pair sized me up. I took the opportunity to do the same.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the room.
Though it pained me to admit it, I had to agree with the voice inside my head. These guardians packed quite the punch. In fact, the sight of the battle-hardened warriors was enough to make a girl swoon. But what exactly were they protecting me from? Had anyone said?
On edge, I scowled at the pair. We’d only just met and yet the weight of secrets and omissions already pressed down on the three of us like a tomb stone. What was worse, the ominous glimmer in Lionel’s eyes warned me to only ask questions I wanted immediate—and probably rather uncomfortable—answers to. Something told me the griffin was as brutally honest as the demon was a master of skipping along the edges of the truth.
I sniffed and shoved the foreboding aside. “So, what’s next?”
“For now, we’re all set. We can rest easy until dawn,” Astrial replied. “Unfortunately on this plane my power fades with the rising sun.”
“Then we fly at dawn,” replied Lionel, shrugging as though to end an argument I hadn’t been a part of.
At the imperious tone, I scowled harder. “Why do I get the feeling you are used to giving the orders?”
The griffin stared me down. “Because I am.”
“Wait. The big lummox said fly. He meant that as a euphemism, right?” I licked my lips nervously and turned an imploring gaze on Astrial. “Or, like, a magical means of transportation. Snap your fingers and… hey presto, we’ve arrived! Right?!” When the demon didn’t answer, only chuckled ruefully at my squeaky tone, I turned on the stalwart asshole at his side. Lionel—or rather, his fakety-fake alter-ego—knew exactly how afraid I was of heights. “Just who do you expect to be flying, Golden Guns?”
“Golden Guns… I’ll have to remember that one.” Astrial’s bark of delighted laughter dissolved once more into a serious tone. “To answer your question, mate, the two of us will be flying” —he made a motion between the two of us, then cocked a nonchalant thumb at the supposed griffin— “on his back.”
Just the thought of what he was oh-so-casually suggesting had me doubling over, fighting for air. Panic clawed its way up my throat. The demon made a worried sound, but I waved him off and squinted up at the golden warrior.
Lionel just stood there, looking bored. The lack of reaction was enough to help me get my shit together and straighten up, glaring at my former feline companion. My beautiful Lionheart would’ve tackled me to the ground and purred up a storm, kneading my chest until I began box breathing at the slightest sign of a panic attack. Apparently, Lionel-the-griffin was a cold-hearted bastard without a jot of empathy.
Peachy.
Unbidden, my power sent out a zing of displeasure aimed at my companions. They winced in unison as the demon continued, “For now, we need to ground your magic or you might blow us all to smithereens.” He looked around the room with interest. “I have cloaked the entire den, but I cannot deny my shadows grow closer together in the center. We should remain in this room.”
Lionel grunted in agreement.
I flicked my eyes over my shoulder. I mean, I didn’t mind an all-nighter in my personal library, but I lived alone. There was only one sofa and a comfy armchair in here. Where would we all sleep?
“Um.” I shook my head, trying to wrangle my thoughts back to the present moment. “You mentioned grounding. Is that some sort of ritual, then?”
The question hung in the air and transformed into something heavy with unexpected nuance. Lionel’s aloof expression melted with a scoff as he shook his head in exasperation and crossed his arms over his chest. My heart rate kicked up at the sight. The golden warrior was handsome when he allowed himself to smile, even if it did seem to be at my expense.
The demon chuckled, low and wicked, making a big show of looking around the room. “Well, now. Would you look at that. Three of us—” he made a circling motion with his finger and clicked his tongue in mock-exasperation, “—and only one bed.”
My mouth went dry.
This time when the demon stalked toward me, my legs became unprotesting noodles. A devious gleam danced in Atrial’s onyx gaze, forcing me to stumble back. Not because I wanted to escape—not a chance—but because I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the suddenly ravenous hunger so clearly displayed on his face. My retreating knees hit the back of the couch and I nearly tumbled right over the edge.
With a primal growl, Astrial lunged.
Stealing my breath, he caught a fist full of my hoodie and drew me roughly to his lips. The demon’s kiss was so dark and vicious that it banished all thoughts and concerns about my terrifying new magic, our upcoming flight, and our supposed enemies. His naked desire drugged me so thoroughly, in fact, that I gave myself over completely.
Allowing the building need inside of me to go to war with those sinful lips.
Luckily, the demon had more self-control than I.
With a soft groan, Astrial let us drift apart on a cloud of cool intoxication. “Whatever shall we do to pass the time?” he breathed. “Any ideas, griffin?”
Behind the demon, Lionel loomed. His face transformed into a raw, barren wasteland of want. Without warning, Astrial released me and I fell back onto the couch with a gasp right as the griffin pounced with a primal snarl.
Gleefully unbounded, my power rose to meet his feral nature. It was time to ground myself in the arms of my guardians. The light and dark which would see me home.
[“BLOODLUST AND PAPER CUTS” is an original short work written by Miri Stone © 2024. All rights reserved.]
WHAT’S UP NEXT?!
It’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy time for me since getting back from the signing. Now that BLOODLUST & PAPER CUTS has made its way into the world for March Madness, I’m ready to dive back into KNIGHTS OF DESTRUCTION series with KITTY’S CLAWS and WEATHER WITCH.
However, for the next few minutes, I’m going to sit back and devour some chapters of my book while I nom on this tasty treat at a favorite cafe.
Will you join me, friends and fellow book devourers? I reckon we all deserve to get lost in a damn good book.
Until next week, happy reading!
With love,
M.S. xox
WOMAN! You cannot keep writing these delicious morsels and leave us hanging like that! Ugh so good!
Love you book wife! I can't wait for more of your beautiful KOD world 💜