Chosen Destiny Releases!

My blog day couldn't have been better this month. I have a release day, today! So I thought I'd share a little steamy excerpt with one of the heroes, Jaeson, and the heroine, Meagan. Enjoy!



Chosen Destiny
Available June 4 from Ellora's Cave
http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8400-50-chosen-destiny.aspx


Blurb:

Meagan’s village is under attack and she’s been accused of being a spy. She has no choice but to try to take up the weapons of her ancestors, because she refuses to let her home fall to the Dark Sorcerer. Dealing with the two gorgeous men who come to aid her in the fight is another matter.

Samiel and Jaeson came to fight the Dark Sorcerer, but finding the woman whose magic matched theirs surprises them as does her reaction. She’s so focused on the battle that she barely seems to notice them. With kisses and sensual caresses, they turn her attention to the desire building between them.

Meagan’s tempted by their seductive touch, but defining her place in their life is difficult and time’s running out. The Dark Sorcerer has to be stopped before Meagan can discover if what the men offer is forever or a moment in time.


Chosen Destiny, a little unedited sexy preview

"Now that we've both relaxed a bit, we can talk. As for your comment about finding out that my scent's not a drug, I'll make sure you have ample opportunity. Were there any questions you have now that you didn't earlier today?" He sat on the bed.

Meagan watched him. He looked a lot more comfortable than she felt in the hard straight-backed wooden chair. The green blanket set off Jaeson's dark clothes. She just didn't believe he was as relaxed as he seemed to be. He hadn't suddenly come to the decision to give her all the time she needed. The man wanted her. She could see it in the way he watched her.

His entire attitude was that of a man on the hunt. She'd have to watch him and make sure she didn't let things get out of control. She was more than tempted to relax and let the attraction take the lead, but knew that he wouldn't consider it just sex. She wasn't willing to think about anything more. Two mates. Just thinking about it made her nervous. The thought was great as a fantasy, but the reality came with a lot of questions. And she knew only time and being close to them would give her the answers.

"Your questions or are you just going to stare at me for the night." He grinned and she could see the humor in his eyes.

Meagan felt the heat rush into her cheeks. She hadn't realized how much time had passed. Rising from her chair, she began to pace a bit. "I know that you two were telling me the truth earlier about a Tiria having two mates. I'm still not sure it's necessary and I can't see much to recommend it aside from having someone always near to help with the power levels."

"Was there a question in there that I missed?" Jaeson's tone was openly provoking.

She glared at him. He didn't seem at all worried about staying on her good side. She'd have loved to put him in his place but couldn't think of a way just yet. Walking around the bed, she tried to put her thoughts in order. The chaos in her mind was making her restless. She stopped when he was directly opposite her. He moved to the end of the bed so he could turn to see her without bringing his boots onto it

"You and Samiel how will it work? Won't someone get jealous? I'm not agreeing to anything. It's just something I wondered about." She titled her head and bit her lip. That was only one question of many.

"Samiel and I will each want time alone with you at times, that's natural just as we'll make time to be with each other. We might feel envy, want to be part of it because we know just how good it feels, but no real jealousy, because we all belong to each other." Jaeson smiled, his voice turning a little husky.

She gaped at him. They'd want to be with each other. She hadn't even thought about them having anything other than a friendly relationship with each other. She felt utterly stupid for a moment, but that feeling was pushed aside as her mind began supplying her with details. An image of the two men in each other's arms kissing flashed through her head. It was disconcerting and arousing at the same time. She hadn't even though that they might be lovers. She might just be the one who would be jealous. She'd never even thought about sharing a lover.

"You didn't realize that Samiel and I were lovers did you?" He smiled obviously enjoying her surprise.

"No, I didn't know. There wasn't anything about the relationship in the books. As far as I know, you two could have just met." She shrugged.

"We've been together for years." He brought his knee up and rested the ankle on his thigh. He was utterly relaxed and at ease.

"If we have sex, are you going to immediately assume that we're mated?" She sat on the bed across from him, one leg tucked under her.

"We are mates. Having sex or not having sex isn't going to make it any more or less true." He angled his body a bit more so that he was fully facing her.

She shook her head. That really wasn't what she'd meant. She had been thinking more about his attitude than his philosophy. Apparently, she was going to have to ask in another way if she wanted an answer.

"Are you going to be all possessive and expect to act like my mate if we have sex?" She sighed. "I'm not just going to jump into something permanent. To me, having sex will just be sex. Is it going to be more to you?"

"I'll undoubtedly be possessive. So much that you'll object to it? I don't know. You are my mate. I'm not going to pretend that you're a woman for only a night." His intent golden stare didn't waver from hers.

She didn't have any doubts that he was absolutely serious. She couldn't change his attitude, not even dent it. Running her fingers through her hair, she exhaled slowly. She suspected that even if they didn't have sex, he'd be possessive. So she'd have to deal with his attitude regardless.

"Have we dealt with all of your questions?" He raised an eyebrow and looked significantly at the bed.

"You may consider me your mate but I don't consider myself bound in anyway." She clenched a bit of the blanket in her hand. "I don't have any other questions at the moment, but there will probably be more later."

"Good. Then come over here. I wanted to kiss you when I walked into the library." He held out his hand.

She smiled. The man had a one track mind. She had to admit that she'd been thinking about having sex with him too. Her questions had managed to distract her a little. She still had doubts about having sex with him, but it wasn't going to stop her. She was going to take the chance. It would probably complicate things, but she knew the desire building between them wasn't going to disappear. It was too strong. She was enough of a realist to know that it was going to happen. Samiel and Jaeson wouldn't just ignore the attraction between them. She wanted to make the choice, not have it made for her. Also, she had to find out if the pull between them was entirely physical or some sort of binding spell wrought by the blades to keep them together.

She stood and walked around the bed and took his hand. He tugged her into his lap. The move caught her by surprise and she lost her balance. She braced her hands on his shoulders as she fell. He caught her and settled her across his thighs. She looked up and found his beautiful eyes locked with hers.

"As much as I would love to take this opportunity and make love with you, I don't want you to regret it." He drew his hand down her back. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"I've made my choice. I want you. I suspect you knew before I was ready to admit it. I'm ready to have sex with you. I'm not ready to even talk about anything permanent. This is my home. I'm needed here." She lifted her chin. No matter what they thought, she would have a say in this.

He frowned. "You can't think that you can just walk away from us after this battle is finished. You belong with us."

"I'm not going to talk about that right now. We'll deal with it later. Now do you want me or should I go back to my research?" She pushed against his chest putting just a little distance between them.

"You're not going back to your research." His hands tightened on her hips. "Not tonight."

Her hands stroked over his chest to his shoulders relaxing against him. His scent swirled around her. It seemed to intensify with every breath she took. Her need rose to an even higher level. He leaned down and his lips brushed over her cheek. She turned her head and met his lips. Her mouth opened beneath his. She licked at his lips when he did nothing more than brush his mouth from side to side. He laughed softly. His tongue stoked into her mouth. She relaxed against him and let the hot sensation sweep through her, but she wasn't passive. Her tongue tangled with his. She wanted to draw him as deep into the kiss as she was. His groan and the tightening of his arms only spurred her to do more.

She hooked an arm around his neck running her fingers through his hair. The feel of it amazed her. It was so soft and she loved running her fingers through it. She couldn't help wondering what it would feel like running over her body as they made love. His hand slid down her back and under her shirt. She drew in a gasping breath. His hand was so warm and she wanted to feel more. She pushed back into his touch.

"I want to see you naked. Let's get you out of these clothes." He drew back and looked down at her shirt.

"Only if we get rid of your clothes too. I'm sure you'd be much more comfortable without them." Her eyes trailed down his chest and stopped at the close fitting pants. She traced her hand down his chest and to the hard ridge of flesh below his waist. She wanted to touch and explore just as much as he said he did.

He froze as her fingers slid up and down over his cock. His breath sounded raspy as he drew in a quick breath. She loved the quick intense reaction to her touch. Only the fabric of his pants separated her fingers from his cock. She wanted that barrier gone.

Her fingers moved up seeking buttons or laces. She found laces that fastened his pants, but the ends seemed to be knotted. She frowned as she looked down at the jumbled mess. It looked like it would be impossible to untie. How did he get out of them? His hands covered hers, pulling her fingers away from his pants.



For more excerpts, go to my website
www.rebeccaairies.net

Upcoming Release!

December crept up on me almost without me noticing it and I'm not even going to talk about how fast November seemed to fly by with me barely able to catch my breath. I've just realized that I have a release coming up in SEVEN short days and haven't even thought about promo. So I'm going to begin here.

First off, here's the very gorgeous cover to Vampire's Witch. The cover art department is fabulous. I previously posted an excerpt of the beginning here, so here's something a little hotter.

Blurb:

Serena Blackwood can’t believe it when she learns she’s becoming a vix. Finding that she has to work with sexy vampire Marcus Castillo to catch a rogue vampire only adds to her stress. She’s unbelievably attracted to the hunky man but knows staying near him will increase the chances of her jumping his bones—and Marcus discovering her secret.

Marcus knows the witch working with his team is hiding something. She’s beautiful and talented and he wants to know the mysteries she’s hiding almost as much as he needs to know the feel of her body moving against his.

But the rogue has plans of his own and unless Serena and marcus work together, they could lose everything.



Excerpt:
(There might be differences between this version and the final edited version.) Set-up: Serena and Marcus are in a bar looking for the rogue vampire they're hunting.

They walked toward the back, even looking into the employee’s area. As they made their way around the dance floor, a young man dancing wildly crashed into her. She stumbled into Marcus. He caught her and whirled her away from the man. She gasped as she felt her feet leave the floor and a sense of moving fast. Just as she registered his body against hers and the wall at her back, it was gone. He stood in front of her, his back to her. His muscles tensed and he seemed ready for attack. She shook her head, smiling as she looked beyond him. The dancer hadn’t even noticed that he’d bumped her and was even now among the other dancers continuing his wild moves on the floor.

Slowly Marcus’ body relaxed. He turned to face her. Her smile slowly died. His brown eyes focused on her with undisguised hunger.

“Everything’s fine. There’s no danger here.” She put her hands up on his chest. She had no idea why he’d turned toward her. He was sure that there was no one attacking them. They should be continuing their stroll around the club, but she could tell that that was the last thing on his mind. There was no way that she could mistake the possessiveness and lust rolling off of him.

He didn’t say a word. Stepping forward, his hands flattened on the wall at her shoulders. She drew in a sharp breath. His head lowered and he inhaled.

“You smell so good.” His lips feathered across her cheek.

“You need to relax, calm down. Nothing happened,” she urged in a soft voice. She could practically see the energy changing into arousal. Somehow, she had to calm him down. Not to mention get his mind off of her in any sexual manner. She didn’t want him to see her as anything more than the witch helping them catch the rogue. She didn’t need any more trouble in her life right now.

His teeth closed over her lips. Her focus narrowed to the feel of his mouth on hers. She wanted that, ached for it. His tongue traced her lips. Her lips tingled. She opened her mouth, leaning into him. But it couldn’t happen, shouldn’t happen.

His tongue stroked into her mouth. His taste rushed into her mouth, minty and smooth. She groaned. So good. She pushed against his chest, trying to wedge some distance between them. She couldn’t resist tangling her tongue with his or savoring his taste. His chest brushed against her hardened nipples as he moved slightly from side to side. That light graze sent a thrill shooting through her. Her breasts felt swollen, too sensitive. His hand cupped the curve of one full mound.

“Marcus!” A deep voice broke through the haze surrounding her.

She blinked. Reality flooded in just as Marcus pulled back, turning toward the man who’d interrupted them. She didn’t know what had just happened, how the arousal had just exploded with that kiss. Nothing like that had ever happened before.

Flash Fiction--The Thief

Today, I'd like to share a bit of flash fiction and I hope you enjoy it. The original inspiration came from a movie I was watching just before Halloween. I don't know if it will grow into a story of it's own, but it's giving me some definite ideas.

The Thief

Liesa hurried down the crowded street. She moved as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself. She chanced a glance back over her shoulder. Still there. Dressed completely in black, the man stood out amid the sea of color worn by
those around him. Who the fuck was he? He definitely wasn't with the city guards. He wasn't wearing the bright red uniform and he wasn't ordering her to stop. Still, she was sure he was following her. No matter how many turns she made, he was right behind her. She couldn't lose him. He was definitely after something and she had a feeling it was the relic she'd just stolen. She was just lucky she was near the exchange point. After that, it didn't matter if the man caught up to her.

She saw her friend Darnell as she entered the town square. Water showered from a statue into a pool in the center of the large primarily cobbled area. The paving was broken only by squares of grass and carefully cultivated flowers. He stood near the ornate fountain. She saw him start walking and knew that he'd intercept her at a point about halfway across the square. She didn't worry about his pace or hers just kept walking and concentrated on making this the cleanest pass of her life. She didn't want the relic stolen before they even collected their pay for it. As Darnell brushed past her, she slipped the chalice into his hand. It was up to him to conceal it before anyone saw it.

She kept going, hoping to draw her follower away from Darnell. She continued hurrying through the city. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the man in black clothes still behind her.

A few strands of long glossy black hair hung over his shoulder undoubtedly blown there by the light breeze. He didn't look happy. His eyes were narrowed and his lips set in a frown. She turned her attention back to the city streets and getting somewhere unoccupied. She'd like to put some distance between them and now that she had nothing to fear from any guard stopping her, she intended to do it.

He didn't look like a thief. The thought flashed through her head. He was muscled and tall. His broad shoulders and large frame wouldn't lend themselves to tight spaces. Not to mention the fact that the whip and the short sword at his waist did make him stand out a bit. Most of the male thieves she knew were short and wiry. They could go anywhere, blend in with almost any crowd. That man would stand out and not just because of his size. His eyes were a riveting green. The combination of that with high cheekbones and a strong jaw gave him a hard male beauty that drew the eyes of male and female alike.

She turned onto an empty street and exhaled heavily. Finally. Not pausing a moment longer, she ran. Her shoes made almost no sound on the stone street. When she heard the staccato thud of boots on the pavement, she knew she wasn't going to lose the man easily. Her eyes scanned the street ahead. There had to be somewhere she could go that he couldn't. Finally, she saw a thin pipe going up the outside of one of the larger, dark brown stone buildings. She'd have to take the chance that it would hold and that her shoes wouldn't slip on the stone. It was probably a warehouse, but she didn't care right now.

Taking a running leap, she grabbed the pipe and began climbing. The wall wasn't as smooth as she feared and she managed to get up to the top without tumbling back to the stone paving. She looked back down and saw the man stop at the base of the building. She waved to him and then took off at an angle across the roof.

At the other side, she hung down and dropped to the ground before turning and running again. Relief flooded through her when the only sound she could hear was the soft scuff of her own shoes and the normal sounds of the city. Her thighs began to ache and her throat felt dry and rough. She wanted to stop and just walk, get a chance to catch her breath, but there was no time. She didn't slow down and kept going because she wouldn't be safe until she was out of the city. She saw the bridge that separated the more genteel side. A smile crossed her face. On the other side of that bridge were the working docks and a man who'd take her out of this city. Nearly there.

She rushed to get across the bridge. About halfway across, she saw a man step out of the shadows of a building and into the center of the road in front of her. He had long gleaming black hair and piercing green eyes. Dressed entirely in black, she couldn't miss him now that he was away from the building. She stopped and stared at him. It couldn't be. She'd left him on the other side of the building. There was no way that he could have gotten in front of her. But she couldn't deny what she saw. The handsome predator was the same one who'd been chasing her. For a few moments, she didn't move, but when he started forward, her muscles unlocked. She backed away and spun.

All she saw was black. Hands clasped her arms, holding her. She tilted her head back and looked up into riveting green eyes. She blinked and she wondered if her mind had fractured. He'd been at the other end of the bridge. She looked over her shoulder and saw the mirror image of the man holding her strolling toward them. Twins. It made sense now.

"I don't have what you want." She shook her head. She tried to pull away but the man holding her, but his hands tightened preventing her from moving away from him.

"Since you have no idea what we're after, how can you be sure of that?" The man holding her asked. His lips curved into a smile, but it wasn't at all friendly.

"I don't have anything of value." She licked her lips.

"You don't?" the man behind her asked. "Well, what we're after is very valuable."

She knew she shouldn't ask it, but the man in front of her wasn't letting go and the one behind her was closing in fast. This wasn't good. "What are you after?"

"You."

Kickstarting a stalled story

I've recently had two WIP simply stall. Staring at the page, I couldn't even get a single new sentence on the page. Not a word would come on either of them. The characters in both of these stories really appeal to me and I can't wait to learn more about what's going to happen, but I haven't been able to write on those stories for two weeks. It's been driving me nuts. Luckily, it's not a full case of the dreaded WRITER'S BLOCK. I have been making good progress on another WIP in the meantime, but not being able to work on those two has been driving me nuts. There was something about the two stories that just stopped me cold whenever I opened up the files.

I tried everything I knew to jumpstart the story. I did a character interview, journaled and tried switching the POV of the scene I was writing. I even plotted out what should be happening in the chapter. Nothing worked, not even the walk away from it and leave it alone for a few days approach. That usually has the characters more than ready to talk. I just couldn't move the story forward. So I went back and reread. (I've been trying not to do this so much before I've finished because rereading sometimes leads to revising for me.)

Doing that, I finally figured out what had gone wrong and my subconscious was trying to tell me. (I just wish it would have told me without all of the frustration involved.) I'd pushed the story in a direction that didn't fit the characters or plot. One of them I had to take out a couple of chapters but I'm back to writing and I'm not frustrated. Do you have any interesting techniques for kicking your characters in the butt to get them moving again? I'd like to know because they might come in useful next time.

Oh and by the way, look for Primal Encounter coming October 28!

Memories

I'm going to start this post with a couple of quotes, because while these quotes didn't inspire Lost Memories, the book I have coming out this month, it does fit the idea which inspired the book. What would it feel like to lose a chunk of memories?

Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door. ~Saul Bellow

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~From the television show The Wonder Years


As for the heroine of Lost Memories, Honie, she's desperate to find a way to regain those memories and feelings. She feels lost and disconnected without the memories taken from her.


Did I mention that it releases on September Sixteenth? And that this is it's awesome cover.



Lost Memories Blurb:


Honie is trying to regain the lost pieces of her memory. Escorting a small group of shifters, she finds her mate among the crew and is torn between desire and fury. She can’t deny her body aches for his, but doesn’t know if she can forgive him for leaving her.

Mace believed his mate was dead and is elated she’s alive. He’s determined to break through her anger and uses the journey to reestablish the bond between them. If his words can’t soothe her anger, maybe a little hot sex will help.

Sparks fly between them and searing glances become heated caresses and sated sighs. But their mission takes them into danger and they’ll have to trust each other to survive.

My first Book Trailer and CONTEST!!

This is the book trailer for In Sorcery's Hold and I absolutely love it. It won't be the last. It was fun, although I had to hold myself back from glitzing it up with flashes of fire or sparkles. Yep, I was one of those kids who always went wild with the glitter when given a craft project. Less is more was never my motto. Give me sparkles and colors and extravagance.

Okay, so today's my birthday and I thought I'd give away a gift or two. Well, actually two. There will be two winners. I'll buy one ebook from Ellora's Cave for each of the winners regardless of whether you're an author or reader. So here's what you have to do. Just comment. Anyone who comments will be entered. I'll count the number of comments disregarding my own and use a random number generator to pick the two winners. I'll draw the winners first thing when I get online on the 5th.

Have a wonderful day,

Rebecca

In Sorcery's Hold

This month's post was an easy one for me, but I still almost forgot to do it. I have a release coming up on the 13th. In Sorcery's Hold. It's a fantasy menage (m/m/f). See my gorgeous cover!

I absolutely love fantasy as a reader and writer. The magic, the quests, the swords, the magic, the sexy elves (sorry no elves in this story though). Some of my first favorite books were in this genre. As you can tell magic is one of my favorite aspects of the genre and I had to include it when I started writing it.

Let me introduce you to the characters on the cover. The dark-haired hunk is a vampire by the name of Damon. The blonde in the center with the fierce look, which suits her by the way, is Keira, a witch. And the redhead who gave me some trouble while writing the story is Rath, a dragon.

Here's an excerpt of Rath and Keira's first meeting

Keira strolled down the clean street, keeping watch for the little thief. She didn’t have much hope that Verite was here, but she might just get lucky. In truth, the girl was probably already on her way to the temple. When she did finally catch Verite, she intended to teach the greedy little witch a lesson about keeping her sticky little hands off of other people’s property.

She tried not to stare or gape. Everything was so different here. She’d seen dragons before, but until she’d gotten here, she’d never seen so many of them together. Although she hadn’t seen any in this city, she’d seen three of them in the air yesterday.

This entire area was different than she’d expected, much different than the Beserl region. If it wasn’t for the large wall circling the city, she’d never have guessed that they had problems here too. The people here seemed relaxed and cheerful.

A roar tore through the early morning air. Her heart slammed against her chest wall and then began racing. Fear surged through her. Her head jerked up and swung toward the east end of the city. A lantern hanging on a pole at the edge of the cobbled street swung on its hook as the roar came again. She stood tensely, her hands hanging at her side as she tried to figure out what had made that noise.

In spite of the fact that this was a protected city, her first thought was that merdanons were attacking the city. Then she really listened and knew that that wasn’t a merdanon howl. She’d heard enough of those huge fiends’ screams to know the difference. That echoing bellow belonged to a dragon in pain. Even as she wondered what had the dragon so upset, she began running toward the sound.

Cytari relations with dragons were far from cordial, but they were allies in the fight against the Dark Sorcerers and the merdanons. She’d take a dragon over a merdanon any day. Dragons had a tendency toward arrogance, but they were sentient, independent beings. Merdanons were the magical creations of Dark Sorcerers.

She dodged the men and women running away from the sound. Before she even reached the edge of the city, she saw the dragon’s black head swing up above the roof tops as well as the tips of his wings as they spread and folded. Another ear piercing bellow sounded just as she cleared the last of the buildings and passed through the gates of the wall surrounding the city.

Keira skidded to a stop. A huge black dragon stood in the grassy field beyond the last light gray, stone building. Her eyes ran over the beast’s glossy black-scaled body. Red stripes crossed its back and lined the top of its triangular head. She frowned as his tail whipped close to the thick defense wall. If that muscular tail hit it, the wall would probably collapse.

Why didn’t he just change form? Large dark scales glimmered in the sun as she slowly approached the dragon.

Rubbing her damp palms down her black pants, she considered ways to announce herself without getting herself bitten. Messing with a dragon in any kind of mood really wasn’t recommended. They were acquisitive and domineering and often considered wandering witches fair game.

Why was he just standing there? Then the beast turned toward the city. Its large head swung toward her.

She caught a glimpse of his rear flank. A silver trap clamped around its back hind leg. Blood trickled down the huge black limb. She could see gashes on the thick muscled leg where the skin had torn. That had probably happened when he’d ripped the trap free of its anchor. Obviously, it had been meant for something smaller and hadn’t been strong enough to hold him.

Ah Vellos! Her shoulders slumped. There was probably no-one else in the city who could help him with this. That trap was intricately spelled. It would take high magic to release it. She hadn’t seen any other dragon or even a vampire today. They’d have come to his aid if they were in the city.

Once she got it off of him, he’d be fine. He could change form and the wound would be healed during the transformation. The trap was too big for him to change while held by it. Those metal jaws would easily take off a man’s thigh.

She moved forward, making sure the dragon saw her approaching him. Dragon’s had a mouthful of teeth. Most of them were longer than carving knives. But she wasn’t worried about him taking a chunk out of her. There was even more reason to be wary of a dragon bite than those huge teeth. On top of the rows and rows of sharp teeth, a dragon injected venom every time he bit something.

“Hello, I’m called Keira. Since I don’t see anyone else around who can help you, I’m going to free you. Don’t bite me.” She held her hands out in front of her as she walked toward him.

His head lowered and she found herself looking straight down the huge muzzle into golden eyes. He inhaled and tilted his head before it rose away from her. A smile tilted her lips. Apparently, she’d passed inspection. She moved slowly toward his back leg. His head turned and his eyes followed her every move. She raised her hands, holding them just above the gleaming metal of the silver trap.

Taking a deep breath, she began slowly channeling power into the trap, reversing the spell. The metal creaked. The curved, sharp-edged teeth slowly began pulling out of his skin. When the metal maw had opened wide enough, the dragon stepped out of it. She let the metal jaws slam back together.

Turning her eyes to the dragon, she saw the skin on his leg shimmer. The wounds closed and disappeared. Gray and black mist swirled, rising around the huge beast towering over her. It enclosed the dragon forming a dense round cloud around him. The giant ball of swirling magic shrunk and tightened into an oval. With a last glittering pulse it disappeared.

A tall broad-shouldered man stood right in front of her. Even if she hadn’t just seen him change forms, she’d have known that this intimidating muscular male was a dragon.

His hair was the first thing that caught her attention. It would have given him away immediately. Short, deep red hair crowned his head, but on both sides of his head a stark black streak set him apart from normal men. Then there were his ears. Pointed ears weren’t exclusive to dragons, but the brilliant green gem dangling from his lobe did mark him as a dragon warrior.

He’d magically clothed himself as he transformed. A loose gold shirt covered that broad chest. She wouldn’t have minded getting a glimpse of it. Black pants molded to his strong thighs. Not that she would have minded seeing the man naked. From what she could tell by the way his clothes fit, he had a gorgeous muscular body.

He took a gliding step closer to her. His sun-burnished skin gleamed in the bright light. She could see the black slits of his pupils as his eyes ran over her body. A scar trailed from his left temple across his cheek. Apparently, she’d just given aid to a seasoned dragon.

“Thank you for helping me, Keira.” He grasped her hand, enclosing it between his large hands. “It’s been a while since I’ve even felt Cytari magic in this area. Witches from your sect usually stay in the north.” A frown turned gorgeous lips downward. “You’re not dressed in your sect’s uniform.”

She looked up at him. With the unknowns in this situation, she couldn’t trust anyone here. Especially not a too chummy dragon. “I’m here looking for something.

That part was true enough. She had to tell him something. Like most of the High Sorcerers, he was annoyingly alpha. She already had his attention just because she was a High Witch. Dragon’s, vampires and other High Sorcerers were always looking for a complementary mate. He certainly wouldn’t accept an “it’s none of your business.”

The last decades hadn’t been peaceful. All of those with the power to fight had had to make a stand against a growing number of Dark Sorcerers. Dragons, vampires, sorcerers and witches had all stepped forward to fight for their world. Most of the softness had been battered out of those who fought the Dark Sorcerers and their beasts.

“Something? What something?” He raised a red eyebrow in an arrogant query.

“How did you get caught in that? Even in dragon form, you should have been able to see something that big.” Keira put a hand on her hip. She didn’t have much hope for the distraction gambit, but it was worth a try.

“Thick, tall grass… Now try answering my question.” He leaned forward. The muscles along his jaw tightened

“An amulet. I have reason to believe that it’s in this region.” She smiled and shrugged. It really wasn’t his concern that that amulet had been last seen around the neck of a thieving Cytari witch. And there was no way she was going to tell him about the history behind that amulet. She didn’t need him following her around the region. Catching up to Verite was going to be difficult enough. “I have to go begin my search. Maybe I’ll see you again.”

“I’ll be in the area.” His lips curved into a smile revealing flashing white teeth. His eyes ran down her body and his interest was obvious.

She swallowed heavily. She really didn’t need this kind of complication.


Rath watched the witch lick her full pink lips. Those lips just invited kisses. Her magic had sizzled around his leg. It had felt so good as it washed over and around the trap. Even with the pain from the steel trap biting into his leg, his cock had hardened. Arousal still burned through him.

She was a pretty witch with long golden hair. Her skin was a very pale creamy white with only the slightest hint of gold. His eyes traced over the fine lines of her face. Gold brows arched over tilted brown eyes.

He wished Damon was in the area. The tingling burn of her magic had felt so right. The vampire would be able to tell if she was their mate just by the feel of her magic. Rath couldn’t do that. He’d have to taste the sorcery in her blood. He was fairly certain she wouldn’t volunteer for that. For now, he’d keep an eye on her and would wait for his bond partner to get to the city.

He wouldn’t wait to get close to the witch. By Grimlan, she was a sexy woman. He wanted to feel her tall, slender body moving against his. His mouth watered as he thought about tasting those nipples he could see pressing against the thin black material of her long sleeved shirt.