I hope you all had a spectacular holiday season! I was able to get a great deal of work done during the holidays which was impressive. Normally, the holidays drain me of every ounce of energy--family, friends, and shopping can be exhausting. But this year, I was given time to create. And create I did!
I am nearly finished writing THE DRAGON'S DEN, the sequel to THE DRAGON'S DESIRE from the HEART OF THE DRAGON series. I am very excited with this novella. Aristo still craves the touch of Tania, but so do the other dragons. Stephan, the Sun Dragon, trolls her every move and is biding his time, waiting for the right moment to finally take her into his arms. The other dragons, Patryck, The Water Dragon, and Narcil, the Fire Dragon, also stalk her. As a Dragon Mother, Tania is highly sought after and she will have to make choices of which dragon to mate with. The choice seemed clear to her--Aristo--but her body yearns to claim Stephan.
The war with the dragons is far from over and Tania's father, King Polas, will stop at nothing to see them all destroyed. He believes the dragons have kidnapped his daughter and "no one touches what belongs to him". His hatred of dragons had always been palpable, but with the loss of his daughter, the hatred has become something of an entity. He has enlisted his son, Brynt, to fetch his daughter and slaughter the last remaining dragons.
COMING IN MARCH!
The following excerpt is part of Chapter 3. Stephan has begun to see Tania in a completely new light:
Stephan waited patiently on his golden throne. At first, he remained seated as if Tania’s tardiness
had not affected him but after some time, his fingers tapped on the solid
metal. The ornate scroll work on the
throne did not distract him from the doors.
His eyes remained frozen on the entryway. Was it anticipation at her arrival that had
him determined to see her?
He had invited her to break their fast in order to
ask questions. If she was truly a Dragon
Mother like Aristo had said, then he wanted to know how. The ritual in creating a Dragon Mother was
tedious and difficult. He did not know
the complete workings of the spell, but he did know Tania’s father, King Polas,
would have to reproduce with a female dragon willingly. Both parties would have to love each other
and the dragon would have to give the male partner all of her magic and
essence. Essentially, Polas would be a
dragon after they had bonded. But the
ritual was not as simple as an exchange of love and most of the time, the
ritual would fail and the dragon would die.
There were too many questions that needed
answers. If Tania knew anything
regarding her mother, then that would be helpful.
He also needed to admit to himself that the ritual
was not the only reason he wanted to see her.
Over the past few days, he had trolled her every move. Aristo was seldom away from her, constantly
touching her and a small shred of envy had begun to grow in Stephan’s
bosom. He was jealous of his younger
brother. If anyone should have a soul
mate, Stephan should. He was the Master
Dragon, the most powerful of the horde.
By all accounts and by the law of nature, he should be the one to
reproduce.
It was more than just law that attracted him to
Tania, however. There was a certain sway
in her hips that he found more than intriguing.
He would lie awake most nights dreaming of her sway. He could see her hips swinging back and forth
and the image haunted him. Occasionally,
he would envision Aristo touching her hips and the thought was enough to rile
him from bed. He did not appreciate
Aristo being near her.
Because of his new found attraction to the human, he
was beginning to suspect that indeed she was the Dragon Mother. Only a Dragon Mother would inspire feelings
of lust in her hated enemies. It was all
he could do to not place her in a compromising position. He yearned to feel her under him. She had him in her thrall. She was in his head and it was getting
difficult to shake her.
Stephan had also noticed the effect she had on the
other dragons—Patryck in particular.
Patryck was a young dragon and he was noble, loyal, and good but he
acted strangely around Tania almost as if he had no control over himself, as if
Tania was bewitching him. Perhaps she
was and perhaps she did not realize it.
He would need to keep a better eye on his dragons if
Tania remained with them. He didn’t know
how much longer the dragons would restrain themselves. She was indeed enthralling.
Stephan shook his head. She was not the most gorgeous creature in the
realm—far from it if he was being honest—but she compelled him in ways he could
not understand. He hated himself for
it. He should be happy his brother had
found love but instead he was furious.
He wanted Tania for himself.
Stephan outwardly growled and heard a soft yelp in
response. He quickly tore his eyes from
the entryway and realized Aristo and Tania were standing in front of him. How long was he lost in thoughts?
“I summoned Tania here alone. Why do you accompany her, Aristo?” Stephan
asked regaining his control instead of allowing his thoughts to linger on
Tania.
“I will not allow Tania out of my sight,” Aristo
replied holding Tania’s hand in a death grip.
“She is perfectly safe here.”
“I thought she would be safe in the baths,” Aristo
responded as he clenched his jaw, “but she was not.”
Stephan’s heart pounded faster as he anticipated the
answer, “What happened?”
“Patryck attacked her. He tried to force himself on her.”
Stephan clenched his hand into a fist. The thought of any one laying a hand on Tania
was sending him into a rage. He knew the
young dragon would be trouble. He just
didn’t realize it would be so soon, “I hope you killed him,” Stephan
growled. He shook his head. They couldn’t stand to lose another
dragon. There were only a handful of
them left. And Dear Gods why did he wish
death upon one of his kin? The idea was
sickening.
Stephan stood up from the throne, “What happened to
Patryck?” Fortunately, his growl had
overshadowed his previous statement and Aristo and Tania were none the
wiser.
“He was beaten to a pulp,” Aristo answered, “I
wanted him dead, brother. Tania saved
Patryck’s life.”
“She put his life at risk in the first place,”
Stephan replied. He hated her. She was a troublemaker. He could plainly see that. She caused his dragons to lose their minds
just by standing idly by. It would be
for the best if they sent her away, this time for good. He knew it was a mistake to allow her
residency.
His gaze finally came to rest upon Tania and he
sucked in a breath. His hatred vanished
and he needed to sit once more. Her
white silken robe was wet and clung tightly to her well-shaped curves. The material did little to conceal her. He instantly hardened and tightened in all
the wrong places. He dug his fingers
into the arms of his throne in order to dismiss her allure.
He chanced a few more glances in her direction and
wanted to take her right then and there.
It took all of his control to ignore Tania. No wonder Patryck had pounced. It was difficult to silence the primal nature
of the dragon. Stephan gritted his teeth
and focused on Aristo. He was above
common dragons. A Dragon Mother should
not be able to elicit such a crude response from him. The thought was sickening.
If you haven't read the first in the series, please do so! I have received nothing but high praise for THE DRAGON'S DESIRE. It can be purchased on Kindle and Nook for 99 cents! I also have an epic novel of the dragonkin, the descendants of the dragons from the HEART OF THE DRAGON series available now! For the entire month of January, it will be sold for 99 cents, after that, the price goes back up to $3.99 so get your copy now! AWAKEN (Book 1 of The Dragon Lords) can only be purchased for the Kindle.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
