FireDrake (32 page)

“Felicitations on your union.” Nico winked as he held his wife against him, both arms around her waist as they faced the red-faced trio. Well, Mace and Krytsa were blushing, but Drake knew he’d gone well past the blushing stage with this particular couple. Nico was like a brother to him and Riki was a very special woman he would protect with his life, though his heart was fully Krysta’s now. “Don’t mind us,” Nico went on, “we were just on the way to our quarters.”

“My liege—” Mace halted, confusion clear on his face. Drake stepped in to save his brother-in-arms.

“We hope you enjoyed the entertainment.” Krysta gasped as Drake bowed mockingly low and both royals laughed at his antics.

“You always were a showman, Drake. I’ll give you that.” Riki’s voice drifted to them as Nico turned her away, back toward their apartments. “Thanks for the reminder.”

When Nico and Riki were out of earshot, Krysta turned on Drake. “Reminder?

Please tell me you haven’t bedded the Jinn queen! I knew you were a scoundrel, but honestly, Drake!”

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“Sweetheart.” Drake tried to take her shoulders in his hands, but she evaded him, turning to Mace instead. “Please try to understand. I was part of their mating ceremony.

Their
Jinn
ceremony.” She seemed unconvinced. “I never actually bedded Riki,” he mumbled, knowing this was something Krysta might never forgive him for. Already, they were off to a rocky start.

But Krysta surprised him, taking her face in her hands and kissing him soundly.

“You don’t know how glad I am to hear that. I don’t think I could compete with a queen.”

“Sweetheart.” He kissed her back. “There is no competition. You’re the only woman I will ever love, the only woman I will ever bed. And it’s been that way from the moment I first saw you.”

“You do have a silver tongue.” She smiled as she stepped away, taking one of his hands in her own. She took Mace’s hand as well, leading them toward their chamber.

“Now let’s find a bed so you can show me again just how talented it really is.”

Drake looked over her head at Mace. The knight’s expression held a mixture of shock, envy and rekindled passion as Krysta dragged them along, but they were of one mind when it came to their wife. Mace nodded at him and they each took one arm and one leg, lifting Krysta off her feet and running the last few steps to their chamber door.

The dragons were flying again.

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Bianca D’Arc

Drake of the Five Lands stowed his wagon and hung up his minstrel’s garb—for the time being at least. One never knew when the bard’s persona might come in handy once more, but Drake of Draconia had to learn how to be a knight first. He spent every day training with Jenet and Mace, welcomed home at night into Krysta’s loving arms.

She’d changed her work schedule to the day watch, and continued to work, though she too, had much to learn about Lair life. She wasn’t the typical lady of the Lair and before long, she’d inspired many of the other women to start some basic training in arms as a way to keep fit and prepare for any contingency. All the knights thought it was a good thing, though they didn’t communicate their worries about impending war too broadly.

Krysta led classes for the women, teaching them simple ways to defend themselves.

A few were more gifted and she invited them to study with the Guards when it was her turn to teach. All in all, they were settling in to a beautiful life in the Lair.

Then came the magic training.

Drake relied on Mace to temper his volatile emotions when dealing with Sir Declan.

Nico, and even Roland, sat in on those first few sessions when Drake began to call on his fire, hoping to show Declan how to do the same.

Dec wasn’t the only one astounded when the fire came much easier to the older knight than it had to his son. Declan was a natural and the dragons confirmed what Drake was astounded to learn. Declan’s fire was much closer to the surface than it had been in Drake. It explained a lot about Declan’s temper and the tight control under which he’d always lived.

Now that the fire was released, Declan’s disposition changed as well. He was much more easy-going than ever and began to see the humor in life as well as the struggle. It was a positive change for them all.

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Drake took his place at his fathers’ sides as a close counselor to the king. Declan and Ren had always been valued advisors, but now with magic more prevalent in the kingdom, Drake and Mace were called upon to offer their expertise as well. They spent part of each morning with Roland, often with Nico and some of the other royal princes present as well, going over communiqués and talking strategy.

It was on one such morning when a near breathless messenger arrived from one of the southern cities. He rushed into the throne room, then fell to one knee before Roland.

“My liege.” The man breathed hard, as if he’d run all the way from Tipolir to Castleton. “News from the south. A flight of gryphons with mounted warriors heads this way at a slow pace, though they can’t be more than a few hours behind me.”

“From whom did this news pass?” Roland asked

“The news started with a messenger from Tipolir, thence to Bayern, Hallowet, Sewell and on, but I saw them myself, my liege. They overtook me on the road and shadowed me for a time but let me pass unmolested.”

“How many would you say?” Nico helped the man to his feet, handing him a glass of water since the poor man looked well-worn from the hard ride.

“A dozen that I saw. The reports stated twice that many, but I only saw twelve gryphons—each with a mounted rider, though the riders blended so well with the gryphons’ golden plumage, they were hard to make out. My liege, I never thought to see the like.”

“Thank you for making haste to give us this news,” Roland said, calmer than Drake would have credited. He signaled to Nico and the Prince of Spies led the man from the room, questioning him quietly as he led him to the great hall where he could rest and have a meal. Drake also saw Nico pass the man a few coins for his trouble. Nico had never skimped on paying for good service. It’s what made him such an able spymaster.

Roland turned to Drake and Mace, a raised eyebrow enough to make Drake share his thoughts.

“I think it’s safe to bet these could be some of Gryffid’s folk.”

Drake sent a quick message to Jenet.
“Sweetheart, are you with Wil?”

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Bianca D’Arc

“He’s flying out near the southern edge of the new town with some of the others.

He’s safe.”

“Gryphons are coming, Jen. They’re close to Castleton.”

“My brother Wil is flying to the south,” Roland confirmed, informing the rest of the gathered advisors. “I’ve asked him to wait, but I doubt that will hold him.” Roland stalked toward the door. “If your partners are near, mount up and fly with me. I’m going out to meet them.”

Drake, Mace, Ren, Declan and several others of the king’s advisors were hot on his heels. The knights raced for the ledges where their dragons waited, ready to fly. Roland, Nico and a few of the other princes shifted and took to wing as black dragons, the large contingent heading south to meet the wizard’s emissaries.

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About the Author

A life-long martial arts enthusiast, Bianca enjoys a number of hobbies and interests that keep her busy and entertained such as playing the guitar, shopping, painting, shopping, skiing, shopping, road trips, and did we say…um…shopping? A bargain hunter through and through, Bianca loves the thrill of the hunt for that excellent price on quality items, though she’s hardly a fashionista. She likes nothing better than curling up by the fire with a good book, or better yet, by the computer, writing a good book.

To learn mo
re about Bianca D’Arc, please visit www.biancadarc.com. Send an e
mail

to Bianca at [email protected] or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with

other readers as well as Bianca at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BiancaDArc

Look for these titles by Bianca D’Arc

Now Available:

Maiden Flight

Border Lair

Ladies of the Lair

The Ice Dragon

Prince of Spies

Wings of Change – I Dream of Dragons Vol. 1

Lords of the Were

Forever Valentine – Caught By Cupid anthology

Sweeter Than Wine

Hara’s Legacy

Davin’s Quest

Coming Soon:

Jaci’s Experiment

Red-hot animal attraction.

Claiming Their Mate

© 2008 Paige McKellan

A
Feral Attraction
story.

Jules Kingston is a WereLion destined to be the next Lioness of the White Sands Pride. Her fathers, having decided to step down as Leos, have put out a call for a pair of lions to mate with their daughter. Before settling down with mates and a litter of cubs, though, Jules wants to spread her wings.

Of all the Lions in the Pride, Gabriel and Lucas Beckett are the only two who make her panties wet-and the last two she would ever take on as mates. When the brothers stake their claim, she runs, cursing her hormones for reacting to such prime specimens of her species.

Gabe and Luke have known for years that Jules is meant to be their mate. The trick will be to convince their woman she belongs to them. As expected, Jules leads them on a merry chase.

Then a mate fight and hunt is called by a rival pair. To win Jules as their own, Gabe and Luke must prove their dominance over the Pride-and their woman.

Warning: Contains explicit sex, graphic language, stubborn men, an independent
woman and red hot romance.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Claiming Their Mate: There were so many parts of this mess that made her angry she didn’t know what to scream about first, but that would have to wait until she was on the road. Jules grabbed the duffle and slung her laptop case over her shoulder then opened the double French windows overlooking the back of the driveway and the pastures beyond. The last time she had snuck out of the house through this window was during her senior year in high school to meet a boyfriend her fathers had not thought highly of. It was ironic this trip out the window was to get away from two men her fathers expected her to get involved with.

Somehow she thought the irony would be lost on them.

A quick look out the window told her the coast was clear. For her sake she hoped all the people she was trying to get away from were still in the dining room, on the other side of the house. Jules dropped the duffle to the ground, and reached through the open window, latching on to the ivy trellis. It was only a twenty-foot drop, one her body could handle, but she opted to climb down halfway and not risk an injury she’d have to shift to heal.

She felt ridiculous sneaking out; she was twenty-three, not thirteen. She should be able to hold her head high and walk through the front door like an adult. And she would have if Gabe and Luke weren’t downstairs. Seeing them again was a risk she wasn’t willing to take. For so many, many reasons.

Hitching her computer case higher, Jules put one leg out the window, found a foothold on the trellis, then pulled the rest of her body through and started down. Midway between the window and the ground she let go and jumped.

Into the strong arms of one very pissed-off Lion.

***

Luke heard them before he saw them and when they finally came into view he laughed as his brother came around the corner of the house, or rather limped around the corner of the house, with a very angry, very loud mate, ass end up over his shoulder.

“Put me down you rotten, no good—” Jules demanded, her words punctuated by the blows she rained over Gabe’s back but cut short by the hard smack of his hand on her ass.

“Ow! Damn you! You have no right—”

“I have every right, Jules. Settle down!” When she failed to comply he smacked her ass again, this time harder, which only made her fight him more. “Damn it, I said stop!”

he yelled when her fist connected with his kidney; she was no match for a Lion in his prime but her blows packed enough punch to bruise. “That’s enough. As soon as we get you home I’m going to paddle your bare ass until it’s bright red if you don’t stop acting like this.”

“Home?” she screeched. “I’m not going home with you. I’m not going anywhere with you. Let me go!”

“Need some help, Gabe?” The smile in Luke’s voice was as big as the one on his face.

“Take her bags,” he grunted, tossing his brother her duffle and computer case. “What are you so damn happy about?”

“That she decided to sneak out the back instead of coming out the front.” Luke caught the bags with one hand, reaching out to tug on Jules’ hair hanging over his brother’s ass with the other as Gabe came up next to him. Luke laughed again as Jules swatted blindly at him, letting out another screech. “If she had come my way I’d be the one limping, not you.”

“Luke, make him put me down. He can’t do this.” Jules arched her neck, raising her head to look at Luke. She had always thought of him as the more reasonable brother and hoped to find help in his quarter. The smug smile creasing his handsome face had her back to cursing instead of asking for help. “This isn’t right. I don’t want to go with you.”

“If I were you I’d listen to Gabe and calm down.”

“What is it going to take to get you jerks to understand that I don’t want you? I am not going to mate with you.”

“You’re already our mate, Jules. Once we get you back to the ranch and claim you, you’ll understand that.” This edict came from Gabe as he yanked open the passenger door of their pick-up truck.

Claiming? Back to their ranch? No. No, no, no.
“There is no way I’m going to your ranch with you so you two can fuck me. I decide who I fuck and you can damn well bank on it not being you two.”

Smack
, another hard swat on her ass from Gabe before he lifted her off his shoulder and pushed her into the truck. “Don’t talk like that, Jules. That kind of language doesn’t suit you.”