Beth Linton's Blog
May 20, 2023
The Guardians' Trust: T.J. Excerpt & Blurb
The latest in The Guardians' Trust series is out June 23rd 2023 - and is now available to pre-order!
Here's the blurb & an excerpt. Enjoy!
SHE IS HIS SAVIOR
Warrior, leader...virgin. Gavan has fought for his people’s freedom his entire life, ignoring his own needs – until his arranged wife joins the Resistance. Marrying hastily, they complete the mating ceremony in a passionate rush as the enemy close in. But when the war takes an unexpected turn, Gavan’s life hangs in the balance. Will T.J. be able to save him?
SHE IS A SOLDIER
No stranger to duty, T.J. leaves the Army to join her fated mate… but emerging into the Other Realm, she gets far more than she bargained for: a war, a cause, and a seriously hot husband. Can lust become love? Or does Gavan only value her because of the shapeshifting ability their arranged marriage might give him?
Excerpt The Guardians’ Trust: T.J. By Beth Linton
The clattering of stone had them freezing. A heartbeat later, several rocks tumbled down the walls, a small rolling cascade dislodged from the crevice top. They were still falling when Gavan gripped her arms and backed her up against the sloping wall. The curving lip offering them a chance at remaining hidden from anyone above.
Sandwiched between the hard stone and Gavan’s big body, she strained to see, to hear, what had disturbed the rocks as her heart tried to escape from her chest. When her eyes and ears came up blank, she opened her link and stretched out her senses, probing the air with Affinity—and every inch of the muscular frame shielding her tautened.
Slowly, T.J. lifted her gaze from the chest caging her, and looked into his eyes … and time seemed to slow. Despite the danger, maybe because of it, she became achingly aware of every hard inch of the body pressed against her own, and the fact her hands were gripping onto his hips. Holding his gaze, she moved her thumbs, stroking where ridged abdomen met the masculine vee of muscles above the band of his cropped trousers.
He shuddered, and the air around them seemed to flex with what she felt sure was Gavan’s link to Affinity.
“An animal,” Gavan said quietly.
As though realizing the same, the warriors who’d taken shelter as they had peeled themselves from their hiding places.
Gavan didn’t budge.
“We’re safe,” he said softly, his gaze dropping to focus intently upon her lips.
“That’s good.” Like him, she didn’t move.
“Yes.” He inhaled deeply, his chest muscles expanding, and then he lowered his head to hers.
Not wanting another kiss on the cheek, she met him halfway and pressed her lips to his. She expected him to seize control, to make a masculine claim of the woman who’d agreed to marry him, a passionate demand that insisted she yield. Instead, his lips caressed hers with surprisingly chaste pressure in a kiss that seemed to offer friendship, and conveyed the hope for more.
Moved by the emotion she could sense, T.J. lifted onto her toes to deepen the kiss, urging his lips apart so she could explore his mouth. Their lips clung, tasted, the heat between them building, then their lips drifted apart. She looked up at him, waiting for him to open his eyes, but when his eyelashes remained dark crescents upon his cheeks, she lifted a hand to his face and gently touched her fingertips to his lips.
“You’re acting as though you’ve never been kissed before,” she said softly.
His eyes fluttered open, and his gaze burned with some deep emotion. “I haven’t.”
He dipped his head, but rather than kiss her again as she expected, he pressed his cheek to hers in a tender gesture.
She tilted her face into his, enjoying the rasp of his stubble against her skin. Then she blinked as she realized something else, and she pulled back so she could see his face.
“If you’ve never been kissed does that mean you haven’t had sex? You’re a virgin?” She waved a hand, indicating his body, his face. “You’re seriously hot. How is that possible?”
He must have had offers.
He shrugged and didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed when he said, “I never found a female who I wanted to be intimate with.”
Her brows climbed. “You’ve waited a long time.”
“Yes.” A smile slowly stretched across his face, and the twinkle in his eyes left no doubt that he was looking forward to more of what they’d just shared.
“Maybe you were waiting for me,” she joked, but Gavan didn’t laugh as she’d expected. Instead, his expression became thoughtful.
“As your ordained mate, I was born for you, T.J. So, I agree it is possible I sensed that fate and waited for you.”
About to brush off his words as fanciful, she stopped. Given she’d always believed her destiny was to pass through the gateway, it would be unfair to dismiss his comment. The past eighteen months of Exchanges had taught her that Mother Nature wove an intricate web of fate. It was entirely possible that on an unconscious level, he really had been waiting for her.
Possessiveness unfurled in her chest, swift and unexpected. According to the Oracle, this huge, honorable man would be hers, and given what he’d just revealed, he would be hers alone.
Here's the blurb & an excerpt. Enjoy!
SHE IS HIS SAVIOR
Warrior, leader...virgin. Gavan has fought for his people’s freedom his entire life, ignoring his own needs – until his arranged wife joins the Resistance. Marrying hastily, they complete the mating ceremony in a passionate rush as the enemy close in. But when the war takes an unexpected turn, Gavan’s life hangs in the balance. Will T.J. be able to save him?
SHE IS A SOLDIER
No stranger to duty, T.J. leaves the Army to join her fated mate… but emerging into the Other Realm, she gets far more than she bargained for: a war, a cause, and a seriously hot husband. Can lust become love? Or does Gavan only value her because of the shapeshifting ability their arranged marriage might give him?
Excerpt The Guardians’ Trust: T.J. By Beth Linton
The clattering of stone had them freezing. A heartbeat later, several rocks tumbled down the walls, a small rolling cascade dislodged from the crevice top. They were still falling when Gavan gripped her arms and backed her up against the sloping wall. The curving lip offering them a chance at remaining hidden from anyone above.
Sandwiched between the hard stone and Gavan’s big body, she strained to see, to hear, what had disturbed the rocks as her heart tried to escape from her chest. When her eyes and ears came up blank, she opened her link and stretched out her senses, probing the air with Affinity—and every inch of the muscular frame shielding her tautened.
Slowly, T.J. lifted her gaze from the chest caging her, and looked into his eyes … and time seemed to slow. Despite the danger, maybe because of it, she became achingly aware of every hard inch of the body pressed against her own, and the fact her hands were gripping onto his hips. Holding his gaze, she moved her thumbs, stroking where ridged abdomen met the masculine vee of muscles above the band of his cropped trousers.
He shuddered, and the air around them seemed to flex with what she felt sure was Gavan’s link to Affinity.
“An animal,” Gavan said quietly.
As though realizing the same, the warriors who’d taken shelter as they had peeled themselves from their hiding places.
Gavan didn’t budge.
“We’re safe,” he said softly, his gaze dropping to focus intently upon her lips.
“That’s good.” Like him, she didn’t move.
“Yes.” He inhaled deeply, his chest muscles expanding, and then he lowered his head to hers.
Not wanting another kiss on the cheek, she met him halfway and pressed her lips to his. She expected him to seize control, to make a masculine claim of the woman who’d agreed to marry him, a passionate demand that insisted she yield. Instead, his lips caressed hers with surprisingly chaste pressure in a kiss that seemed to offer friendship, and conveyed the hope for more.
Moved by the emotion she could sense, T.J. lifted onto her toes to deepen the kiss, urging his lips apart so she could explore his mouth. Their lips clung, tasted, the heat between them building, then their lips drifted apart. She looked up at him, waiting for him to open his eyes, but when his eyelashes remained dark crescents upon his cheeks, she lifted a hand to his face and gently touched her fingertips to his lips.
“You’re acting as though you’ve never been kissed before,” she said softly.
His eyes fluttered open, and his gaze burned with some deep emotion. “I haven’t.”
He dipped his head, but rather than kiss her again as she expected, he pressed his cheek to hers in a tender gesture.
She tilted her face into his, enjoying the rasp of his stubble against her skin. Then she blinked as she realized something else, and she pulled back so she could see his face.
“If you’ve never been kissed does that mean you haven’t had sex? You’re a virgin?” She waved a hand, indicating his body, his face. “You’re seriously hot. How is that possible?”
He must have had offers.
He shrugged and didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed when he said, “I never found a female who I wanted to be intimate with.”
Her brows climbed. “You’ve waited a long time.”
“Yes.” A smile slowly stretched across his face, and the twinkle in his eyes left no doubt that he was looking forward to more of what they’d just shared.
“Maybe you were waiting for me,” she joked, but Gavan didn’t laugh as she’d expected. Instead, his expression became thoughtful.
“As your ordained mate, I was born for you, T.J. So, I agree it is possible I sensed that fate and waited for you.”
About to brush off his words as fanciful, she stopped. Given she’d always believed her destiny was to pass through the gateway, it would be unfair to dismiss his comment. The past eighteen months of Exchanges had taught her that Mother Nature wove an intricate web of fate. It was entirely possible that on an unconscious level, he really had been waiting for her.
Possessiveness unfurled in her chest, swift and unexpected. According to the Oracle, this huge, honorable man would be hers, and given what he’d just revealed, he would be hers alone.
April 22, 2022
The Guardians' Trust: Megan Excerpt & Blurb
Blurb for The Guardians' Trust: Megan
Some women are born identical - one in the human world, one in the jungle of the Other Realm. It is their fate to change places and marry the men born for them.
ENEMIES TO LOVERS
Upon leaving her war for the peace of the Guardians’ Trust, Megan agrees to marry the man arranged for her – but she never imagined she’d be moved to violence every time he opens his mouth. Maxen may be seriously attractive, but how is she supposed to be his wife when his arrogance infuriates her?
LUST AND LOVE
Motorbikes, rock music, and swimming are Maxen’s passions, but when he finds himself engaged to a knife-wielding warrior who seems to hate his guts, he can’t make up his mind whether to wrestle or kiss her. Can they build a marriage on lust alone, or will they find a way to give love a chance?
Excerpt:
Megan pulled off her helmet and whooped. “That was brilliant!”
He grinned at her enthusiasm. “Better than horses?”
She’d handled the quadbike with confidence, and despite it being her first time, she’d swiftly managed to grasp the finer points of driving.
Megan laughed. “Different.”
Climbing off the quad, she arched her back as though to ease muscles unfamiliar with this mode of transport. His gaze followed her movements as he, too, stretched, and he rubbed his chest as he took her in. She looked tussled and sexy and, after the ride, his blood was definitely up.
“You ride a lot back home?” he asked. He knew horses were their only form of transportation in the Other Realm, but he didn’t know how often she left the safety of the Sanctuary.
She eased her fingers through the silver of her hair, freeing the plait she’d made to keep it out of the way.
“When venturing off our mountain, horses are the only way to travel at speed. It took four days and nights on horseback to reach the gateway.”
“You ride day and night? For that long?”
“The lowlands, the jungle that lies between the mountains of the Sanctuary and the Retreat, used to be relatively safe, but it’s no longer possible to take our time. When on the move, we move.”
Maxen sobered. “Your realm is dangerous.” And his baby sister was leaving to live there in a couple of months.
“The Other Realm is a wonderful place. Our culture is rich, and we fight to preserve it. The Exchange means we are several steps closer to reclaiming our land. Griffin will be defeated, and all of our people will be free once more.” Perhaps wanting to lighten the mood, she gestured to her quadbike. “I think traveling on one of these through the jungle would have been fun, but I’m not sure it lends itself to stealth.”
“You handled it well.”
When she lifted a pale brow, he added, “It’s just that looking at you, I wouldn’t expect you to be so…” Badass, he thought. “Capable,” he said aloud. “You’ve no experience of human technology, and you’re small and have this angelic look with your silver hair.” He loved the contrast between her looks and the strong woman inside. “But you handled the quad like you’d been driving for years.”
“This is a surprise? That I’m more than a pretty face?” Her hands found her hips. “For the Mother’s sake, Maxen, you live with several highly capable females, some human, some Other.”
He remembered the knife against his throat and the fire in her eyes as she’d threatened him. He also remembered her naked body in the swimming pool, the bob of her breasts as she’d trusted him to help her float.
“God, you turn me on.”
Megan’s brows reached for the skies. “What?”
“You heard me.”
He groaned when Megan stalked closer to fist his shirt. She pushed him back toward a tree, her green eyes promising death as she looked up at him.
His back hit the trunk. “You are seriously hot. I never know whether to try to kiss you or wrestle you.”
Megan’s gaze dropped to his lips. “You are welcome to try.”
His lust kicked up a notch. “Which?”
She cocked her head to the side, her silver-blonde hair spilling over her shoulder. He itched to fist it and pull her close.
“I haven’t decided,” she told him. “Pick one and see where it gets you.”
His hand rose and he twined his fingers through her hair. He tugged, not hard but insistently, and her lips parted on a gasp. He shifted suddenly, spinning her so that it was her back to the tree, him who was subduing her. Her eyes flashed, but he suspected it was with more than annoyance. When she went to shove him away, he grasped her hand and pinned it by her head against the trunk. They were suddenly both breathing hard.
He lowered his head, his lips an inch above hers, and waited for her face to tip up, her lids to lower, and then the devil pricked him.
“You know,” he said, casually, and he lifted his head with arrogant laziness. “I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Megan’s eyes popped open. Clearly furious, she fisted her free hand and rammed it into his gut. He groaned in pain and she ducked, darting around him.
“You know, I think I have too,” she said frostily. Stalking back to the quadbike, she climbed on. She started the engine and revved. “But it’s no loss to me. I was thinking about kissing you.” She looked pointedly at his crotch, making it clear exactly which part of him she’d thought about kissing. “But I’m glad you made me see sense, that you reminded me that I don’t like you. No point starting something when you most likely wouldn’t have been able to satisfy me. I like it hard,” she told him as she revved the engine again. “I like it hot and sweaty, uninhibited and passionate.” She drew out the word. “So, thanks,” she said glibly, and, with a little wave, she gunned the engine and took off.
Maxen watched her skid expertly around a tree and head off into the forest as though she’d been riding all her life.
“Shit.”
Some women are born identical - one in the human world, one in the jungle of the Other Realm. It is their fate to change places and marry the men born for them.
ENEMIES TO LOVERS
Upon leaving her war for the peace of the Guardians’ Trust, Megan agrees to marry the man arranged for her – but she never imagined she’d be moved to violence every time he opens his mouth. Maxen may be seriously attractive, but how is she supposed to be his wife when his arrogance infuriates her?
LUST AND LOVE
Motorbikes, rock music, and swimming are Maxen’s passions, but when he finds himself engaged to a knife-wielding warrior who seems to hate his guts, he can’t make up his mind whether to wrestle or kiss her. Can they build a marriage on lust alone, or will they find a way to give love a chance?
Excerpt:
Megan pulled off her helmet and whooped. “That was brilliant!”
He grinned at her enthusiasm. “Better than horses?”
She’d handled the quadbike with confidence, and despite it being her first time, she’d swiftly managed to grasp the finer points of driving.
Megan laughed. “Different.”
Climbing off the quad, she arched her back as though to ease muscles unfamiliar with this mode of transport. His gaze followed her movements as he, too, stretched, and he rubbed his chest as he took her in. She looked tussled and sexy and, after the ride, his blood was definitely up.
“You ride a lot back home?” he asked. He knew horses were their only form of transportation in the Other Realm, but he didn’t know how often she left the safety of the Sanctuary.
She eased her fingers through the silver of her hair, freeing the plait she’d made to keep it out of the way.
“When venturing off our mountain, horses are the only way to travel at speed. It took four days and nights on horseback to reach the gateway.”
“You ride day and night? For that long?”
“The lowlands, the jungle that lies between the mountains of the Sanctuary and the Retreat, used to be relatively safe, but it’s no longer possible to take our time. When on the move, we move.”
Maxen sobered. “Your realm is dangerous.” And his baby sister was leaving to live there in a couple of months.
“The Other Realm is a wonderful place. Our culture is rich, and we fight to preserve it. The Exchange means we are several steps closer to reclaiming our land. Griffin will be defeated, and all of our people will be free once more.” Perhaps wanting to lighten the mood, she gestured to her quadbike. “I think traveling on one of these through the jungle would have been fun, but I’m not sure it lends itself to stealth.”
“You handled it well.”
When she lifted a pale brow, he added, “It’s just that looking at you, I wouldn’t expect you to be so…” Badass, he thought. “Capable,” he said aloud. “You’ve no experience of human technology, and you’re small and have this angelic look with your silver hair.” He loved the contrast between her looks and the strong woman inside. “But you handled the quad like you’d been driving for years.”
“This is a surprise? That I’m more than a pretty face?” Her hands found her hips. “For the Mother’s sake, Maxen, you live with several highly capable females, some human, some Other.”
He remembered the knife against his throat and the fire in her eyes as she’d threatened him. He also remembered her naked body in the swimming pool, the bob of her breasts as she’d trusted him to help her float.
“God, you turn me on.”
Megan’s brows reached for the skies. “What?”
“You heard me.”
He groaned when Megan stalked closer to fist his shirt. She pushed him back toward a tree, her green eyes promising death as she looked up at him.
His back hit the trunk. “You are seriously hot. I never know whether to try to kiss you or wrestle you.”
Megan’s gaze dropped to his lips. “You are welcome to try.”
His lust kicked up a notch. “Which?”
She cocked her head to the side, her silver-blonde hair spilling over her shoulder. He itched to fist it and pull her close.
“I haven’t decided,” she told him. “Pick one and see where it gets you.”
His hand rose and he twined his fingers through her hair. He tugged, not hard but insistently, and her lips parted on a gasp. He shifted suddenly, spinning her so that it was her back to the tree, him who was subduing her. Her eyes flashed, but he suspected it was with more than annoyance. When she went to shove him away, he grasped her hand and pinned it by her head against the trunk. They were suddenly both breathing hard.
He lowered his head, his lips an inch above hers, and waited for her face to tip up, her lids to lower, and then the devil pricked him.
“You know,” he said, casually, and he lifted his head with arrogant laziness. “I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Megan’s eyes popped open. Clearly furious, she fisted her free hand and rammed it into his gut. He groaned in pain and she ducked, darting around him.
“You know, I think I have too,” she said frostily. Stalking back to the quadbike, she climbed on. She started the engine and revved. “But it’s no loss to me. I was thinking about kissing you.” She looked pointedly at his crotch, making it clear exactly which part of him she’d thought about kissing. “But I’m glad you made me see sense, that you reminded me that I don’t like you. No point starting something when you most likely wouldn’t have been able to satisfy me. I like it hard,” she told him as she revved the engine again. “I like it hot and sweaty, uninhibited and passionate.” She drew out the word. “So, thanks,” she said glibly, and, with a little wave, she gunned the engine and took off.
Maxen watched her skid expertly around a tree and head off into the forest as though she’d been riding all her life.
“Shit.”
The Guardians' Trust: Mags Excerpt & Blurb
Blurb for The Guardians' Trust: Mags
Some women are born identical - one in the human world, one in the jungle of the Other Realm. It is their fate to change places and marry the men born for them.
FATED MATES
Kidnapped and trafficked into a terrifying world of conflict and shapeshifters, hope seems lost. Then Mags is given to Evan. A spy on a mission, Evan is James Bond and Tarzan rolled into one. But while he denies their attraction, insisting she’s fated to marry another man, Mags knows what she wants – and it’s him.
DUTY AND DESIRE
Honourable, brave, and deadly, Evan infiltrates the palace and meets Mags... a strong, courageous Double who shares a face with his best friend. It’s his mission to save her – not fall in love with her. As guilt and desire consume him, will he banish love? Or will he defy duty and claim Mags as his own?
Excerpt:
April 23rd, 2019
The Antarctic Ocean
“Idiots!”
Beneath a dozen layers of clothing, Mags clung to the taffrail of the Rainbow Warrior as they cut through the Antarctic Ocean, her silver-blonde hair whipping against her face where it escaped from her hat.
Ahead, the intensive harvesting of krill was about to begin, again.
“Don’t they know that by overfishing to make fish food and omega-three supplements they are putting the entire ecosystem at risk?” she asked Steven angrily.
“Don’t know or don’t care.” Steven struggled to switch on the megaphone as the ocean beneath them surged. He cursed when a plume of freezing sea spray soaked them. “This storm is going to be a bad one.”
She shot a look at the blackening sky as the spray cut icily against her exposed face. Only thin slivers of weak sunlight penetrated the laden clouds, and the wind was a persistent angry roar.
“Mother Nature is showing her fury.” She could almost feel Mother Nature’s wrath running through her veins.
Steven grimaced as spray pelted them again. “In Her fury, I think Mother Nature has forgotten Greenpeace is on Her side.”
Her stomach dropped with the next wave. David against Goliath, they’d be feeling the effects of the storm far more than the much larger ship. On the steadier deck of the fishing vessel, she could see men readying the new suction harvesting equipment she found so appalling.
“Will you suck every last crustacean out of the ocean to earn your dirty money?” Mags yelled across the water.
At the bow, several of her friends echoed her frustration. The crew of the Rainbow Warrior was small but determined. They would bear witness, document what was happening, and use the film to prosecute these men and force change.
The megaphone squealed to life.
“You are fishing illegally!” Steven shouted, his voice projected to the fishing crew across the water. “You are being recorded and we will submit our evidence to the authorities. Stop this brutality now!”
The men working on the deck of the fishing vessel didn’t even pause to look their way.
“We should board and sabotage their equipment!” Becky shouted from the helm.
“That’s not what we’re here for, Becky,” Steven returned above the wind. “Besides, the weather is too dangerous. The dingy would capsize for sure.”
“I’m with Becky,” Mags said. “We have to try something. We have to do something!”
“Your enthusiasm does you credit, Mags, but it’s too risky. We’ll continue to keep the Rainbow Warrior close. Hopefully, given our presence, filming, and the weather, it will be enough to stop them.”
She bristled. “But, if we—”
“No, Mags,” Steven cut her off, his angular features softening as he looked at her. “You can’t help the environment if you’re dead, and you know as well as I do that we have a lifetime of battles to fight, not just this one.”
She glared over the waves at the enemy, but then the angle of the ship began to change.
“They’re turning.” They clearly still planned to fish, but there was something about the action on board that had her stomach rolling. “They’re going to ram us.” Her eyes widened as she looked from the ship to the icy water violently heaving around them. “Oh, my God. They’re going to ram us!”
Steven’s head whipped back to the much larger fishing vessel.
“It’s a bluff,” he said, but as the ship set a course directly at them, his conviction seemed to falter. “It has to be a bluff. The authorities will have to act if they try to kill us.”
Mags grunted, unconvinced. “You would hope.”
They watched as the ship forced its way through the waves to reach them, waiting for it to turn away after the fishermen had made their point. It didn’t.
“They’re not going to stop,” Steven said, horror dripping from every word.
Mags looked around at where the crew scurried and filmed. “They have to stop. They have to.” Everyone would die if they didn’t…
As though realizing what they had, Becky grabbed the wheel and turned it sharply. But it was too little, too late.
“Brace for impact!” Steven shouted. “Becky, send a distress call!”
But Becky was busy fighting with the wheel.
They had to send a distress call before they were hit.
Mags pushed away from the taffrail and headed for the helm. Beneath her booted feet, the deck rocked severely, both waves and the wake of the approaching ship tossing the Rainbow Warrior as though it weighed little more than jetsam.
“Mags, no!” Steven shouted as the fishing vessel bore down on them.
And then the world lurched. The vicious crunch of metal screamed as the ships met, the smaller vessel rocking ominously as it was shoved aside and threatened to tip.
Oh, God, had the hull been breached?
Trying to retain her feet, she struggled to reach the helm and its radio, and then the ship pinged free, tipping violently the other way. Mags lost her battle to stay upright.
With a thud, her skull hit the deck, and there was darkness.
Some women are born identical - one in the human world, one in the jungle of the Other Realm. It is their fate to change places and marry the men born for them.
FATED MATES
Kidnapped and trafficked into a terrifying world of conflict and shapeshifters, hope seems lost. Then Mags is given to Evan. A spy on a mission, Evan is James Bond and Tarzan rolled into one. But while he denies their attraction, insisting she’s fated to marry another man, Mags knows what she wants – and it’s him.
DUTY AND DESIRE
Honourable, brave, and deadly, Evan infiltrates the palace and meets Mags... a strong, courageous Double who shares a face with his best friend. It’s his mission to save her – not fall in love with her. As guilt and desire consume him, will he banish love? Or will he defy duty and claim Mags as his own?
Excerpt:
April 23rd, 2019
The Antarctic Ocean
“Idiots!”
Beneath a dozen layers of clothing, Mags clung to the taffrail of the Rainbow Warrior as they cut through the Antarctic Ocean, her silver-blonde hair whipping against her face where it escaped from her hat.
Ahead, the intensive harvesting of krill was about to begin, again.
“Don’t they know that by overfishing to make fish food and omega-three supplements they are putting the entire ecosystem at risk?” she asked Steven angrily.
“Don’t know or don’t care.” Steven struggled to switch on the megaphone as the ocean beneath them surged. He cursed when a plume of freezing sea spray soaked them. “This storm is going to be a bad one.”
She shot a look at the blackening sky as the spray cut icily against her exposed face. Only thin slivers of weak sunlight penetrated the laden clouds, and the wind was a persistent angry roar.
“Mother Nature is showing her fury.” She could almost feel Mother Nature’s wrath running through her veins.
Steven grimaced as spray pelted them again. “In Her fury, I think Mother Nature has forgotten Greenpeace is on Her side.”
Her stomach dropped with the next wave. David against Goliath, they’d be feeling the effects of the storm far more than the much larger ship. On the steadier deck of the fishing vessel, she could see men readying the new suction harvesting equipment she found so appalling.
“Will you suck every last crustacean out of the ocean to earn your dirty money?” Mags yelled across the water.
At the bow, several of her friends echoed her frustration. The crew of the Rainbow Warrior was small but determined. They would bear witness, document what was happening, and use the film to prosecute these men and force change.
The megaphone squealed to life.
“You are fishing illegally!” Steven shouted, his voice projected to the fishing crew across the water. “You are being recorded and we will submit our evidence to the authorities. Stop this brutality now!”
The men working on the deck of the fishing vessel didn’t even pause to look their way.
“We should board and sabotage their equipment!” Becky shouted from the helm.
“That’s not what we’re here for, Becky,” Steven returned above the wind. “Besides, the weather is too dangerous. The dingy would capsize for sure.”
“I’m with Becky,” Mags said. “We have to try something. We have to do something!”
“Your enthusiasm does you credit, Mags, but it’s too risky. We’ll continue to keep the Rainbow Warrior close. Hopefully, given our presence, filming, and the weather, it will be enough to stop them.”
She bristled. “But, if we—”
“No, Mags,” Steven cut her off, his angular features softening as he looked at her. “You can’t help the environment if you’re dead, and you know as well as I do that we have a lifetime of battles to fight, not just this one.”
She glared over the waves at the enemy, but then the angle of the ship began to change.
“They’re turning.” They clearly still planned to fish, but there was something about the action on board that had her stomach rolling. “They’re going to ram us.” Her eyes widened as she looked from the ship to the icy water violently heaving around them. “Oh, my God. They’re going to ram us!”
Steven’s head whipped back to the much larger fishing vessel.
“It’s a bluff,” he said, but as the ship set a course directly at them, his conviction seemed to falter. “It has to be a bluff. The authorities will have to act if they try to kill us.”
Mags grunted, unconvinced. “You would hope.”
They watched as the ship forced its way through the waves to reach them, waiting for it to turn away after the fishermen had made their point. It didn’t.
“They’re not going to stop,” Steven said, horror dripping from every word.
Mags looked around at where the crew scurried and filmed. “They have to stop. They have to.” Everyone would die if they didn’t…
As though realizing what they had, Becky grabbed the wheel and turned it sharply. But it was too little, too late.
“Brace for impact!” Steven shouted. “Becky, send a distress call!”
But Becky was busy fighting with the wheel.
They had to send a distress call before they were hit.
Mags pushed away from the taffrail and headed for the helm. Beneath her booted feet, the deck rocked severely, both waves and the wake of the approaching ship tossing the Rainbow Warrior as though it weighed little more than jetsam.
“Mags, no!” Steven shouted as the fishing vessel bore down on them.
And then the world lurched. The vicious crunch of metal screamed as the ships met, the smaller vessel rocking ominously as it was shoved aside and threatened to tip.
Oh, God, had the hull been breached?
Trying to retain her feet, she struggled to reach the helm and its radio, and then the ship pinged free, tipping violently the other way. Mags lost her battle to stay upright.
With a thud, her skull hit the deck, and there was darkness.
October 7, 2021
The Guardians' Trust (book 6) Excerpt
The Guardians' Trust: Catrin is out October 21st 2021!
Here's a first look at an excerpt (after the blurb). :)
Blurb for The Guardians' Trust: Catrin
Some women are born identical - one in the human world, one in the jungle of the Other Realm. It is their fate to change places. In book six of The Guardians’ Trust series, Catrin embraces her future with the man born for her…
GUILT AND FORGIVENESS
Suffering from survivor’s guilt, Catrin leaves a war half fought to join the Guardians – and gains a ready-made family. A warrior bent on revenge, she never expected to become a mother. To find peace, Catrin must forgive herself for surviving. Can she learn to love the woman she has become... and her arranged husband?
LOVE AND TRUST
Divorced father of two, Aled hadn’t planned to marry again, but Catrin’s arrival forces him to face up to his painful past. For them to be a family, Aled must open his heart and learn to trust again.
Excerpt:
The Other Realm, The Gateway
“You have to cross!” Aderyn yelled from the bank. He held his sword before him in readiness as rain lashed and their enemies tried to breach their defensive line in relentless waves. “You’ve got to go. Now!”
Across the pool, more of Griffin’s soldiers flooded from the mountain path that led to the palace below. Their faces eerily blank, the soldiers shot arrows their way and tried to push through the Resistance fighters who were buying them the time needed to complete the Exchange.
Naked on the stones at the gateway’s base, save the quiver packed with arrows she wore across her back, Catrin notched her bow, took aim, and fired again. Sure and true, her arrow streaked through the rain. She grinned when the arrow lodged deep in the bare chest of one of Griffin’s soldiers. He crumpled forward, collapsing into the gateway’s pool, his blood staining the water crimson.
“You’re too easy a target on those rocks!” Aderyn shouted.
He was right. Exposed with the waterfall at her back, Catrin’s only shield was the rain. And it wouldn’t stop an arrow.
“It isn’t time!” she shouted. Behind her, the gateway’s song was loud and urgent over the clash of metal on the bank, but despite the attack, it warned her to wait.
Catrin ducked when an arrow streaked through the air near her face, her arms automatically lifting to shield her head.
Aderyn swore viciously.
“What are you doing?” she demanded as he ran through the thigh-high water toward her. “It’s too dangerous!”
Aderyn grunted as he reached the rocks. “The sacrifice of our warriors will be for nothing if you die. You’re a sitting duck here.”
He swiftly climbed to join her before the gateway and placed his body between hers and the soldiers desperate to reach them.
“Aderyn, you can’t—”
“I can. You are the Double, Catrin. You have to cross. Besides, my wife will step from the human’s world of peace into this. She will need me here.”
“You’ll be no good to her dead,” Catrin pointed out as she leaned around him to let another arrow fly.
Aderyn grunted again. “If you die before you cross then the point is moot.”
Catrin humphed. It was true. She had to live so the Exchange could take place.
Behind her, the gateway’s song remained a lyrical warning, but it didn’t urge her to cross, not yet.
“Where is she?” Catrin demanded. Until her Double was poised, as she was, upon the rocks on the human side of the gateway, the Exchange couldn’t be done. Catrin didn’t want to leave her home but she must. As her Double must come here.
“To the right!” Aderyn shouted, suddenly.
But she’d seen the archer taking aim. Catrin’s arrow found the soldier’s face and he crumpled in a heap at the far side of the pool.
And then the cry of the stones became a loud, insistent wail.
“Here!” Catrin thrust her bow at Aderyn.
He took it and looped it over his shoulder, then accepted her quiver as she yanked it off and shoved it into his hands. Weaponless, she hesitated, trying to spot her cousin in the fight. Was he still alive? Were Brenin, Megan, and her other friends okay?
She should be down there fighting.
“Go!” Aderyn said. “I hear the stones, too. You must go. Now!”
Catrin’s gaze jerked to his. Her lips pressed. “Win this war,” she told him. “See him dead.”
“I will,” Aderyn said solemnly. “Your future is through there.” He nodded to the pounding water behind her, swollen from weeks of rain. “Go, do this duty so Griffin dies.”
With one last look at where her family fought, Catrin plunged through the waterfall and ran as the first streak of lightning forked through the sky.
Heart pounding as loudly as the waterfall, Catrin raced through the stone tunnel and passed the shivering pop of her Double’s shadow. Only when she reached the human’s waterfall did she stop, her feet slipping on the algae-covered rocks. Behind her, in her old life, battle raged, and she prayed Aderyn had managed to get her Double to safety.
Adrenaline fueling her, Catrin thrust herself through the waterfall and blinked. Braced for conflict, she met … peace. No cries filled her ears, no arrows had her instincts flinching, no clash of swords had her reaching for her missing bow. Disorientated, she scanned the valley. The sides were lushly coated with trees and ferns, the sky above a darkening cloth peppered with unfamiliar stars. Her gaze lowered, and she drew in a shuddering breath, her new world and her rioting emotions so at odds she felt dizzy.
She searched the bank—and found him.
“Are you Aled?” she demanded.
The stranger had black hair, brown eyes, and a pleasingly angular face, while his body was covered in unfamiliar clothing. Black brows rose, probably at the urgency of her demand.
“Yes.” Aled lifted his hand, offering what looked to be a thick robe, but she was already scrabbling down the rocks, then wading to shore as though the very devil were at her back.
“What’s wrong?” Aled asked when she reached him.
Ignoring the robe he offered, she searched the face of the man she had come here to marry. The silence of this peaceful valley was too complete. Even now her people could be dying as they whisked her Double into the jungle and away from the battle.
Her fingers itched for the bow denied to her. Instead, she reached out and fisted the material covering his chest.
“Kiss me,” she demanded. She’d been asked to abandon the Resistance for this marriage, and she wouldn’t let it be for nothing. “If you are to be my husband, then kiss me—now.”
Here's a first look at an excerpt (after the blurb). :)
Blurb for The Guardians' Trust: Catrin
Some women are born identical - one in the human world, one in the jungle of the Other Realm. It is their fate to change places. In book six of The Guardians’ Trust series, Catrin embraces her future with the man born for her…
GUILT AND FORGIVENESS
Suffering from survivor’s guilt, Catrin leaves a war half fought to join the Guardians – and gains a ready-made family. A warrior bent on revenge, she never expected to become a mother. To find peace, Catrin must forgive herself for surviving. Can she learn to love the woman she has become... and her arranged husband?
LOVE AND TRUST
Divorced father of two, Aled hadn’t planned to marry again, but Catrin’s arrival forces him to face up to his painful past. For them to be a family, Aled must open his heart and learn to trust again.
Excerpt:
The Other Realm, The Gateway
“You have to cross!” Aderyn yelled from the bank. He held his sword before him in readiness as rain lashed and their enemies tried to breach their defensive line in relentless waves. “You’ve got to go. Now!”
Across the pool, more of Griffin’s soldiers flooded from the mountain path that led to the palace below. Their faces eerily blank, the soldiers shot arrows their way and tried to push through the Resistance fighters who were buying them the time needed to complete the Exchange.
Naked on the stones at the gateway’s base, save the quiver packed with arrows she wore across her back, Catrin notched her bow, took aim, and fired again. Sure and true, her arrow streaked through the rain. She grinned when the arrow lodged deep in the bare chest of one of Griffin’s soldiers. He crumpled forward, collapsing into the gateway’s pool, his blood staining the water crimson.
“You’re too easy a target on those rocks!” Aderyn shouted.
He was right. Exposed with the waterfall at her back, Catrin’s only shield was the rain. And it wouldn’t stop an arrow.
“It isn’t time!” she shouted. Behind her, the gateway’s song was loud and urgent over the clash of metal on the bank, but despite the attack, it warned her to wait.
Catrin ducked when an arrow streaked through the air near her face, her arms automatically lifting to shield her head.
Aderyn swore viciously.
“What are you doing?” she demanded as he ran through the thigh-high water toward her. “It’s too dangerous!”
Aderyn grunted as he reached the rocks. “The sacrifice of our warriors will be for nothing if you die. You’re a sitting duck here.”
He swiftly climbed to join her before the gateway and placed his body between hers and the soldiers desperate to reach them.
“Aderyn, you can’t—”
“I can. You are the Double, Catrin. You have to cross. Besides, my wife will step from the human’s world of peace into this. She will need me here.”
“You’ll be no good to her dead,” Catrin pointed out as she leaned around him to let another arrow fly.
Aderyn grunted again. “If you die before you cross then the point is moot.”
Catrin humphed. It was true. She had to live so the Exchange could take place.
Behind her, the gateway’s song remained a lyrical warning, but it didn’t urge her to cross, not yet.
“Where is she?” Catrin demanded. Until her Double was poised, as she was, upon the rocks on the human side of the gateway, the Exchange couldn’t be done. Catrin didn’t want to leave her home but she must. As her Double must come here.
“To the right!” Aderyn shouted, suddenly.
But she’d seen the archer taking aim. Catrin’s arrow found the soldier’s face and he crumpled in a heap at the far side of the pool.
And then the cry of the stones became a loud, insistent wail.
“Here!” Catrin thrust her bow at Aderyn.
He took it and looped it over his shoulder, then accepted her quiver as she yanked it off and shoved it into his hands. Weaponless, she hesitated, trying to spot her cousin in the fight. Was he still alive? Were Brenin, Megan, and her other friends okay?
She should be down there fighting.
“Go!” Aderyn said. “I hear the stones, too. You must go. Now!”
Catrin’s gaze jerked to his. Her lips pressed. “Win this war,” she told him. “See him dead.”
“I will,” Aderyn said solemnly. “Your future is through there.” He nodded to the pounding water behind her, swollen from weeks of rain. “Go, do this duty so Griffin dies.”
With one last look at where her family fought, Catrin plunged through the waterfall and ran as the first streak of lightning forked through the sky.
Heart pounding as loudly as the waterfall, Catrin raced through the stone tunnel and passed the shivering pop of her Double’s shadow. Only when she reached the human’s waterfall did she stop, her feet slipping on the algae-covered rocks. Behind her, in her old life, battle raged, and she prayed Aderyn had managed to get her Double to safety.
Adrenaline fueling her, Catrin thrust herself through the waterfall and blinked. Braced for conflict, she met … peace. No cries filled her ears, no arrows had her instincts flinching, no clash of swords had her reaching for her missing bow. Disorientated, she scanned the valley. The sides were lushly coated with trees and ferns, the sky above a darkening cloth peppered with unfamiliar stars. Her gaze lowered, and she drew in a shuddering breath, her new world and her rioting emotions so at odds she felt dizzy.
She searched the bank—and found him.
“Are you Aled?” she demanded.
The stranger had black hair, brown eyes, and a pleasingly angular face, while his body was covered in unfamiliar clothing. Black brows rose, probably at the urgency of her demand.
“Yes.” Aled lifted his hand, offering what looked to be a thick robe, but she was already scrabbling down the rocks, then wading to shore as though the very devil were at her back.
“What’s wrong?” Aled asked when she reached him.
Ignoring the robe he offered, she searched the face of the man she had come here to marry. The silence of this peaceful valley was too complete. Even now her people could be dying as they whisked her Double into the jungle and away from the battle.
Her fingers itched for the bow denied to her. Instead, she reached out and fisted the material covering his chest.
“Kiss me,” she demanded. She’d been asked to abandon the Resistance for this marriage, and she wouldn’t let it be for nothing. “If you are to be my husband, then kiss me—now.”
June 11, 2021
The Guardians' Trust: Cat (book 5) Excerpt
Searching the valley for she knew not what, Cat settled her gaze on the waterfall and the stones it shielded. She almost giggled in relief when the gateway’s song rose to greet her. Away from the waterfall, her belief that she was to go to the Other Realm had remained, but self-doubt had also dripped in to make her question what she knew to be true. After all, those sectioned for delusional behavior believed in those delusions. When the gateway chorused her name in welcome, Cat laughed, pleased at the reassurance she wasn’t losing her mind.
“Are you okay?” Aled asked.
Ordained husband to Catrin Macfione, he had come to the gateway while Maddox had remained at the hall.
“Just relieved,” Cat told him truthfully. “I can hear the stones. I’d begun to worry I might be mad.”
Aled’s dark brows lifted. “You aren’t mad, Cat. I hear the stones, too. It’s why Maddox brought you here rather than tell you who and what you are away from the gateway. The Doubles before you only felt the truth when they came here. It seemed wise to learn from their experience.”
Cat agreed. If she hadn’t heard the call of the gateway’s stones before Maddox told her she needed to pass naked through a waterfall to join another realm, she would have held to her serial killer captive theory.
“So how does this work?” Cat asked, absently nudging a pebble with the toe of her Nike. “I just walk through?” But even as she said it, she heard the denial of the stones. “No,” she said softly. “It isn’t time.” Drawn by the stones, Cat walked to the edge of the gateway’s pool and strained to hear. “I must go to the waterfall and wait.” She glanced to where the late March sun hovered just above the valley walls. Soon, the sun would set and the gateway would open. “I know what I have to do.”
She turned to Aled and pointed to the waterfall. “I have to go.” Cat gestured to her dressing gown. “Maddox explained no clothing can pass through the gateway.”
“I’ll turn my back.” Aled promptly did so, facing the way they’d come as the sun began to slip behind the top of the valley’s wall.
After quickly stripping off her robe, Cat tossed it aside and toed off her trainers, trying not to think about her nudity.
“I’m in Sweden,” she said to herself as she took her first naked step into the water. “Nudism and wild swimming. I’m finally on trend.” She laughed again, then bit off the sound as cold water lapped around her calves. “Man, this is cold.”
Wading deeper, she shivered as water lapped around her thighs and she picked up her pace, trying not to imagine what the slimy stuff was beneath her feet.
“I should have worn flip-flops.”
Cat gasped when something brushed against her ankle. A fish? Oh, God, an eel? With inelegant haste, Cat bounded in a splashy run toward the boulders at the fall’s base, immensely pleased when she could climb them and leave the pool’s water behind.
Now on the rocks, she swiped her long hair out of her eyes as the spray coated her and she shuddered. She hated eels.
The song changed, need now permeating the gateway’s call.
“Yes,” Cat said. “I know. I’m here.”
Careful not to fall on the slippery rocks, she rose and balanced as best she could, ready.
Now!
The shout of the rocks was deafening in its urgency and had her stepping forward before her mind registered what her body was doing. The sudden dousing of water was forceful and cold. Spluttering, Cat pushed her way through the pounding waterfall. Emerging into a dark tunnel, she tried to orient herself. The stones still cried, their song bouncing off the sloping tunnel she must pass through but, unlike the calming song of before, the words were now an incoherent demand to rush.
Cat obeyed, heading toward the weak graying light at the far end of the tunnel as fast as she dared. Then a figure darted past her in the darkness, a woman jogging, breathing hard.
Startled, Cat picked up her pace and headed for the light. The pressing pop of air that signaled the passing of her Double faded when Cat reached a second waterfall. Lifting her hand, she reached out and let the flow coat her fingers. It was much warmer than the water she’d left behind, but it fell in a heavy, beating torrent, and on the other side was her new home. A soft smile curved her lips, even as nerves coiled in her belly. Home.
Cat squeaked in shock when firm hands reached through the waterfall to grasp her naked waist. She’d barely processed what was happening when she was pulled through the water and into the Other Realm.
Startled, Cat blinked water from her eyes and stared at a powerful, paint-streaked chest intersected by straps of leather that secured sword, quiver, and bow at his back. The shout of men and the clash of swords meeting broke through the beating sound of the waterfall behind her, and Cat jerked her head up to meet the black eyes of the man who gripped her waist.
Opening her mouth to demand what was going on, her breath escaped in a whoosh as she was swept up into his strong arms.
Gripping his shoulders, Cat gasped, her gaze jumping from the man who carried her to the scene around her, and her eyes widened with fear. It was raining hard and on both sides of the pool, soldiers fought, the sounds of the battle loud and disorientating. Many of the fighters’ bodies, both male and female, were streaked with greens and browns like the man holding her, no doubt to camouflage them in the surrounding jungle. The painted warriors’ opponents were all male. They were bare-chested, as the paint-streaked men were, but their lack of paint marked them as a different group. These men attacked ruthlessly, their faces eerily blank in their determination to kill.
With the shiver of clashing metal in the air, Cat cried out as an arrow whizzed past her ear. The man holding her swore viciously and moved faster, leaping from the boulders to land on the closest pebbly bank. Cat grunted from the impact, the air knocked out of her, and stared wide-eyed as painted warriors immediately swarmed around them. A shriek of terror building, Cat began to struggle. On unfamiliar land, surrounded by fierce men, instinct took over. With no way to determine whether the man who held her was Resistance or one of Griffin’s soldiers, she would protect herself.
“Be still,” the man said, gruffly. He tightened his arms around her body as, naked and wet, she fought like her namesake to get free. “Cat, hold still! I am Aderyn. Your husband.”
“Are you okay?” Aled asked.
Ordained husband to Catrin Macfione, he had come to the gateway while Maddox had remained at the hall.
“Just relieved,” Cat told him truthfully. “I can hear the stones. I’d begun to worry I might be mad.”
Aled’s dark brows lifted. “You aren’t mad, Cat. I hear the stones, too. It’s why Maddox brought you here rather than tell you who and what you are away from the gateway. The Doubles before you only felt the truth when they came here. It seemed wise to learn from their experience.”
Cat agreed. If she hadn’t heard the call of the gateway’s stones before Maddox told her she needed to pass naked through a waterfall to join another realm, she would have held to her serial killer captive theory.
“So how does this work?” Cat asked, absently nudging a pebble with the toe of her Nike. “I just walk through?” But even as she said it, she heard the denial of the stones. “No,” she said softly. “It isn’t time.” Drawn by the stones, Cat walked to the edge of the gateway’s pool and strained to hear. “I must go to the waterfall and wait.” She glanced to where the late March sun hovered just above the valley walls. Soon, the sun would set and the gateway would open. “I know what I have to do.”
She turned to Aled and pointed to the waterfall. “I have to go.” Cat gestured to her dressing gown. “Maddox explained no clothing can pass through the gateway.”
“I’ll turn my back.” Aled promptly did so, facing the way they’d come as the sun began to slip behind the top of the valley’s wall.
After quickly stripping off her robe, Cat tossed it aside and toed off her trainers, trying not to think about her nudity.
“I’m in Sweden,” she said to herself as she took her first naked step into the water. “Nudism and wild swimming. I’m finally on trend.” She laughed again, then bit off the sound as cold water lapped around her calves. “Man, this is cold.”
Wading deeper, she shivered as water lapped around her thighs and she picked up her pace, trying not to imagine what the slimy stuff was beneath her feet.
“I should have worn flip-flops.”
Cat gasped when something brushed against her ankle. A fish? Oh, God, an eel? With inelegant haste, Cat bounded in a splashy run toward the boulders at the fall’s base, immensely pleased when she could climb them and leave the pool’s water behind.
Now on the rocks, she swiped her long hair out of her eyes as the spray coated her and she shuddered. She hated eels.
The song changed, need now permeating the gateway’s call.
“Yes,” Cat said. “I know. I’m here.”
Careful not to fall on the slippery rocks, she rose and balanced as best she could, ready.
Now!
The shout of the rocks was deafening in its urgency and had her stepping forward before her mind registered what her body was doing. The sudden dousing of water was forceful and cold. Spluttering, Cat pushed her way through the pounding waterfall. Emerging into a dark tunnel, she tried to orient herself. The stones still cried, their song bouncing off the sloping tunnel she must pass through but, unlike the calming song of before, the words were now an incoherent demand to rush.
Cat obeyed, heading toward the weak graying light at the far end of the tunnel as fast as she dared. Then a figure darted past her in the darkness, a woman jogging, breathing hard.
Startled, Cat picked up her pace and headed for the light. The pressing pop of air that signaled the passing of her Double faded when Cat reached a second waterfall. Lifting her hand, she reached out and let the flow coat her fingers. It was much warmer than the water she’d left behind, but it fell in a heavy, beating torrent, and on the other side was her new home. A soft smile curved her lips, even as nerves coiled in her belly. Home.
Cat squeaked in shock when firm hands reached through the waterfall to grasp her naked waist. She’d barely processed what was happening when she was pulled through the water and into the Other Realm.
Startled, Cat blinked water from her eyes and stared at a powerful, paint-streaked chest intersected by straps of leather that secured sword, quiver, and bow at his back. The shout of men and the clash of swords meeting broke through the beating sound of the waterfall behind her, and Cat jerked her head up to meet the black eyes of the man who gripped her waist.
Opening her mouth to demand what was going on, her breath escaped in a whoosh as she was swept up into his strong arms.
Gripping his shoulders, Cat gasped, her gaze jumping from the man who carried her to the scene around her, and her eyes widened with fear. It was raining hard and on both sides of the pool, soldiers fought, the sounds of the battle loud and disorientating. Many of the fighters’ bodies, both male and female, were streaked with greens and browns like the man holding her, no doubt to camouflage them in the surrounding jungle. The painted warriors’ opponents were all male. They were bare-chested, as the paint-streaked men were, but their lack of paint marked them as a different group. These men attacked ruthlessly, their faces eerily blank in their determination to kill.
With the shiver of clashing metal in the air, Cat cried out as an arrow whizzed past her ear. The man holding her swore viciously and moved faster, leaping from the boulders to land on the closest pebbly bank. Cat grunted from the impact, the air knocked out of her, and stared wide-eyed as painted warriors immediately swarmed around them. A shriek of terror building, Cat began to struggle. On unfamiliar land, surrounded by fierce men, instinct took over. With no way to determine whether the man who held her was Resistance or one of Griffin’s soldiers, she would protect herself.
“Be still,” the man said, gruffly. He tightened his arms around her body as, naked and wet, she fought like her namesake to get free. “Cat, hold still! I am Aderyn. Your husband.”
March 26, 2021
Excerpt Meredith (book 4)
"I can’t wait to read Meredith, but these two? Wow!!! Bring it on." Long and Short Reviews, 11th February 2021 (reviewing book 3, Meri). Well, the wait is over! Book 4 in my fantasy paranormal romance series, The Guardians' Trust was released today with Evernight Publishing! Below is an excerpt of Meredith.
Excerpt:
Pushing open the door to the en-suite adjoining the bedroom that would now be Meredith’s, Cole continued to have firm words with himself. The glimpse of thigh he’d gained as she’d climbed out of the Jeep had catapulted him back to the lust he’d felt when she’d emerged naked upon the rocks of the gateway. Inappropriate lust, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time as he pointed out the shower, bath, hairdryer, and towels. She’d looked like a goddess confused by her first experience of the frozen human world she’d stepped into from her hot, spiced heaven, but he was no inexperienced boy. He wasn’t impulsive like Maxen, another member of the Guardians’ Trust, and he certainly didn’t lust after women he’d just met. At twenty-eight, he was more than capable of shelving his desire for his future wife until a more appropriate time.
He silently cursed when Meredith slipped by him, her robe-covered breasts brushing against his arm as she passed. He stiffened and silently counted to ten when she remained close as she looked about the room with apparent interest. He definitely didn’t need to imagine her showering … naked … covered in soap suds and—
With an abrupt movement, he crossed to the shower and turned it on with more force than was necessary. As steam billowed, he stepped back and almost collided with her.
“Sorry, I…” He swallowed when her hands went to the belt of her robe. “I should…”
Hungrily, he followed her fingers as they loosened the knot of the belt.
“Don’t go.” Slowly, Meredith eased the robe wide and then shrugged it off. With her naked before him, the air heated with more than steam.
When she passed the robe to him, he took it automatically, his mouth dry. Her body was a dream come true. Slender and toned, but softly feminine and curved. Her breasts were perfect, full and high, pale-tipped. He desperately wanted to—
Ordering himself to think chaste thoughts, he jerked his gaze away, and it landed on where her bare toes wriggled on the polished wooden floorboards. He suppressed a groan. Heaven help him, he even found her feet sexy.
His gaze bounced back up, searching for deliverance, and connected with her shoulder. From shoulder to wrist, her right arm was an intricate design of swirling shapes, a tattoo of great skill.
He grasped the distraction gratefully. “Does this have meaning?”
She lifted her arm, the movement jostling her breasts. When he cleared his throat again, Meredith arched a brow but didn’t comment.
“It signifies the end of my training and my graduation to aesthete artist. I designed the pattern myself after seeking guidance within Affinity.”
“You’re an artist?”
“An aesthete artist,” she said. “I completed several years of apprenticeships before I was entitled to wear this marking. My training ended shortly before I came here.”
Reaching out, he traced the inked lines with his fingertip, absorbed. “I’ve never seen such a design.” Nor had he known of the practice amongst the Resistance to give tattoos to signify status in various professions. He took in both the knowledge and the pattern, keen—as always—to learn more about his Other heritage.
“As you know, the members of the Guardians’ Trust are descended from the human-Other pairings of the first set of Exchanges several centuries ago. I value my heritage: both my human and Other sides. I’d like to learn more about your training, about how you obtained this marking.”
She smiled at his genuine interest. “I’d be happy to tell you anything you’d like to know.”
His finger followed an inked line along her bicep, the need to know more about this buried side of himself prodding, but he dropped his hand. “I should let you shower. You must still be cold.”
She looked from Cole to the shower stall. Steam now clouded the glass. “I would like to get warm, but you got cold, too. Join me?”
He swallowed hard, his gaze dropping to her breasts before he forced it back up. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She was offering to share a shower with him, not her body, and he was an ass for even thinking about sex when she’d just left her home and her life to marry him—a stranger. “You shower. I’ll wait outside.”
Meredith’s head cocked to the side, her brown eyes watchful as she seemed to consider his refusal. “All right,” she finally said, “I’ll shower alone.” She tugged open the shower door and stepped inside. Hot water sluiced over her body. Sighing, she tipped her face into the spray.
Cole watched as water made her skin slick, her breasts shiny. She was stunning, beautiful—and inside him rose one lust-filled thought: she’s mine.
When he failed to suppress a groan, she opened her eyes and their gazes met through the glass. She lifted a brow. “You’ve changed your mind?”
Within his jeans, he was aching and hard—and his desire shamed him. If he stripped and joined her, she would see that he wanted to do far more than share an innocent shower.
Clearing his throat, he forced his gaze away. “I’ll go and get you some clothes.”
And as he turned to the door, he made a silent vow to them both: he’d go slow and show her every respect. He would give Meredith no cause to regret coming here to the human world, or to him.
Excerpt:
Pushing open the door to the en-suite adjoining the bedroom that would now be Meredith’s, Cole continued to have firm words with himself. The glimpse of thigh he’d gained as she’d climbed out of the Jeep had catapulted him back to the lust he’d felt when she’d emerged naked upon the rocks of the gateway. Inappropriate lust, he reminded himself for the umpteenth time as he pointed out the shower, bath, hairdryer, and towels. She’d looked like a goddess confused by her first experience of the frozen human world she’d stepped into from her hot, spiced heaven, but he was no inexperienced boy. He wasn’t impulsive like Maxen, another member of the Guardians’ Trust, and he certainly didn’t lust after women he’d just met. At twenty-eight, he was more than capable of shelving his desire for his future wife until a more appropriate time.
He silently cursed when Meredith slipped by him, her robe-covered breasts brushing against his arm as she passed. He stiffened and silently counted to ten when she remained close as she looked about the room with apparent interest. He definitely didn’t need to imagine her showering … naked … covered in soap suds and—
With an abrupt movement, he crossed to the shower and turned it on with more force than was necessary. As steam billowed, he stepped back and almost collided with her.
“Sorry, I…” He swallowed when her hands went to the belt of her robe. “I should…”
Hungrily, he followed her fingers as they loosened the knot of the belt.
“Don’t go.” Slowly, Meredith eased the robe wide and then shrugged it off. With her naked before him, the air heated with more than steam.
When she passed the robe to him, he took it automatically, his mouth dry. Her body was a dream come true. Slender and toned, but softly feminine and curved. Her breasts were perfect, full and high, pale-tipped. He desperately wanted to—
Ordering himself to think chaste thoughts, he jerked his gaze away, and it landed on where her bare toes wriggled on the polished wooden floorboards. He suppressed a groan. Heaven help him, he even found her feet sexy.
His gaze bounced back up, searching for deliverance, and connected with her shoulder. From shoulder to wrist, her right arm was an intricate design of swirling shapes, a tattoo of great skill.
He grasped the distraction gratefully. “Does this have meaning?”
She lifted her arm, the movement jostling her breasts. When he cleared his throat again, Meredith arched a brow but didn’t comment.
“It signifies the end of my training and my graduation to aesthete artist. I designed the pattern myself after seeking guidance within Affinity.”
“You’re an artist?”
“An aesthete artist,” she said. “I completed several years of apprenticeships before I was entitled to wear this marking. My training ended shortly before I came here.”
Reaching out, he traced the inked lines with his fingertip, absorbed. “I’ve never seen such a design.” Nor had he known of the practice amongst the Resistance to give tattoos to signify status in various professions. He took in both the knowledge and the pattern, keen—as always—to learn more about his Other heritage.
“As you know, the members of the Guardians’ Trust are descended from the human-Other pairings of the first set of Exchanges several centuries ago. I value my heritage: both my human and Other sides. I’d like to learn more about your training, about how you obtained this marking.”
She smiled at his genuine interest. “I’d be happy to tell you anything you’d like to know.”
His finger followed an inked line along her bicep, the need to know more about this buried side of himself prodding, but he dropped his hand. “I should let you shower. You must still be cold.”
She looked from Cole to the shower stall. Steam now clouded the glass. “I would like to get warm, but you got cold, too. Join me?”
He swallowed hard, his gaze dropping to her breasts before he forced it back up. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She was offering to share a shower with him, not her body, and he was an ass for even thinking about sex when she’d just left her home and her life to marry him—a stranger. “You shower. I’ll wait outside.”
Meredith’s head cocked to the side, her brown eyes watchful as she seemed to consider his refusal. “All right,” she finally said, “I’ll shower alone.” She tugged open the shower door and stepped inside. Hot water sluiced over her body. Sighing, she tipped her face into the spray.
Cole watched as water made her skin slick, her breasts shiny. She was stunning, beautiful—and inside him rose one lust-filled thought: she’s mine.
When he failed to suppress a groan, she opened her eyes and their gazes met through the glass. She lifted a brow. “You’ve changed your mind?”
Within his jeans, he was aching and hard—and his desire shamed him. If he stripped and joined her, she would see that he wanted to do far more than share an innocent shower.
Clearing his throat, he forced his gaze away. “I’ll go and get you some clothes.”
And as he turned to the door, he made a silent vow to them both: he’d go slow and show her every respect. He would give Meredith no cause to regret coming here to the human world, or to him.
February 6, 2021
Review of The Guardians' Trust: Siana
Thrilled to gain a whopping 4 1/2 STARS from Long and Short Reviews!
Here's a look at what they had to say about Siana:
Siana was given in ‘marriage’ and raped in front of a galley full of men. How on earth can she be expected to marry again? This is the second book in The Guardian’s Trust series, and this time we follow Siana to the human realm as she tries to follow her new path.
Simply put, this was amazing! I loved how caring and gentle Pryce was from the beginning, his anger at the treatment Siana went through, and his determination to do the right thing. Siana is a brave, scared, woman, and who wouldn’t be after the things she has endured.
The best thing for me was the slow-burn. The slow building of trust, love, and support given to each other, by each other.
The attention to detail is second to none, and for that reason, I can’t wait to read more about those two men and the missing women. Of course, I’ll probably have to wait for Meredith, as the next book will take back to the Other realm, I think.
A fantastic addition to the series I have no hesitation in recommending.
Here's a look at what they had to say about Siana:
Siana was given in ‘marriage’ and raped in front of a galley full of men. How on earth can she be expected to marry again? This is the second book in The Guardian’s Trust series, and this time we follow Siana to the human realm as she tries to follow her new path.
Simply put, this was amazing! I loved how caring and gentle Pryce was from the beginning, his anger at the treatment Siana went through, and his determination to do the right thing. Siana is a brave, scared, woman, and who wouldn’t be after the things she has endured.
The best thing for me was the slow-burn. The slow building of trust, love, and support given to each other, by each other.
The attention to detail is second to none, and for that reason, I can’t wait to read more about those two men and the missing women. Of course, I’ll probably have to wait for Meredith, as the next book will take back to the Other realm, I think.
A fantastic addition to the series I have no hesitation in recommending.
November 11, 2020
Excerpt Meri (book 3)
This except is taken from The Guardians' Trust: Meri (book 3 of this paranormal/fantasy romance series). Meri will be released 11th December 2020.
Hands behind her head, Meri glared up at her bedroom ceiling as tentative morning light reached in through the windows. After Maddox’s announcement last night, she’d listened with growing unease as he’d spun her the most preposterous story she had ever heard: Doubles, a gateway, and an Other Realm fighting for its life against an evil tyrant. When Maddox had confessed to being six hundred nineteen years old, she’d had serious doubts about his sanity.
She’d taken a long drink of the wine he’d given her and then looked to Marc and Cole for sense. She’d found none. Instead, they’d eyed her worriedly, looked at her as though she might break … and she’d known: they believed this fairy tale Maddox was selling.
Her best friend and the family she had adopted as her own were deluded. They thought—no believed—that she was one of these Doubles, that she needed to make this Exchange in two days’ time and step through some freezing waterfall to live in a war zone and marry a stranger!
The Trust was a cult!
Well, she wasn’t buying into their weird religion.
Last night, the sky had been snow-laden, the carpet of white increasingly thick by the time she’d left the kitchen. Too dark and too dangerous to drive, she’d taken refuge in her room.
Across the dim bedroom, she eyed the chair she’d wedged under her door handle. As soon as it was safe, she’d load up her car and head out.
Cocooned in her bed, she rolled to stare out of the window. She’d left the curtains open, and outside, she could see thickly falling white. It was still snowing. White flakes coming down in windy blusters that rattled the small diamond panes of ancient glass.
What if she couldn’t leave?
The Guardians’ Trust was an expanse of forest and hills. The hall sat at the heart of that land, the forest surrounding it. With weather as bad as it was, they were likely to be snowed in.
Meri watched the snow fall and clung to her anger, but beneath it, there was hurt: hurt at Marc’s betrayal, hurt that the family she loved had been ripped away. She could only assume the rest of the family were as entrenched as Marc and Cole were in Maddox’s madness because surely Pryce would have had him committed long ago if not.
Closing her eyes, she sighed as sadness closed in as the snowstorm roiled outside. Beneath her lids, images of her dream rose to comfort her: a dense jungle, its canopy vibrant with life, the scent of spice and heat wafting on the hot wind. Mountains of yellowed rock and terracotta cliffs curving dramatically. And a man.
Meri smiled softly as she remembered the man in her dream.
They’d made love. She’d never had a sex dream before but this one had been fantastic. His body was perfect, bronzed with honed muscle that was hard and hot beneath her hands. He was handsome: his face with strong masculine lines, his hair a dirty blond, and his eyes had shone amber fire as he’d filled her, rode her.
Meri shivered, but this time not from unease. He’d looked at her as though she were his world, as though she had his heart and he craved her. And as their bodies had moved together, increasingly hot and sweaty, she’d cried out his name as she reached for the peak.
She’d called his name in her sleep, the sound waking her from her dream as her body trembled and strained for release…
Cadell.
It was a name she didn’t know. An odd choice for her first erotic dream. But it had suited him.
Meri’s eyes popped open, her memories scattering, when a quiet knock sounded on her bedroom door. She glanced at the clock. Eight in the morning. Marc?
The knock sounded again, hesitant, soft.
“Meri?”
It was Siana, Pryce’s wife. They’d married that May.
“Meri, can I come in?”
Meri considered this. New to the Trust, Siana was probably the most likely to have a memory of sanity and if she was snowed in, she’d need an ally.
She scrambled from her bed and went to remove the chair. After freeing the handle, she pulled open the door. Ignoring Siana’s startled look, she checked the corridor. They were alone. With a swift yank, Meri pulled her inside.
Siana seemed bemused, then concerned, when Meri wedged the door closed again.
“What are you doing? You can’t seriously think you are at risk here. You’re part of the family. No one is going to hurt you.”
Meri grunted but didn’t shift the chair. Instead, she eyed Siana thoughtfully. When she’d first met her, Siana had been a quiet, almost shy woman. She’d grown in confidence since her marriage. Meri just hoped that confidence was due to her obvious happiness with Pryce and not down to the discovery of a strange new religion, Maddox as its head.
“Tell me, Siana, why are you here?”
Siana settled on the end of the bed, her dressing gown fastened tightly around her.
Meri frowned. A memory of the dressing gown Maddox carried last night rising.
“I came to see if you were all right. Pryce told me Maddox spoke to you last night and that you were upset.”
“Upset?” Meri eyed the other woman closely. She seemed normal and balanced. “Siana, I was angry. Hurt that all this has been going on beneath the surface and I had no idea.”
Siana visibly deflated. “No one meant to keep any of this from you. They were going to tell you…”
“I don’t mean I’m hurt that I wasn’t told the story,” Meri corrected. “I mean I’m hurt that the family I love is a cult! You can’t seriously believe…” she trailed off when Siana’s oval face remained all calm, her chocolate eyes steady. “My God! You believe it too!” Meri felt like shaking her. “But how can you swallow this preposterous story? You are an intelligent woman, Siana, an outsider who married into this family. You can’t seriously believe—”
“In the Other Realm?” Siana finished for her.
Hands behind her head, Meri glared up at her bedroom ceiling as tentative morning light reached in through the windows. After Maddox’s announcement last night, she’d listened with growing unease as he’d spun her the most preposterous story she had ever heard: Doubles, a gateway, and an Other Realm fighting for its life against an evil tyrant. When Maddox had confessed to being six hundred nineteen years old, she’d had serious doubts about his sanity.
She’d taken a long drink of the wine he’d given her and then looked to Marc and Cole for sense. She’d found none. Instead, they’d eyed her worriedly, looked at her as though she might break … and she’d known: they believed this fairy tale Maddox was selling.
Her best friend and the family she had adopted as her own were deluded. They thought—no believed—that she was one of these Doubles, that she needed to make this Exchange in two days’ time and step through some freezing waterfall to live in a war zone and marry a stranger!
The Trust was a cult!
Well, she wasn’t buying into their weird religion.
Last night, the sky had been snow-laden, the carpet of white increasingly thick by the time she’d left the kitchen. Too dark and too dangerous to drive, she’d taken refuge in her room.
Across the dim bedroom, she eyed the chair she’d wedged under her door handle. As soon as it was safe, she’d load up her car and head out.
Cocooned in her bed, she rolled to stare out of the window. She’d left the curtains open, and outside, she could see thickly falling white. It was still snowing. White flakes coming down in windy blusters that rattled the small diamond panes of ancient glass.
What if she couldn’t leave?
The Guardians’ Trust was an expanse of forest and hills. The hall sat at the heart of that land, the forest surrounding it. With weather as bad as it was, they were likely to be snowed in.
Meri watched the snow fall and clung to her anger, but beneath it, there was hurt: hurt at Marc’s betrayal, hurt that the family she loved had been ripped away. She could only assume the rest of the family were as entrenched as Marc and Cole were in Maddox’s madness because surely Pryce would have had him committed long ago if not.
Closing her eyes, she sighed as sadness closed in as the snowstorm roiled outside. Beneath her lids, images of her dream rose to comfort her: a dense jungle, its canopy vibrant with life, the scent of spice and heat wafting on the hot wind. Mountains of yellowed rock and terracotta cliffs curving dramatically. And a man.
Meri smiled softly as she remembered the man in her dream.
They’d made love. She’d never had a sex dream before but this one had been fantastic. His body was perfect, bronzed with honed muscle that was hard and hot beneath her hands. He was handsome: his face with strong masculine lines, his hair a dirty blond, and his eyes had shone amber fire as he’d filled her, rode her.
Meri shivered, but this time not from unease. He’d looked at her as though she were his world, as though she had his heart and he craved her. And as their bodies had moved together, increasingly hot and sweaty, she’d cried out his name as she reached for the peak.
She’d called his name in her sleep, the sound waking her from her dream as her body trembled and strained for release…
Cadell.
It was a name she didn’t know. An odd choice for her first erotic dream. But it had suited him.
Meri’s eyes popped open, her memories scattering, when a quiet knock sounded on her bedroom door. She glanced at the clock. Eight in the morning. Marc?
The knock sounded again, hesitant, soft.
“Meri?”
It was Siana, Pryce’s wife. They’d married that May.
“Meri, can I come in?”
Meri considered this. New to the Trust, Siana was probably the most likely to have a memory of sanity and if she was snowed in, she’d need an ally.
She scrambled from her bed and went to remove the chair. After freeing the handle, she pulled open the door. Ignoring Siana’s startled look, she checked the corridor. They were alone. With a swift yank, Meri pulled her inside.
Siana seemed bemused, then concerned, when Meri wedged the door closed again.
“What are you doing? You can’t seriously think you are at risk here. You’re part of the family. No one is going to hurt you.”
Meri grunted but didn’t shift the chair. Instead, she eyed Siana thoughtfully. When she’d first met her, Siana had been a quiet, almost shy woman. She’d grown in confidence since her marriage. Meri just hoped that confidence was due to her obvious happiness with Pryce and not down to the discovery of a strange new religion, Maddox as its head.
“Tell me, Siana, why are you here?”
Siana settled on the end of the bed, her dressing gown fastened tightly around her.
Meri frowned. A memory of the dressing gown Maddox carried last night rising.
“I came to see if you were all right. Pryce told me Maddox spoke to you last night and that you were upset.”
“Upset?” Meri eyed the other woman closely. She seemed normal and balanced. “Siana, I was angry. Hurt that all this has been going on beneath the surface and I had no idea.”
Siana visibly deflated. “No one meant to keep any of this from you. They were going to tell you…”
“I don’t mean I’m hurt that I wasn’t told the story,” Meri corrected. “I mean I’m hurt that the family I love is a cult! You can’t seriously believe…” she trailed off when Siana’s oval face remained all calm, her chocolate eyes steady. “My God! You believe it too!” Meri felt like shaking her. “But how can you swallow this preposterous story? You are an intelligent woman, Siana, an outsider who married into this family. You can’t seriously believe—”
“In the Other Realm?” Siana finished for her.
Excerpt Siana (book 2)
This excerpt is taken from The Guardians' Trust: Siana (book 2 of this paranormal/fantasy romance series). Siana is released 20th November 2020.
“You think this is funny?” Gethin’s face darkened to match the storm clouds that had been chasing them all afternoon. “You are mine and yet you defy me!”
His reminder that she had been given to him in marriage two long years ago had Siana’s chin lifting. “I may have been forced into this marriage, husband,” she said, “I may legally be your property, thanks to Griffin Fionn’s command, but I will never be yours!”
Gethin gave a growl and took another menacing step forward. Siana scrambled backward. She knew better than to poke at his temper, but her fear of being forced to return to the palace that had been her home for the first eighteen years of her life was greater than her fear of him.
“You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?” Gethin shouted, his face twisting with familiar malice.
“What I’ve done?” Siana gained another inch.
…Gethin laughed, the sound hot and hard as he seemed to enjoy her confusion. “You stupid bitch! You really don’t know how this works? Two years of marriage is deemed more than long enough for you to conceive my child.” Gethin’s hands tightened into fists. “Once we reach the cliffside palace, Griffin will waste little time dissolving our marriage. I will be a laughing stock.”
The blood drained from Siana’s face, the rising bruise on her cheek pulsing painfully.
“Our marriage will be dissolved?” she said, faintly. There was no way Griffin Fionn would allow a female of breeding age to remain unmarried. “What will happen to me?”
Gethin sneered. “You’ll be gifted to the next favored soldier hopeful of an heir.”
Dizziness blackened her vision as she fought the urge to retch. Another husband meant another wedding, another mating ceremony … another two years before she was passed on again if she failed. The marriage she’d endured with this bastard had been hell but she was in no rush to exchange one hell for another.
“I can see you finally understand the cost of your failure.”
Forcing her vision to clear, Siana focused on Gethin’s fist as she tried to think of a way out. His hand flexed and relaxed, flexed and relaxed, as though he couldn’t make up his mind what to do with her now he’d knocked her to the ground and spilled his guts.
And then she knew how she could escape. He’d nearly killed her once in a fit of rage. This time, she’d provoke him far enough that he’d succeed.
Siana made herself smile, the crack in her lip widening. “Oh, I understand completely,” she goaded and spat blood on the ground. “I’ll be free of you.”
For a moment, Gethin looked shocked and then his reliable temper rose, as she’d known it would. “You’ve grown brave, wife. Fierce.”
“I’ll not be your wife for much longer.”
He folded his arms across the leather vest that signaled he was one of Griffin’s elite, his eyes burning. “Are you so keen to be fucked by another male? Are you so keen to give another the heir you have denied me?”
“Denied?” Siana didn’t try to prevent the disbelieving laugh that escaped her bloodied lips. “Denied?”
She was female. Other. With so few females being born in their realm, she was a dying breed. Griffin Fionn had stripped females of all rights. She was property, even if that property was on loan. She didn’t have the right to deny him anything. She didn’t have the right to say no—to anything. A fact her husband reminded her of frequently with words, with his fists.
Above, the gathered clouds gave the first ominous rumble of thunder. When the storm hit, it would be violent and cathartic, washing away the sticky heat that had invaded the jungle as though the sun was trying to scorch the undeserving left upon the Mother’s cherished land.
“You’ll be given to another soldier,” Gethin ranted, half to himself. “You’ll be married, mated, in front of the elite soldiers, as you were with me.” His fists solidified. “If you had just given me an heir!” he bellowed the last as the rain finally began to fall.
“Griffin Fionn might deny the old ways,” Siana spat, “but you know as well as I that rape does not produce a child. The mating bridge must form and taking me against my will does not forge the bond. We reproduce through Affinity, Gethin,” she reminded him of the forbidden truth. “The fact that so few children are being born is proof of the evil ways you and your king have adopted!”
“Blasphemy!” Gethin roared as he took a step closer. “Treason!”
Siana didn’t even flinch. “Griffin Fionn may have taken the throne, he may even view himself as a god, but he is not the creator,” Siana said. “I speak no blasphemy.”
“You were given to me! Griffin’s blessing is enough for you to give me a child!” Gethin loomed over her.
“Have you truly swallowed all his lies?” she challenged, glaring up at him from the jungle floor as the steady patter of rain increased and the ground grew slick beneath her palms. The thin red of her dress became sodden, clinging to her body as the heavens opened to coat them in the Mother’s tears. She cursed the rain when his gaze dipped to her breasts and his fury seemed to take a turn she hadn’t anticipated.
Desperately, she glowered at him through the rain and prodded, “You forget the teachings of millennia for a king’s arrogant words? Affinity is life, not Griffin Fionn.”
Gethin smiled, his expression chilling Siana, and reached for the waist of his trousers. “I think we should test your theory a few more times before we reach the palace, wife.”
Siana’s certainty that he would kill her slipped away like sand through fingers. Why his plan to rape her here on the jungle floor only half a day’s ride from the palace should shock her, she had no idea.
“I’ll fight you,” she said, her bravado, her confidence deserting her as he released his erection.
Gethin’s eyes glittered as lightning flashed. “I was hoping you would.”
About to lunge, he froze in place as thunder boomed. His eyes widening, he sank to his knees. Seeming bewildered, he looked at Siana and then down at his abdomen. Siana’s eyes followed, her mouth falling open as she saw the spear that protruded there.
“Siana,” Gethin garbled as a froth of blood emerged from his lips. “Help me.”
As the whoop of the Resistance echoed with the storm and painted warriors spilled from the trees, Siana lay back in the dirt and laughed.
“You think this is funny?” Gethin’s face darkened to match the storm clouds that had been chasing them all afternoon. “You are mine and yet you defy me!”
His reminder that she had been given to him in marriage two long years ago had Siana’s chin lifting. “I may have been forced into this marriage, husband,” she said, “I may legally be your property, thanks to Griffin Fionn’s command, but I will never be yours!”
Gethin gave a growl and took another menacing step forward. Siana scrambled backward. She knew better than to poke at his temper, but her fear of being forced to return to the palace that had been her home for the first eighteen years of her life was greater than her fear of him.
“You have no idea what you’ve done, do you?” Gethin shouted, his face twisting with familiar malice.
“What I’ve done?” Siana gained another inch.
…Gethin laughed, the sound hot and hard as he seemed to enjoy her confusion. “You stupid bitch! You really don’t know how this works? Two years of marriage is deemed more than long enough for you to conceive my child.” Gethin’s hands tightened into fists. “Once we reach the cliffside palace, Griffin will waste little time dissolving our marriage. I will be a laughing stock.”
The blood drained from Siana’s face, the rising bruise on her cheek pulsing painfully.
“Our marriage will be dissolved?” she said, faintly. There was no way Griffin Fionn would allow a female of breeding age to remain unmarried. “What will happen to me?”
Gethin sneered. “You’ll be gifted to the next favored soldier hopeful of an heir.”
Dizziness blackened her vision as she fought the urge to retch. Another husband meant another wedding, another mating ceremony … another two years before she was passed on again if she failed. The marriage she’d endured with this bastard had been hell but she was in no rush to exchange one hell for another.
“I can see you finally understand the cost of your failure.”
Forcing her vision to clear, Siana focused on Gethin’s fist as she tried to think of a way out. His hand flexed and relaxed, flexed and relaxed, as though he couldn’t make up his mind what to do with her now he’d knocked her to the ground and spilled his guts.
And then she knew how she could escape. He’d nearly killed her once in a fit of rage. This time, she’d provoke him far enough that he’d succeed.
Siana made herself smile, the crack in her lip widening. “Oh, I understand completely,” she goaded and spat blood on the ground. “I’ll be free of you.”
For a moment, Gethin looked shocked and then his reliable temper rose, as she’d known it would. “You’ve grown brave, wife. Fierce.”
“I’ll not be your wife for much longer.”
He folded his arms across the leather vest that signaled he was one of Griffin’s elite, his eyes burning. “Are you so keen to be fucked by another male? Are you so keen to give another the heir you have denied me?”
“Denied?” Siana didn’t try to prevent the disbelieving laugh that escaped her bloodied lips. “Denied?”
She was female. Other. With so few females being born in their realm, she was a dying breed. Griffin Fionn had stripped females of all rights. She was property, even if that property was on loan. She didn’t have the right to deny him anything. She didn’t have the right to say no—to anything. A fact her husband reminded her of frequently with words, with his fists.
Above, the gathered clouds gave the first ominous rumble of thunder. When the storm hit, it would be violent and cathartic, washing away the sticky heat that had invaded the jungle as though the sun was trying to scorch the undeserving left upon the Mother’s cherished land.
“You’ll be given to another soldier,” Gethin ranted, half to himself. “You’ll be married, mated, in front of the elite soldiers, as you were with me.” His fists solidified. “If you had just given me an heir!” he bellowed the last as the rain finally began to fall.
“Griffin Fionn might deny the old ways,” Siana spat, “but you know as well as I that rape does not produce a child. The mating bridge must form and taking me against my will does not forge the bond. We reproduce through Affinity, Gethin,” she reminded him of the forbidden truth. “The fact that so few children are being born is proof of the evil ways you and your king have adopted!”
“Blasphemy!” Gethin roared as he took a step closer. “Treason!”
Siana didn’t even flinch. “Griffin Fionn may have taken the throne, he may even view himself as a god, but he is not the creator,” Siana said. “I speak no blasphemy.”
“You were given to me! Griffin’s blessing is enough for you to give me a child!” Gethin loomed over her.
“Have you truly swallowed all his lies?” she challenged, glaring up at him from the jungle floor as the steady patter of rain increased and the ground grew slick beneath her palms. The thin red of her dress became sodden, clinging to her body as the heavens opened to coat them in the Mother’s tears. She cursed the rain when his gaze dipped to her breasts and his fury seemed to take a turn she hadn’t anticipated.
Desperately, she glowered at him through the rain and prodded, “You forget the teachings of millennia for a king’s arrogant words? Affinity is life, not Griffin Fionn.”
Gethin smiled, his expression chilling Siana, and reached for the waist of his trousers. “I think we should test your theory a few more times before we reach the palace, wife.”
Siana’s certainty that he would kill her slipped away like sand through fingers. Why his plan to rape her here on the jungle floor only half a day’s ride from the palace should shock her, she had no idea.
“I’ll fight you,” she said, her bravado, her confidence deserting her as he released his erection.
Gethin’s eyes glittered as lightning flashed. “I was hoping you would.”
About to lunge, he froze in place as thunder boomed. His eyes widening, he sank to his knees. Seeming bewildered, he looked at Siana and then down at his abdomen. Siana’s eyes followed, her mouth falling open as she saw the spear that protruded there.
“Siana,” Gethin garbled as a froth of blood emerged from his lips. “Help me.”
As the whoop of the Resistance echoed with the storm and painted warriors spilled from the trees, Siana lay back in the dirt and laughed.
Excerpt Ana (book 1)
This excerpt is taken from The Guardians' Trust: Ana (book 1 of the paranormal/fantasy romance series).
Ana’s cup hit the table, its contents sloshing onto the wood unnoticed. “Human? What, from fourteenth century history we’re now talking UFOs?”
Maddox laughed. “Not extra-terrestrials, no.” His expression sobered, his belief in his next words evident. “But Others.”
“Others?” Ana squeaked. Glancing around, she was relieved to see the kiosk worker was still there. A handful of tourists mulled around, too. She wasn’t alone—her skepticism would have done Scully proud, if not Mulder. “Look I saw the X-Files, who hasn’t? But Others? If the Trust is some sort of cult or something, I’m really not up for recruitment.”
Pryce almost smiled. “We are largely what we appear to be. A family who works in the Trust the Gatekeeper’s replacement formed centuries ago to keep our land safe.”
Ana frowned. They had both seemed so normal, and good-looking. It was such a shame. “And these Others?”
“I am an Other,” Maddox said calmly. “Or rather my parents were. I was conceived in the Other Realm and came here when still inside my mother’s womb.”
“The gateway between the two worlds is one of those secrets we spoke of,” Pryce said.
Ana stared from one to the other. How could two such respected businessmen be quietly bonkers and the world hadn’t noticed? “Next you’ll be telling me you are three hundred years old as well,” she scoffed.
Pryce shook his head, his lips twitching again. “I’m thirty-one.”
“I, on the other hand,” Maddox said, “am six hundred eighteen years old. My father’s Double was the Gatekeeper. I was born to take his place. I am the Caretaker of the Guardians’ Trust.”
“Six hundred eighteen?” Ana said faintly. She really needed to make her excuses and go.
“Given my youthful good looks,” Maddox said and smiled roguishly, “I can see why you’d doubt me, but every word we have said is true. We protect the land and the secret gateway it holds.”
Ana searched for something to say. She felt like a character in one of those novels where an impossible secret was told and the heroine was just supposed to swallow it. She glanced around warily. Perhaps she was being filmed? What was that American show called? Candid Camera? Did they even still make it?
This was ridiculous!
With deliberate care, Ana pushed her cup away. “I’m not sure what’s going on, or if someone put you up to this, but I think your joke is over.” She started to rise. “I thank you for the coffee, but I have work to do.”
“Tell me,” Maddox said as she climbed to her feet, “do you ever dream of a jungle?”
Ana froze, one leg mid-air over the picnic bench she’d been sitting on. “What did you say?”
“Do you ever dream of a jungle?”
Slowly, Ana lowered herself back down to the bench. “That’s impossible,” she said. “I never told anyone about my dream.”
“And yet I know,” Maddox said, his expression one of infinite patience. “The jungle in your dreams is dense and green but not flat. It coats cliffs and mountains of jagged peaks and deep ravines. There are terracotta cliffs and yellow stone rises. There is a pool of turquoise water at the base of a waterfall. I wonder, in your dreams, did you ever see an old woman kneeling at the water’s edge washing her clothing?”
“She wasn’t old.” The admission puffed through her stunned lips. “She was young and beautiful, with hair like spun sunshine.”
“Yes, that’s her.” Maddox smiled, enigmatically.
Ana blinked. “But how can you know? I have seen this place since I was a small girl. It is real to me, so very real, but I have searched and searched and it does not exist. It only lives within my mind.”
Maddox shook his head. “In my mind, too. It is the place where I was conceived. It is my true home. The Other Realm.”
“Then how do I know it?” Ana asked. “If you are going to tell me I am one of these Others, I won’t believe you. I already think you half mad.”
“Other? No. You are as human as they come, Dr. Siana Jones,” Maddox said. “But you are a Double.”
Before she could ask, Pryce told her, “Throughout history there have been people born on either side of the gateway with the same face. Usually female, one is human and one is Other. Although different people, these Doubles are identical. At two points in history, the creator has asked them to cross and switch places.”
“The creator? You’re bringing God into this?” Ana asked, appalled.
“The Mother we speak of is the ancient one. The bringer of life. Mother Nature. She created a trinity of worlds that form a whole. Usually, these worlds coexist separately, neatly, but there have been periods of unrest where the exchange of these Doubles has redressed an imbalance. The exchange, marriage, and mating of these Doubles has lessened growing evil.”
“Evil?” Ana felt cold. From vet to parrot in one bizarre conversation.
...“Wait,” Ana said, almost desperately. “Are you saying it is time for this Exchange again? That women need to swap places? That these identical Doubles, as you called them, are wandering around doing goodness knows what?”
“Not wandering around, no. More like sitting, drinking Americano, and wondering if she’s lost her mind because she’s believing an impossible story when she knows she shouldn’t.”
Ana’s brown eyes had to be as wide as saucers. Her gaze swept from Pryce to Maddox and back again. “In the words of John McEnroe, ‘you cannot be serious!’”
Pryce’s lips lifted in what seemed to be an apology…
Ana’s head sank into her hands. “This is just so unbelievable. I’m a scientist. A vet. I like rational order, data, and proof. I don’t believe in prophetic dreams, or visions, or Other Realms, come to that.”
“Tell me. Did you see a man in your visions?” Pryce asked.
Ana’s head snapped up. “A man? No. I saw a jungle and cats: panthers, leopards, jaguars…” Her voice faded and her eyes narrowed. “Wait. You said marriage and mating. I’m supposed to marry someone over there? Like an arranged marriage?”
…Ana jerked as she thought of something else. “Hang on a second, didn’t you say there was some sort of civil war going on there? You want me to cross and marry a stranger and live in a war zone?”
Maddox calmly took another sip of his tea. “I never said that accepting the fate you were born for would be easy, Dr. Jones.
Ana’s cup hit the table, its contents sloshing onto the wood unnoticed. “Human? What, from fourteenth century history we’re now talking UFOs?”
Maddox laughed. “Not extra-terrestrials, no.” His expression sobered, his belief in his next words evident. “But Others.”
“Others?” Ana squeaked. Glancing around, she was relieved to see the kiosk worker was still there. A handful of tourists mulled around, too. She wasn’t alone—her skepticism would have done Scully proud, if not Mulder. “Look I saw the X-Files, who hasn’t? But Others? If the Trust is some sort of cult or something, I’m really not up for recruitment.”
Pryce almost smiled. “We are largely what we appear to be. A family who works in the Trust the Gatekeeper’s replacement formed centuries ago to keep our land safe.”
Ana frowned. They had both seemed so normal, and good-looking. It was such a shame. “And these Others?”
“I am an Other,” Maddox said calmly. “Or rather my parents were. I was conceived in the Other Realm and came here when still inside my mother’s womb.”
“The gateway between the two worlds is one of those secrets we spoke of,” Pryce said.
Ana stared from one to the other. How could two such respected businessmen be quietly bonkers and the world hadn’t noticed? “Next you’ll be telling me you are three hundred years old as well,” she scoffed.
Pryce shook his head, his lips twitching again. “I’m thirty-one.”
“I, on the other hand,” Maddox said, “am six hundred eighteen years old. My father’s Double was the Gatekeeper. I was born to take his place. I am the Caretaker of the Guardians’ Trust.”
“Six hundred eighteen?” Ana said faintly. She really needed to make her excuses and go.
“Given my youthful good looks,” Maddox said and smiled roguishly, “I can see why you’d doubt me, but every word we have said is true. We protect the land and the secret gateway it holds.”
Ana searched for something to say. She felt like a character in one of those novels where an impossible secret was told and the heroine was just supposed to swallow it. She glanced around warily. Perhaps she was being filmed? What was that American show called? Candid Camera? Did they even still make it?
This was ridiculous!
With deliberate care, Ana pushed her cup away. “I’m not sure what’s going on, or if someone put you up to this, but I think your joke is over.” She started to rise. “I thank you for the coffee, but I have work to do.”
“Tell me,” Maddox said as she climbed to her feet, “do you ever dream of a jungle?”
Ana froze, one leg mid-air over the picnic bench she’d been sitting on. “What did you say?”
“Do you ever dream of a jungle?”
Slowly, Ana lowered herself back down to the bench. “That’s impossible,” she said. “I never told anyone about my dream.”
“And yet I know,” Maddox said, his expression one of infinite patience. “The jungle in your dreams is dense and green but not flat. It coats cliffs and mountains of jagged peaks and deep ravines. There are terracotta cliffs and yellow stone rises. There is a pool of turquoise water at the base of a waterfall. I wonder, in your dreams, did you ever see an old woman kneeling at the water’s edge washing her clothing?”
“She wasn’t old.” The admission puffed through her stunned lips. “She was young and beautiful, with hair like spun sunshine.”
“Yes, that’s her.” Maddox smiled, enigmatically.
Ana blinked. “But how can you know? I have seen this place since I was a small girl. It is real to me, so very real, but I have searched and searched and it does not exist. It only lives within my mind.”
Maddox shook his head. “In my mind, too. It is the place where I was conceived. It is my true home. The Other Realm.”
“Then how do I know it?” Ana asked. “If you are going to tell me I am one of these Others, I won’t believe you. I already think you half mad.”
“Other? No. You are as human as they come, Dr. Siana Jones,” Maddox said. “But you are a Double.”
Before she could ask, Pryce told her, “Throughout history there have been people born on either side of the gateway with the same face. Usually female, one is human and one is Other. Although different people, these Doubles are identical. At two points in history, the creator has asked them to cross and switch places.”
“The creator? You’re bringing God into this?” Ana asked, appalled.
“The Mother we speak of is the ancient one. The bringer of life. Mother Nature. She created a trinity of worlds that form a whole. Usually, these worlds coexist separately, neatly, but there have been periods of unrest where the exchange of these Doubles has redressed an imbalance. The exchange, marriage, and mating of these Doubles has lessened growing evil.”
“Evil?” Ana felt cold. From vet to parrot in one bizarre conversation.
...“Wait,” Ana said, almost desperately. “Are you saying it is time for this Exchange again? That women need to swap places? That these identical Doubles, as you called them, are wandering around doing goodness knows what?”
“Not wandering around, no. More like sitting, drinking Americano, and wondering if she’s lost her mind because she’s believing an impossible story when she knows she shouldn’t.”
Ana’s brown eyes had to be as wide as saucers. Her gaze swept from Pryce to Maddox and back again. “In the words of John McEnroe, ‘you cannot be serious!’”
Pryce’s lips lifted in what seemed to be an apology…
Ana’s head sank into her hands. “This is just so unbelievable. I’m a scientist. A vet. I like rational order, data, and proof. I don’t believe in prophetic dreams, or visions, or Other Realms, come to that.”
“Tell me. Did you see a man in your visions?” Pryce asked.
Ana’s head snapped up. “A man? No. I saw a jungle and cats: panthers, leopards, jaguars…” Her voice faded and her eyes narrowed. “Wait. You said marriage and mating. I’m supposed to marry someone over there? Like an arranged marriage?”
…Ana jerked as she thought of something else. “Hang on a second, didn’t you say there was some sort of civil war going on there? You want me to cross and marry a stranger and live in a war zone?”
Maddox calmly took another sip of his tea. “I never said that accepting the fate you were born for would be easy, Dr. Jones.
