Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday SmoochToday we have a smooch from The Sentinel Mage, a fantasy novel with romantic elements, but first ...
the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- Ju Dimello!
Congratulations, Ju Dimello! Can you please contact Mel at
melteshco (at) yahoo (dot) com (dot) au
and she'll arrange for you to receive an e-copy of Moon Thrall.
Before we go into today's Smooch, I'd like to mention the Christchurch earthquake. Living only a few hundred kilometers from Christchurch, events there are very much in the forefront of my thoughts. For those of you who feel similarly helpless and would like to assist in some way, here's a link to donate to the Red Cross:
http://www.redcross.org.nz
If the Red Cross site is overloaded, Oxfam are accepting donations on their behalf (100% of the donation will go to the Red Cross):
http://www.oxfam.org.nz
And here's a link to the Pet Emergency Earthquake Fund:
http://www.spcacanterbury.org.nz/
And now for today's Sunday Smooch from The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee (me, when I'm not writing Regency romances)...
Her magic may be the only thing that can save a prince-and the Seven Kingdoms.In a distant corner of the Seven Kingdoms, an ancient curse festers and grows, consuming everything in its path. Only one man can break it: Harkeld of Osgaard, a prince with mage's blood in his veins. But Prince Harkeld has a bounty on his head-and assassins at his heels.
Innis is a gifted shapeshifter. Now she must do the forbidden: become a man. She must stand at Prince Harkeld's side as his armsman, protecting and deceiving him.
But the deserts of Masse are more dangerous than the assassins hunting the prince. The curse has woken deadly creatures, and the magic Prince Harkeld loathes may be the only thing standing between him and death.
** Warning: Some Sensual Content **
Harkeld jerked awake, a shout in his throat and a feeling of fire in his blood. His heart galloped in his chest, kicking against his ribs.
‘Nightmare?’ a woman asked alongside him.
Harkeld took a deep, shuddering breath. He turned his head.
Fingers lightly touched his cheek, stroking. ‘It was just a dream.’
‘I know.’ He rolled on his side, reaching for her, drawing her close.
Slender arms came around his neck.
For several minutes he just held her, while the thunderous pace of his pulse slowed and the sensation of fire running through him faded. Then he bent his head and found her mouth. It opened to him shyly.
The kiss was slow, thorough. Heat began to rise in him again. Not flames, this time, but arousal. Harkeld slid his hands down the smoothness of her back and pressed her more closely to him—the softness of her breasts and belly, the tickling curls at her groin. Heat flushed sharply under his skin—and with it, urgency. He nudged her legs apart with his knee. This was what he needed: the warmth and softness of a woman, the uncomplicated pleasure of sex.
She broke their kiss and drew back slightly. ‘Harkeld... I’ve never done this before.’
He knew that voice. With the recognition came an image of her face: gray eyes, black hair, pale skin. Harkeld jerked awake. He stared up at a starry sky. Night air was cold on his face. A body was pressed against his side: Justen. He heard his armsman’s slow breathing.
Tell me I didn’t just dream that.
He scrubbed his face with a hand, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to erase the dream from his mind—the witch’s mouth opening for his kiss, her body pressing so softly and warmly against him. He’d been about to bed her, to bury himself in her. His body still wanted to. Arousal thrummed in his blood.
Not a witch. Never a witch.
To be in the draw to win a signed copy of The Sentinel Mage, please share with us the titles of some of your favourite fantasy novels and why you like them so much.Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from One Night With The Wolf by Anna Hackett will be posted.
