ReluctantConsort (7 page)
Authors: Lora Leigh
Their cries mixed and mingled as her warriors began
thrusting harder, then buried to the hilt, the heat of their releases jetting
inside her, filling her with the fiery heat of their seed and the remnants of a
magick her spirit drew greedily inside her.
She was a mass of pleasure, ecstasy, magick seeding deeper
inside her and well aware her warriors sensed the same. Her magick invading
them, merging with them, creating something Sentmar had not seen since the dawn
of the magickal beings the One had created.
Across Cauldaran, Covenan and the magickal lands in between,
beneath and above, magick spiked. Wizards and Sorceresses, the Pix and the
Spry, the Gnome, the Pegasus, those Griffons still in hiding and the great Gray
Doves that nested in the hidden places felt the shift of magick.
Deep within the recesses of Cauldaran springs of liquid
magick swelled and flowed, spilling over granulite that the spora soaked into,
infused and began spreading out like great luminous veins of magick until they
came to a hidden cavern where a Cauldaran Sorceress princess sat, naked,
feeling the magick building beneath her, seeking her, unwilling to wait for
that moment when memory and magick would merge.
The Veressi watched the magick spreading beneath the
pinnacle of Sentmar’s well of magick, fed by the raging seas, underground
springs and the boiling depths of the planet.
Here, the One had created one of two points that reached to
the depths of the greatest magick the land would ever hold. Guarded by the
first castle built upon the land, protected by safeguards that only the One
could reveal, it reached out now to a single Sorceress, unwilling to wait…
Unwilling to plead for another moment…
She was the Sentinel of magick, the merging of Wizard and
Sorceress magick once more, torn from her land to complete the vow she made the
warriors and magick within the Shadow Planes in a battle she told herself was
no more than a nightmare.
As evil grew upon the land, magick built, swelled, it seeded
its females, it rained upon its males and within the fertile lands of magick,
it grew silently. Not magick, evil nor human guessed the changes rippling
through the lands until the moment the first Sentinel came to being within her
warriors’ arms.
* * * * *
Garron smiled as the horrific scream of rage echoed from
Shadow Hell.
Propped against the entrance into that shadowy realm, his
dragon’s scales absent, the powerful, dark visage of the warrior wizard god
waited.
He had not long to wait before the triplet cosigned to the
dark lands rushed the entrance. He moved then with the brother he rarely saw,
and even more rarely combined his powers with.
The gates of Shadow Hell swung shut, great magickal locks
securing the only exit this being could ever know as he rammed against it with
all his vicious might.
“You will not entrap me here,” he screamed into the golden
light created by the twins, severed from their bond with the dark child evil
had implanted within their mother so long before. “My sire will not allow such.
He will not stand for my imprisonment once again.”
Garron stared back at the brother he had loved in the womb,
fought for as a child and watched in horror as his own parents turned against
him for acts this one had committed.
He had not known his true form in so many years that his
bones ached, the lack of scales and heavy muscle felt alien to his body.
“Your imprisonment is soon to be for much longer than even
the first, brother,” he sighed sadly as the power created by him and his twin
boiled and swelled, burning about them with such force that the dark one was
forced to shield his eyes. “You have caused much pain, the land will heal as
you are imprisoned here, forced to watch the dark deeds committed by you and
your sire as they are slowly unraveled.”
“It will not happen,” the dark one screamed. “My sire will
not allow…”
Piercing, bringing down rock and rippling within Shadow
Hell, another scream tore through the caverns that would hold the two for
perhaps long enough to allow the Seeds the One had sown to come together.
“You cannot do this, brother.” Strong, long-fingered, the
hands of a Wizard gripped the iron bars fused with the greatest magick in all
the lands. “Think of this, Garron. Without your dragon form your Sorceress will
revile you. Without it, your children will hate all you are for the lies you
beget. I helped you.”
“You stole from me the Sorceress meant to be mine by
stealing her life,” Garron rasped in fury. “At her rebirth, you ensured she was
given to another, the daughters who should have carried my blood seeded by one
of lesser magick. No, brother mine, you did me no favors,” he snarled. “And
now, I do you no favors. Now, bastard-get, I reclaim all that was mine so long
ago while you watch, secured by the power of the One and the magick of this
land. You sought to destroy what was not to be destroyed and now you may pay
the cost.”
Evil was not vanquished totally. The seeds of a greater
magick had been sown, but Garron knew the seeds of evil were already sown and
building within the human lands.
Stepping forward, the twin he had been forced to remain
separated from faced the surprise of the third brother they had been severed
from completely.
“Our Sorceress awaits us. The daughters we shall claim will
be protected by us, Dar’el,” he growled with a low rasp of fury. “And the
Wizard sons we shall soon see will be born safely within the protection of the
One. You will not take them from us again.”
As he had twice. Each time their rebirth had occurred, he
had destroyed them then told his brothers only moments before they were slain,
taken from life and returned to the magick of the land.
Rebirth was not common. The One was known to be possessive
of the magick that returned to him. Especially his cherished daughter’s. But
he’d sent her back twice now, and each time she had been taken from them the
lands had shook in rage.
This time, the One had hidden her carefully, aiding Garron
and his brother until the first Seed could be found and the Sentinel brought
forth from it.
Now, she awaited them.
Her daughters awaited true fathers.
Their sons awaited their birth…
Lora Leigh lives in the rolling hills of Kentucky, and is
often found absorbing the ambience of this peaceful setting. She dreams in
bright, vivid images of the characters intent on taking over her writing life,
and fights a constant battle to put them on the hard drive of her computer
before they can disappear as fast as they appeared. Lora’s family, and her
writing life co-exist, if not in harmony, in relative peace with each other.
Surrounded by a menagerie of pets, friends, and a teenage son who keeps her
quick wit engaged, Lora’s life is filled with joys, aided by her fans whose
hearts remind her daily why she writes.
Lora welcomes comments from readers. You can find her email
address on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
Tell Us What You Think
We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You
can email
the
author
directly or you can email us at
[email protected]
(when
contacting Customer Service, be sure to state the book title and author).
Lora
Leigh
B.O.B.’s
Fall
with Veronica Chadwick
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Tales from the Temple I
anthology
Feline Breeds 1:
Tempting the Beast
Feline
Breeds 2: The Man Within
Men
of August 1: Marly’s Choice
Men
of August 2: Sarah’s Seduction
Men
of August 3: Heather’s Gift
Wizard
Twins 1: Ménage a Magick
Wizard
Twins 2: When Wizards Rule
Wolf
Breeds 4: Elizabeth’s Wolf
A Wish, A Kiss, A
Dream
anthology
B.O.B.’s
Fall
with Veronica Chadwick
Bound
Hearts 1: Surrender to Fire
Bound Hearts 2
& 3: Submission Seduction
Bound
Hearts 4 & 5: Wicked Sacrifice
Bounded
Hearts 6 & 7: Shameless Embraces
Cops
and Cowboys
anthology
Ellora’s
Cavemen: Tales from the Temple I
anthology
Feline
Breeds 1: Tempting the Beast
Feline
Breeds 2: The Man Within
Manaconda
anthology
Men
of August 1: Marly’s Choice
Men
of August 2: Sarah’s Seduction
Men
of August 3: Heather’s Gift
Primal
Heat
anthology
Wizard
Twins 1: Menage a Magick
Wizard
Twins 2: When Wizards Rule
Wolf
Breeds 4: Elizabeth’s Wolf
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Reluctant Consort
ISBN 9781419938962
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Reluctant Consort Copyright © 2014 Lora Leigh
Edited by Grace Bradley
Cover design by Syneca
Cover photography by Sergey Mironov, alexsvirid,
Kanea/shutterstock.com
Electronic book publication May 2014
The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of
Ellora’s Cave Publishing.
With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not
be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written
permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home
Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or
distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without
the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including
infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is
punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
(http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print
editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of
copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons,
living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The
characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and
trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned
in this book.
The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume
any responsibility for, author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the
multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Be sure to visit EC on the web
at www.ellorascave.com to find erotic reading experiences that will leave you
breathless. You can also find our books at all the major e-tailers (Barnes
& Noble, Amazon Kindle, Sony, Kobo, Google, Apple iBookstore, All Romance
eBooks, and others).