Today’s tease comes from the book Claimed by a Demon King, which is the second book in my popular Eternal Mates romance series. Read on for this Tuesday’s tease…
Thorne was finding it impossible to concentrate. He stood in the middle of the great hall of his castle, fighting the worst case of nerves he had ever experienced. He hadn’t felt this uneasy when he had gone into his first battle at the tender age of five hundred.
His father should have warned him that females were this complicated, confusing and dangerous.
He tried to focus on what Lord Van der Garde of the vampires was telling him about his latest victory on the battlefield and instead ended up wondering if the handsome, dark-haired male had much experience of females.
Thorne would bet good grog that he had much experience of the fairer sex.
Even now, some of the court females were clinging to the vampire commander, hanging on his every word as they stroked his arms through the sleeves of his crisp black knee-length jacket and teasingly caressed the shiny silver clasp on the front of the stand-up collar.
They seemed impressed by the tale he recounted, talking of the Preux Chevaliers corps and how they had decimated an entire legion of the Devil’s minions in return for a handsome reward from the Seventh Realm.
If Thorne told Sable of his many victories on the battlefield, would she look upon him in such a favourable and enraptured manner? Would she stroke his muscles through his loose white shirt and tease the laces across his chest with a soft caress?
Thorne’s second in command, Fargus, glanced his way as he passed by with the leader of the werewolves, Kincaid, heading towards their group on the other side of the room. Thorne desired to speak with his old werewolf friend but knew it would be unwise to bring the male to him while he was talking to the vampire commander.
The feast this eve was about breaking every species in slowly, giving them time to adjust to the presence of the others. It was a complicated, dangerous and delicate matter, and one he had been dreading since gaining pledges from the different parties.
Werewolves hated the vampires.
The elves hated the vampires.
The vampires hated the werewolves and the elves.
The vampires and werewolves looked upon the mortals with scorn, and so did many of his own men, a matter that greatly displeased him.
Lord Van der Garde laughed at something one of the females had said and looked at her in a way that left Thorne in no doubt that she would bear a pretty set of marks on her throat before the night was through.
The male certainly knew his way around females.
Thorne’s thoughts wandered to one female in particular, one he would never allow this male to near.
Sable.
Just running her name through his mind, carefully intonating it to draw out the pleasure of hearing it, had him aching to see her again.
He had hungered to return to her many times over the lunar cycle. The separation had been torturous and the thought of that wretched elf male being near her had almost driven him mad, invading his dreams of his little huntress and tying him in knots.
Many times, he had come close to teleporting to her while she slumbered and bringing her to his realm. Only the knowledge that she would not understand and would fight him if he did such a thing had helped him refrain from making such a terrible move.
She was not like the mates of many of his warriors, all of which were from a time long past. Their world was different to the one Sable had grown up in. This modern mortal world had moulded her into a fierce and independent female.
It was part of the reason for his uncertainty. The other part?
He had never had a female.
Had never wooed one.
Had never lain with one.
He had waited for his eternal mate and that wait had been worth it, because it had brought him Sable.
His gaze roamed the crowded room, scouring it for her. She had been as feisty as he had remembered and just as beautiful as she had leapt into the fight at his side this day, taking on his men without thought for her own safety and without fear. Her heart had been steady, her sword hand firm.
She had been breathtaking.
A scowl drew his eyebrows together.
He had not expected her to arrive with that wretched elf touching her though, gazing at her with possessive eyes that had lingered too long upon her body. She seemed unaware of the male’s attention to her, but that didn’t stop Thorne from wanting to wrench his head from his body.
“King Thorne?†Lord Van der Garde said, his own scowl knitting his dark brown eyebrows and making his ice-blue eyes glitter with frost.
He was being rude. The vampire most likely thought he was angry with him over something he had said.
“My apologies. There is much on my mind this eve.†Mostly a slender golden-eyed siren and a bastard unmated elf.
Putting them together in one sentence only darkened his mood. He wanted to kill the male. Thorne curled his fingers into fists, tightening them until his claws bit into his palms. It was difficult to control his mood when thoughts of Bleu and Sable plagued him.
They had appeared close this day, much closer than before. The male had laid a hand on her and she had not shirked his grip as she had in the mortal world. He feared the male had already begun to win her and that he was behind in the race to claim her.
Thorne ran a hand over his left horn, a nervous trait he could normally hide, but one that ruled him this night. He snatched a mug of mead from a passing servant and knocked it back to steady his hands and his heart. The servant waited, clearly sensing his need for more than just one. Thorne placed his empty mug down and took another. The male offered the drinks to Lord Van der Garde.
The vampire curled his lip and waved the man away. The servant moved towards the werewolves.
“I see you invited the dogs,†the vampire commander said and Thorne frowned at him.
“I expect no quarrels between your men and theirs. We are here as one. I will not tolerate any fights between the gathered species.â€
Lord Van der Garde bent his head. “It is my turn to apologise. I will see to it that my men are informed of your wishes and will do my best to tolerate the werewolves… even if I do despise having to breathe the same air as them.â€
Thorne sent a prayer to the gods for patience.
He needed to keep these men in order, without stomping on the pride of their commanders, but he could already see it was going to be difficult and an added burden to the one already firmly settled on his shoulders.
He had been fighting this war for twenty-one lunar cycles and everything rested on this coming battle.
He had lost too many good warriors over those months, males he considered family, commanders who had seen many more seasons than he had. It had taken its toll on him.
So many widows to care for now.
Females he had pledged to look after as he held his friends and watched them draw their last breaths.
Many of the women lived in the castle now, but many more had decided to remain in the villages where they had lived happily with their mates.
Thorne took care of them all, ensuring they had enough food and their offspring were well, and they were all looked after by the other villagers.
He took a long drink and then frowned into the bottom of his mug. What was he doing, bringing his fated one into this war and wanting to bring her into his life?
So many widowed. So many more suffered the same fate in the war before this one, and more in the war before that. He had only lived for three thousand five hundred cycles of the Earth around the sun and had reigned for only two thousand seven hundred and fifty, yet he had witnessed over two thousand wars and had seen thousands more males die in battle and scores of kings fall across Hell.
The Fifth King was relentless too.
Every time Thorne drove him back, losing many good warriors in the process, the Fifth King always came back stronger, and with darker allies.
Recently, his army had grown too strong and had begun to attack from several points around the border with the Fifth Realm at once, making it difficult for Thorne to defend the villages closest to the frontline because he didn’t have enough men to form into smaller armies.
Thorne knocked back the rest of his drink and crushed the mug in his fist. Shards of clay bit into his hand and scattered on the flagstones at his feet.
He hated being on the defensive.
He wanted to be the stronger male, the stronger kingdom, and the Fifth King was driving him towards failure, battering his pride along the way.
He opened his hand and stared at the splinters of mug embedded into his palm, feeling the vampire’s gaze on it. Crimson pooled in the creases of his hand. It was foolish to allow himself to bleed around so many vampires. Especially around Lord Van der Garde.
The vampire was afflicted with bloodlust.
Thorne raised his gaze to the male. Hungry scarlet eyes locked on Thorne’s palm, their narrowed elliptical pupils speaking of Lord Van der Garde’s dark desires. He wanted the blood.
Did you enjoy today’s tease?
Claimed by a Demon King
Felicity Heaton
The moment the demon King Thorne of the Third Realm set eyes on the mortal huntress Sable, he knew she was his fated one. The fiery, dangerous female awakened hungers he had never experienced before, a dark craving and passion that has consumed him in their time apart. As the lunar cycle wanes, she enters his world again and nothing will stand in the way of him claiming his forever with her—not the relentless assault from the Fifth Realm or the dark elf male determined to seduce her out of his grasp.
Intent on achieving the coveted position of commander at Archangel, Sable leads her small team into the dark underworld and the Third Realm, to a war where her allies are the very creatures she normally hunts—vampires, werewolves, and demons. Her eagerness to lead the deadly mission has everything to do with winning her promotion, and nothing to do with the kingdom’s brash, lethally seductive demon king—a king who stirred fierce desire and wildfire heat in her with just a look and an innocent touch when they first met, and has been in her wicked dreams ever since.
As the gathering storm between rivals unleashes irresistible passion that flares white-hot and the heat of the battle brings life-shattering realisations, can Sable place her duty before her heart? Or will she surrender to her deepest desires and be claimed by a demon king?
Available in e-book from:
Amazon Kindle | Amazon Kindle UK | Amazon Kindle Germany | Amazon Kindle Canada | Amazon Kindle Australia
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Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Barnes and Noble | Amazon.ca
If you haven’t had a chance to read any of the books in the Eternal Mates romance series yet, they’re all available at major ebook retailers and in paperback, and you can find the links and samples of the books at my website:
Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates Romance Series #1)
Claimed by a Demon King (Eternal Mates Romance Series #2)
