Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1

by Redford, Jodi

  “The minute I got roped into jetting across the planet with a sprite who’s terrified of flying.”

  A snort sounded above their heads. Peering skyward, Mara noticed the four sprites swinging their legs over the bottom ledge of the chandelier.

  “It’s my fault my best friend in the whole world ditched me in Mer’daca?”

  Mara rolled her eyes at Piper. “When exactly did we become best friends?”

  Piper’s smile turned sugary sweet. “The minute you decided to invite me to come live with you.”

  A groan skipped from Mara. Did she really want to live with an obnoxious sprite, a bratty older brother, and a bad-boy, sexy fae thief?

  Her mouth tugged into a smile. Hell yeah.

  About the Author

  At the ripe age of seven, Jodi Redford penned her first epic, complete with stick-figure illustrations. Sadly, her drawing skills haven’t improved much, but her love of fantasy worlds never went away. These days she writes about fairies, ghosts and other supernatural creatures, only with considerably more heat.

  She has won numerous contests, including The Golden Pen and Launching a Star.

  When not writing or working the day job, she enjoys gardening and way too many reality-television shows.

  Currently residing in Michigan with her husband and overgrown lapdog, she is a member of RWA national and Greater Detroit Romance Writers of America.

  She loves to hear from readers. You can email her at jodiredford@jodiredford.com and visit her online at www.jodiredford.com.

  Look for these titles by Jodi Redford

  Now Available:

  Taking Liberty

  Light My Fire

  Vanessa Unveiled

  The Naughty List

  Cat Scratch Fever

  Breaking Bad

  Checking it Twice

  That Old Black Magic

  That Voodoo You Do

  The Seven Year Witch

  Maximum Witch

  Getting Familiar With Your Demon

  Coming Soon:

  Thieves of Aurion

  Lover Enraptured

  Wicked Shores

  Three Ways to Wicked

  Triple Knockout

  No super deed goes unpunished…

  Breaking Bad

  © 2012 Jodi Redford

  A Midnight Justice Story

  It’s been twenty-five years since the last Light Guardian was wiped out. Or so it’s believed. Ruby Winston is about to blow the lid off that theory, even though it’ll bring every Shadow Czar minion down on her ass.

  She’s always known she was different from the rest of the evil-dictators-in-training Winstons. Uncovering the secret half of her gene pool proves it. Now she’s out to bring down her late father’s mind-control soda empire—and break the Shadow Czars’ hold on Earth.

  Problem is, becoming a superhero overnight isn’t as easy as it looks.

  Teague Younger has his own secrets to keep: his heritage, and his fierce determination to exact revenge on his friend and mentor’s murderer. So far he’s kept his cover—until he’s forced to use his Light Guardian powers to save Ruby from a sticky situation.

  Thrust together and on the run, Teague and Ruby form a wary alliance as they desperately fight their circuit-blowing attraction. With an army of Shadow Queen minions hot on their tails, they might have a hard time surviving the night, much less ignoring their hearts.

  Warning: This book contains mind-controlling beverages, evil dictators and minions, excessive use of spandex, and enough electrifying sex to melt an ice train.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Breaking Bad:

  Teague stalked toward a cluster of scrub pines in the distance. He halted a good thirty yards back from the trees and waved his arm. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  “But…we’re too far away.”

  “You might not even get this close to the queen before she fries your ass.”

  Her stomach clenched. Determined to prove to them both that she wasn’t entirely inept, Ruby lifted her shaking hands and directed a bolt toward the shrubs. The charge hit at least ten yards short, fizzling ineffectually into the parched dirt.

  “Try it again.”

  She repeated the maneuver, this time landing the strike even farther from the target. Embarrassment and defeat caved her chest.

  “You’re not focusing.”

  “I am. I’ve been aiming for that middle tree each try.”

  “I’m not talking about outward focus.” He moved behind her. “It’s as much about the mental as physical. To properly handle your energy, you first need to understand it. Connect with it.” His warm, calloused palms glided along her arms, positioning them in a straight horizontal line. “This is the best way to ground yourself. The energy resides as much within your environment as it does inside you.” His fingertips grazed the sensitive undersides of her forearms, causing her to shiver in pleasure. “Do you feel the build-up starting?”

  A sharp tingle shuttled through her clitoris. Oh yeah. She was definitely feeling something. Probably not what he’d been referring to though. “I—I’m not sure.”

  Teague pressed into her, the firm, muscular planes of his chest and abdomen contouring to her back like the delicious, masculine version of memory foam. “How about now? Feeling anything?”

  She gulped, not entirely certain he wasn’t referring to the thick bulge of his erection prodding the base of her spine. “Err…possibly.”

  “Good.” His hands coasted along her upper arms and over her shoulders. He continued following the slope of her neck, his fingers a maddening butterfly dance along her overheated skin. She shook as he traced the shell of her ears before combing his fingers through her hair, sifting the strands over her shoulders. His deep inhalation stirred the fine hairs at her temple, and she closed her eyes on a shaky breath.

  “Do you feel it, Ruby?” His hands retraced their path, this time moving beneath her arms. “Do you feel our energy weaving?”

  Oh my God. She did. Teague’s power was a sensual caress along her synapses. It licked at her own energy, engaging it in an erotic tango that felt…like sex. She bit her lip to stifle a moan. Teague’s bold hands roved inward, and her eyes snapped open as they closed over her breasts. A blast of energy showered from her, acting as a turbo boost to the discharged bolt. It slammed into the center tree across from them, sheering it in half.

  Unable to believe her own eyes, she released an excited whoop of joy. It took a moment to realize that Teague was no longer touching her. Disappointment smothered her brief happiness. Pivoting, she met his guarded expression. Painfully aware of the tight ache in her nipples, she hugged her torso. “You stopped.”

  “It was the end of our first lesson.”

  She frowned. “That was a lesson?”

  “Our energy often brings with it a sexual charge for us. Tap into that essence, and it can trigger a power surge similar to a climax.”

  Her cheeks heated. “I thought you were touching me because you wanted me.”

  A dark intensity entered Teague’s eyes. “I want to fuck you so badly, my balls are blue. But giving in to that urge would be stupid.”

  Heaviness sat like an elephant on her chest. “Why?”

  “We’re as different as two people can get, Ruby. You want to save the world, and I just want revenge and to save my own ass. You’re better off without me.”

  “Don’t I get a say in this decision?”

  “No. One of us has to keep some damn sense.” His jaw locked into a rigid line, Teague strode past her and headed to the copse of trees.

  She stared at his retreating back, the ache in her heart increasing with each step he took away from her. He should be the last person on Earth capable of tying her emotions into a tangle of messy knots. He was absolutely right about them being wrong for each other. The smartest thing she could do right now was walk away.

  Her legs wobbly, she started across the dusty plain, her unwavering sight set on Teague. She
reached the ring of trees, and he turned to face her, his mouth a grim line. “Ruby—”

  Planting her palms squarely in the center of his broad chest, she shoved him against the trunk of the nearest oak. “You said what you had to say. Now it’s my turn.” Before he could interrupt or argue, she stood on tiptoe and caught his bottom lip between her teeth. A harsh breath rattled from his lungs, and she slid her hand behind his neck. The next second, the lush, wet heat of his tongue thrust inside her mouth as he grasped her ass and hauled her up against him. Locking one leg around his waist, she rubbed against his thickening erection and whimpered.

  Re-angling his mouth for a deeper, hungrier kiss, he swung her around until her back was the one pushed against the rough bark of the tree. Gripping her thigh higher, he ground his pelvis into hers. The friction tore a moan from her throat. Scraping his teeth along her jawbone, Teague slid a hot, open-mouthed kiss toward the sensitive crook of her neck.

  Her insides melting, she shivered. She wanted nothing more desperately than to feel the thick, hard length of his cock slide deep in her core, filling the emptiness and banishing her ever-present worries for a blissful moment. “Please, make love to me.”

  A tremor racked Teague’s body. She sensed the tension in him. The struggle for his control. She gyrated her hips, earning his rasping groan. “Damn it, Ruby. I’m not fucking you against this tree.”

  She pulled him in for another devouring kiss and gloried in the lusty moan that rumbled through his chest. His hand slipped between them and fumbled with her zipper. An instant later his palm was cupping her mound and two fingers were buried in her pussy. She gasped at the unexpected stretch. “That isn’t what I want.”

  Ignoring her, he pumped his fingers and ghosted his thumb over her clit. She sank her nails into his rock-hard biceps and fought for breath. “N-not this way.”

  He increased the pressure on her inner walls, hitting the sweet spot that brought stars dancing in her vision. She bowed her back, trying to stave off the approaching climax. His gaze hot with determination, Teague hooked his fingers, his aim precise and devastating.

  Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they might just make the perfect match.

  The Matchmakers

  © 2009 Jennifer Colgan

  Nick Garret is flypaper for females, and he likes it that way. Women stick for a while, and when it’s over they fly away. So does he. Then one rain-slick night a young woman steps in front of his pickup truck, and his jaded, cynical life takes a sharp swerve toward trouble.

  Calliope did the only thing she could think to get Nick to steer his truck—and his life—in a new direction. Banished from the Fae realm for granting a wish gone bad, her punishment is an impossible task; redeem the unredeemable Nick Garret. If she fails to help him pair three couples in everlasting bliss, he’s doomed to never experience real love. And she will share his fate—as a mortal.

  Nick can’t decide if this charming, exasperating woman is a dream come true, or a saucy, sexy nightmare sent to drive him insane. Yet something about her makes him want to rise to her challenge. He’ll do anything to make her stick around a while.

  Besides, how much trouble can one half-naked, seemingly wingless faerie be?

  Enjoy the following excerpt for The Matchmakers:

  Nick stole glances at his passenger while he followed the winding mountain roads toward the state forest. The views from the Appalachian foothills were spectacular this time of year, and he’d been itching to get out in the cool autumn air and fill his lungs with freedom.

  Unfortunately, the view in the car was equally distracting. Callie had traded her pink satin pajamas for faded jeans and hiking boots. Under a matching denim jacket, she wore a fluffy sweater the color of caramel. It looked soft as a kitten, and Nick’s fingers ached to touch it.

  He’d asked himself over and over why he wanted to do this—why he wanted to be with her today. The easy answer was, why not? She was beautiful, vivacious and when she wasn’t driving him crazy, she left him breathless. Loony or not, she was nice to look at and maybe, if he could figure out how to draw her out, he’d learn a little more about her. He needed a better explanation as to why she seemed more and more like a magical creature and less and less like an escaped mental patient.

  “Oh look! Pumpkins!”

  Nick smiled at her delighted cry. Mounds of brilliant orange pumpkins, some plain and others painted with goofy neon faces, spilled over wooden tables and out of huge crates at a roadside stand. A rocky gravel lot served as a parking area, and Nick pulled in between another pickup and an SUV.

  “They’ve got cider. I haven’t had cider in years,” he said as he rounded the back of the truck and helped Callie out.

  She breezed past him and immediately wrapped her arms around a twenty-pound pumpkin, hugging it like a long lost friend. “Look at this one! He’s beautiful.”

  “It looks like all the other ones, only bigger.”

  “It’s perfect for a centerpiece for the bar.”

  “Oh. Can’t Farley get his own pumpkins? He hasn’t even agreed to have the party yet.”

  Her face fell, and once again, Nick felt like a monster. Why did her smile suddenly mean so much to him? He thumped the pumpkin’s unblemished hide and reached for his wallet. Callie rewarded him with a triumphant grin as she hauled the huge gourd off its table.

  Nick pulled out his wallet and paid for the pumpkin and two cups of fresh cider. He leaned against the truck, grinning into his cup while Callie hoisted her prize into the back of the flat bed.

  She glared at him when he handed her the cider. “You could have helped.”

  He shook his head. “You could’ve popped that thing back to the apartment or right to the bar.”

  “Not in front of everybody,” she whispered between sips of cider.

  Nick shrugged. “You could’ve made it weigh less.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but no words came out. Her expression told him he’d pay for his cheeky comments later, and he relished the challenge.

  They finished their cider in silence and climbed back in the truck. Callie immediately twisted around in her seat to check on their new passenger. “Will he be all right back there?”

  “He?”

  “It’s a male pumpkin.”

  “Of course. Pumpkins have gender?”

  “Everything has an essence that defines its sex.”

  Nick struggled not to laugh. Her serious expression forbade it. “I see. It’ll—he’ll be fine. Are you sure you don’t want to buy him a lady friend before we go?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Nick just shook his head. Faerie logic would be the death of him yet.

  The morning’s destination was a scenic overlook abutted by a crumbling, moss-covered stone wall. The view rivaled anything visible in the Fae realm and made Callie homesick. She shivered in the autumn breeze. Nick put his own jacket around her shoulders, and her heart thumped wildly.

  “It’s colder than I expected up here.” He stood close, and Callie leaned into his warmth, wishing for the endless summer of her world. “There’s the road back to Bayerville. If you look past that farm and along the tree line, you can see the hiking trail that leads to the skating pond.”

  Callie followed Nick’s tour of the fiery landscape lit with brilliant gold and orange foliage. Country traffic meandered along thin ribbons of road that wound through the hills. Here and there, the familiar shapes of grazing horses and cows dotted the hillsides, and not a single cloud interrupted the endless blue of the October sky.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, fighting to keep her voice light. “It reminds me of home.”

  “What’s your world like? Do the seasons change?”

  “Not like they do here. We have a time when the leaves change color and a time when the flowers bloom, but it never becomes unbearably hot or cold. We don’t get rain…unless we want to create some. It never gets dark.”

  Nick surveyed the land spread out before them
. “Rain isn’t so bad. Sometimes it can be…sort of comforting.”

  “You love it here, don’t you?”

  Nick seemed reluctant to answer, but Callie felt his thoughts. He wanted this to be his home, but he didn’t want to need it so badly.

  “It’s nice here. It’s nice in a lot of places I’ve been.”

  “You love open space. You hated the time you spent in the cities, didn’t you?”

  He nodded, snaking his arm around Callie’s waist, making her stomach flutter. “I hate smog. Traffic. Subways.”

  “I bet you love snow, don’t you?”

  He grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Snow is nice. It’s a little too cold for me. What else do you love?”

  “I love sleeping in hammocks and cold lemonade and…”

  “What else?”

  His eyes narrowed on her, and she sensed his discontent. “I can see right through you, Tinkerbell. This is some kind of lesson, isn’t it?”

  Callie feigned innocence. “I just want to know more about you.”

  “I hate mind games and psychobabble.”

  Callie pulled away from him, though she was reluctant to leave the safe circle of his arms. “It’s not a game, Nick. When love is gone—it’s all gone. You’ll lose it all.”

  “I said I’d help you with this mission of yours—”

  “It’s for both of us, Nick. Not just me. I want you to understand that.”

  “I’m trying.” He stepped forward and tilted her chin up with his fingers. “Tell me what you love.”

  His lips hovered close to hers, and Callie’s breath caught. She could kiss him now and make him feel something he wouldn’t want to lose. But that wasn’t her mission. She moved back just enough to break the hypnotic pull between them.

  “I love helping people fall in love. And I don’t want to lose that.”