Her Betrothal
Page 16
The three of them turn to look at me in obvious shock. Then they laugh.
“I’m serious,” I say, all vows of renouncing lovemaking long gone.
“It’s not as simple as that, lass.”
“Even if we took you to bed, and with an invitation like that I’d have you in a heartbeat, the bond would still be formed,” Ero says. “Remember, we’re all connected to the beast. So, even if we are…I am the one to break you, the blood bond would still be connected to Damien. It’s too much of a risk.”
“So,” I say, “the only way to end this madness is for us to find someone unconnected to the bond willing to, umm, help or for me to die a virgin…”
“Not going to happen,” Ero interrupts.
“Shut up,” Li snaps. “But Ero’s right. That’s not going to happen. Don’t forget, the mark Damien gave you has already linked you to him. And, now that you’re married, anyone who touches you in that way, will only cement the blood bond. You legally belong to Damien and that’s all death magic cares about. Law.”
“…so, we have no option but to kill Damien,” I say.
The silence that settles among us is heavy, almost stifling.
“Yes,” says Li, finally breaking the silence. “But that’s impossible.”
“Not quite,” Roan says.
“How do you mean?” Ero asks.
“We weren’t always Damien’s slaves, we do…or at least, we did have homes.”
“What’s your point?” says Li.
“What if we returned to our homes, found our families, and raised our armies?”
“We don’t even know how long we’ve been cursed. How do we know our families are still alive, or if they’d even welcome us home?” Li asks.
“Aye, but we won’t know unless we try. What choice do we have?”
“Wait, who are you?” I ask.
“You just think to ask us this now?” Ero says, snorting. “And a moment ago you were practically offering up your body to us.”
I can feel my face flush.
“He’s just teasing you, lass.”
“I know.”
“I am Roan, heir to Clan Artair, or at least I was before Damien kidnapped me. Ero is the only living son of a Viking lord, but that’s all I know.”
“And all you’ll ever know,” Ero growls. “Besides, I doubt anyone would remember me if we returned.”
“Li?” I question.
“I was one of the sons of Emperor Wu.”
“So, all three of you are royalty, at least in some way.”
“I suppose you could put it that way,” says Li.
“Some royalty,” scoffs Ero.
“But don’t you see what this means?” I say. “There’s a chance that at least one, if not all of your families could help us defeat Damien. We have to try!”
“I don’t think you understand the risks, Annalise,” Li says.
“Which is worse? Staying here and waiting to be found, struggling to survive under Damien’s cruelty? Or trying to find a way to defeat him and dying along the way?”
Li growls but doesn’t oppose me.
“So, it’s settled then? Where should we go first?” I say, the excitement rising in my chest.
“Let’s look at this logically. We’re where? Close to Italy?” Li says, directing the question at me.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So, our three respective countries are Scotland, Scandinavia, and China,” Li says. “Of these, China is by far the furthest.”
“Scotland it is!” I say, after all, I wasn’t about to be given a lesson on geography when I know quite well where all the countries are, even if I’d never visited any of them. “So, come on, let’s go! Before Damien finds us. Hurry up!”
Roan laughs at my eagerness. “You’ll be the death of me, lass.”
“She’ll be the death of us all,” Li mumbles.
“I’d take a death by her over Damien any day of the week,” Ero says as he jumps to his feet and scoops me up in his arms. “To Scotland?”
“To Scotland,” Li and Roan agree.
I hear footsteps approaching and the three males share a look before we dash out of the clearing in the opposite direction, Ero holding me tight against his broad, smooth chest.
“To Scotland,” I say quietly, smiling to myself as I nestle into Ero, the wind and trees rushing by. To freedom.
To safety.
The End
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Her Highlander
The Royal Shifters Book Two
https://amzn.to/2H14hlJ
Three gorgeous shifters. A queen on the run. One thrilling Scottish adventure.
The king is dead, I’ve run away from my throne, and my new husband is hunting me down.
My name is Annalise, and I am a runaway queen. But I’m not abandoning my people.
I’ve just found out that I’m the supposed key to unleashing a dark magic upon the world…and I’ve learned this from my pet leopards nonetheless. I’d try to explain, but I don’t think that will make things any less confusing.
Now, I must journey to Scotland with three massive, and ridiculously beautiful, shifters in tow to try to convince Roan’s kin to help us defeat my husband. I have a lot to learn and long ways to go. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I am determined to make it with the help of Li, Ero…and Roan.
Roan.
My green-eyed leopard
My redheaded lover.
My highlander.
The Lioness of Egypt
The Shifters of Africa Book One
https://amzn.to/2VzJYih
A murdered pharaoh. An evil sorceress. And three lion shifter kings.
Sanura would do whatever it took to be the next queen of Egypt – even if it meant marrying her younger half-brother and waging war on all of Africa. But when the pharaoh is murdered and Sanura blamed for the crime, she barely escapes the city with her life.
With nothing and no one to help her, Sanura finds herself at the mercy of a lion shifter African king. One of Egypt’s sworn enemies. A man who would be better off with her dead.
And he’s not the only lion king she needs to worry about.
About the Author
Alice Wilde grew up with a love of reading and spent her teens writing and submitting her essays as fantasy stories, much to the annoyance, but often high marks, of her teachers. Now, she spends much of her days writing historical fantasy paranormal romances (filled with gorgeous men and, of course, magic) that she hopes will spark a flame in readers as much as they do in herself.
Alice is currently living with her cat in a bustling city she never sees much of, as she's too busy dreaming up, writing down, and living in her next paranormal RH romance, though she generally finds enough time for a real-life date or two... We all need a bit of inspiration now and again, right?
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