Gowthaman eased to Breanna’s side and molded her against him. Soulfire sparkled around them, rising into the treetops where gold and crimson danced among the palm fronds. He held out their cupped hands to catch the magic of their love.
The birds returned to their branches, an occasional scolding disrupting the muted chattering. Before his heart slowed, Breanna rose up on her elbow, gazing at him with such love and satisfaction, the heavy beating nearly stalled in his chest. How had such a woman chosen him?
She brushed hair from his forehead and caressed his cheek. “That was some fantasy.”
“In the years you waited for me to acknowledge my love for you, did you not dream or create fantasies of our time together?”
She touched a finger to the seam of his lips and nodded.
He drew her finger into his mouth and sucked softly, caressing the pad with his tongue. When she could no longer contain her groan, he smiled and eased away, scraping her fingertip with his teeth. “Then we shall discuss your fantasies and find ways to fulfill them.”
“I’ve had lots of fantasies, Gowtham. Lots.”
“My beloved, my Breanna, we have ages of discovery before us.”
Epilogue
Deadeaters circled the prone form, slobbering, drooling, long strands of gray spittle trailing from their needle-sharp teeth. The circle closed. They snarled and snapped their jaws with vicious anticipation. Seldom did they fall upon fresh meat and this meal was fine. Young. Not hardened by long ages in the world between worlds.
One, the alpha, leapt forward, stretching its long, ragged claws toward the prize.
Yelping, it fell back, scattering the gathered cluster of its brethren. It held one paw out to halt its fellows, jabbering with wet clicks and guttural stops.
A second deadeater separated from the pack, stumbled to a halt then inched forward. Dark claws clacked together, hesitation evident in the challenge and awkward advance.
Inches from the meal, burning agony sliced up the deadeater’s arm. It shrieked in combined pain and rage.
The alpha snorted and pushed it away. “No dead,” it clattered to the pack. “Life-pain yet. Bah.”
Leaning closer, the alpha sniffed. Pleased, it gurgled low in its throat. “No long. Soon, no life-pain.”
The pack jostled each other, snapping and growling before settling in an ungainly pile. The alpha wiped drool from its mouth and sat apart from the rest. Watching the meat. Waiting for the last of the faint life-pain to drain away. Waiting for the meal.
Sudden silence from its pack mates lifted the hair covering the wrinkled skin at the back of its neck. It plucked at the feeling with a claw, a vague bit of memory making it growl. Then it felt—them. Remembered—them. The Watchers.
The growl deepened to a powerful threat. The pack echoed the sound, a crescendo rising to a cacophony of discordant yelps and whines.
Mist hovered above the ground just beyond the meat. Confusion stirred the lesser pack mates to a frenzy, but the alpha cocked its head. It was old, had long eaten the dead of this place, knew the Watchers. Knew they would steal the prize. If they did, there would be no meat.
Joining its snarling, slobbering pack, the alpha clacked and pointed. The meat still lay upon the cloth they’d used to drag it to their territory. Recognition, then knowing the meat still belonged to them ignited slowly in the dull eyes of its brethren. Pushing and shoving they clamored toward the meal.
Mist grew thicker. Descended and moved to cover the meal. The pack screamed in denial. The alpha scrambled toward the meal and fell forward through the cool mist. Shards of life-pain numbed its skin, its cries receding to soft, confused clacking.
The meat. Gone.
About the Author
*lizzie always made up games and stories to keep her company. So, a cunning witch lived in Grampa’s weather research station and was only held at bay by waving a certain weed. An ancient road grader morphed into a boat carrying wild adventurers to islands filled with fierce lions and dangerous cannibals, which really looked a lot like sheep. Now, filled with fantasy, love, and romance with a sparkling twist, the stories of her imagination swirl their way into the mundane world. When *lizzie must return to a more routine life, she’s *the Lunch Lady* at a private school.
Author and lunch lady~~what a combination!
The Starr Library
The Double Keltic Triad
Book One: By Keltic Design
Allyn Keely, Celtic artist and friend of Faerie, finally finds a man she can love. But she’s older than he is and faces the insurmountable task of helping him realize his destiny in the Otherworld.
Successful businessman, Jaye Zeroun prides himself on his realistic, but lonely, view of life. Until Allyn knots her way around his heart and fills his life with a fantasy he refuses to believe. Then danger threatens their love, forcing him to either accept a deadly battle or lose the very things he never included in his life, a family and a love beyond his wildest imagining.
Book Two: Fires of a Keltic Moon
Danger lurks in the long ago of Iain’s time and becomes a threat to Lara’s present. Can Lara and Iain defeat the evil and make their ways through time to find the love they both desire?
Searching...
Lara Zeroun needs something in her life, so she opens a portal in time and travels to the ancient Highlands. But, how can she become involved with a dark, mysterious man who belongs to another time?
Waiting...
Due to the matriarchal line of inheritance, Iain is no longer able to lay claim to his father's lands. He's prepared to leave—until a golden-haired woman visits the manor on the arm of a wandering storyteller. But, with no land or possessions, Iain dares not succumb to the temptation of Lara.
Finding...
Danger lurks in Iain's time and becomes a threat to Lara's present. Will Lara and Iain be able to defeat the evil and make their ways through time—finding the love they both desire?
Book Three: Keltic Flight
To the Faerie Gentry of the Otherworld, the fairy wee folk are but a myth and legend. Until the fairy Korin falls in love with a half-Gentry maid. Forced to bargain with an evil king to woo her, he risks discovery, and his life, to fulfill the conditions
Korin Goodfellow loves the Gentry maid, Nanceen. In order to woo her, Korin bargains with his evil king, who sets seemingly impossible tasks. The first? She must believe in him.
But the folk of Faerie, the Gentry, don't believe in the odd assortment of beings who make up the wee folk. And definitely not in fairies.
Nanceen doesn't know what she believes. Until Korin calls to her, then makes his way into her world, becoming a wingless man she can see, touch, believe in.
But will the rat king's conditions drive a wedge between them, or force Korin to confrontation, to battle, into risking his life for love?
Book Four: Wild Keltic Carouselle
Falling in love was easy. But demons of the past and evil-doers intent on destroying the present tear Carrie and Bryce from their newfound love, throwing them into a world of deception, lies and revenge.
Just when Bryce decides to give up looking for the masked dancer who captured his heart and get on with his life, his darlin’ daughter climbs onto the lap of a captivating woman in a coffee shop and calls her Mommy. He certainly wouldn’t mind exploring the possibility.
Carrie’s vacation is over. Although she loves her job, she dreads returning. Especially when a blonde-haired cherub insists she’s ‘Mommy’. Add the girl’s intriguing father, and Carrie believes she’s finally ready for a real relationship. But memories of a horrific attack surface, bringing doubt and fear.
Then one of Bryce’s fathers is kidnapped by a cult. Not knowing if the abduction was of human or Fey origin, Bryce must chance seeming crazy and losing Carrie with tales of the Faerie Otherworld. Dare he take her to Faerie and declare his love—or are the forces aligning against them too much to overcome?
Book Five: Keltic Dreams
A spiri
tual quest throws Bard, naked and alone, from his world to the desert Sahara. Each grueling step through the shifting sands only adds to his questions and confusion. What did the seven Guardians mean for him to learn in this strange place? Will he discover a way home?
Burying her emotions, Kaelea retreats into the research of fey texts, searching for a clue—for anything, to protect her clan from an ever-present evil. The appearance of a stranger at the oasis is an unwelcome interruption. Her instant fascination with the man is even more distracting.
Hotter than the desert sun, attraction blazes between Bard and Kaelea, but personal concerns and that ancient evil drive a wedge between them. Alone, and together, they discover answers, and their soulfire. But will it be enough to keep Bard in Kaelea’s worlds, and at her side?
Book Six: A Faire Keltic Renaissance
It ain't easy being fey and the subject of prophecy.
When her uncle disappears into the world between worlds, Lucidea discovers it ain't easy being fey. Especially when he had no idea her father wasn't human. Now, as the half Alfar-Sindhu heir, she's forced to assume the leadership of a parallel, underwater world.
Then she meets Jaysson Zeroun...
...who has Otherworldly issues of his own. Once again evil plagues his clan and protecting a newborn child takes priority over personal dreams. When Lucidea offers a solution, the family accepts and Jayse willingly accompanies them to Scotland. He just doesn't know how Lucidea will react to the news he's a quarter Faerie.
Three worlds are in danger. Ancient prophecy might defeat the separate evils, but will it also bring them love?
Double Keltic Triad Collection Books 1-3
Contains By Keltic Design, Fires of a Keltic Moon, Keltic Flight
In the fey Otherworld, a half-faerie child is born. To protect him from evil and a crusade to protect the purity of the faerie race, he is abandoned in the human world, never to know of his magical heritage.
Now the boy is a man rooted in reality, and fantasy is only something from an undisciplined imagination.
By Keltic Design tells the story of this man, Jaye, and how he discovers his heritage... and love with Allyn.
Fires of a Keltic Moon is the tale of Jay and Allyn’s daughter, Lara, whose special magical talent allows her to create portals to other times. But evil travels the past and the Scottish Highlands, creating blocks to Lara and Iain’s love.
The fairy wee folk are but myth and legend, even to the faerie. In Keltic Flight, the fairy Korin falls in love with Jaye’s sister, Nanceen, and is forced to bargain with an evil king to woo her. To fulfill the conditions, he risks discovery, and his life.
Double Keltic Triad Collection Books 4-6
Contains Wild Keltic Carouselle, Keltic Dreams, A Faire Keltic Renaissance and bonus content Prince of Dark Ness
Falling in love was easy in Wild Keltic Carouselle. But demons of the past and evil-doers intent on destroying the present tear Carrie and Bryce from their newfound love, throwing them into a world of deception, lies and revenge.
In Keltic Dreams, a spiritual quest throws Bard, naked and alone, from his world to the desert Sahara. Each grueling step through the shifting sands only adds to his questions and confusion. Burying her emotions, Kaelea retreats into the research of fey texts, searching for a clue—for anything, to protect her clan from an ever-present evil. The appearance of a stranger at the oasis is an unwelcome interruption. Hotter than the desert sun, attraction blazes between Bard and Kaelea, but personal concerns and that ancient evil drive a wedge between them.
Prince of Dark Ness is a tale of the Keltic Multiverse. The story takes place before the final book of the Double Triad, and introduces characters who come to play significant roles in the Keltic worlds.
Torn between duty and love, Morghan stand alone to protect two worlds from and ancient fire elemental bent on escaping from the world between worlds, He’s loved Coralie long upon long, yet never acted on his desire.
Raised in the royal household, Coralie has remained silently at Morghan’s side through long human years. She’s hidden her true feeling for him, even from herself.
A forensic artist from America, Lucidea Galvagin travels to Scotland to determine the identity of a skull found on Morghan’s land. What she discovers will change her life and the fate of two worlds.
The tales of the Double Keltic Triad conclude with A Faire Keltic Renaissance.
When her uncle disappears into the world between worlds, Lucidea discovers it ain't easy being fey. Especially when he had no idea her father wasn't human. Now, as the half Alfar-Sindhu heir, she's forced to assume the leadership of a parallel, underwater world.
Then she meets Jaysson Zeroun...who has Otherworldly issues of his own. Once again evil plagues his clan and protecting a newborn child takes priority over personal dreams. When Lucidea offers a solution, the family accepts and Jayse willingly accompanies them to Scotland. He just doesn't know how Lucidea will react to the news he's a quarter Faerie.
Three worlds are in danger. Ancient prophecy might defeat the separate evils, but will it also bring them love?
The Keltic Multiverse
Prince of Dark Ness
An ill-prepared Alfar-Sindhu prince and the love he waited ages to find, fight to protect two worlds from the threat of an ancient fire elemental.
Torn between duty and love, Morghan stand alone to protect two worlds from and ancient fire elemental bent on escaping from the world between worlds, He’s loved Coralie long upon long, yet never acted on his desire.
Raised in the royal household, Coralie has remained silently at Morghan’s side through long human years. She’s hidden her true feeling for him, even from herself.
A forensic artist from America, Lucidea Galvagin travels to Scotland to determine the identity of a skull found on Morghan’s land. What she discovers will change her life and the fate of two worlds.
If Morghan chooses family and Coralie over battle, is it only his worlds that will be lost, Or will his choices doom them all?
Children of the Keltic Triad
Blue Keltic Moon
It’s been twenty years since Morghan, leader of the Alfar-Sindhu, became trapped in the desolate World Between Worlds and once again blue moons are aligning in a multitude of worlds.
Breanna has loved Gowthaman forever, but as one of the Faerie race, he continually claims their age difference is too great. Yet the soulfire shows he loves her as well. To help her family, she must set aside her emotions to lead a rescue mission to the World Between Worlds. She and her group will face the unknown and bring Morghan home.
Even devoting his life to the Fey library hasn’t saved Gowthaman from the agonies of his past, and the long moments he spent in the World Between Worlds. Now, the woman he loves stands ready to lead a rescue party into that cursed place, and only he holds the knowledge to take them there...and, with luck, safely return with the prince. The risk to his mind...doesn’t matter as long as he keeps Breanna from harm.
The World Between Worlds. Can a place filled with despair and loss also be a discovery of love and redemption? Perhaps... only under the blue Keltic moon.
Contemporary Romance
Birds Do It!
A search for truth, switched babies, and a threat from the past all conspire to destroy the love Birdie found with Garr and his daughter, Rachelle.
Macaws as lovebirds?
An avian expert, Birdie Simons is called to help control a cantankerous hyacinth macaw during a young girl’s birthday party. Inexorably drawn to each other, she and single father Garr Logan share an afternoon of joy and bittersweet memories, for Garr’s wife died the same day as Birdie’s newborn child.
Something about Rachelle makes Birdie wonder if the golden-haired girl is her daughter, switched at birth. Then her child’s father returns, dogging her search for understanding and throwing her deeper into fear and confusion.
Ready to move on after his wife’s death, Garr wants the intriguing woman, but Birdie
keeps the search, threats and hidden relationships to herself, driving a wedge between them.
Will discovering the truth from nine years ago bring them closer, or forever tear them apart?
Anthologies and short stories
Dead Lily Blooms (At Death’s Gates)
For ages uncounted, Master Death has assisted souls in transition. But what happens when love gets in the way?
Someone wants vampyre Lily dead, and a bargain with Death has been struck. Death sends servant Agaar to bring Lily to him, but the task becomes more complicated than either Death or Agaar anticipated.
This short story originally appeared in the anthology Tales From The Mist.
It can also be found in the Addictive Paranormal Reads Halloween Box Set
This re-release has had minor corrections from the original edition.
Tales From The Mist
Contains the tale Dead Lily Blooms.
Death and the Dryad (At Death’s Gates)
For ages uncounted, Master Death has assisted souls in transition. But what happens when love gets in the way?
What’s Death to do when a dryad appears at his gate without her soul? She can’t move on, nor go back. Will Death find a place for her—at his side?
Martini Madness
Contains the tale Death and the Dryad
Blue Keltic Moon (Children of the Keltic Triad) Page 29