So it was back to peacock colors for his father and all black for Raven. As a concession to his father, however, Raven was contemplating getting one blood red streak in his black hair.
That should please his father without changing Raven’s look too much. And he had to admit, the idea of Robin’s red hair color adding a bit of a dash to his own midnight locks pleased him as well.
“Pay attention, my son.” Robin waved his hand, showing Raven the way to Big Red’s home. “I’ve rarely brought guests to Red.”
“Is he one of yours?” He’d realized that Robin had fulfilled his desire for a family by adopting strays. Jaden Blackthorn, the Giovanni twins, Snod, Red—Robin had taken them all in, given them homes where they had none before. Despite his grumbling and sighing, his father loved his people deeply. Raven got to see that every single day and counted himself blessed to have found the man to be nothing like Titannia claimed.
“Hey, boss. Whazzup?”
Raven blinked at the alarming amount of computers jammed into such a tight space. “Whoa. Supernerd lives here?”
“Who’s the goth, Goodfellow?”
Raven glared at the deep-voiced man smirking up at him from a standard black office chair. It was the cheap kind where the middle sags until before too long you’re sitting on a leather covered metal pole, wondering what happened to your virginity.
The man himself was nothing remarkable. Red’s Seeming was a Korean American with perpetually windblown hair and laughing brown eyes. He was only fifty years old, dressed like a hobo, and was, according to Robin, one of the richest men in the world. He wore thick red glasses, and had an I Heart Nerds T-shirt on over a pair of jeans that had seen better days. His feet were bare, his hands moving restlessly over the keyboard in front of him as if he longed to get back to what he’d been doing before they’d popped in unexpectedly.
Robin put his arm around Raven’s shoulder. “My son.”
Red’s eyes went big behind those thick plastic frames. “Dude. That’s MacSweeney?”
Robin scowled. “Goodfellow. His name is Raven Goodfellow.”
Raven bit back his grin. As much as he’d loved his mother, having his father insist that his son take his name had warmed him far more than anything.
The gremlin began to laugh.
“And what amuses you so?” Robin’s arm tightened around Raven.
If anything, the nerd laughed harder at the silky, threatening tone Robin used. “He’s…” The nerd was choking on his own guffaws.
“I’m what?” Raven crossed his arms over his chest.
“…an Edward.”
Robin sighed as the man called Big Red wiped tears away from his eyes. “Red.”
The laughter slowly died down. Finally, after what felt like a century, Red rubbed his stomach. “Oh, man. I needed that.”
“We aren’t here just for a social visit, Red.”
“Sorry, boss man.” The man was smirking again. “Need me to find your kid’s Bella?”
Raven looked toward Robin. “How fond of him are you?”
“Very, unfortunately.” Robin’s answering smile showed his amusement. “He’s one of our most useful, and dangerous, Blades.”
Dangerous? This guy? If anyone else had said that, Raven would have dismissed the idea out of hand. But when Robin said it, it made Raven readjust his thinking.
He blinked, startled. The man’s T-shirt now read, Judge Me By My Size, Do You? with a picture of Yoda on it. Big Red winked at him.
Interesting. Raven loved a good puzzle, and the man before him was certainly that. “Who are you, again?”
“I am the man with access, my friend.” Red waved his hand toward the screens. “You need information, you contact me. I get it, so long as Robin gives the okay.”
“I meant your real name.” Something about Red pinged Raven’s radar big time.
“Oh.” Red grimaced. “Liam Kang-Dae Kwon.”
“You sound like a Jedi Knight.” Raven wasn’t sure if he meant that as a compliment or not. Some of the Jedi had been pretty damn stupid.
“Thanks.” From the way the gremlin grinned he definitely viewed it as a compliment.
“You have my permission to give Raven anything he demands.” Robin patted Red’s shoulder.
Red shuddered. “Ah, yeah. See, I don’t like guys that way, and—”
Raven gagged.
Red shook his finger at him. “But if I was, I would so totally rock your world, bottom-boy.”
“What about me screams bottom-boy?” Raven was beginning to like this guy. He must drive Robin insane. The T-shirts alone would make the Hob snarl in frustration, and…
Huh? Now why was Robin laughing so hard?
Red was staring at Raven with the most falsely innocent expression Raven had ever seen on something outside of manga comic books. Even his T-shirt now said Innocent Bystander. “What did you do?”
Red shrugged. “What makes you think I did anything?”
“Children, play nice.” But Robin was still chuckling.
“He started it!” Raven pointed toward Red just as Red pointed at him.
“Uh, excuse me.” Red adjusted his glasses. “He also has access to your Amanda.”
Now that got Raven’s attention. “Do you, now?”
“Want to know what she looks like?” Red’s eyes gleamed. They were also blood red, with glowing green text scrolled across them as Red continued to monitor the data on his screens even as he stared at Raven.
“Duh. Show me what you got, Liam.” Raven pushed past Robin, eager to get a glimpse of the woman whose voice had haunted his dreams recently.
“Red.”
The scowl on the gremlin’s face made teasing him irresistible. “Liam.”
The gremlin snarled. “Red.”
Raven snarled right back, trying not to laugh. “Liam.”
“Children!” Robin’s voice shook the room.
“Sorry.” Both men turned back toward the screens, but not before sticking their tongues out at each other.
Oh yeah. Raven was going to be good friends with this guy. He wasn’t terrified of Raven or Robin and gave as good as he got. Raven could respect that.
“Here we go.” Liam began to type, those odd eyes glued to the screen and slowly bleeding back to normal. “Man, she’s also an eleven. The Goodfellow family is filled with lucky bastards.”
“Yes, we are.”
Raven barely heard his father’s reply. He was too busy staring at the busty blonde on the monitor. Amanda was on a plane, quietly reading a book. Her honey-toned hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, her pale blue eyes moving steadily over the page.
Liam snickered. “She’s reading a Lorelei James novel.”
“Meaning?” From the smirk on Liam’s face Raven wasn’t going to like this.
Liam waggled his brows. “She likes hot cowboys.”
Both Raven and Liam stared at him.
“Fine. We all know I’m screwed.” Raven stared down at his clothes before glaring at Liam. “Ass. Hole.”
“What?”
Raven waved his hand, turning the pale pink So Gay I Fart Glitter T-shirt back into his normal plain black one.
Liam held up his hands. “It wasn’t me.”
“Nor I.” Robin was laughing again.
“I hate you both.” Raven found his gaze drawn once more to the picture of Amanda. “Where is she headed?”
“Nebraska.” Liam shook his head. “Is it me, or are all the hot chicks in soybean country?”
“The Dunnes.” Raven was so excited he could barely contain himself. Something big was about to happen, something that would change his life forever. “She’s headed to visit Ruby.”
Robin patted Raven’s shoulder. “Excellent. It just so happens I have a little job for you in Omaha.”
Raven grinned. He was going to get to meet the owner of that sultry, husky voice.
He could hardly wait.
About the Author
Dana Marie Bell wrote her first short story when she was thirteen years old. She’s now a USA Today bestselling author with Samhain Publishing and Carina Press. Dana has lived primarily in the Northeast with a brief stint on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix. She lives with her soul mate and husband Dusty, their two maniacal children, two evil ice cream-stealing cats and a bull terrier that thinks it’s a Pekingese. She’s been heard to describe herself as “vertically challenged” and “a lapsed brunette.” Dana also suffers from ankylosing spondylitis (a progressive inflammatory arthritis that primarily affects the spine), and can be seen walking with a cane or tooling around in her mobility scooter. Her condition was the inspiration for Belle’s hip injury in Steel Beauty.
You can learn more about Dana at:
www.danamariebell.com
danamariebell.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Dana-Marie-Bells-Fan-Page/185916691436341
Twitter: www.twitter.com/danamariebell
Look for these titles by Dana Marie Bell
Now Available:
Halle Pumas
The Wallflower
Sweet Dreams
Cat of a Different Color
Steel Beauty
Only In My Dreams
Halle Shifters
Bear Necessities
Cynful
Bear Naked
The Gray Court
Dare to Believe
Noble Blood
Artistic Vision
The Hob
Siren’s Song
Heart’s Desire
Shadow of the Wolf
Hecate’s Own
The Wizard King
Poconos Pack
Finding Forgiveness
Mr. Red Riding Hoode
True Destiny
Very Much Alive
Eye of the Beholder
Howl for Me
Morgan’s Fate
Coming Soon:
True Destiny
Not Broken
Halle Shifters
Figure of Speech
The Gray Court
Never More
The toughest battle he’s ever faced is convincing her she’s the queen of his soul.
The Wizard King
© 2014 Dana Marie Bell
Heart’s Desire, Book 3
Gareth Beckett takes the wizard throne in three days, and the woman who stole his heart is missing. Hoping with everything in him that it will call her back to his side, he casts the Beckett mate spell.
One minute, Genevieve Godwin is knocking on Gareth’s door to tell him she’s had a vision warning of a threat to his life. The next, she’s pinned to his sofa, trying to explain her recent absence to one very irate werewolf wizard.
Ever since Gen was forced to use her warlock powers to save him, he’s barely made eye contact. And now he wants her to be his queen? She’s a Hecate’s Own, not a princess. Her place is on the trail of evil—especially her own brothers—to bring them to justice, not sipping tea and making small talk.
Gareth is determined to keep her at his side, and not only to keep her safe. Between scheming courtiers, the threat of the Godwin brothers and Gen’s insistence that she be allowed to continue her work as one of Hecate’s Own, Gareth is about to lose his mind. It will take a powerful combination of witch, wizard and warlock to stop the magical coup d’état that could destroy them all.
Warning: This title contains explicit sex, graphic language, and a king who can’t live without his queen.
Enjoy the following excerpt for The Wizard King:
“Oh, shit.”
Gareth grinned as his mate’s eyes went wide, her lips parting as she clutched the Beckett ring in her hand. He quickly covered her clenched hand with his own, completing the circuit.
He could feel the spell settle inside him as warmth flowed up his arm, twining around them both like a sleek silken rope, binding them together for all time. Heat raced through his system, filling him with the desire to take the next step, to take her and bind her physically to him.
The last step would place the shadow wolf on her shoulder, marking her as the chosen mate of a Beckett. If Gareth had his way, that mark would be there today. But unless she fully accepted the mating he could chant the last bit of the spell until the universe ended and her shoulder would remain distressingly blank.
So Gareth put aside casting the rest of the spell, knowing full well she was hesitating, intent on leaving him. His wolf howled in protest, demanding he claim her, keep her chained to his side.
Gareth would do what he could to accommodate its wishes. The thought of Gen running back out of his home to confront her brothers gave him hives.
“What have you done?”
Gareth growled out loud. Instead of horror, or sadness, or even confusion, Gen was…
Was leaning toward him, her pupils dilated, her lips wet and inviting.
She was aroused.
So instead of answering her question, Gareth did the only thing he could do, that wolf and man would allow. He accepted her unspoken invitation, kissing her with all the longing he’d felt since the moment she disappeared.
Whatever he’d done, however he’d driven her away, he’d regret for the rest of his life. Once he figured it out, he’d never do it again. She’d know she was wanted, was needed more than breath.
Whatever it turned out to be.
But that was a question for another time. Now the most important question he had was whether she was a screamer or a moaner.
He’d never understood how someone could say that another person tasted like sunshine, but that’s exactly what Gen tasted like: happiness and warmth and everything good. She tasted sweet, like she’d been sucking on a hard candy, and Gareth drank her sweetness down. He’d been starving for her, and now he was going to wolf her down.
He almost laughed at that thought. No pun intended.
She whimpered, collapsing against him, trusting her weight to him. Gareth wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight as he plundered her mouth. Her total surrender to him, the way she clung to him, soothed the snarling beast inside him. Alpha that Gareth was, he needed that, to know that as powerful as Gen was, she was willing to give in to him.
But Gareth should have known better. His Gen didn’t stay passive for long. Soon she was clawing at his shirt, tugging it up to caress bare skin, her nails leaving little trails of fire as she scored him, marked him in her own way. He hissed as she broke skin, drawing blood, the scent making his wolf wild.
Just a few steps, and he’d have her. A few steps, and they collapsed together onto his velvet sofa. Gareth thrust his hips against her, moaning as she trembled beneath him.
“Gareth?”
He had no idea what expression he had on his face, but Gen’s eyes went wide. She tilted her head, baring her neck to him, that long, slender line and smooth, creamy skin tempting him as nothing else in the world could. The need to bite down on the fleshy part of her shoulder, right where neck and shoulder met, was almost overwhelming.
Gareth growled, pleased at his mate’s show of submission. He longed to allow his fangs to descend, to take that tender flesh between his teeth and mark her forever as his. He shuddered with the need to chant the last bit of the spell that would bind them together for the rest of their lives, marking her forever his.
He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t bite her yet, couldn’t chant the rest of the spell. She hadn’t fully accepted him. So Gareth, despite his aching gums, despite the whining of his wolf, pulled back from that tempting flesh and instead sat up. He ripped his shirt over his head, smiling when he
r breath caught.
He’d bite her when the time was right, take her blood into him, chant the last of the spell to mark her forever as his.
Only when it was time.
But for now, he’d do everything he could to chain her to him without it.
You can’t outrun love, especially when it runs on four legs.
Love’s a Witch
© 2014 Roxy Mews
Hart Clan Hybrids, Book 2
Since a very real set of vampire fangs sank into her arm, Mary Fields has accepted that she’s part of a magical world where all her dreams and visions finally make sense.
As she journeys to find a Wiccan mentor who’ll help her get a handle on her new powers, she clings to the one relic from her former life—a sketchpad. She also tries to ignore the red mating aura she’s beginning to see around her only companion on the trip—the hottie she used to read to at the library.
Mary’s readings were once a fun distraction from the cruel joke the supernatural world played on Craig Hart. He’s supposed to protect her from vampires out to make her their personal blood supply, yet he can’t bring himself to keep his paws off.
As Mary digs deep for the inner strength to protect herself, one stumble off her magical path sends her straight into Craig’s arms. Where love burns…but so does a truth that could turn that red mating aura into a river of blood.
Warning: This book contains outdoor sex without the benefit of bug spray, and erotic biting that could result in involuntary eruptions of fur.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Love’s a Witch:
Great. Don’t leave me alone with a candle. Yet another thing I could consistently screw up. I was only doing twenty or so other things wrong on a daily basis. It’s a good thing we found something new to keep up the variety.
My best bud, Amber, let me keep my name, Mary Fields. At first I thought it was because she didn’t want me to lose my identity, but now, cleaning up the burnt remnants of the hotel curtains for the second time in as many days, I’m starting to wonder if she just didn’t want me to screw up my name too.
I’m not a pyromaniac, I swear. I was trying to trance. I was trying to use the magic I’m supposed to have as a witch. When I let go of my consciousness I must thrash around a lot more than I thought. Or maybe the drapes were doused in gasoline. Normal curtains don’t really burn that fast, do they?
Siren's Song: The Gray Court, Book 5 Page 24