For a moment, Ariyona did not reply. Jareth of Ravenwood! He was a tyrant king who ruled by fear and force. Many were the tales that had reached King Oberon’s court of the atrocities committed by Jareth upon his people. They had many refugees from his lands. He was a harsh, cruel monarch and the opposite of everything Ariyona believed in. But why was he kidnapping her? Ariyona could not fathom a reason. She looked at Merrick who was still awaiting her answer. She was royalty and they knew it. She knew from his words they would respect and treat her well. Jareth wanted her delivered whole and unharmed. Ariyona preferred it that way as well. She thought of her father’s four rules of being captured. The first was to do whatever was necessary to protect herself. The second was to obey her captors as long as it did not compromise the first rule. Thirdly, she was not to do anything that would bring dishonor to her father or her kingdom. Finally, the fourth rule was to try to escape as long as it did not compromise the first or third rule. As resistance would gain her nothing and escape was not an option at this point, Ariyona forced herself to speak to her captors.
“I agree,” she said through clenched teeth.
Merrick smiled. “Very well.” He produced a length of rope that had been secured to his belt. “Please hold out your wrists. I have to bind them, but let me know if it is too tight. As I said, I have no wish to harm you.” Yet from looking into Merrick’s eyes, Ariyona knew he was not a man to trifle with.
Ariyona held out her wrists and Merrick quickly wound the rope around them. As he did the other three men sheathed their swords, but Ariyona did not doubt that any transgression on her part would have them out in an instant. The rope was very tight around her wrists, but Ariyona’s pride would not allow her to speak again to Merrick to ask him to loosen her binding. Merrick tied the other end of the rope to his belt and they set off deeper into the woods, away from the castle. One of Merrick’s men led the way with Merrick second. Naturally, Ariyona was next in line, as she was tied to Merrick, and the other two soldiers took up the rear.
As they walked, Merrick explained to Ariyona how she had made their task easier. They had been watching the castle from the woods for several days and had noticed that she fled the castle alone at least once a day. As soon as they were assured that she remained alone, and sometimes stayed in the woods for hours, all they had to do was pick a day and wait. Ariyona walked right into their hands. Merrick and his men laughed at this while Ariyona silently cursed herself for her foolishness. Her father had been right all along and she did have need of a guard. Now she knew for a fact she was wrong to disobey her father on this matter. Why did she not listen?
Excerpt from Adrianna’s Storm
The Blessed Five Series
Book One
By Sasha Parker
Ari's plane landed and she headed over to baggage claim to find her suitcases. As she stepped onto the escalator, she felt as if someone was watching her. The feeling was strong enough that she covertly glanced around her to see if she could spot someone. When she could find no one taking an interest in her, she continued toward the carrousels that were winding around the large section of the airport that was baggage claim.
As she stood at carrousel number two waiting for them to unload the baggage, she again had an uneasy feeling. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she looked around the large room, pretending to be bored. She still couldn't see anyone that looked out of place until her glance landed on him. Her tongue almost fell out of her mouth as she watched him stalk, yes stalk, toward her. He was just over six foot tall, his body lithe and fit. He moved like water, flowing instead of walking. His hair was long brown, secured at the nape of his neck. She felt her panties get damp just by watching him. Their eyes met in a clash, his were a warm brown and very slumberous. When his serious expression broke into a grin that made him look more like a god instead of a man, she realized she was staring and looked away.
She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he walked toward her and then passed her to stand further down at the same carrousel. She hadn't seen him on her flight but maybe she had missed him. Doubt that. She could see the jeans he was wearing were snug and fit him like a glove. His t-shirt was tight on him, defining his strong arms and muscular chest. She could imagine running her hands over his torso while she ran her tongue over his...her thoughts were interrupted suddenly when the carrousel started to move with a loud buzzing noise.
Bags started falling down a chute and landing on the belt going round and round. She saw one of her bags come down and pulled it off quickly. Then she waited for her second bag. She waited and waited. Most everyone had gotten their bags except for her, a family of four, and Mr. Hottie. She was almost ready to give up and go to report her bag lost when more bags started to drop down. The family got theirs and walked away as she saw her second bag fall onto to the belt. Just as she went to reach for it, a strong masculine hand grabbed for it as well. She turned to tell whomever it was to let go of her bag and saw it was Mr. Hottie. He pulled her bag off and set it down between them.
"Sorry, I thought it was my bag, luv." God, he had to have a great voice too didn't he. He had that sexy, Irish lilt that always drove Ari crazy. Ari even glanced around, sure she would find a beautiful, blonde bombshell coming in the door to greet him.
She didn't see anyone and realized he was waiting for a response. "Th-that's okay, but its mine."
He glanced back at the empty carrousel and shrugged. "Ach, well, I guess mine is gone again. Not the first time. Can I help you out with yours?"
Ari didn't think it was a good idea to go anywhere with a strange man, but this guy, well she would go anywhere. Her gut instinct told her he was okay but she still was cautious. "I'm just going over to the rental car kiosk to pick up a car. I would appreciate the help."
He smiled a big smile, picked up her bags and gestured for her to walk ahead of him. She did so, making sure she swung her ass just enough to get his attention and not so much that she looked like a hooker.
He strode up to walk beside her and asked, "Is this trip for work or for pleasure?"
Ari smiled at the corny line and answered, "I grew up here. I'm back to visit family."
"How nice for you. It's always good to go home," he said as they reached the kiosk.
Ari nodded. "Thank you so much for your help, Mr...?" She held out her hand.
"Just call me Reilly, luv. It was a pleasure to bask in your beauty, Miss or is it Mrs.?" he said slyly as he took her hand in both of his. She felt a tingle run up her arm. He turned her hand over and kissed her palm.
"It's Miss. You can call me Adrianna," she said with a full smile. She pulled her hand back but could still feel the burn of his kiss in her palm. She noticed when he leaned down to kiss her hand that a medallion twinkled in the sunlight. It was obviously old and had some sort of ancient writing on it. It mesmerized her for a moment until she felt his lips on her palm.
He nodded and turned to walk away. "Until we meet again, go n-eírí an bóthar leat." May the road rise with you. With that parting old Irish saying, blessing her trip, he left.
She watched him walk away, admiring the nice sway of his ass. Yep, he had just the right amount of sway. Her appreciation was interrupted by the agent behind the desk asking her if she was there to pick up a car. She turned to her and nodded as she dug in her bag for her identification.
Excerpt from Boots, Chaps, and Cowboy Hats
Taming Team Ten Book One
By Jana Leigh
“Hey,” the large man who was driving said. “We are supposed to meet the foreman of the ranch.”
Slone grinned and looked at the men who were slowly lining up. Alex was slow to get there but ended up at the end of the line. Slone walked to him with a grin and held out his hand. “Alex, welcome home.”
Alex looked up stunned, and then he recognized his childhood friend and grinned. “Slone?”
“Yeah, I am your knew foreman, in charge of teaching you SEALs how to be cowboys,” Slone said
with a chuckle and Alex grabbed his hand and did the one arm hug.
“Shit, man, I was gonna call you when I settled in. The dads said you were somewhere in Wyoming, I figured we could meet up. This is awesome, they didn’t tell me,” Alex said with a laugh.
“When they called me, I said I would be honored to help out, quit my job and hightailed it here. I beat you by a week,” Slone said and looked down the line at the rest of the men. “Hey, I am Slone Brate, the new foreman of the Second Chance Ranch, and you are Thane, Gage, Mason, Drake, Jessie and of course, Alex,” he said, naming each of the men correctly.
“Stalker?” Jessie asked and looked at him suspiciously.
“No,” Slone laughed. “Just making sure I know who I am supposed to be teaching. Dallas and Noah filled me in.”
LC stepped forward and held out his hand. “Yep, you can call me Thane.”
The others did the same and Alex felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His friend would help teach them ranching, and the men could decide if this was what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, or if they just wanted a piece of land to retire on. With their VA retirement for medical reasons, they were able to at least have some money coming in to help pay for things, and since none of them had lived in the country in the last few years so their pay had stacked up to a nice tidy sum.
“The big house has enough bedrooms for all of you,” Slone pointed. “Let’s get you settled and then we can talk, then I can give you a tour of the ranch and we can start first thing in the morning.
All of them nodded and looked around curiously but followed Slone into the large house. There was an older woman and man in the foyer waiting for them. They all looked at Alex who shrugged.
The woman smiled and with tears in her eyes, she walked to each of them and hugged them saying as she did, “I am Louise, the cook and housekeeper, and this is my husband, Timothy, who is a handyman and wrangler that is going to help you out. Welcome home, and I am so happy you are all here, if you need anything you tell me. Now, I have a nice pot roast and potatoes, green beans and a nice chocolate cake for you. When you are ready, come down, and I will get your favorites written down.”
The men looked stunned and accepted the woman’s hug, and then mumbled in return. They weren’t quite sure what to do about this show of emotion. It just wasn’t what they were used to.
“Thanks,” Alex said and looked down to the floor.
Her husband walked up, stuck out his hand, and said gruffly, “Welcome.”
Alex looked at the older man warily and shook his hand. It was firm, and the look of understanding crossed the older man's face and Alex looked at the others as they followed, and he saw the kindred spirits all relax with the man's handshake. This was the right move, Alex knew it.
The Eyes Tell No Lies Page 15