Prince of Seduction

by Donna Grant

  “You look impressed,” Elric said from beside her.

  She nodded. “I am.”

  “Then wait until you see Drahcir itself. I think you’ll enjoy your new home.”

  Marin took the hand he offered and nudged her horse into a walk. As they approached, the gates opened. She looked around, but saw no one that would operate the gates. Elric stiffened suddenly and she glanced over to see him looking over her head at something. She followed his gaze and spotted the Tnarg atop a mountain watching them.

  “Can it get in here?”

  “I doona think so,” he said and squeezed her hand.

  She turned back to him and smiled. “I think we need to find out.”

  “Later. Right now, I want to welcome you to your new home,” he said. “Take a look around.”

  “It’s warmer,” she said as she removed the cloak.

  Elric smiled. “The Fae bespelled it. The cold doesna reach us here.”

  “Thank God,” she murmured.

  Marin turned her head and let her eyes wander over the lush, green valley, vivid blue skies and warm weather. A unique bright blue stone made up the road that traveled down the valley and then up the mountain to the…palace. She blinked at the majestic structure before her. It put Cinderella’s castle at Disney World to shame. She had never seen anything so beautiful and grand in her life, never even thought anything of its magnitude existed.

  “Wow,” she whispered as she tore her eyes from the castle to the structures that dotted the road and landscape. Some were what she would call small cottages while others were on a more grand scale that looked like businesses instead of homes. And on each of the all white structures were symbols similar to the ones on her arm. The atmosphere was one of peace and tranquility. It was all simply stunning.

  “What do you think?”

  She heard the anxiety in Elric’s rich voice. She smiled and said, “I think it’s perfect. You never told me it was this beautiful.”

  “You have to see the city to fully understand.”

  “I see that,” she said as she spotted people walking toward them.

  “Prince Elric is home!” someone shouted.

  Marin felt as if she’d been punched. She slowly turned her head to Elric. “Prince?”

  He shrugged and refused to meet her eyes. “Aye.”

  “Did he say prince?” Rhonda asked from behind them.

  Marin could only nod as she stared at Elric. “Is there anything else I should know?”

  “Only that my parents will most likely demand that we marry soon. I’ll explain things to them.”

  A laugh bubbled. “Is that your roundabout way of asking me to marry you?”

  “I asked you to marry me the day I invited you to return with me.”

  Marin’s smile died. “I didn’t know.”

  “It doesna matter,” Elric said with a small smile. “We made it here. I have no’ seen my family in years, and I’m anxious to see them.”

  “Then let us go to them.”

  Elric gave her hand another small squeeze before he released it and waved to the people surrounding them. Marin returned smiles and waves as she followed Elric down the road to the palace. Drahcir was larger than she first imagined, but the beauty only increased the longer she was there.

  When they reached the castle steps, Elric hurried to her side to help her dismount. As she slid down his body, hers came alive with need. To her pleasure, Elric’s green eyes darkened and a low growl moved through him.

  “I need you,” he whispered.

  “Not near as much as I need you.”

  “Soon, my love,” he said and kissed her forehead. “For now, we must greet my parents.”

  Marin didn’t know what she expected of his parents, but the smiling people before her wasn’t it. The king looked regal in his grand purple robes and golden crown while the queen stood elegantly beside him with her lavender gown and smaller crown.

  She stood and watched the couple as Elric raced toward them. The greeting brought tears to her eyes as she remembered her own parents. It was only then she spotted another couple behind the king and queen. It was obvious by their dress and the way the man smiled at Elric that they were kin.

  “Lucian?” she heard Elric exclaim.

  The two men embraced and slapped each other on the back loudly. Suddenly, five pair of eyes turned toward her. Marin wanted to run and hide. She could only imagine what she looked like after traveling through the mountains and fighting off the Tnarg. She felt something touch her arm and took Rhonda’s hand as she and Lachlan came up behind her.

  “Marin,” Elric called.

  Her mouth became dry as she tried to make her feet move. It was worse than a job interview. She forced her feet to move and put a smile on her face as she moved toward the small group. Elric came to meet her and took her hand.

  “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

  She smiled and gazed up at him as she began to relax. “I love you too.”

  “Welcome to the family,” the king said as he moved forward to embrace her.

  Elric stood watching his mate as she accepted the hugs from his mother, father, brother and sister-in-law. He frowned. He didn’t even know Lucian’s wife’s name.

  “Marin,” Elric said. “Let me introduce to you my father, King Urises and my mother, Queen Morag.”

  “Please,” the queen said, “she mustn’t be so formal. You may call me Morag, but I hope you’ll eventually call me Mother.”

  Elric saw Marin blink rapidly to stop the tears that threatened. “It would be an honor.”

  “And this,” Elric said turning to his brother, “is Lucian, my elder brother.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” Lucian said as he bowed low over her hand. “Let me introduce my wife, Isabelle.”

  Elric was pleased with the brown haired woman whom Lucian called mate. She complemented his brother well.

  “Where are Sorin and Keiran?” he asked.

  “They have no’ returned,” his father said.

  Elric sighed and wrapped his arm around Marin. “I thought I would be the last.”

  “I thought the same,” Lucian said.

  His mother looked over his shoulder. “Elric, dear, who are those people by the horses?”

  “Oh,” Marin exclaimed as she waved them over. “This is my very best friend, Rhonda,” Marin said as they walked up. “And this is Lachlan.”

  “You all must be tired,” Morag said. “Let us retire in the castle. I’ll find Marin, Rhonda, and Lachlan chambers right away.”

  Elric turned and looked out over his city as his father and Lucian moved to either side of him. “I never thought I’d return.”

  “Did you have trouble finding her?” his father asked.

  Elric snorted and told of how Aimery helped him shift through time and the Tnarg.

  “The Tnarg moved through time as easily as you did?” Lucian asked.

  “Aye,” Elric said. “I thought we were dead in the pass. Nothing I did even slowed it.”

  “It was the same when I battled one.”

  “That means it will go after Sorin and Keiran's mates. It told me that I could return unharmed but that it had to kill Marin.”

  “What stopped it?” his father asked.

  Elric shrugged. “I’ve no idea. I moved to Marin to protect her and the next moment it was gone. I just wish there was a way to warn Sorin and Keiran.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Marin woke to the sounds of birds outside her window. She rolled onto her back and stretched. Her gaze ran over the beautiful cream and dark mauve bed hangings and she thought of Elric. She had wanted to spend time with him last night, but, after dinner, he and his father, brother, and Lachlan were locked in the king’s study. She knew what they were discussing – the Tnarg.

  While Elric had been discussing the Tnarg, she had been with Morag, Isabelle, and Rhonda talking about the wedding. Lucian and Isabelle had returned to Drahcir just a few weeks before. Morag h
ad wasted no time in getting Isabelle and Lucian to the altar, and it seemed she was doing the same to Marin and Elric. Not that Marin minded. She had waited her entire life for Elric, and now that she had him, she didn’t want to let him go.

  Marin had reservations about being a princess, but Isabelle assured her several times through the night that she would be fine. She just hoped Isabelle was right.

  A princess. Never in all her daydreams had Marin ever envisioned herself as a princess, yet that was exactly what she was about to become.

  The door to her chamber suddenly opened, and Elric quickly stepped inside. He smiled as he shut and locked the door.

  “I missed you last night,” she said as he walked to the bed. Her mouth began to water as he removed his tunic and shed his boots and pants.

  “No talking,” he said as he laid down beside her. “All I thought about all night was filling you with my rod.”

  Elric’s husky voice and desire filled eyes brought Marin’s body to life instantly. She opened her mouth for his kiss and ran her hands over his bronzed skin. His muscles moved and bunched beneath her fingers as his hands roamed down her body.

  Her breasts swelled and her nipples hardened beneath her thin nightgown as his hand scraped across her sensitive nipples. A moan broke from her lips as his hand massaged first one breast, then the other.

  Elric ended the kiss and leaned back on his knees to look at her. His breath came in huge gulps. “I want you too desperately that I doona think I can be gentle.”

  “I don’t need gentle,” she said as she ran her finger over his lips. “I just need you.”

  Large hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her to her knees in front of him. His mouth came down on hers hard and demanding, promising pleasure so intense she shook from it. His lips left a trail of hot desire as he went down her neck to her shoulders.

  Vaguely, she was aware of him lifting her nightgown and pulling it over her head, careful of the bandage that bound her injuries, before tossing it to the floor. Marin leaned her head back as his mouth and hands continued to work their magic on her body.

  The long, hot length of his arousal throbbed against her stomach. She reached down and took him in her hand and gently squeezed. He sucked in a breath and moaned. Marin moved her hand up and down his length, her blood pumping loudly in her ears as her body pulsed with need.

  She kissed his neck and moved her lips across his chest and down to his stomach. When she reached his hips his hands gripped her shoulders, and for a moment she thought he might stop her. She flicked her tongue over the head of his rod and heard him growl. She didn’t give him time to stop her though as she opened her mouth and took him inside.

  The salty taste of him was exhilarating and only spurred her passion higher. But she wasn’t given long to enjoy her newfound power over him as Elric pushed her back on the bed and entered her with one long, hard thrust.

  Marin let out a long moan. He began to thrust within her, building her already growing desire until she thought she would burst. Her world shattered around her as her climax exploded. She felt Elric give one final push and join her as he cried out her name.

  As the last of her tremors left her, Elric rolled to the side and brought her against him. “Good morning,” he said as he brushed the hair from her face.

  “Good morning. I think I’d like to wake every morning just like this.”

  Elric laughed. “I’m up for the task. Did Mother get the wedding planned last night?”

  “Yes. It’s going to be very grand.”

  “As only royalty is,” he said. “Does it bother you that I’m a prince?”

  “No. It was just a surprise. You never said anything.”

  “I thought it might be too much for you at once, then with the Tnarg chasing us, I wasna given much time.”

  “True. But we’re here now.”

  He squeezed her against him and kissed her forehead. “Aye, we’re home.”

  Silence descended upon them and she leaned up on her elbow to look at him. “You’re worried about your other two brothers?”

  He nodded.

  “Is there any way we can help them? Get word to them somehow?”

  “Nay. We have no idea where they are or if the Tnarg has already gotten to their mates. Only the Fae could find them now.”

  “Then ask the Fae.”

  He smiled gently. “It may come to that, or the Fae could already have found them. It was Aimery who helped me shift through time, so who is to say he hasna helped Sorin or Keiran.”

  “I hope they arrive soon. Your mother is very worried.”

  “So are Father and Lucian. All we can do is hope and pray now.”

  Marin rested her chin on his chest and grinned. “Your mother has the wedding planned for the day after tomorrow. She’s having a gown made for me.”

  “And she’ll get it done, this I promise you. Now, hurry and get dressed,” Elric said as he rose from the bed. “I want to take you out to meet the people.”

  “And I want to see more of the palace.”

  “Hmmm,” he said as he nuzzled her neck. “We might try the palace first. There are many vacant rooms and dark corridors.”

  Marin closed her eyes and sighed. “I like that idea.

  Epilogue

  The wedding was a huge affair, one that would have rivaled England’s Princess Diana’s. Marin felt every bit the princess and with the crown atop her head keeping her long veil in place, she looked like one too.

  She had met her first Fae. Aimery, the very Fae who had aided Elric in finding her. He was nothing like she pictured a Fae to look. He wasn’t small with gossamer wings, but tall, slender, and so beautiful he would have put Adonis to shame with his long flaxen hair and unusual blue eyes.

  Aimery hadn’t stayed long, but before he left he assured the king and queen that he would try to locate Sorin and Keiran.

  “Princess Marin,” Elric said as he leaned down to kiss her lips. “I like it.”

  Marin smiled. “I do, too. By the way, have you seen Rhonda or Lachlan?”

  “I think they went exploring the castle.”

  “I highly recommend it after the fun we had.”

  “I think Lachlan plans to ask Rhonda to be his wife.”

  Marin was floored. She knew they had deep feelings for each other, she just hadn’t realized how deep those feelings had gone. “I’m so happy for them. I know Rhonda will say yes.”

  “Enough talk of them. We’ve been celebrating for the past few hours, and I doona think I can wait a moment longer to make love to you.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?”

  He pulled her against him as he claimed her lips in a searing kiss. “I love you, my princess.”

  “And I you, my prince.”

  Look for more of the Royal Chronicles starting with book 1, PRINCE OF DESIRE

  Lucian, a prince of a secret kingdom, must find his mate and return with her to Drahcir before time runs out. He’s unprepared for Isabelle and the insatiable appetite he has for her. But will the desire they feel be enough to convince her to venture to a hidden kingdom where magic is a way of life?

  Isabelle has resigned herself to her life, until a fascinating, devilishly handsome Lucian walks into her life. He shows her desire and adventure that shakes the foundations of her world. She can’t live without him, but can she give up the life she knows for one she can’t begin to imagine?

  PRINCE OF LOVE

  Book 2

  The youngest of the four princes, Sorin, has waited for the time he could search out his mate. Now it’s his time to due his duty, a duty he refuses to fail at. Not even the magical Tnarg’s who are trying to kill his mate will stand in his way. But the Tnarg is one step ahead of him. Sorin has little time to convince his mate of what he is and where he comes from. Will the unmistakable attraction they share be enough to convince her to leave all that she knows for a magical kingdom?

  Katrina feared she’d never find a man who held her interest.
Until she meets Sorin. He’s charismatic, dangerous, and handsome as sin. She feels alive when she’s with him, as if she’s been waiting for him her entire life. Katrina knows they’re meant to be together, but can the love she feels growing in her heart be enough to leave her family behind forever?

  PRINCE OF PASSION

  Book 4

  As eldest and heir to the throne of Drahcir, Keiran feels the weight of the ancient curse heavily on his shoulders. He had always allowed his passion to rule him, and for good or bad, he has followed that passion. But when he gives in to a night of desire and discovers his mate, will he be able to convince her to return with him in time to save his beloved kingdom…

  Senga has long desired Keiran. She’s loved him from afar, catching glimpses of him in the streets of their hidden city. Senga is surprised to find one of the famed Fae urging her to leave the kingdom and await Keiran, that she is to be his mate. When Keiran does find her, its not his mate he sees, but that doesn’t stop the passion that flares between them. Even as the attraction cannot be denied, the Tnarg will stop at nothing to kill them. Will Senga’s love be enough to end the curse...?

  Author Bio

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Donna Grant has been praised for her “totally addictive” and “unique and sensual” stories. She's written more than thirty novels spanning multiple genres of romance including the bestselling Dark King stories, Dark Craving, Night's Awakening, and Dawn's Desire. Her acclaimed series, Dark Warriors, feature a thrilling combination of Druids, primeval gods, and immortal Highlanders who are dark, dangerous, and irresistible. She lives with her husband, two children, a dog, and four cats in Texas. Visit donnagrant.com.

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