"It's perfect," Toni sighed.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Dylan told her, taking her hand and pulling her to the door. He pushed it open and once again, Toni's breath was taken away. The inside was huge! Too big to fit in the small frame outside.
As she stepped in, she realized the floors were covered in soft, beige carpet. The walls were painted with murals. Dragons and various sea creatures seem to leap right off the walls. There were four bedrooms, each with their own scene painted beautifully on all surfaces.
The master bath was incredible. The floor was painted to look like the ocean and it seemed as if you were walking on the water. "I don't know what to say," Toni said, taking it all in. "How is it so big?"
"It's magic," Dylan grinned. "So what do you say? Do you want to live here with me?"
"I'd be an idiot not to," Toni said, throwing her arms around his neck. "Yes."
Dylan lowered his head and had just brushed his lips over hers when there was a racket at the front door.
"Well butter my butt and call it a biscuit!" Toni heard her mother say. "This is fucking gorgeous!"
"I'll say," her father said.
"Why are my parents here?" Toni asked.
"Well," Dylan started, but Leigh pushed into the room.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "Dylan this place is phenomenal!"
"Hi, Mom." Toni grinned. "You like it?"
"Hell yeah!" Leigh hollered. "It will make a perfect wedding too!"
"Wedding?" Toni barked out. "Who said anything about a wedding?"
"Um," Leigh began to back up out of the room. "Oops." Then she turned and went back to the family room where apparently Toni's whole family had gathered.
"What's going on?" she asked Dylan expectantly.
"I was getting to that part," Dylan said sheepishly. "They got here a little bit early. I was going to ask you to marry me."
"Oh," Toni said, then she smiled. "So, are you gonna do it?"
Dylan grinned that boyish smile at her and his eyes lit up with happiness. He dropped to one knee on the ocean mural floor and reached in his pocket. The little box he produced held a white gold band with a single, glowing blue stone in the center. "Toni, my mate, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Right now, in our new home, with all of our family by our side?"
Toni didn't know it was possible to get any happier. Tears filled her eyes as the pendant that hung around her neck began to glow. It warmed her skin and she felt Dylan's love from the inside out. With a quick sniffle, she nodded.
Dylan stood and pulled her into his arms. "Thank you," he whispered before taking her mouth in a blistering kiss.
"Can we get this party started or what?" Leigh yelled from the front of the house.
Toni laughed. "Patience is not one of her virtues."
"I have noticed." Dylan laughed with her.
"It's a package deal," Toni warned him. "Me and my family."
Dylan grinned at her. He had no problem with her family, who had taken him in as one of their own already. They were kind, loving, and fierce. They were goofy and silly, and he couldn't wait to start his life with them. With Toni. His dragon mate.
Read on for a sneak peek at Sandman, the story of Somnus....
Sandman
Somnus stared at the child sleeping before him. He was a five year old with blonde hair and blue eyes. The little guy had tossed and turned for an hour before he finally calmed down enough to allow sleep to claim his little body.
Somnus held out his hand and willed his magic to flow from himself to the child. It moved along the air like a cloud of golden glitter, settling on the child’s blonde head. The child’s eyes began to move under their lids and a small smile lit the boy’s face. Somnus took a quick peek and saw that the boy was laughing in his dream. He was playing on a playground with other kids, running and climbing like a young boy should be. Somnus had visited the boy enough times to know that the bruises on his delicate skin were not caused by a playground accident. He took some measure of comfort knowing that if only for a short time, he could relieve the boy’s angst from his real life in a dream.
Satisfied with himself, Somnus ghosted to the next person on his list for the night. He liked his job. Giving people the ability to dream was nothing short of a necessary miracle, and he did it well. Dreams allowed the mind to make sense of what happened during their waking hours. Long term memories are formed in sleep and sometimes dreams served as a relief from the stress of living. Like in the case of the young boy who was beaten daily by his father. Somnus would throttle that man if he could, but as a demigod, it was forbidden for him to interfere. Hell, it was forbidden for him to interfere at all. He could only give the person the ability to dream. Somnus could start the dream in a good place, but ultimately it was up to the dreamer as to where the dream went from where he started it. If he didn’t know that it would drive the father insane, he would deny him the ability to dream. That wouldn’t be helpful to the boy either.
It was pushing three a.m. when Somnus arrived at the home of his most interesting charge. He liked to pretend that he didn’t wait anxiously for the tiny little signal in his brain that told him she had fallen asleep. Her name was Rachel, and every night she took the dream magic he gave her and twisted it into something terrifying. It was no wonder she barely slept, he thought to himself. He wouldn't either if he saw the things she did in dreams.
He stood over her, nothing more than a ghost in this form, watching her breathe. Her short, dark hair spiked up around her face and head in stark contrast to the white pillow case beneath her. She had long, black lashes that cast the slightest shadow across her high cheekbones. His gaze followed the lines of her face down her nose to her full, red lips. It wasn't bad that he knew that was the natural color of her lips at all. He pretended that he didn't feel a tug of longing in his gut as he looked at her. Somnus wanted all of his charges to have good dreams, but this woman was special. Maybe it was because she had so much trouble in that area that he felt the need to help her more than the others. Maybe it was because her ability to conjure some really scary shit in her sleep intrigued him. Or maybe it was because he was a man and she was beautiful. No matter how he tried to dress it up, she was his favorite and he was a little obsessed with her. Okay, he was a lot obsessed with her.
Shaking his head, Somnus allowed his magic to flow. As the golden dream dust settled over her head, Rachel began to dream. I'll just take a quick peek, he thought, before walking into her dream.
Rachel was dancing in a rose garden, surrounded by beauty and wonder. Her eyes shined brightly, the cobalt blue reflecting the light and seeming to shimmer in the sunlight. This was what he wanted for her. To be happy in her dreams, to have a little bit of peace. He watched from the edge of her subconscious, feeling better about the amount of magic he used on her with each passing minute. When she laughed aloud, the sound was like music in his ears. He had done well.
Just as he turned to leave her, Rachel's dream began to change. Dark storm clouds moved in and cluttered the sky, lightning flashed and Somnus could almost smell the ozone in the air. The entire mood of the dream changed instantly. Rachel looked confused for a moment, but then she changed as well. It was as if she had been expecting this. That was impossible, though. Humans did not have any control in their dreams. Somnus knew he should leave, but he couldn’t. He was completely mesmerized by the way Rachel prepared herself for what she knew was to come. She pulled in a deep breath as if to steel her courage, fisted her hands at her sides, and turned around to face whatever danger had come for her.
The dream did not disappoint. From the dark clouds, a form took shape. It was blurry at first, but as the clouds moved and swirled, a large figure became clear. It stood on two legs and had two arms, but that was where the resemblance to any human ended. On top of its head were two huge, curved horns that curled around its head behind its pointed ears. Its skin was the color of hot coals, its eyes black and emotionless. It ran in Rachel’s direction
and she screamed.
The thing looked like a demon. It ran after Rachel, snarling and slashing at her with its sharpened claws. Rachel was fast, though, and kept just enough ahead of it. The scenery changed from a garden to the inner city, and Somnus watched as Rachel maneuvered through the empty streets. He knew he shouldn’t still be there, but he couldn’t help but watch. His heart pounded in his chest, waiting to see that Rachel made it out of the dream safely.
She rounded the corner of a building and came to an immediate stop right in front of Somnus. “You!” she accused. Somnus looked around to see who she was talking to. “Stop that!” she shrieked. “You know I’m talking to you. You’re always here!”
“What?” Somnus barked out. Surely he was the one dreaming.
Thunderous footsteps followed her and became louder. “We don’t have time for this,” Rachel informed him, grabbing his hand. “We have to run.”
“I don’t think so,” Somnus replied.
“Whatever,” Rachel told him. “It’s your funeral.” And then, she was gone, awakened from her dream. Somnus watched as the dream world dissipated and he was once again standing in Rachel’s bedroom. That was by far the strangest thing he had ever witnessed in the dream world.
“Why are you in my house?” Rachel demanded, sitting up and looking right at him. “You have some explaining to do. Start talking before I call the cops.”
Somnus didn’t know what to think. He was good and properly gobsmacked. This was unprecedented and he was at a complete loss. But he had to start somewhere. “Why don’t we start with how the hell you can see me?”
Thank you for reading Dragon Fire, book ten in the Forbidden Love Series. I have devoted a large chunk of my life to these characters, and they are not only family to each other, but to me as well. It is my hope that you love them just as much as I do.
If this is your first encounter with the Forbidden Love Series and the Knight family, please, check out the other books in the series!
The Forbidden Love Series
Out of the Dark: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BVOBY9U
Into the Light: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006I3GRP0
Into the Fire: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CLUGBXW
From the Ashes: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G8F0RYK
Into Forever: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HWM6LY8
Into the Divine: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KR1NFD6
Spider Web: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J6ZOBTQ
Phoenix: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MXN2M76
Jaded: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ODL5ITK
Also be sure to check out the Keepers Of Hell Series!
Here is a sneak peek of Savior, Keepers of Hell, Book one:
The blood ran in a thick river down his forearm and dripped off his elbow as he held the demon off the ground by his throat. He didn’t care that he was bleeding. He didn’t care that the soles of his boots were slowly melting on the steaming floor of this hell. All he cared about was watching the life drain from the evil bastard he held in his hand. If he let go, the blood would run faster from the slash he had made in the thing’s neck. But where was the fun in that?
No, the fun part was watching the series of thoughts and emotions that crossed their ugly faces as he bled the life from them. Not that they deserved a life anyway. He got some sick enjoyment out of watching them go from confident and cocky, to surprised, to scared, and finally, accepting their fate of death at his hands.
Yeah, he was one sick fuck. He knew it. He was going to Hell permanently one day and that was his own fault. But damned if he wasn’t going to take out as many fucking demons as he could before he made it his personal home.
Yeah, housekeeping. That’s what he was doing. Cleaning out the infestation before moving in.
He hadn’t realized when he made the deal with the demon who killed most of his family that the price would be his soul. He could still hear his mother’s screams as the demon raped and killed her. It killed his father. He had sat in a corner behind the couch, cowering in fear, and watched it all. When the demon moved on to his little sister, he couldn’t hide anymore. He had thrown his ten year old body over his sisters and bared his teeth at the demon. The demon, of course, had found it amusing.
He fought with everything he had in his little body. He still didn’t know what made the demon stop, but it did. It offered him a deal that he couldn’t refuse. The demon said that it liked his spunk and if he would agree to work for it when the time came, it would spare his sister’s life.
So he hated his job, but he loved his sister and so the eternity of being covered in demon blood was completely worth it.
When the demon finally gurgled its last breath, Ash released his grip on its neck and allowed it to slump to the floor. It landed with a sickening thump and crumpled into a pile of mangled flesh and blood. Ash wiped the blade of his knife on his leather pants and slid it home into the sheath on his hip. He wiped the blood from his face with the back of his arm and started walking back the way he had come. He didn’t bother with cleaning up the mess he had made with the demon because he knew about a thousand minions would be along shortly to devour every morsel that was left of it. In fact, he could already hear their scampering feet approaching.
Ash took the amulet he wore around his neck out of his shirt and softly chanted the spell that would take him out of Hell and back to Earth. He felt his body changing from solid to something more like fog, his molecules separating and preparing to transport. Then for that glorious split second, everything was black. There was nothing to see or hear in that moment, there were no assignments from the boss, there were no bills to pay, there were no people looking at him as if he were some kind of freak. No, when he transported, he was at peace, if only for a second.
Read more of the Keepers of Hell!
http://www.amazon.com/Keepers-Hell-5-Book/dp/B0161ZANLS/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1452521327&sr=1-1&keywords=Keepers+of+Hell
Reviews are a great way to thank an author! Reviews are greatly appreciated.
Respectfully yours,
Danielle James
Dragon Fire (The Forbidden Love Series) Page 15