Tag Archives: dark fantasy

Immortal Heat Blitz

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Immortal Heat cover

BDSM Romance, Gay, Dark Fantasy

Date Published: May 9, 2025

 

 

Three vampires battle the lives they left behind to build a future out of
the ashes of their pasts.

 

Immortal Steps: Tain, a renowned Celtic dancer, has bitter memories of his
first crush and the trainer who left him without a word. For years he’s
flung himself from one brief romantic encounter to another, the subject of
tabloid gossip and speculation, always insisting he’s not gay. When Kyle,
Tain’s old mentor, comes back into Tain’s life, the last thing Tain wants is
to give the man, or the vampire, a place in his heart.

Hidden Depths: Pat’s devoted his life to locating the wreck of The
Pelican’s Flight, sunk in 1692, along with forty other ships, when the
infamous town of Port Royal slid into the Caribbean. Jamie lost more than
his lover when The Pelican went down. Pat offers Jamie hope at finding his
ship, along with a chance at rediscovering love. Will the secrets they share
bring them together? Or tear them apart?

Vampires In Heat: Humans in Seattle are dying as a result of domestic cat
vampires and demonesses working together. The latest victim is Erron’s
neighbor and best friend. Nolan, the leader of Seattle’s Pacifistic Vampire
Clan, and Erron, an albino who is commonly mistaken for a vampire, team up
with the cat vamp leader to find the rogues who are killing needlessly and
trying to discredit vampire-kind. And just maybe, between them, they’ll find
more than a remedy for this vampire scourge — like love!

Publisher’s Note: Immortal Steps, Vampires In Heat, and Hidden Depths have
been previously published as stand alone novellas.

Immortal Heat paperback

 

 

EXCERPT

Excerpt from Immortal Steps

 

Alone, Kyle Lohan entered his private balcony at the Grampian Theater in
Edinburgh, Scotland. As he sat down, the house lights dimmed briefly to
signal a two minute warning before the show began. The box smelled faintly
of sex, although he doubted anyone without a vampire’s heightened senses
could detect the erotic scent. Regardless, it was his own fault for sneaking
in to watch rehearsals the previous evening. He’d been unable to resist
tugging his cock in time with the heavy beat of the dancers as they
practiced.

Okay, not all the performers excited him. Just one.

Tain O’Halloran.

Tonight Kyle had better prepared for the public performance, or so he’d
thought. The quick release during his shower should have calmed his libido
enough to sit through the performance without a hard-on. But as the first
strains of a flute solo poured across the stage, the anticipation proved to
be more than his body could resist and his cock rose to an aching
fullness.

Tain. On stage. His stage.

How long had he waited for this? Worked for this? Dreamed of this?
Sometimes it seemed like forever. And yet, very soon, the moment he’d been
preparing for would arrive. One way or another, he would finally end his
long pursuit.

He adjusted the fit of his tuxedo pants as the chorus sprinted across the
stage. Their shoes hit the wooden floor in rhythmic, staccato beats,
flirting with the notes. Kyle couldn’t stop his own feet from scuffing
against the floor in a pale imitation of the dancers’ fancy footwork. Had
his heart been prone to beat, it would have been racing as fast as the
music.

A few more seconds…

Then, appearing out of a flash of light and smoke, bam! There he was. Tain
O’Halloran. The male lead’s long, sleek black hair floated behind him as he
bounced in perfect synchronization with the little blond at his side. His
grey eyes flashed with pure joy and a little arrogance. A smile curved his
thin pink lips. And what that black leather did for his ass…

Kyle groaned softly as his cock twitched with longing, but he refused to
slake his lust. Privacy wasn’t an issue, even during a public performance.
No, nothing mattered more than soaking up every moment of this night to tuck
away in his memories. If the evening didn’t go as planned, this could be all
he had left to remember the talented young man come morning.

The first dance ended, and Kyle felt the tightness in his chest ease as
Tain exited stage right. He’d reappear several times throughout the
performance.

Kyle itched with anticipation for the next time, and the next… and the
next… By the second act, Kyle could pick out Tain’s unique sweat from the
morass of odors permeating the air. The scent teased his cock like nothing
else. His whole body tensed as he imagined jumping over the balcony’s rail
to land on top of the dancer’s young bones, then fucking him to within an
inch of his life, claiming him on stage for all the world to see.

Well, that’s one way to announce that you’re back in his life, Kyle thought
with a rueful shake of his head. Definitely not one of your brightest ideas
though.

If anything, such a bold, stupid move would get him thrown out of Tain’s
life for good. Kyle’s goal was quite the opposite. If he had his way,
nothing would separate him from Tain ever again.

The show ended with a roar of applause that pulled the dancers back on
stage for a second encore. Vibrant and smiling under the lights, Tain looked
like he could hold out for a third reprise if the director let him. However,
the rest of the troupe wasn’t fairing as well, so when the curtains closed
again the house lights came up.

The show was over, but Kyle’s performance of a lifetime was about to
begin.

About the Author

Kira Stone has been around the block…the writer’s block, that
is.

From vamps and witches to historical heroes, from futuristic scientists to
paranormal corporate executives, from Canadian werewolves to off-world
shifters, Kira has written about them all. Manlove has sparked hot and heavy
in many of her plots, but Kira also finds a lucky lady to keep the sexy
heroes company from time to time. While Scotland remains her favorite place
in the world, Kira is constantly in search of new adventures to add to the
creative primordial ooze where her best stories are born.

Author’s Website

Author on Facebook

Author on Goodreads

 

Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok:
@changelingpress

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Gatos Blitz

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(Cat O’Nines)

 

LGBTQ+, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Date Published: May 2, 2025

 

 

Catkind — they’re rough, they’re tough and they don’t take no for an
answer. But who’d want to say no? Not Gabriella, a barmaid in a tiny
roadhouse named Gatos near the Mexican border. Nor her sister Marnie. With
his sisters carried off by the Catkind, Tony’s left to run Gatos, but he
won’t be alone — a couple of misfit “alley cats” have joined
forces with Tony.

Lucia’s a party girl with two hot, hunky Catkind on her trail. Orion, a
white Tiger, and Jomei, a Bengal, are royalty among the Catkind. They’re
about to learn Lucia’s much more than a pretty face. When the four Gatos
siblings return with their Catkind mates for a final showdown against their
nemesis, Anuetta thinks she’s got these tigers by their tails, but she
doesn’t count on the mighty strength of the Gatos family. The line’s been
drawn in the ashes, and the claws are out!

This collection contains the previously released novellas in the Cat
O’Nines collection: Cat’s Claws, Cat’s Eye, Cat’s Cradle, Cat’s Meow, and
Cat’s Paw.

 

Gatos paperback

EXCERPT

 

Excerpt from Cat’s Claws

“So there I am, standing in the middle of the street, screaming at him
en Espanol. I’m calling him things our abuela would turn over in her grave
to hear me say. And then she’d wash my mouth out with soap.”

“Lucia, when are you going to learn?” Gabriella unlocked the door
to Gatos’ cold storage unit. “You stay away from men like him. They’re
trouble.”

Lucia, her sister, had the fire of a Roman candle and a temper to match.
She jammed her hands on her hips in indignation. “Like you have room to
talk,” she shot back.

“I do. Do you see me getting tangled up with any troublemakers like
him?” She yanked open the door, and cold air escaped with a whoosh.
“Uh-uh. Oh, that’s good.” Gabriella closed her eyes and swayed in
bliss. It was a gorgeous day outside in the shabby outskirts of San Miguel,
the sky pure blue and the horizon clear for miles. Which meant it was hot
enough to suit the devil himself, especially back in the warehouse. She let
herself enjoy the cool air coming from the cold storage unit for a moment,
then got back to business. She nudged the handcart. “Come on, you take
one crate and I’ll take the other.”

“We shouldn’t roll out a keg?”

“If you think you can manhandle a keg in heat like this, dolly or no
dolly, you’re welcome to try. Grab a case for now. Tony can get the rest
later.” Gabriella sized up the hefty crate stamped with the Moctezuma
Brewery logo. Nothing tasted as good or as rich as their cervesa. Moctezuma
was why locals bothered traveling to her tiny, out-of-the-way bar. If the
brew master hadn’t been a friend of her brother Tony, no way she’d have
gotten her mitts on any of their goods. “Come on, Lucia, put your back
into it.”

Lucia pouted briefly before bending and lifting the crate. Tendons stood
out in her neck from the effort as she wrestled a heavy crate onto the
dolly. “We need some strong young stud for this.”

“And there you go again, thinking about men,” Gabriella chided.
“I’m not saying I wouldn’t like to have a strong young thing around,
especially if he’s hot, eh? I’m saying we can get by fine without one. You
seem to think that’s a mortal sin, which is why I’m listening to you pitch a
fit in the street.” She tempered the sting of her words with the
fondness of her tone.

Gabriella shut the door to the cold storage unit and clicked the padlock
back in place before taking the handle of the dolly. Oof. She had to admit,
the crates were terribly heavy. Together they headed back to the main room
of Gatos, the tiny tumbledown bar that had been their sole legacy from their
mother.

Not exactly a rich and abundant inheritance. Ah, well, Mama had
tried.

Lucia was still stuck back on Gabriella’s opinions. “You’re telling me
if a man like Roger came on to you, you’d say no? He looked so pretty.
She swung around to walk backwards. “Those cornflower blue eyes and his
soft golden hair. Like a prince out of a fairytale.” Her pleading
turned wicked. “And good in bed? He was a devil when it came to loving
me.”

“And how many other women at the same time?” Gabriella bumped
open the swinging kitchen door. “Would I say no to a man like Roger?
Hell, no, I wouldn’t. But…”

Lucia rolled her eyes.

“But,” Gabriella went on, not letting Lucia’s scorn stop her,
“I’d say yes long enough to enjoy his body. If he’s as good as you say,
I’d have fun with him for a few days then send him packing. No harm, no
foul, and no broken heart that needs someone to sweep up the
pieces.”

Lucia scoffed. “You wouldn’t know how to let your hair down if someone
gave you a hands-on demonstration.”

Gabriella’s pride was stung. “Says you!”

“You’re right, says I. You want to make a bet on this? Friday night’s
tip jar says you don’t have the guts to take the next handsome guy who walks
into Gatos for a test run.”

Ay, Lucia had her there. Gabriella could never back down from a challenge.
“I’m listening. What are the terms?”

Lucia stretched her muscles out before unlocking the cooler. “So we
have a deal?”

“Not yet.” Gabriella pulled the dolly close enough to the cooler
to unload it. “Let me hear the details before I say yes or
no.”

“Like you would,” Lucia smirked. “All right, here’s the
deal. When we open tonight, you and I man the bar. When the first hot guy
walks in, one I decide is enough of a handful for even you, I point him out
and that’s when the game begins. You come on to him, you do whatever you
have to do, and if he’s safe you get him into bed.”

“I’m not a slut,” Gabriella objected, all the while hoisting
crates and holding them for Lucia to unpack and stow in the cooler.
“And how am I supposed to know if he’s ‘safe’?” She dusted off her
hands after the last bottle was stashed away. “You have to give me more
than that to go on. I’m supposed to proposition a customer? That’ll give me
a great reputation.”

Lucia shrugged smugly. “So you’re saying no? You’re backing down
already?”

About the Author

Lia Connor lives in the South, but her job takes her almost everywhere but.
Her laptop is her best friend. Lia loves stories about BBW’s, hot,
hot, hot threesomes and wily shifters who get into (and out of) all kinds of
trouble…

 

Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok:
@changelingpress

 

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Chasing Magic Blitz

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Not In Use (#1)

 

LGBTQ, Dark Fantasy, Romance

Date to be Published: April 25, 2025

Publisher: Changeling Press

 

 

Love — and Magic — find desperate lovers in unlikely places.

Chase: It is a madness that draws Chase to the Louisiana bayou, leaving his
sister and his art studio behind. The fact that he longs to strip off his
clothes and run naked through the swamp with the wild creatures who live
there isn’t his first clue that something isn’t right with him… but it
just might be his last.

A Painter’s Price: Jason has studied the Painter for years, but when he
finally meets Eric he’s not prepared for the powerful erotic feelings the
artist provokes in him. His need to touch Erik slowly overrides every other,
until there is nothing he can do but surrender, mind, body and soul.

Rythan’s Becoming: Rythan knows he must harness his sexual energy and burn
through his shell to truly Become an adult. But Becoming also requires the
help of his catalysts, a pair of adults he’s never met, and water doesn’t
combine easily with fire and air. Can Rythan pass the final test and meet
his Destiny?

 

Chasing Magic tablet

Excerpt from A Painter’s Price

Copyright ©2025 Kira Stone

 

This is one fine orgy. The self-congratulatory thought filtered through
Erik’s lust-fueled mind as he licked expensive red wine off the impressive
cock bobbing before his lips. Who his mystery lover was, Erik couldn’t say.
He had a nice meaty shaft, though. Not terribly long, but wide enough to
split a man open. Erik’s sphincter spasmed just from imagining the feel of
that thick cock sliding into him.

Salty-sweet pre-cum hit his tongue. He gave his lover’s ass a slap to bring
forth another drop. Nectar of the gods, as far as Erik was concerned. Every
man tasted different, and yet he loved them all.

“Oh, fuck me,” the man whimpered around his mouthful of Erik’s
cock.

“Not this time.”

The spirit was willing, but the body grew weak. He’d been going at it, in
one form or another, for several days now. The need for a long,
uninterrupted sleep gnawed at him. He was hard pressed to keep his eyes
open. Silently promising to make it up to his lover later, if he remembered,
Erik sucked in earnest.

His lover attempted to return the attention. Erik winced as teeth caught
his sensitive skin. All the more reason to end this quickly, he decided. At
the moment, this man needed more education than he had the patience
for.

His lover bucked and groaned under him. It didn’t take long to coax him
into orgasm. Seed spilled across Erik’s tongue in a honey-sweet river. He
drank down every last drop, feeling it was his due for the hard work he’d
put in.

Under his guidance, the man continued to pleasure him with hand and mouth.
Finally a weak orgasm rolled through Erik in quiet surrender, proving he’d
been right about his need for a lengthy respite. He might have stayed awake
long enough to mumble a word of praise before he lost himself in the warm,
dark embrace of sleep.

* * *

A cool breeze ripped through the room some time later. The long brocade
curtains surrounding the bed writhed, and the firelight flickered as though
it were about to die in its wake. That alone would not have disturbed Erik
from his well-earned slumber. No, a great booming voice startled him out of
a deep sleep.

“Since you love your art above all else, I hereby sentence you to an
eternity of creation.”

“What?” Fear trickled through the horrible hangover clouding
Erik’s brain. Though he couldn’t yet see the shadowy figure standing beside
the bed through his bloodshot eyes, he recognized the voice. The king’s mage
was not pleased, and that was never a good thing.

“For the rest of your life, you will produce some of the finest art
ever created.”

Well, that didn’t sound so bad. Painting was, after all, his passion.
“Errrr… thank you.”

A sneer entered the mage’s voice as he continued. “Your creative
energies will be your only sustenance. You will not eat or drink or sleep.
You will not be troubled by mortal weaknesses except on the one night a year
when the price of being the greatest painter alive must be paid to me, a
fragment of your inner spirit to be given to a vessel of my choosing. You
will exist solely to create… until your soul is empty.”

Now that last bit seemed a little extreme. Honestly, Erik didn’t know what
good his soul was doing for him, but he didn’t think it would be wise to go
around without one. “Is that really necessary? Painting is all I’m good
at anyway.”

“Painting… and debauchery. The king has lost all patience with
the discord you create among his court with your callous, self-indulgent
behavior. Could you not even leave the livestock alone?” the mage
muttered with disgust.

“That wasn’t me,” Erik protested as he tried to extract himself
from the tangle of limbs pinning him down. A small corner of his brain
wondered again who the bed belonged to, how long he’d been in it, and if his
host’s largess would hold out until he had a bite of bread and cheese, maybe
another mug of wine.

“Not in body, perhaps, but the act was done with your encouragement.
You sow depravity into the souls of the good people of this land, leaving a
trail of broken marriages and broken hearts behind. The king will have no
more of this debauchery!”

“I hardly think all the consequences of the court’s questionable
behavior can be blamed on me.” Erik looked around for his clothes, a
little intimidated to be talking to the king’s mage without a stitch on.
However, every garment he found smelled rank with spent passion. He flipped
the bed curtain over his lap instead. “I enjoy a good party. What soul
doesn’t? That’s human nature, not a crime.”

“The evidence is quite plain, and the king has rendered his judgment.
He left it to me to determine your punishment. After a fortnight of
observation, I see the only way to change your ways is to give you exactly
what you desire.”

Warning bells clamored in his head, but Erik couldn’t puzzle out exactly
what about that statement troubled him. “Would the king be satisfied if
I left the city for a few weeks?” Surely he could convince one of the
rich lords in the outlying districts to keep him sheltered and fed for a
month.

“Your departure might satisfy him, but it will not satisfy me. From
this day forth, you will breathe art, dine on creative passion, and survive
as long as your depraved, artistic soul can sustain you.” The mage’s
robes rippled as if an angry fall wind had whirled around him. “As I
will it, so mote it be,” the mage intoned with an earth-shaking
power.

And, just like that, Erik’s life transformed.

 

About the Author

Kira Stone has been around the block…the writer’s block, that
is.

From vamps and witches to historical heroes, from futuristic scientists to
paranormal corporate executives, from Canadian werewolves to off-world
shifters, Kira has written about them all. Manlove has sparked hot and heavy
in many of her plots, but Kira also finds a lucky lady to keep the sexy
heroes company from time to time. While Scotland remains her favorite place
in the world, Kira is constantly in search of new adventures to add to the
creative primordial ooze where her best stories are born.

Author Links

Author on Facebook

Author on Goodreads

Author’s Website

 

Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok:
@changelingpress

 

Pre-Order Today

 

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Earth’s Passion Blitz

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Earth's Passion cover

LGBTQ, Dark Fantasy, Steamy

Date Published: April 18, 2025

 

 

As their need for each other grows, so does the danger.

Kailee and Tom are falling for each other, but their secrets continue to
come between them. Kailee’s afraid to show her physical scars, while
Tom dreads his lover will discover the power those he still calls Master and
Mistress hold over him.

Dragon and werewolf must join together in every way to defeat those who
would dominate Tom and kill Kailee.

Earth's Passion paperback

 

 

EXCERPT

 

Kailee had been lying next to Tom for close to twenty minutes. Her new
dragon lover was fast asleep, and she knew she should be resting too.
Instead, she was filled with joy and an incautious sense of promise that she
hadn’t felt in years.

Tom rolled over, draping his arm over her waist. Kailee wriggled a little
as the urge to pee made itself known. A deeper craving drew at her
also.

“Are you okay?” Tom mumbled. Then he stiffened.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” He pulled his
arm off her.

She turned over, snuggling in close. “I like it when you touch me. I
just… I need to get up and use the bathroom.” It was true, but
her ulterior motive was to take so long that he fell back to sleep, and she
could go outside.

“I’ll wait up for you,” he said, slurring his words a
little.

Kailee kissed his temple. “Go to sleep. I’ll be back in a
moment.”

His eyes were already closed. As she watched, he lost the tension in his
limbs and the worry lines on his face smoothed out. He began to snore.

She waited another five minutes, to make sure he was well and truly under.
He’d had a sucky, hard life and she thought he hadn’t probably
slept well for large parts of it. Knowing he was safe here, that she would
protect him, made her smile.

She got up, padding to the bathroom after putting on the clothes
she’d worn before they made love. Once in the bathroom, she unzipped
her jeans. As much as she felt one hundred percent female most of the time,
she still enjoyed the simple pleasure of peeing while standing up.

When she was finished, she flushed, zipped up, and washed her hands. Then,
moving silently, not wanting to wake anyone up because this pack already
knew everyone else’s business as it was, she went to the mudroom, put
on her boots, and made her way out of the back door into the gloriously dark
night. It was a waxing crescent moon tonight, about four days from the first
quarter, and with so little light coming from that celestial orb, the
darkness was close as a passionate lover, full of kindness. Like Tom.

She wrapped her arms around her chest, which was flat without the boobs she
usually wore. That felt a little awkward but for this one moment, she was
able to dismiss the feeling. She’d needed to embrace herself for pure
joy’s sake. She’d been so very alone for damn near half her
life, relying on gentleness and understanding from those who were either
hired professionals or simply much older than she was and thus not quite as
in touch with their wolflinghood as she could have wished. Maybe it was
foolish to assume someone closer to her own age would have “gotten
it,” her experiences and suffering. Still, because Tom understood, and
only after so short a time, she thought the idea had slight merit.

Wanting to make some sort of noise to express herself, she began to sing.
It was a simple song in Werewelsh, her first language. She’d grown up
surrounded by the language developed by werewolves for their own kind, and
although other people spoke it now, it remained mostly shared among the ones
who had to change at the full moon. Werewolves largely did, though, and she
was, first and foremost, a wolf.

She translated in her head as she sang, loving the poetry even though it
didn’t rhyme in English.

Moon of darkness, moon of light,

Moon of power and strength.

Moon of my heart, full and wise,

Be with me tonight.

Probably, she thought as her joy crested but didn’t recede, I’m
being foolish. He hasn’t even said he loves me.

That was true but what made her heart sing was a simple truth, not
complicated by whether Tom wanted to be her mate or not. “In all
honesty,” she whispered to the night that seemed to be listening,
“I never thought anyone could see past my scars and love me
anyway.”

All right, so he hadn’t actually seen her physical scars, her dead
name carved into her chest with a silver knife and made to stay because of
silver powder. She hadn’t been quite that brave. Still, Tom knew she
had a reputation, that she’d killed, and he hadn’t pulled away.
Wasn’t that worthy of ecstasy?

She closed her eyes and resumed her singing. Now she sang a song of how the
sky so loved the moon that he bid her to cross from one edge to the other so
he might admire her beauty. The moon’s response Kailee sang too,
reveling in the way the moon demanded something in return: to see the stars
scattered before her like diamonds.

Once again, her joy crested until it filled her chest. She broke out in a
light sweat. That was when she became aware that the exhilaration she felt
wasn’t hers alone.

Wary because she’d been influenced by outsider forces before,
although less directly or psychically, she mounted her defenses and scanned
the area with her telepathy, seeking the source of the external, pushy
force.

At first, she felt nothing and no one. Widening her circle of ability, she
fumbled in the darkness of the in-between that existed in the psychic world.
Reaching, reaching, she felt a half-familiar mind.

About the Author

Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender
women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she
created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its
problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a
host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the
contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,”
Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a
passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central
or on her website.

Author’s Website

Emily on Facebook

Emily on Twitter

 

Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok:
@changelingpress

 

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Earth’s Craving Blitz

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Earth's Craving cover

LGBTQ, Dark Fantasy, Steamy

Date Published: February 21, 2025

 

 

When werewolf and dragon meet, will their need for each other defeat all
their well-intentioned plans?

Tom, a land dragon, is so large he’s earned the nickname
“Earth.” His dragon herd takes advantage of him until he’s
sold to a pair of basilisks. Unfortunately for them, Tom’s mating
plans don’t include repopulating the basilisk species. Time to make
his escape…

Kailee, psychic disaster and frightened “rehabilitated”
werewolf, is new to adulting, but she’s been through enough to make
her a force to be reckoned with. Transgender, she is burdened with not one,
but three psychic abilities. The overabundance of power tends to make her a
little off-balance…

Will Kailee be able to protect Tom from those hunting him? Can Tom learn to
trust? Or will their need for each other defeat all their well-intentioned
plans?

Earth's Craving tablet

 

 

EXCERPT

Tom fled through the forest, staying low to the ground, or as low as a
person who stood over six feet could manage without crawling. He needed to
keep his feet because —

He flashed back to when the matriarch had cut off his left foot to keep him
from escaping again. It had grown back, of course. He was a dragon. Still,
it had hurt, and he sometimes woke in the middle of the night with phantom
pain reminding him how he’d suffered.

He didn’t have a very good sense of direction, but it was a sunny
day, early in the morning, and the sun came up in the east. So, just as long
as he kept the sun on his left, he’d assumed he’d be generally
heading south. Out of Canada. He’d grown up here but all he knew about
the country where he’d been imprisoned was that it was north of the
United States.

He was grateful his shedding was over for another six months. His escape
would have been impossible while he was struggling through the twice-a-year
loss of his scales.

He heard other dragons flying above him and huddled against a tree, hoping
the darkness of his skin would blend with the shadows. He wasn’t
exactly dressed for a late December winter when the temperatures around Nova
Scotia lingered just above freezing most days. He wouldn’t freeze to
death… probably. As long as he kept moving, he’d be all right.
Just now, though, stillness was required. He shut his eyes, fearing that his
anxiety had turned his irises yellow-green. They might be spotted by someone
with a searchlight.

He wondered briefly if the female dragons had employed some of their males
to help. Most of the males were treated better than he was, although not
equal to the females. The large majority would do as they were told because
they weren’t required to stand stud all year, just when the females
wanted them.

Probably most of the other male dragons were grateful for his existence. He
was an anomaly, but one that the females liked. Bigger and stronger than any
other dragon he’d ever met, he’d been conditioned since birth.
He’d been born larger and the hopes for his future progeny had been
high. Hell, they were still high even though only about one third of the
dragons he sired were of greater size when they were born. He’d only
been at this enslavement stud service for a year and a half, so none of his
children were more than a year old.

It was as if, when the dragons and werewolves had split off from their
basilisk parentage, they’d been cursed to all stand at the exact same
height in either human guise or scaly form. Five feet, ten inches was the
height of almost every other dragon he’d heard of when they walked on
two feet. With their talons and tails, they stood eight feet tall.

Tom was six-two sometimes, and others, he was ten feet tall. Being larger
than most dragons should have been an advantage. Having increased strength
could have helped if there weren’t so many damn males and females
alike ready to take him down.

The sounds overhead faded and he hesitated, not wanting to leave his hiding
place. Yet, what good would it do him to stay here? They’d send out
hunters on foot if necessary.

So, biting his lips almost hard enough to draw blood, he crept away from
the tree and started running again. He skirted around a meadow and kept
going, adrenaline making him thirsty even as it lent his muscles
endurance.

The sun had been up for an hour before he judged it safe to stop and drink.
He’d been hearing a river nearby for about the last ten minutes and
that burbling, overly cheery sound made him long for water.

He broke from the game trail he’d been following and found an
offshoot that led in the correct direction. When he came upon the river, he
was relieved to see a rocky bank where he could get right down close to the
water and drink his fill.

He crawled to the edge of the river, listening hard. He heard nothing
except the twittering of birds and the chittering of squirrels. Well, and
the rushing of the water, of course. It was a deep stream, not quite the
river he’d been envisioning based on the amount of noise it was
making. He slipped his hands into the icy cold water.

Hands seized him roughly by his hair.

Without thought, he shifted to his scaly form to lose that grip. His
clothes, rags now, fell away as he tried for the sky.

Three dragons, brown and orange, like him, male, like him, each two feet
smaller, crashed into him. From below came a howl of triumph and something
sharp sliced through his wing’s membrane.

He screamed as he fell.

About the Author

Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender
women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she
created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its
problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a
host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the
contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,”
Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a
passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central
or on her website.

Contact Links

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@changelingpress

 

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