simply...
Wrong .
And it was cruel.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the princess in her
beautiful summer dress. He heard her infectious laughter and remembered the
tantalizing sway of her hips—the way that she looked at him with so much love
in her eyes—and his heart wept at the enormity of what the gods had just done. Why
now? Why to him?
Marquis watched as Kagen and Kristina made their
way up the path toward the clinic, and he couldn’t help but think…for just one
day...
Out of hundreds of thousands...
He had actually been—happy.
four
Ciopori spun around on the back terrace of
Napolean’s majestic home, marveling at the beauty of the sky. As one of the original
Celestial Beings, observing such an event was the equivalent of witnessing a
miracle, a rare blessing bestowed upon them by the divine god, Draco, and her
emotions varied from reverence to awe...to disbelief. Despite their ultimate
extermination, the females of her race had once been very powerful, indeed. Powerful
enough to fashion a curse that was still carried out by the gods twenty-eight
hundred years later.
A soft breeze blew through her hair, rustling a
wall of towering aspens that flanked the back porch, and Ciopori closed her
eyes, taking in the magic of the moment. Her last memories, before Marquis had
found her, had been of a dark ship taking port in a strange land, her brothers being
left behind in the Old World, her culture being decimated...her life forever
changed. When Fabian placed the two remaining females under the spell, Ciopori knew
she would awaken to a completely different life, but in her wildest dreams, she
could have never imagined this. She could never have imagined Marquis.
The warrior from her dreams had been real all
along. And he had found her.
Ciopori felt a chill shoot up her spine, even as goose
bumps appeared on her arms. Marquis was such a proud and sure warrior, a leader
by both nature and birth, as passionate as he was intense...the celestial epitome
of a wild animal. Yet there was a rare, indefinable beauty beneath his harsh
exterior, a spiritual quality that hinted of something much deeper. He had a
soul that had been honed through fire, a wisdom that had been refined through experience,
a strength that was deeply anchored in primordial law, and yes, a love for his
brothers that surpassed all else. A love that now included her.
Ciopori smiled, lost in her daydream, swimming in
the memory of Marquis’s impossibly beautiful blue-black eyes...and that gorgeous,
thick raven hair. She could still hear the velvet tenor of his voice as it
played again and again in her mind, a haunting melody, pure and hypnotic. When
she concentrated, she could still see the hard cut of his jaw, the sculpted
perfection of his lips, the perfect angles of his face, and the rock-hard lines
of his body—a body that appeared to have been chiseled out of granite by the
hands of a master artisan. Truly, her sisters had created a magnificent,
unparalleled species…even as they had sought to curse them.
Ciopori laughed aloud then, as she also remembered
the warrior’s complete lack of social grace, and his cerebral analysis of simple
wit: The male didn’t have a clue when it came to humor or subtle nuances; yet oddly
enough, Ciopori found those traits adorable. In fact, they were the qualities she
admired most because they softened what might otherwise be a far too
overwhelming male.
She regarded the sky once more. What an amazing
night. She had found the mate of her soul, the man of her dreams. And now,
another warrior in the house of Jadon—her beloved brother’s direct line of ancestry—was
being given the same chance to find eternal love. She was so caught up in her
musing that she didn’t realize Napolean Mondragon had joined her on the veranda
until he spoke.
“Greetings, Princess.” Napolean remained formal,
as usual, speaking to her in the Old Language. “It is an incredible sight to
behold, is it not?”
Ciopori turned
Wrong .
And it was cruel.
In his mind’s eye, he saw the princess in her
beautiful summer dress. He heard her infectious laughter and remembered the
tantalizing sway of her hips—the way that she looked at him with so much love
in her eyes—and his heart wept at the enormity of what the gods had just done. Why
now? Why to him?
Marquis watched as Kagen and Kristina made their
way up the path toward the clinic, and he couldn’t help but think…for just one
day...
Out of hundreds of thousands...
He had actually been—happy.
four
Ciopori spun around on the back terrace of
Napolean’s majestic home, marveling at the beauty of the sky. As one of the original
Celestial Beings, observing such an event was the equivalent of witnessing a
miracle, a rare blessing bestowed upon them by the divine god, Draco, and her
emotions varied from reverence to awe...to disbelief. Despite their ultimate
extermination, the females of her race had once been very powerful, indeed. Powerful
enough to fashion a curse that was still carried out by the gods twenty-eight
hundred years later.
A soft breeze blew through her hair, rustling a
wall of towering aspens that flanked the back porch, and Ciopori closed her
eyes, taking in the magic of the moment. Her last memories, before Marquis had
found her, had been of a dark ship taking port in a strange land, her brothers being
left behind in the Old World, her culture being decimated...her life forever
changed. When Fabian placed the two remaining females under the spell, Ciopori knew
she would awaken to a completely different life, but in her wildest dreams, she
could have never imagined this. She could never have imagined Marquis.
The warrior from her dreams had been real all
along. And he had found her.
Ciopori felt a chill shoot up her spine, even as goose
bumps appeared on her arms. Marquis was such a proud and sure warrior, a leader
by both nature and birth, as passionate as he was intense...the celestial epitome
of a wild animal. Yet there was a rare, indefinable beauty beneath his harsh
exterior, a spiritual quality that hinted of something much deeper. He had a
soul that had been honed through fire, a wisdom that had been refined through experience,
a strength that was deeply anchored in primordial law, and yes, a love for his
brothers that surpassed all else. A love that now included her.
Ciopori smiled, lost in her daydream, swimming in
the memory of Marquis’s impossibly beautiful blue-black eyes...and that gorgeous,
thick raven hair. She could still hear the velvet tenor of his voice as it
played again and again in her mind, a haunting melody, pure and hypnotic. When
she concentrated, she could still see the hard cut of his jaw, the sculpted
perfection of his lips, the perfect angles of his face, and the rock-hard lines
of his body—a body that appeared to have been chiseled out of granite by the
hands of a master artisan. Truly, her sisters had created a magnificent,
unparalleled species…even as they had sought to curse them.
Ciopori laughed aloud then, as she also remembered
the warrior’s complete lack of social grace, and his cerebral analysis of simple
wit: The male didn’t have a clue when it came to humor or subtle nuances; yet oddly
enough, Ciopori found those traits adorable. In fact, they were the qualities she
admired most because they softened what might otherwise be a far too
overwhelming male.
She regarded the sky once more. What an amazing
night. She had found the mate of her soul, the man of her dreams. And now,
another warrior in the house of Jadon—her beloved brother’s direct line of ancestry—was
being given the same chance to find eternal love. She was so caught up in her
musing that she didn’t realize Napolean Mondragon had joined her on the veranda
until he spoke.
“Greetings, Princess.” Napolean remained formal,
as usual, speaking to her in the Old Language. “It is an incredible sight to
behold, is it not?”
Ciopori turned
Similar Books
