Draegan Lords Vol 1

The Draegan Lords, Vol 1 by M.L. Rhodes

Amazon.com gay fiction bestseller
Amazon.com fantasy bestseller

Now merged together in a single paperback volume, readers can enjoy the first two parts of The Draegan Lords series—True of Heart and Lords of Kellesborne.

A hundred years ago, the high sorcerer of Velensperia launched a swift and deadly attack against the draegans—a race of dragon shapeshifters who’d always lived in harmony with the humans. The draegans were all but destroyed, with the few who remained, scattered and in hiding. But after a century of cruel repression, a group of them have united and begun to fight back. Their leader, Keiran Hareldson, is determined to free his people from the high sorcerer’s tyranny.

Gaige Rizik is captain of the sorcerer’s High Guard, and known for his lethal ability to hunt down his prey with no remorse. His orders are to infiltrate the draegan rebels’ camp, learn their plans, and identify their leader so he can be destroyed. But when Gaige joins the rebels, posing as a human sympathizer to the draegans’ cause, he discovers the shapeshifters aren’t the bloodthirsty beasts he’s been led to believe, and their leader is a captivating man who only wants what’s best for his people. Keiran sparks powerful emotions in Gaige, tearing down his walls of steely control, and stirring a longing in him he can’t deny.

The more deeply Gaige becomes entrenched with the draegans and their passionate leader, the more torn he becomes over his mission. No one, least of all him, expects him to fall in love with the very man he’s sworn to kill. When he chooses to defect to the draegans’ side, his betrayal to the sorcerer comes at a high personal cost.

With the high sorcerer bent on annihilating every last draegan and all those who support them, a secret revealed from Keiran’s past becomes their best hope for survival. From the deep forests of Velensperia to the ancient draegan stronghold of Kellesborne, only the strength of two determined men and their fierce love for one another stand between the people they protect and an evil conjured from the bowels of hel itself.

Genre: Fantasy/Shapeshifter gay (M/M) erotic romance
Release date: April 2008
Length: 130K words
Price (paperback): $18.00
Available in paperback at: Amazon.com

Excerpt…

Gaige captured his cheek in one of his hands and his mouth closed over Keiran’s, his lips chilled, but his questing tongue hot as the fires of hel. It felt as if Gaige were trying to imprint himself on him. And Keiran responded in kind. Their tongues tangled, their teeth clashed, their groins thrust together.

“Need you. Now.” Gaige tore his lips away long enough to speak, his words part plea, part demand.

“Here?” Keiran asked, surprised…and yet somehow not.

“Yes. Here. Before…” His fair brows furrowed.

He didn’t have to finish. Keiran knew. Before they got into the camp and their lives became not their own again. Before those who wouldn’t want Gaige here could stir trouble. At least that was Gaige’s perspective, and the root of his desperation. And Keiran had no will to deny his mate anything. In spite of the man’s exhaustion and pain, he’d give him whatever he wanted. He’d share his strength, his love, and anything else he could if it gave Gaige the assurance he needed.

Without further questioning, Keiran grabbed his hand and tugged him into a dense stand of tall pine trees where they’d be less conspicuous should anyone from the camp be wandering out here along the border near the shield.

Gaige was already dropping his pack, bow and quiver as Keiran pulled his own off his shoulders. And then they were kissing again, mouths fused in greedy worship, hands seeking, finding skin, fingers spreading against flesh at their waists, then moving to the front to fumble in frantic unison with the laces on their pants. The soft whoosh of leather sliding down signaled freedom, as did the chilled air against hot, moist genitals. The sharp contrast had them both sucking in gasps…until their needy cocks bumped together, and the gasps became low groans of pleasure.

As much as Keiran loved being inside Gaige, as much as he craved losing himself in the consuming depths of his lover’s body, he didn’t think here, in the woods, in a raw, wild fucking was the way to ease Gaige back into the pleasures of being penetrated. Not with the cancerous memories of what Byram had done still haunting him, and Byram’s marks on his body not yet fully healed. “Do me,” he urged. “It’ll be easier for you.”

“No.” The insistence in Gaige’s voice caused his pulse to race. “I need you in me. Need to be yours again, Keiran. Fuck me. And don’t hold back.” His cool hands kneaded Keiran’s ass, inciting flames that licked through his body.

“Shit,” Keiran whispered, barely able to get anything past his suddenly dry throat. “Are you sure?”

“Keiran!” His name was an exasperated, desperate growl.

He didn’t have to be told twice. He kissed his lover again, then turned him and pushed him against one of the massive tree trunks, lust and love spiraling at his deepest core, driving him beyond all need for civility. Gaige anchored his hands on it without question and spread his legs as best he could with his pants around his thighs.

Keiran pushed his lover’s cloak to the side, exposing the pale flesh of his ass. The sight, intimate and sexy, only fueled the fire burning in Keiran. He stroked the muscular globes, eliciting grunts of appreciation from Gaige that were obvious pleasure, not pain. When he slid a finger along his crease and pressed the tip against the tight ring of muscle, the grunts grew breathless and pleading.

The sounds almost undid him—his cock wept in response, wanting to be buried in that welcoming hole. But first things first…

He dropped to his knees and pressed his face against the cool, damp skin. With a sense of urgency, he kissed and licked over each of the bold red welts, the thin, raised, angry cuts, and the yellowish-green bruises that marred what should have been smooth perfection. It took all his control to keep his fury at Byram, the fucking evil bastard, under a tight leash. Instead, he directed that energy at covering every mark with his own more intimate attention. Gaige made soft moaning noises in the back of his throat as Keiran worked, but didn’t move, as if he needed this as much as Keiran did.

Never again would anyone touch his mate but him, Keiran thought fiercely. Never again.

Reviews…

5 Nymphs!! “The Draegan Lords is the epic story so far of the long battle between the draegans, a race of dragon shapeshifters and their mortal enemy Byram, High Sorcerer and diabolical ruler of Velensperia. 100 years ago, Byram launched a deadly attack against the draegans and their leader, at the time, was killed. The race was almost destroyed except for a few of them who lived in hiding but after a century of repression the remaining draegans, under the leadership of Keiran Hareldson, have begun to fight back

In True of Heart, part I of The Draegan Lords series, Gaige Rizik, Captain of Byram’s High Guard and known as the White Panther, is sent to infiltrate the draegans posing as a human sympathizer to their cause. He realizes immediately that, contrary to what he had been told, the draegans are not bloodthirsty beasts and that Keiran is a charismatic man who only wants the best for his people. Gaige, who is conflicted and torn over his mission, can’t resist Keiran and they fall in love. He defects and becomes the true mate of Keiran but his defection comes at a high personal cost.

In part II of the series Lords of Kellesborne, M.L Rhodes continues the mesmerizing story of the draegans and their Lord Keiran, interspersed with the wonderful romance between Keiran and Gaige. The book opens after Gaige’s rescue when Keiran takes him to the ancient draegan stronghold of Kellesborne to be healed. During their stay Keiran reveals to Gaige a secret of his heritage that could help them in their fight with Byram’s forces.

A full scale war looms on the horizon between Byram’s forces bent on annihilation and the draegans who must fight and win if their race is to survive. Both sides seek the maximum advantage in a world where distance is measured in days rather than hours, and victory or defeat can only be assessed by the numbers of casualties.

There is a wealth of raw emotion in Lords of Kellesborne from the sex to Keiran’s fears that his people’s expectations will be impossible to meet when they find out that he is a Draegan Lord who has unique abilities, to his own dread that he will be found wanting when tested in the upcoming fray.

The setting for The Draegan Lords is the wonderful, mystical world of Velensperia and M.L. Rhodes has opened her imagination full throttle to give the reader a veritable feast of all the elements expected in a fantasy including magick, sorcery, love, adventure and amazing secondary characters. When the action in the story shifts from love scenes to battle, the author uses her remarkable visionary skills to create scenes of violence, chaos and destruction.

Once again M.L. Rhodes has given her readers a wonderfully crafted story about characters that are unique and alien yet believable and real at the same time. At the end of the tale the author sets up the scenario for part III in the series, Fires of Ballian, which is eagerly awaited by fans of The Draegan Lords.”

–Ruby Minx, Literary Nymphs