Lords of Kellesborne

Lords of Kellesborne by M.L. Rhodes

*Part 2 in the Draegan Lords series
Amber Allure bestseller!
Literary Nymphs Recommended Read!

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 used to be the captain of the sorcerer’s High Guard, and known for his lethal ability to hunt down his prey with no remorse.  His last assignment was to infiltrate the draegan rebel’s camp, identify the leader, and eliminate him.  But the more deeply Gaige became entrenched with the draegans and their passionate, compelling leader, the more torn he became over his mission.  Keiran sparked powerful emotions in Gaige and stirred a longing in him he couldn’t deny.  No one, least of all him, expected him to fall in love with the very man he’d sworn to kill.  When he chose to defect to the draegans’ side, his betrayal to the sorcerer came at a high personal cost.  Left for dead in the sorcerer’s dungeon, Keiran barely found him in time.

Now, the hunter has become the hunted.  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 helitself.

Genre:  Fantasy/Shapeshifter
Release date:  March 16, 2008
Length:  Extended Novel (85K words)

Available in ebook formats at: Amber Allure, All Romance Ebooks, Kindle US, Kindle UK, Fictionwise, Sony, B&N, and other online ebook stores
Available in paperback at:  Available in paperback under the title The Draegan Lords at Amazon.com (The Draegan Lords paperback contains both True of Heart & Lords of Kellesborne…books 1 and 2 in the series)

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!! “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 series 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.”

–Reviewed by Ruby Minx, Literary Nymphs