And thus it was from the beginning of time. Two knights. One bride. They whispered their story to The Chosen, a human endowed with the gift of Hearing... The Chosen wrote the story and released it into the human world.
The bait was set. The spell was cast. And then they waited...(An excerpt from the Ierd Kimeno, the sacred text of the Twelfth Knight Brotherhood)
Secretary Maggie Dunning loves her romance novels. Her favorite--Conquered by the Knight, the story of two dominant, sexy shapeshifters, Xander and Bastien. To be possessed by two powerful Masters? Heavy, happy, lust-filled sigh!
But that’s just fantasy. It could never happen in real life...right?
Little did she know that a paper cut and a few muttered words would make all her fantasies come to life, including the hunky Xander and Bastien. One minute she’s cozy in bed sleeping, the next she’s dragged into a world she’d thought only existed in her imagination, to face her most secret desires...and her worst fears.
Bastien and Xander have their own challenges to face--a crime to investigate and a dangerous threat to the Twelfth Night Brotherhood to uncover. But they won't let that stop them from seizing their fascinating new bride and introducing her to the ecstasy of complete surrender.
Excerpt (copyright Tawny Taylor 2007)
Bastien had heard the other knights talk, had known to expect his bride to be frightened and resistant. Some brides were more fearful and subdued by nature, others more independent and headstrong, fighting their Masters like wild beasts. His bride seemed to possess a little of both -- the submission he expected and the fire he desired.
But what he hadn’t expected or been prepared to deal with was the overwhelming hunger he felt for her. Her scent, sweet and musky, ignited a burning ache inside his chest the instant he had changed into his tiger form. The pain increased a hundredfold when he’d shifted back. Take her now. That’s what his every muscle and nerve insisted.
He would not, could not.
How cruel was the law, to put him in this position. In the room with the woman who made his blood boil -- the only one who had fired his passions so intensely -- and yet deny him the relief his body demanded.
Standing now, looking down at her beautiful, heart-shaped face, he cursed the law and Xander, who had insisted he make the initial steps toward the claiming without him.
“Y-you’re real?” She staggered toward the cot, staring up at his face. Her teeth were chattering, yet a strength shone in her eyes. “Wow.”
He had to admit, his regard for his new bride was growing quickly. She not only had accepted the truth about her Master and his kind -- something that took some brides several days to accomplish -- but seemed to be somewhat fascinated by it. While he had caught the tangy scent of her fear when he’d taken his feline form, she hadn’t screamed in terror and run from him.
Perhaps he wouldn’t be forced to endure the pain of his hunger for too long.
He nodded, unable to keep from smiling. “Most definitely real.”
“I can hardly believe it.” Full lips parted slightly, she shook her head. “All of it, Alyria, you… the tiger. This is the book I read? Over and over? Will the whole story come true, exactly as I read it?
“I can’t say, since I do not know yet how the story progresses. It’s complicated, how the magic works.”
“Oh.” Her arms still semi-shielding certain parts of her anatomy from his feasting eyes, she puzzled over what he’d said. She started pacing, her gaze on the floor. “How confusing. Hmmm… from what I remember, the heroine was kidnapped and woke up in a dark place…” She lifted her eyes in a sweeping glance that curved around the room in a wide arc. “Yes. I don’t know why I hadn’t recognized it right away.” Her soft blue-grey gaze found his face again. “And you. I should’ve recognized you immediately too.” A warm pink tinted her cheeks. Her gaze dropped like a lead weight and an adorable crease crinkled between her eyebrows.
At the vulnerability he read in her body language, the heat in his blood inched up a few hundred degrees, from simmer to boiling. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He forced his hands behind his back and clasped them together.
Sweet like honey and more intoxicating than the finest wine. That’s how she would taste. And her cries of pleasure would be more melodic and moving than the most stirring music he had ever heard. Her hair, skin, would be more pleasing, softer and more luxurious than the rarest silks.
A rare treasure, she was. They had indeed been blessed by the goddess in a bride.
“So, uh,” she stammered, still staring at the floor, “will there be a claiming?”
“Most definitely,” he answered, not able to disguise the raw, unbridled hunger in his voice.
She shuddered. “And there are…” an audible gulp cut her sentence in half, “… two Masters? Xander is my second?”
“Yes.”
Her lips drew into a tight line, and she slowly raised her chin. “Well, then where is he? He should have been here with you now, for my…” another gulp, “… erm… training.”
“He had another, more pressing matter to attend to.”
“Then he’s really the head of the security agency or whatever it’s called?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re probably a little uncomfortable right now? ’Cause in the book, the bride creates some kind of chemical reaction in her Masters… just like they do in her…” Her gaze slowly dropped to his groin. Her eyes widened and her lips rounded into an O of surprise.
“I am most definitely uncomfortable. Which is why we will now begin your training.” He closed the distance between them in two lengthy strides, caught her wrists in his fists and swept her arms up until her hands were clasped together over her head.
At the contact of his hands to her skin, the fever wracking his body cranked up another notch. The weight in his testicles increased to nearly blinding intensity. Yet he could not back away from her and break the connection. Instead, surrendering to the call of the beast within him, he forced her back until she was flattened between the wall and his body.
He swallowed a roar of frustration, battled the instinct to take his mate, and squeezed his eyes shut. Her scent. He couldn’t get enough.
Closer.
He kicked her feet apart and wedged his legs between hers, making sure there was no break in the contact between his burning body and her soft and feminine perfection, not from the floor to the tops of their heads.
A soft whimper slipped between her lips, the sound nearly driving him mad. How could he wait when his body was betraying him?
