Soulfire

Never stray from your own kind, Jessen,” my mother would say, “or you could end up like Princess Morga, a slave and outcast to be abhorred.” The problem was, I’d never been a very obedient daughter. Never the one to do exactly as I was told. And fairy tales have no meaning when the stars align and Fortune spins her wheel, weaving her own story for your heart.

No? Then why do I feel like I’m under a spell, as if something is gripping me, and I’m helpless to free myself.” His voice dipped impossibly lower, more growl than words, his fingers lulling me.

And fairy tales have no meaning when the stars align and Fortune spins her wheel, weaving her own story for your heart.

My beast recognized her as his, wanted her now, yesterday, tomorrow. And always, Yes, the dragon knew, but the man refused to accept it. Like I had any choice. Fate gave her to me. A human. The daughter of the enemy.

He gripped my arms from behind, steadying me, his body a wall of tantalizing heat.” “Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.” “Funny, because he just did.

When he lifted a hand toward my face, I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, wanting his touch in that moment more than I’d wanted anything.

Maybe you are a goddess. A witch more like.” “Witches aren’t real.” “No? Then why do I feel like I’m under a spell, as if something is gripping me, and I’m helpless to free myself.

The best happily-ever-afters are love stories.

Would you like something to drink?” I asked softly, gesturing toward my bar across the room. “I could use one,” she said with a tilted smile. “How about you?” “I could use ten,” I answered.

Fate has a nasty sense of humor.” “Or a righteous sense of justice.

That is you,” he said low and intimate against my ear. “That is the woman who fascinates me beyond reason. Who won’t leave my thoughts for a single moment. Who drowns my mind in beauty and sets my body, my soul, on fire.

I have the compelling need to press my lips to yours. To see if they taste as sweet as they look. I don’t want to, and yet” – he brushed the pad of his thumb along my lower lips, then the top – “I’ve never kissed a human woman.” My breath came shallow and quick. “I’ve never kissed a Morgon man.