Title: The Crystal Warrior by Maree Anderson
Author on Facebook: click here
Reader Review:
“The sexy alpha male hero had me hooked from the beginning and I loved the sassy heroine who tamed him (just enough). The plot unfolded at a fast page-turner pace. Finding The Crystal Warrior was like finding a Paranormal Romance Gem. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.” ~ BookLover1960
Book Description:
She’s a dancer, and the most important thing in her life right now is the success of her new dance studio. He’s an alien Crystal Warrior with one big-ass curse hanging over him. In a moment of weakness she lets him seduce her. Now they’re magically bonded and his life is in her hands. (Winner of the Romance Writers of New Zealand Clendon Award.)
She’s a dancer, and the most important thing in her life right now is the success of her new dance studio. He’s an alien Crystal Warrior with one big-ass curse hanging over him. In a moment of weakness she lets him seduce her. Now they’re magically bonded and his life is in her hands. (Winner of the Romance Writers of New Zealand Clendon Award.)
Chalcedony (Chalcey) has given up on men. Who’s got time for all that angsty dating crap when she’s got a new dance studio to run? Then she’s given a piece of wulfenite crystal and Lord Wulfenite, Keeper of the Shifting Sands fief, literally pops out of the crystal and plants one on her. Wulf is the man of her dreams… or at least, dressed like an ad for We Love Leather, with killer abs and delectable pectorals, he sure looks like the man of her dreams. But if there’s one thing Chalcey’s learned: If it looks too good to be true, then it sure as heck probably is too good to be true! And Wulf proves to be no exception.
Wulf doesn’t stop to wonder why he’s so attracted to Chalcedony. All he knows is he’s finally escaped from a centuries-long hell and he wants this woman – more than anything he’s wanted in his entire life. Chalcey doesn’t stand a chance. Before she realizes what’s at stake, she’s bonded with him and his life is in her hands. She knows she should walk away and leave him to his fate. No way is she planning on getting stuck with a guy who used to steal women for breeding stock! But the more she learns about Wulf and his past, the more conflicted she becomes.
Only when the Crystal Guardian’s curse threatens everything Chalcey’s worked so hard for, does she finally realize what’s truly important. But even if she can figure out how to save Wulf from his fate, it might be too late.
Excerpt:
Wulf eyed the pathetic excuse for a male cowering before him. He speared his fingers through the man’s hair and dragged him upright. The stench of the man’s piss stung his nostrils. Weak-minded coward. For all his foul-mouthed bravado, the man was soft as a cushion. Even a cosseted priest could have given Wulf a better fight. Or a woman.
One woman in particular. The woman he’d just kissed. She slammed into his mind, rocking him back on his heels as she pervaded his senses and sank deep into his soul.
Wulf did not hesitate to toss the man he had been about to punish aside. Nor did he attempt to prevent him from slinking off like a cowardly dog. A vision such as this was a gods-sent portent, ignored at one’s peril. Wulf would not risk inflaming the ire of those omnipotent beings who might, on a whim, choose to pluck him from this alien world and return him to his homeland. He closed his eyes and acceded to their wishes, allowing the vision to sweep him away.
She was tall for a woman, slim but strong, with breasts that would overflow even his large hands. Riotous curls framed a strong, elegantly boned face. Bones could not lie. She would be a beauty even in her dotage. Her syrup-dark eyes had spat ire at him, before clouding with wanton desire as his mouth possessed her full, soft lips. She’d worn a short, clinging gown. It appeared to have been spun from spider’s silk kissed with starlight, allowing tantalizing glimpses of the pale skin beneath. She was a prize, indeed. A woman worthy of a Lord Keeper, worthy of him.
An emotion he was loath to name clawed his gut. It was a twin to the despair that had smote him when she fled the scene.
He’d let her go, telling himself all the while that chasing after a mere female was far less pressing an engagement than dispatching an opponent. In truth, he’d let her go because his reaction to her had troubled him to the very depths of his warrior’s soul. One kiss had hauled him to the brink of losing himself in her to the exclusion of all else, unworthy opponents and lurking enemies alike. For a warrior of Wulf’s caliber, allowing himself to be so thoroughly distracted when all about him was unfamiliar and potentially deadly was unforgiveable.
He dared open his eyes, blinking until she faded from his mind and his surroundings resolved into light and shadow, and reality—such as it was—again held sway. He swept his gaze about the alien surrounds and spotted his opponent climbing into a strange apparatus the likes of which Wulf had never seen before. Its exterior glinted like the hard carapace of a beetle.
The thing roared, and lamps that shone like miniature suns pierced the darkness ahead. The wheels of its undercarriage spun. Wulf’s jaw dropped as it rumbled past him. He glimpsed the hunched form of the man inside, one of his hands clenching a circular device, the other manipulating something in the interior. He appeared to be directing the apparatus.
Gods above and below. What would the priests make of such an infernal thing? Wulf had listened to the tales of many an old warrior dispatched to alien worlds, but never had such a thing been described.
His awe was a fleeting thing, soon supplanted by disgust. If it had been he who had escaped a superior opponent and could command such a device, he would not have hesitated to run his opponent down. One should never leave an enemy at one’s back. The man was not only craven, but a fool.
He made a concerted effort to cease flexing his sword hand, aware that he sorely felt the lack of the weapon that had become so much a part of him. If the apparatus the man had climbed into was commonplace in this world, he would have to learn more about it, and quickly. He did not relish to the task. He much preferred dealing with living beings that he could bend to his implacable will. Horses, for example, were simple creatures. Train them to the bit and bridle, feed and water them regularly, pet them and praise them when their behavior merited, and they were yours to command. Much like a woman….
Hah. He snorted. The woman he’d kissed, the woman who’d drowned his senses and haunted his gods-sent vision, would doubtless protest such simplistic treatment. She would chafe at the bit, challenge him. He would enjoy taming a fiery one such as her.
He didn’t realize he’d moved until he found himself standing at a crossroads of sorts. For the first time in his life, Wulf was unsure, undecided which path to take. A tug of insistence pulled him to the left. Stubbornness made him head right. He managed half a dozen strides before pain knifed his belly. A half dozen more, and pain spiked through his skull. He forced himself to keep walking, and with each step, the throbbing in his skull increased twofold.
So be it. Wulf was a stubborn man, but not foolish, never that. He would not ignore such obvious portents. The pain dimmed to a dull throb as he backtracked and took the left-hand path. He would allow himself to be led by the nose. For now. And, gods willing, he would find her again. The woman who’d set his loins aflame with her kiss, and then shown her displeasure at being manhandled without her permission by punching him in the face.
He prodded the bruise forming on his cheek. His lips curved ever-so-slightly upward. This world’s females were not fragile creatures, easily cowed and overwhelmed by a man’s superior strength. And, despite its unnaturally constructed dwellings, and a myriad of other aberrant sights that made his hackles rise and his sword hand ache with the need for a weapon, this world promised a thousand-fold improvement over the unending black-on-black void of his former prison. At least here he could feel—even if what he felt was a desire so intense he burned with it. Even if his warrior’s soul yearned for something he could not yet name.
So far as tortures went, lusting after a woman and suffering the indignity of an unsuccored cockstand, was an exquisite agony. Still worse would be to go haring after her, and then, just as he laid hands on her, pressed his lips to hers, filled his hands with her, to be snatched up and condemned to the crystal once more.
To be imprisoned again, eternally enduring memories of the woman he had been so close to possessing. That would be hell, indeed. But Wulf had never been one to back away from a challenge.
About the Author:
Maree is an award-winning author who writes romance of the paranormal, fantasy, Sci-Fi and young adult paranormal persuasion.
Maree is an award-winning author who writes romance of the paranormal, fantasy, Sci-Fi and young adult paranormal persuasion.
She’s a Kiwi, a New Zealander, and she’s addicted to chocolate--the darker the better. A romance writer who likes chocolate.... Yep. She is a total cliche *g*. She’s also partial to coffee and excellent Kiwi wine. She’s not quite so addicted to her local gym but she’s working on it ;-)
Read more about Maree’s books on her website: http://www.mareeanderson.com
Our Sponsor Would Appreciate Your Support
Interested in becoming a Kindle Paranormal Authors Sponsor?
