Enchanted
Guardian
Camelot
Reborn Series
Book Two
Sharon
Ashwood
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Nocturne
Date of Publication: August 1 2016
ISBN: 978-0373009763
ASIN: B01CNMT0DK
Number of pages: 300
Word Count: 85000
Book Description:
Enchanted
Guardian- A love of legendary proportion
In another time, in a place once known as
Camelot, they had been lovers. Torn apart by betrayal and lies, Lancelot Du Lac
and Nimueh, the Lady of the Lake, had each suffered greatly.
But the magic of the fae had reawakened a
man once trapped in stone, and Lancelot was determined to find his long lost
love. Only, Nim was desperate to hide her fae soul, as she was marked for death
by their mutual enemy.
Though centuries apart had not diminished
their passion, they would once again face a dangerous test to prove each was
the other’s destiny.
Excerpt:
Lancelot caught her arm,
pulling her up short. Nim scowled down at the long, strong fingers. Fine scars
ran along his tanned knuckles, evidence of a life around blades. Heaviness
filled her, a primitive reaction to the strong, aggressive male taking control
of her in the most basic way. Once it might have grown into anger or lust, but
now it confused her.
“Take your hand off me,”
she said, letting her voice fill with frost.
“No.” He pulled her
closer, turning her to face him. “You will answer my questions.”
Nim jerked her arm free.
They were so close, she could feel his warm breath against her skin. “About
what?”
His nostrils flared as
if scenting her. Still, Nim studied his tense jaw and the blood flushing his
high cheekbones. The heat of his emotions made her feel utterly hollow. His
hand closed around her wrist again, almost crushing her bones.
“There are too many
people here,” he growled.
“There are enough people
here for safety. Perhaps I don’t want to answer you.”
His eyes held hers a
moment, dark fire against the ice of her spirit. That seemed to decide him, for
he pulled her close and took a better grip on her arm. “Come with me.”
“Where?”
He didn’t reply, but
steered her toward the door, moving so fast she skittered on her heels. She
took the opportunity to pull against him, but this time he held her fast.
“Don’t.”
The threat was real. Her
fighting skills were nothing compared to a knight’s. Lancelot could crush or
even kill her with a single blow. Still, that didn’t make her helpless, and she
would not let him forget that fact. Rising up on her toes, she put her mouth a
mere whisper from his ear. “You forget what I can do. My magic is nothing less
than what it was when I was the first among the fae noblewomen. I can defend
myself against your brute strength.”
Just not against what
he’d done to her heart. She closed her eyes a moment, feeling his breath
against her cheek and remembering the past for a long moment before she denied
herself that luxury. “Let me go,” she repeated.
In response, he pulled
her to the side of the building, refusing to stop until he was deep into the
shadows. The ground was little more than cracked concrete there, tufts of grass
straggling between the stones. He pushed her against the siding, her back
pressed to the rough wood. “Not until I’ve had my say.”
He had both of her arms
now, prisoning Nim with the hard, muscled wall of his chest. Anyone walking by
might glimpse two lovers in a private tête-à-tête, but Nim drew back as far as
she could, something close to anger rising to strike. No one handled her this
way, especially not him.
“Then talk,” she said
through gritted teeth.
“Aren’t you even
surprised to see me?” he demanded.
“Why should I be?” She
needed to squash any personal connection between them. Even if she was whole
and their people were not at war, he had betrayed her.
He put a hand against
her cheek, his fingers rough. She jerked her chin away, burning where his touch
had grazed her.
But he was relentless.
“I’m told you were caught by Merlin’s spell along with the rest. I know what
the fae have become.”
Soulless. As good as
dead inside. Lancelot didn’t say the words, but she heard them all the same.
“It’s true,” she replied. “It’s all true.”
His expression was
stricken as if hearing it from her lips was poison. Good, she thought. Better
to be honest. Better that he believe her to be the monster she was.
“Maybe that’s true for
some. I don’t believe that about you. You still have too much fire.”
With that, he claimed
her mouth in an angry kiss. Nim caught her breath, stifling a cry of true
surprise. The Lancelot she’d known had been gentle and eager to please. Nothing
like this. And yet the clean taste of him was everything she remembered.
His mouth slanted,
breaking past the barrier of her lips to plunder her mouth. The hunger in him
was bruising, going far beyond the physical to pull at something deep in her
belly. Desire, perhaps, or heartbreak. She wasn’t sure any longer, but she
couldn’t stop herself from nipping at his lip, yearning to feel what she had lost.
A sigh caught in her throat before she swallowed it down. Surely she was
operating on reflex, the memory of kisses. Not desire she might feel now. The
warmth and weight of him spoke to something older than true emotion. Even a
reptile could feel comfort in the sun. Even she…
Still, that little
encouragement was all the permission he needed to slide his hand up her hip to
her waist and she could feel the pressure of his fingers. Lancelot was as
strong as any fae male, strong enough certainly to overpower her. That had
thrilled her once, a guilty admission she’d never dared to make. She’d been so
wise, so scholarly, so magical, but an earthy male had found the liquid center
of heat buried under all that logic and light. They had always sparked like
that, flint against steel.
But then his hand found
her breast and every muscle in her stiffened. This was too much. Memory was one
thing, but she wasn’t the same now and she refused to have a physical encounter
that was nothing more than a ghost of what it should be.
Nim pushed him away. “I
don’t want this.”
Something in her look
finally made him stop, but his eyes glittered with arousal. “Are you certain
about that?”
About the
Author:
Sharon Ashwood is a novelist, desk jockey
and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree
but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and
playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits
the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle would never work out, so she writes her
adventures instead.
Sharon is the winner of the RITA® Award
for Paranormal Romance. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the
Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sharonashwood/
Newsletter: http://www.sharonashwood.com/newsletter/
Website:
http://www.sharonashwood.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SharonAshwood
Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/authorsharonashwood
Tour
giveaway
$25 amazon gift certificate + books
1&2 of the Camelot Reborn series
(winner’s choice of paperback or ebook)
2 comments:
Congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance :)
I love the world of Camelot and welcome this chance to return to that magical place!
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