DRAGON KING by Marie Harte
Hot Dragon & Ethereal Danger!
A blue dragon
descended from royalty, Jentaron, faces an unspeakable danger threatening his
planet. The other denizens of Ethereal may not acknowledge him as king, but
that doesn’t mean he’s not going to fight to return Dragonkind back to the
Ordinary. Even if that means creating
his own chaos along the way. DRAGON KING
by Marie Harte is a story of rising above those that challenge you to achieve
your fate. If you enjoyed Sacrificed to
the Dragon by Jessie Donovan, you’ll burn to get your hands on Dragon King.
Follow the tour on December 22nd! One grand
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Internationally) and two grand prize winners will receive a digital copy of a Marie
Harte backlist of their choosing (Open Internationally).
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Title: Dragon King
Author: Marie Harte
Series: Ethereal Foes #4
Genre: Demon, Dragons, Menage, Paranormal
Release Date: December 22nd, 2015
Publisher: Samhain
Print Length: 151 pages
Format: Digital
ASIN: B013UEHQGI
Digital ISBN: 9781619231368
What good is being king if you
can’t burn your own rules?
Ethereal Foes, Book 4
In the two years since Jentaron hatched, he’s grown into an
adult blue dragon full of the knowledge of his royal predecessors. He’s a true
king, even if the other denizens of the Ethereal, those demons, havoc, angels
and the like, continue to test him.
But he’s got heavier worries. Namely, an unspeakable danger that
threatens all life as the planet knows it. He can feel it, can sense that he’s
got a bigger role to play than just pissing off the Ethereal.
With the blood elves and havoc making more trouble than usual,
magic no longer flowing freely in the Abyss, and angels massacring everything
demonic they can get their holy hands on, the Balance has reached a tipping
point. Time to take charge before the rules change.
What’s a dragon to do but create his own chaos? He’ll take a
mate or two, instill fear where needed, and finally return dragonkind to the
Ordinary—the human lands—where a dragon will
decide the fate of the worlds.
Because he’s king, and he says so.
Warning: Contains a dragon king
challenged by a devious demon and an alluring, not-so-human human. Expect
carnal hunger only a king can satisfy, and heat only a dragon can generate.
Excerpt from DRAGON
KING:
Ella
Nelson had thought about getting back at her ex-best friend for a solid
month. Ever since she’d found out that the pretender had not only cheated
her out of a promotion, but stolen out from under her the one man Ella found
interesting, she’d been biding her time until the perfect opportunity arose.
Unfortunately,
Ella didn’t do revenge. Or exciting. Or sex with a hot guy. She had a bad case
of ADD with life. Everything bored her after a while. This was the longest
she’d held a job in years, and already she found herself wanting to leave it
all behind. Even a need for vengeance had become too dull to put any more than
thought into.
I’m the queen of blah.
“Hey,
Ella. You ready for that board meeting today?”
“Sure
am.” Ella smiled through her teeth. “I’m sure your presentation will knock it
out of the park.” Especially
since I did all the work.
“We’ll
kill ’em dead.”
“And
it’ll be messy, I’m sure.” Their old joke felt so appropriate right now. Ella
wanted her life to be messy, to mean something. She felt as if she floated past
everything, not quite in touch with the world around her. She wasn’t someone
others ever looked to for guidance, advice or a relationship. Not like her
ex-friend.
Lauren
wore a professional A-line skirt and low cut blouse. It said “I’m feminine and
sexy, but I want to be taken seriously.” Ella hated her a little for that too,
that the woman could wear anything and look like a million bucks.
Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Lauren ate what she wanted, regularly skipped gym
workouts and had any man’s attention for the asking. Which made it questionable
as to why she’d come on to Peter when she’d known good and well that Ella liked
him.
Of course Peter had welcomed her attention. And
sure, Ella had never out and out declared dibs, but she’d talked about him all
the time. Lauren knew how she felt. Ella had just about worked up the nerve to
ask Peter for a date when she’d heard the unmistakable sounds of Lauren banging
his brains out while she stood outside the woman’s apartment, waiting for their
weekly movie night.
Now
it all seemed suspect, as if Lauren had set herself up to be caught in the act.
A way of telling without telling. Sly, subtle and something Ella wished she
could pull off. Pesky morals.
She
finally understood why so many colleagues seemed to give Lauren the cold
shoulder. Not because they were jealous, as Lauren had often complained, but
because they’d been the victims of her narcissism. The woman stepped over
everyone to get what she wanted. It had only taken Ella a year to learn the
truth.
Backstabbing, two-timing,
money-grubbing witch.
A comforting rage settled deep in her bones like a warm glass of whiskey.
Welcomed, smooth and familiar. Anger took her from the doldrums. Only fury made
her feel alive—and that was the one thing she had to hold back, because too
much anger inside her became a very bad thing.
“After
you.” Ella followed Lauren into the conference room and moved to the back with
the other peons not important enough to sit with corporate’s big boss, the man
who’d come down from Green Bay to visit their satellite office in Plymouth
Meeting.
Taking
her place with the others, Ella readied her cell phone to record, because she’d
said she would and hated to break a promise, and gave Lauren a thumbs up she
didn’t mean.
The
perky man-stealer smiled and chatted with the bosses. Then the presentation
started. Lauren wowed everyone with the slides created courtesy of Ella’s
unwavering diligence. She struck the right chords with a sense of humor, charm
and obvious physical appeal.
The
unfairness of it all built. All the hard work, the unpaid overtime, the
hassling with phone calls and outdated computers and effort in hopes of getting
that promotion. For what? So Lauren could flaunt her considerable assets and
steal it all right out from under her?
The
final portion of the meeting started, and something clicked into place inside
Ella.
Uh-oh. Showtime.
Lauren
flashed a toothy smile. “And now, a short video about what Care & Concern
Medical Services can do for you.”
Their
home health care for the elderly had garnered national attention. They’d even
opened a few dozen more centers where those with special needs, as well as the
elderly in need of daytime care, could be looked after. Those had been Ella’s
brainchild. Ella’s hard work.
Ella
should have seen this coming. She and Lauren had never had an issue, because
they liked different things. Ella preferred to blend in to the woodwork and
offer support. Lauren wanted to be the center of attention and rule the roost.
Ella
closed her eyes, unable to stem the freaky headache that would open the door to
that other
sense she had. The one that spilled secrets most people wanted to hide. Like a
diver plunging into the deep end, she stroked deep into the center of Lauren’s
private thoughts, the ones Lauren kept hidden, even from herself.
Filled
to the brim, Ella needed to direct those private images somewhere else. The
idea of revenge became too tempting to ignore, and she shifted those images
into the presentation. Though she’d never understood how she could do it, she’d
always been able to transform a person’s secrets into a visible manifestation.
~~
Normally
uncomfortable with what felt like a curse, today she relished her gift. No
longer bored, she felt alive. Angry. Steal my thunder,
will you?
“Bravo
so far. No wonder your office is in my top five, Brad,” Mr. Kellen directed to
Ella’s supervisor, a man susceptible to big blue eyes and bouncy breasts.
“Thanks.
But this is all Lauren’s work, isn’t—What is that?”
On
the screen, a video of Lauren going down on Peter replaced two old men in
wheelchairs. Peter played with her hair while he had her suck him down. Then he
had her lick him in all manner of places before she begged him for an assf***
in that whiny, breathy tone that annoyed Ella to no end.
“Oh
my God.” Lauren gasped. “That’s not me. It’s not!”
Two
more men
walked into the bedroom with Lauren and Peter and joined in the fun. The scene
had never actually occurred, but deep down, Lauren had wondered what it might
be like. Thus, another secret spilled to the big screen.
“Lauren!”
Brad sounded shocked.
Ella’s
head pounded, but she kept filming with her cell phone, wanting to immortalize
the moment. Was it wrong to take comfort in Lauren’s misery?
Who
the hell cared?
Mr.
Kellen had yet to blink. No one at the table or in the back said anything,
likely still in shock at the raw sex onscreen.
“It’s
not true,” Lauren said through tears as she fiddled with the computer, trying
desperately to shut it off and unplug it.
Not going to work, sweetie. Ella could sometimes affect
electronics, and today her gift worked on overdrive, a result of too much
stress. Her headache continued to grow, but pleasure over Lauren’s humiliation
made the pain more than tolerable.
I should win an Oscar for this
production.
The
room remained silent, while onscreen moans and groans filled the air. Not one
person even pretended to turn away, leave or try to help Lauren turn off the
computer.The video scene shifted to Lauren lying in Peter’s arms, still naked,
while she laughed about her colleagues at work. Then Peter suggested she don a
strap-on and get ready to ride him once more.
Too
bad that had also had been fantasy rather than reality.
Despite
being attractive, Peter had never seemed too adventurous. Sweet, kind, sexy and
hung, sure. Ella mourned the grand size of his cock. He would have been someone
to stave the tediousness for a while. But she had a hard time handling nice.
Even if he did have a nice package.
She
coughed to muffle a snicker.
~~
Now
sobbing and at her wit’s end to turn off the video, Lauren scrambled to
apologize. “I’m so embarrassed. None of this is real. It had to be Photoshopped
or something. They must have edited me into this—this pornographic movie.” She
hiccupped. “I’ve never seen any of those men before.”
Ella
had to say something.
“But, Lauren, isn’t Peter your boyfriend?”
Lauren’s
cheeks blanched. “He, well, no. I mean, I know him. But not like that. Someone
set me up. None of this is real!”
You got that right, witch.
“I
don’t know what to say, Lauren.” Brad’s voice shook. In shock or arousal, Ella
couldn’t tell. Her head was about to explode from exerting so much energy into
the computer as well as keeping it on.
But
she hadn’t had this much fun in ages.
Lauren
looked around, as if searching for support, and found none. When her gaze met
Ella’s, Ella feigned a sad face and shook her head in disappointment. She
stepped aside when Lauren ran out of the room in tears.
The
computer finally winked out. No one moved or said anything.
Then
one of the women giggled. Others started whispering, then the noise grew
deafening.
Ella
caught a few loud thoughts. Ha. She’s finally
getting hers after diming me out for being late.
Serves her right. My kid was sick a
few days, and Miss High and Mighty pulls rank on me then blames me for her
report errors. Please.
Take my promotion and this is what you
get. Hell, even Ella would have been a better fit. Lord knows she and I both
deserved it. Not Lauren Look-at-My-Tits Daley.
Oh man. If I’d known what a freak she
is, I wouldn’t have waited so long to ask her out. Wonder if she’d lick my
balls like that.
A
few other mental rumbles piled on until Ella’s eyes teared up. Her head
throbbed and she forced herself to shut down before she risked a bloody nose.
But God, had that been worth it.
She
followed the excited mob out of the conference room and went back to her
cubicle. She didn’t get much work done, but she only had to fake it another
hour before she escaped for the day.
Other Books in the Ethereal
Foes Series:
Dragons’ Demon: A Dragon’s Dream
Duncan’s Descent: A Demon’s Desire
Havoc & Hell: A Dragon’s Prize
I Dream of Dragons Vol. 1
About Marie
Harte:
Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way.
She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after.
Visit http://marieharte.com and fall in love.
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