While we wait for Dark Fire (Releasing on June 12th! Woot!), I’m sharing the first chapter with you.
Read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6383
Today, I’m sharing the second scene.
He turned and stomped down the stairs. Gazes lifted to him as he descended. Warriors greeted him warmly. They didn’t view him as an outcast.
Females smiled and waved at him. He smiled back. They tittered behind their hands. He didn’t stop moving.
They weren’t his female. Although he was in no hurry to find his mate, he wouldn’t be untrue to her. She already had all of him – his beast, his humanoid, his body, his soul.
He stalked through the settlement. Merchants called out, trying to attract customers for their containers, weapons, and other goods. A pleasure worker negotiated with a bearded male, flashing her three breasts in a bid to increase her price.
Metal clanged against metal as two males fought, sparks flying from where their swords connected. Blood dripped on the white sand, the scent exciting Dare’s Drache. The males’ forms were covered in gashes and cuts. One of them limped, his thigh cut to the bone.
As long as they didn’t kill their opponent, Kralj would look the other way, allow them to work out their differences. If someone did die, breaking one of the Refuge’s few rules, the killer’s body would be added to the display of corpses impaled on spikes outside the settlement’s walls.
Kralj’s justice was swift and inescapable.
Dare respected that and his Drache enjoyed the violence, the wildness, the unpredictability. It was now awake and fully aware, pacing inside him. The scents of battle and sex filled his nostrils. Blood rushed through his veins.
He neared the beverage outlet, which served as the Refuge’s command center. A presence barreled toward him, detectable only by the air being displaced.
Dare extended his claws, raised them to block the assault. Another set of claws caught his. His attacker grunted, tried to push him forward. Dare, being bigger and stronger, propelled him backward.
“Your speed is increasing.” He softened the boy’s defeat with praise.
Hulagu’s scrawny form came into view. The boy was a Chamele, had the ability to disappear into the background. “I almost defeated you.”
“Almost.” Dare retracted his claws. He, and many of the other warriors in the settlement, had been training the kid. “Build your strength and you’ll be a worthy opponent.”
“I’m already a worthy opponent.” The boy swaggered, his bare feet kicking up sand. “I’m the greatest Warlord”—he paused—“in the settlement.”
Dare swallowed a laugh. The kid was currently the only Chamele Warlord in the settlement.
“Kralj asked me to meet with him.” Hulagu’s chest puffed with importance. “That’s how much he values my skills.”
Dare lowered his eyebrows. “Kralj asked me to meet with him also.” Why would the Ruler require both of them?
They entered the beverage outlet. Warriors lingered around the entrance, chatting, polishing weapons, their presence adding an extra layer of protection to the structure.
“We’re part of the same mission.” Hulagu grinned, his dark eyes lighting up. “It must require tearing the enemy apart.” The bloodthirsty Warlord-in-training spread his fingers, having not yet retracted his claws. A passing warrior turned his body to the side to avoid being gouged. “I like that.”
If the kid was correct, part of Dare’s mission would be ensuring Hulagu didn’t maim innocent victims. The Chamele was still learning how to use his natural weapons.
The doors to Kralj’s working chambers opened.
“I asked the two of you here for separate reasons.” The Ruler of the Refuge clarified that point right away.
Kralj was seated behind a horizontal support. Shadows shrouded his scarred face. Dita, the Ruler’s tiny human mate, sat beside him. The two of them were always together.
As Dracheon warriors and their mates were always together. A male without his female felt incomplete. Dare knew that truth well.
But he’d rather feel incomplete than guilty. His female had a better chance of remaining alive if they didn’t meet.
He was accustomed to the solitude, would survive it.
“Hulagu.” Kralj turned his focus on the kid.
“Yes, sir.” The Warlord-in-training straightened, pride and excitement radiating from his slight form.
“Your older brother, Oghul, communicated with me moments ago.” The Ruler relayed the information without emotion. “He and his warriors will be arriving in two planet rotations.”
“He’ll take me back to Chamele 2.” Hulagu wrinkled his nose. “Azalea won’t want to accompany me and I can’t leave without her. She’s my gerel, the light to my darkness.”
The kid’s mate had been brutally attacked outside the Refuge’s walls. Since then, she refused to leave the settlement.
But Hulagu, like Dare, had no choice about leaving. Their traditions dictated what they could do and what they couldn’t.
And one of the things they couldn’t do was stay on Carinae E.
Read the next installment (Available May 28th): http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=6392
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Dark Fire
What the Beast wants, the Beast gets.
Dare’s savage nature has made him an outcast among his kind. The silver-scaled Dracheon warrior can’t control his inner beast. It’s too strong. When his primitive instincts told him his destined mate was on Carinae E, he had no choice. He had to travel to the outlaw planet. There, he hoped to meet a female powerful enough to survive his Drache.
He finds Faylee, a delicate little human.
Faylee is the best thief on the planet. Everyone she encounters mistakes her for a young boy…except for a tall, shiny warrior from off-planet. When she gazes into Dare’s flame-filled eyes, he makes her feel, for the first time, like a desirable female. The fire-breathing male has her yearning for hot kisses, fierce embraces, and a future filled with love. She doesn’t realize mating with him might be the last thing she ever does.
Dare’s beast isn’t the only danger on the planet. An enemy from the past has returned and he’s determined to stop Dare and Faylee…permanently. They’ll need luck and the assistance of every warrior in the Refuge to stay alive.
Dark Fire is a STANDALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
Pre-order Today:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Fire-Refuge-Book-4-ebook/dp/B07CW2Y8B7/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Fire-Refuge-Book-4-ebook/dp/B07CW2Y8B7/
Apple/iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-fire/id1381353384
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-fire-cynthia-sax/1128614574
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-fire-22
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/824382
