Jane Kindred - Bewitching The Dragon

One Night with a Dragon...

Ione Carlisle worked hard to be accepted by the Sedona Covent, but now everything is falling apart. Especially when she lets loose for a wild night on the town and ends up with the one man she should be avoiding at all costs—the man who came to Sedona to fire her. He ignites in her a carnal need that she can’t and won’t ignore...

Buttoned-up assayer Dev Gideon’s loyalty to the Leadership Council should be reason enough to resist Ione. Never mind that she stirs the ancient demon secretly bound within him. But their blood connection is undeniable. And now Dev must risk his reputation, and his soul, to save Ione from a vigilante intent on destroying her and the entire Covent, even if it means unleashing the monster inside.

“Your skin. It’s...” Dev looked down at their hands, where the live current seemed to dance between them.

“Electrifying?” Ione drew him to the couch. “Not bragging. You have the same effect on me. I think Kur’s blood has mixed with your own and it responds to the Lilith blood in mine. As mine does to yours.”

He sat beside her, bemused.

“I’m not sure what it means, but I’m not going to bother trying to figure it out right now. Suffice it to say, you’re the last person I should be attracted to. You’ve been sent to take everything away from me.”

“That’s not exactly—”

“And yet I find you irresistible.”

Dev ran his tongue along his bottom lip. “Well, I know this isn’t necessarily the wisest thing,” he said, rising and sweeping her up. He hiked up her skirt as she wrapped her legs around him. “But it is definitely what I need.”

JANE KINDRED is the author of the Demons of Elysium series of M/M erotic fantasy romance, the Looking Glass Gods dark fantasy tetralogy and the gothic paranormal romance The Lost Coast. Jane spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed.

Jane is represented by Sara Megibow of KT Literary.

Bewitching the Dragon

Jane Kindred

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For my big sisters, who may not always get why I write what I write but have always encouraged me to write it.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text One Night with a Dragon... Ione Carlisle worked hard to be accepted by the Sedona Covent, but now everything is falling apart. Especially when she lets loose for a wild night on the town and ends up with the one man she should be avoiding at all costs—the man who came to Sedona to fire her. He ignites in her a carnal need that she can’t and won’t ignore... Buttoned-up assayer Dev Gideon’s loyalty to the Leadership Council should be reason enough to resist Ione. Never mind that she stirs the ancient demon secretly bound within him. But their blood connection is undeniable. And now Dev must risk his reputation, and his soul, to save Ione from a vigilante intent on destroying her and the entire Covent, even if it means unleashing the monster inside.

Introduction “Your skin. It’s...” Dev looked down at their hands, where the live current seemed to dance between them. “Electrifying?” Ione drew him to the couch. “Not bragging. You have the same effect on me. I think Kur’s blood has mixed with your own and it responds to the Lilith blood in mine. As mine does to yours.” He sat beside her, bemused. “I’m not sure what it means, but I’m not going to bother trying to figure it out right now. Suffice it to say, you’re the last person I should be attracted to. You’ve been sent to take everything away from me.” “That’s not exactly—” “And yet I find you irresistible.” Dev ran his tongue along his bottom lip. “Well, I know this isn’t necessarily the wisest thing,” he said, rising and sweeping her up. He hiked up her skirt as she wrapped her legs around him. “But it is definitely what I need.”

About the Author JANE KINDRED is the author of the Demons of Elysium series of M/M erotic fantasy romance, the Looking Glass Gods dark fantasy tetralogy and the gothic paranormal romance The Lost Coast. Jane spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed. Jane is represented by Sara Megibow of KT Literary.

Title Page Bewitching the Dragon Jane Kindred www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication For my big sisters, who may not always get why I write what I write but have always encouraged me to write it.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

There was another dead crow on her doorstep this morning. A piece of red thread encircled its neck, not as though it had been the instrument of the crow’s death but as a macabre decoration, tied into a neat bow. After finding the dead birds three days in a row, Ione had come out to get the paper this morning armed with a pair of disposable latex gloves and a small paper sack.

Given the time of year, she might have assumed this was some practical joke from a neighborhood kid, maybe someone who knew she was a high priestess in the Craft. A setup, in poor taste, for a Halloween trick of which Ione was the punch line.

But it was no mystery who was behind this. This was a message from her ex. Carter Hanson Hamilton was up to his old tricks.

With the crow carefully deposited into the paper bag, she carried it around the side of the house to the outdoor altar—which did double duty as a brick-enclosed barbecue pit—and performed the Dispersal of Energy ritual to nullify whatever magical influence Carter might have in mind with these little gifts. The smell of smoke from the small blaze in the pit wouldn’t be completely out of season. Though the air was sharp and crisp this morning, it hadn’t quite gotten cool enough for a fire, but it was only a little late for a barbecue.

“Go in peace,” Ione murmured as she finished the ritual. She wasn’t sure if birds had spirits, but it couldn’t hurt to commend this one’s to a better rest.

The “Gladys Kravitz” of the Village of Oak Creek was watching her through the blinds of the house across the street as Ione came back around to the front. Ione gave her an exaggerated wave from the porch in her bathrobe and slippers. The blinds snapped shut. Maybe Ione had watched too much Bewitched on TV Land, but that woman was a dead ringer for Samantha Stevens’s nosy neighbor.