Beguiled
by Saloni Quinby
Format(s): Ebook
Heat Level: Erotic
Pairing(s): (M/M)
Genre/Themes: Paranormal
Length: Collection
Cover Art: Karen Fox
Purchase Links: Changeling Press
In a world where only the strongest survive, these warriors will risk their lives to bring peace and hope to their peoples.
Bobbi and the Beast: Once upon a time, there was a handsome king who trusted no one. Then a vengeful witch placed a curse upon him, turning him into a beast by night. Shunned and feared, the king learned the meaning of true loneliness. Only Bobbi’s gift of body and soul can save Gideon from the curse of the beast.
Swordmaster: A prince and a swordsman are nearly destroyed by their love. Three unstoppable loves emerge from the wreckage of an evil ruler’s manipulations to forever change the kingdom of Alistwall.
Tiger Fork: A man-tiger stalks the forest near a village living in fear. To destroy the beast, they send the warrior Han, who wields the tiger fork, a weapon from ancient Earth. Together they will risk their lives to bring peace to their two warring worlds. Will they succeed, or will the lovers be forced to destroy each other?
Publisher’s Note: Beguiled (Box Set) Contains the previously published novellas Bobbi and the Beast, Swordmaster, Part 1 and Part 2, and Tiger Fork.
Excerpt:
The man-tiger’s labored breathing and growls echoed behind him. The beast was getting closer.
They’d fought twice already tonight. Han had bandaged his forearm where the creature’s claws had swiped him. He’d lost enough blood to weaken him, but not as much as the man-tiger had lost. Known for his talent with a weapon used in ancient times, when humans and man-tigers fought frequently, Han had wielded the tiger fork — three iron prongs on the end of a staff — with deadly skill tonight. Surprisingly, the man-tiger had evaded a fatal blow.
The armed man and savage beast were almost a perfect match. They had driven themselves to their limits and soon — very soon — their battle would end.
It must end.
Han stopped abruptly and the man-tiger, his black and gold coat matted with dirt and blood, pounced into the clearing and landed in a squat. His powerful muscles rippled and he roared, exposing his gleaming white fangs.
Tightening his grip on his tiger fork, Han faced his enemy.
The man-tiger’s eyes were startlingly human — slanted and glistening green in the moonlight that shone into the clearing. In these final moments before the end of their battle, Han realized how magnificent this creature was. Unfortunately he was more beast than man. He was wild, existing on raw power and pure instinct. Han almost wished there was another way to settle their differences, but he had no choice. For the sake of his people and for his own survival, he must kill the man-tiger.
The beast attacked first and Han maneuvered his weapon, jabbing and feinting, manipulating the man-tiger into his desired position. Then he drove the creature back and with a roar of surprise and rage it dropped into the deadly trap Han had prepared days ago.
To Han’s dismay, the man-tiger caught hold of several twisted vines attached to a nearby tree. He clung to them, trying to pull himself out of the hole in the ground before he fell onto the dozens of spikes below. Han had concealed the trap well, covering it with branches and leaves. Just as he’d hoped, in the heat of battle, the man-tiger hadn’t noticed it. It should have ensured his death — a grotesque and painful one for such a majestic rival, but Han’s demise would have been no less horrible if the man-tiger had won the fight.
Now all Han had to do was finish it.
Still clinging to his tiger fork, he walked toward the beast who struggled, weakened by his wounds and loss of blood. The vines started to snap beneath his weight and he sank a little deeper into the hole. He paused, panting, and lifted his gaze toward Han.
They stared at each other for several heartbeats. Then the man-tiger did something unexpected. His face and form shifted and changed until, within seconds, Han faced a man who looked every bit as human as Han himself.
Reviews:
For Tiger Fork:
“Han and Bo’s romance is erotic but with a nice emotional element… the romance is well balanced… TIGER FORK is a good MM novella that I enjoyed and recommend to other readers.”
— J9, The Romance Reviews
