Book Two in the award-winning Dragon's Heir series
Lara's back -- but this time, she has three dragons to handle!
Not only has Lara Sutherland learned she's actually Elara Southerlin, the Dragon Queen's daughter, but she also has two gorgeous, passionate lovers in Darrek and Rand. Oh, and she can shapeshift into a dragon -- how cool is that?
But Lara is about to enter khef, the overwhelming mating frenzy that overtakes dragons. And that means that, like it or not, she is going to have to choose a life-mate. She loves both her handsome lovers --- but she isn't in love with either Darrek or Rand. How can she bring herself to choose between them? Will the pressures of khef destroy not only her chance of happiness, but theirs as well?
Or is there some truth to the dream that haunts her -- the fantasy of a powerful dragon lover who will fulfill all the desires of her body and heart?
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Reviews
Best Fantasy of 2006! -- Love Romances Cafe Reader's Choice Awards
5 Roses! "Dragon's Heir has all the intense erotic sensuality of the first in the series while adding to the blaze. Sierra Dafoe excels at creating a magical world that feels real." -- Sensual Reads & Reviews
5 Ribbons! "An enthralling and moving love story, which tugs at the heartstrings and captures the imagination of the reader from the very first page. Congratulations to Ms. Dafoe, who has once again proven to us all just why she is an award-winning author." -- Romance Junkies
5 Kisses! "Sierra Dafoe outdid herself yet again with this stunningly intriguing tale of fantasy, vengeance, passion, and love. Do NOT hesitate to buy Dragon's Heir immediately, devour it, and then return for a second reading." -- Two Lips Reviews
5 Hearts! "[F]ull of steamy sex...but it also shows the honor, commitment and deeper feelings the heroes and heroine feel for each other and their kingdom." -- The Romance Studio
As soon as the door shut, Lara moved. Tugging on her clothes, she tied her boots together by their laces and slung them around her neck. Then she swung her leg over the sill of an arch and gingerly let herself down.
Wind Castle was perched like an aerie high on the peak of Mount Anduth. There was no courtyard around it, no pathway curving up -- everyone who approached it did so in dragon form.
But the palace itself was only one story tall -- it needed no additional height. You could see all the four corners of the realm from its many arches, from the glittering eastern sea beyond the Aurorean lands, to the vast golden plains of the southlands, the deep, endless forests of Gerdain's dominion.
You could also see, if you craned your neck downward, the broken, tumbled sides of a steep valley, running down Anduth's western face to the lower peaks below.
Lara was less terrified of that precipitous descent than she was of the mating lust beating in her loins. She'd rather risk the climb than feel that madness battering her again, driving her into a frenzy in which she'd willingly watch the two men she cared for most deeply tear each other apart for her sake.
Carefully, she found footholds with her bare toes, digging them into the crevices between the massive blocks of the foundation. Then the sole of her foot touched thin, crusted snow -- she was down. Stopping only to pull on her boots, Lara lay flat on her stomach and lowered herself over the edge of the cliff.
Stones bounced away beneath her seeking feet as she clambered carefully, feeling her way. Then the cliff face seemed to crumble around her, and she was sliding, bruised and battered by the rocks tumbling with her, the dirt and dust they kicked up filling her mouth, her nose, her eyes... Scrabbling, she fought for a handhold, a foothold -- there was nothing.
Then a boulder caught her, knocking the breath from her lungs, and she clung there desperately, gasping, her heart thundering in her chest as the landslide boomed and clattered into the darkness below.
Shuddering, Lara panted, trying to work up the courage to leave her fragile perch. Staring up, she tried to see how far she'd slid -- but the ridge above her was indistinct in the blackness. There was no knowing. And no help, either. There was nothing to do but go on.
Finally, gritting her chattering teeth, she swung her leg past the boulder, feeling for a grip. Her foot brushed a projection -- she stepped down harder -- the rock crumbled away beneath her, ripping her hands from the boulder, and her head slammed against an outcropping, sending white streaks bursting behind her eyes.
She was falling, falling, her screams thin and shrill in the empty mountain air. A wrenching roar filled her ears, as if the night itself was ripping open above her. Wind buffeted her, tossing her on the air, and something plunged out of the darkness, seizing her in sharp, piercing claws.
Invisible wings flapped above her, and she caught a last, hazy glimpse of Wind Castle, its white walls and soaring columns glimmering faintly in the dark, before the world whirled silently away.
