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Category: Erotica/Erotic Romance
Description: What happened after the fairy godmother got a Prince Charming for Cinderella? She went out and got her own, of course. Dragon's Bane is the story of Cinderella's fairy godmother, Adara Tremeirchion. Adara is the youngest--and most successful--fairy godmother in the realm. But she has made an enemy of Cinderella's wicked stepmother. Ruarc of Melthione is a prince of the kingdom that neighbors Prince Charming's. He, too, is on the stepmother's "hit" list, cursed by her to be a dragon by night. To protect those he loves, he exhiles himself to The Hinterlands, where the dragons live. Adara and Ruarc end up in dragonland together, and together must find the way to return to their lives and save Cinderella and the prince once again from the stepmother's wicked intent.
eBook Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press, 2006
eBookwise Release Date: August 2006

78 Reader Ratings:

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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [105 KB]
Words: 24099
Reading time: 68-96 min.

"Sherrill Quinn spins an intriguing story set in erotic fantasy splendor. Adara and Ruarc make a scorching couple you will be rooting for from the very beginning. For those of us who always suspected fairy tales of having a little darker edge--Dragon's Bane is for you."--Connie, Romance Reviews Today

Chapter 1

"Really, I don't want..." Adara Tremeirchion slapped her companion's roving hands yet again. What had Francesca been thinking to set her up on this date?

A hand slid up her thigh and she picked it up by the thumb and thrust it away. "No! I mean it."

"Aw, come on, Adara. You know you want me." Her companion pushed his chair closer, blocking the view of the other patrons in the busy pub. He tilted his head so the light caught and danced across the golden blond strands of his hair. When she caught him glancing at his reflection in the mirror over the bar, she rolled her eyes. She'd admit that he was a handsome rogue. But he knew it and that was a turn-off for her.

She was twenty-six years old and still a virgin. She wanted to find a man who would love her with a passionate, endless love. A man who was strong and brave and had a body to die for, but wasn't vain. A man who would please his woman because he wanted to, not because he wanted something from her.

This guy wasn't it.

"I don't want you," she said, batting at his hands.

One big hand grabbed both her wrists and held them. His other hand fondled her breasts. "Francesca said you'd play hard to get. Said I'd have to cajole you."

"You call this cajoling?" Adara shook her head. Men. Why couldn't she find just one who knew the difference between seduction and mauling?

"Yes, well, I'd say this is far more than playing hard to get. Darling, you're the most frigid woman I've ever met. A real ice queen."

That was just downright mean. She knew the Ice Queen, and she wasn't a pleasant person. Enough was enough. She'd tried to be nice, but he wasn't listening. Fine. She'd show him exactly why she was the youngest fairy godmother in the realm.

With the blink of one eye, she summoned her magic and threw him across the room. Everyone quieted and looked first at the big man lying unconscious against the back wall, then back at her. She smiled and rose from her chair, standing as tall as her five foot four inch frame would allow, and gathered her handbag. "No means no," she said loudly enough for everyone to hear.

The men in the pub raised their eyebrows and then, almost as one person, they turned back to their dinners, shoulders hunched. The women smiled at her, giving her an unvoiced approval. Adara felt like she'd scored one for womankind everywhere.

Now, she had a job to finish. She just needed to dust off her "old lady" outfit, and finish her matchmaking with Cinderella and her handsome prince.

"Calm down, Adara." The short, somewhat stout woman took Adara's arm and led her to a comfortable wingback chair, urging her to sit. "How was I to know he'd turn out to be such a toad?"

Adara was so worked up, she could hardly sit still. "How could you not know, Francesca? His hands were everywhere!"

"Well ... So what?"

"So what? So what!?" Adara jumped up and paced. Her arms waved in agitation as she sputtered, "He was despicable. Conceited. Mean."

Francesca hucked up her skirts and sat in the abandoned wingback. The chair shrunk to fit her smaller contours and she wiggled until she was comfortable. "Well, my original idea was sound. You need a man."

Adara stopped and stared at her mentor. "I am fine just the way I am. Francesca, why can't you just leave me be on this?"

"It's not natural," the older woman muttered, "this fixation on staying a virgin." She stood and walked to a shelving unit that held dozens of glass and clay jars. She took her wand from a lower shelf and turned to face her protégé. She sighed at catching sight of the confusion Adara knew must be written all over her face.

Francesca flicked her wand and, in the blink of an eye, a naked man stood between the two women. He faced the older woman, leaving Adara the rear view, so to speak.

And what a view it was. She knew she should probably appreciate the long, lean line of his back and the muscled breadth of his incredible shoulders, and even the strength of his powerful thighs. All she could look at was his taut, rounded ass.

"There." Francesca walked around to Adara's side, and the man turned as well. Adara felt her eyes widen when his penis came into view. She got a peripheral impression of a hard abdomen and dark blond hair smattering a trail over his muscled chest, but her gaze was riveted on his cock.

"At first, the other Sisters kept telling me you needed a man. Then they thought perhaps you didn't like men," her mentor said, her tone gleeful now that she could prove them wrong. "I can see you do. Touch him."