Not me. Cackle. But we came in Runner Up! Not bad at all! Thank you to all who voted for me and believed in my series. I can’t believe I was nominated let alone came so far. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, Loves. Here’s looking at next year! *g* Ohh… and I get a snazzy little button too! WOOT! Thank you, Love Romances, Cafe! See you again next year… I hope and pray! LOL
Just when you thought I was done with series, here comes another one!
The Dragon Stone series is an Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, kind of Contemporary epic that even had me on the edge of my seat until it was complete.
Growing up, I always adored my fantasy books and fantasies. It was my go-to escapism and that hasn’t changed as I grew into an adult… well, kind of an adult. LOL I finally decided to hop in it all again in a huge way and I got to play with a race that has been near and dear to my little heart since I first played Dungeons and Dragons… The Dhrow. The original title for the book was The Dhrow and the Dragon, two great things that play great together but our of that The Dragon Stone series was born. My goal was to make you all laugh and cry and want to visit this world again. I know I plan to visit this world agin but until that time, I give you Vulwin Valas and the dragon known as Iffear.
His Shining Majesty, King of the Dhrovish Throne, has one son, the Silver Prince Vulwin Valas who is a prince, a strategist, a warrior, and a… model?
In the human world, Prince Vulwin Valas is known as Win Arcarius, openly gay, very promiscuous, and one of the most highly sought-after models ever. To the Fae Realms, he is known as the Silver Shadow, the King’s assassin, and someone not to be crossed.
A routine visit home suddenly becomes more complicated, and Vulwin finds himself with a new mate, a new enemy, and a future he never considered before with… a dragon.
Iffear comes to Vulwin at his most vulnerable, but as magical enemies and a plot to destroy the Dhrovish throne make themselves known, the newly mated couple finds themselves drawing closer together in order to survive.
Dragon Stone (Dragon 1)
Stephanie Burke
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2018 Stephanie Burke
Vulwin would have never noticed the male if it hadn’t been for the cat.
Really, in this age of mass hysteria about the agents of evil, who was brave enough to walk around with a cat in tow? And not only that, the cat was huge, black, and definitely noticeable.
The second thing he noticed was the chains around the male’s wrists, waist, and neck — rather his corded waist, very thick wrists, and a neck that was exposed due to his lack of hair.
He didn’t have a chance to contemplate this event further because his king, with a boding voice, bade him approach. He entered the audience chamber and ignored the massive set of silver doors that slammed shut behind him.
“I see you have returned to us from the realm of man.” The king eyed him from the top of his tousled hair to his bare feet. “Unscathed?”
Vulwin nodded, standing tall before his king. “That I have, Your Shining Majesty.” Vulwin wanted to smirk at the man, indeed he did, but common sense prevailed and he contained his amusement at this old familiar back and forth.
“Strip.” The order was given negligently as the king turned to speak to one of his many advisors.
Vulwin looked around the chamber. Some things never changed. His king’s pet crows still perched along the rafters of the dimly lit room. A mixture of candles and old fashioned gas lights gave the whole chamber a yellow tinge, while burning incense took away that odd smell that filled the chambers because of the gas lights.
This audience chamber was dominated by the huge circular throne platform. It stretched along the back wall, its concave design dominating the small room. In the center sat the highest chair, the throne of the king, draped in furs and embroidered silks given as tribute from faraway lands. On either side of the throne sat two chairs, one for each of His Majesty’s advisors who helped him maintain peace and order in the realms.
Knowing that he would be ignored until he complied, Vulwin let go of the human glamour he wore, his long, pale gold hair disappearing with a subtle flow of light, lengthening until it became the knee-length silvery white that helped lend him his second name, Valas — silver in the old tongue.
As the light passed over his body, it took along with it his human skin tone — the pale gold that humans called albino and that his human manager found attractive — and in its place his natural skin bled through.
Valas was proud of his skin tone, black as the starry night with a tracery of brilliant stars that gleamed when the light hit it just so. Others called his complexion speckled, the mark of a blessed child, and with his easy life he tended to agree with those old tales. No one else in the realm had skin like his and he was proud to show it off, a little miffed that his current assignment had him hiding it from prying eyes, but content to be smug about it when he was summoned to make his periodic trips home.
Removing the glamour was but the first step. With a wave of earth magic, he conjured from the floor a low table that sprouted forth like a small tree. It grew to about waist height and then Vulwin began to carefully remove the jewelry that adorned his body, starting with the delicate chains and hoops of gold that swung daintily from his long, pointed ears.
Unlike other Fae, the Dhrovish could be identified in an instant from the long, arching ears that rose up majestically from the sides of their heads. It was a point of pride to sport the most perfectly arched ears and the Dhrovish adorned them properly to show off their shape. He knew that Elvhenkind often looked down upon the Dhrovish for their midnight complexions and their large, ungainly ears, but he thought they were overcompensating for their lack by harping on the subject. Besides, a good, large set of ears generally meant that the Dhrow was sporting something thick and meaty between his thighs.
Oh yes, Vulwin Valas had a massive set of ears.
The necklaces of gold followed and the many rings that adorned his fingers and toes were removed next. Then the human clothing was carefully pulled off and folded, the long tunic of black silk, the loose fitting pants, and the anklets with their tiny bells.
He wore no underpants — he couldn’t get used to that human concession — so he stood there naked save for the thick swirl of ornate gold rings that encircled the base of his cock, his chastity device.
He stepped back from the conjured table and turned his gaze to his king…
Iffear comes to Vulwin at his most vulnerable, but as their magical enemies and a plot to destroy the Dhrovish throne make themselves known, the newly mated couple find themselves drawing closer together in order to survive.
Dragon Alliance (Dragon 2)
Stephanie Burke
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2019 Stephanie Burke
“So, this is nice.” In his human skin, Vulwin, aka Win Arcarius, was an unmistakable albino black man with long, pale blond hair and bi-colored eyes that were to die for — or at least that was what his agent believed. He looked around his new quarters and gave them an approving smile.
He was tall, sleekly muscled with large eyes, one green eye and one silver, that peered out at audiences from a set of lashes so long they looked like they had to be fake. His cheekbones were high, his lips were full, his skin was an extremely pale tan, and his attitude, like his clothing, was fierce.
Beside him walked his proud mate, his dragon, who was wearing a tight, white tank top, a pair of tight denim jeans, and the most kick-ass pair of black riding boots that the world had ever seen. Probably because they were Dhrow-made and designed with his protection in mind.
In comparison, Win looked ready for the runway in his long, flowing red tunic and loose black pants. He was wearing black leather sandals on his feet and was resplendent in his gold jewelry… huge bangles on his wrists, several delicate chains in his ears, and rings on every finger and toe. He was a model in every sense of the word, and walking into this upscale tattoo shop and piercing parlor was guaranteed to bring traffic to a halt.
Strutting before them was a tiny black cat, Chinsie, who looked more of the human kind of pet than anything she looked like Under the Hill. Around her neck was a spiked collar of gold, and she moved with the same protective attitude she had presented before. She was a bad-ass and she knew it.
Once inside the small brownstone mansion, Chinsie took off like a shot to a bay window covered in plush silence pillows, obviously her spot in the shop front room, and perched herself like royalty.
“I thought you said you’d be gone for a month, bossman,” the short woman behind a tall glass counter said as she put down a sketch pad, looked up, and –”Well I’ll be damned.” Her mouth dropped open when Iffear reached out and grabbed Win’s hand.
“Plans change,” he offered, his voice deep and gravelly and still enough to put a shiver in Win’s loins. Was there ever a case of a creature passing on being in heat to another creature of a different species? He still didn’t know, but damn, he was feeling like he was in rut around his mate. “This is –”
“Win Arcarius,” the woman managed, eyes growing wide in shock. “Supermodel and spokesman for about a bazillion products. I’m sure you know you’re beautiful, but do you know how beautiful you are?” While she spoke, she not so secretly pulled her phone off the counter and began taking shots of them.
The smile that spread across Win’s lips was genuine as he pulled Iffear in closer. “Thank you.” His voice was accented in a way that most humans could not place, though the companies he represented loved it. “It’s nice of you to say so.”
At their close contact, the woman’s smile became a smirk. “Vacation, boss? Going to Europe for a month or so? So is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“Mai,” Iffear groaned and Win smirked back at her. “What happened is none of your business.”
“Mai.” Win grinned. “I think I like your style.”
“Mai Wind,” she introduced herself, her purple-tipped afro adding height to her short stature. “Resident piercer and apprentice tattooist. And you better like my style. I’m wearing your name on my ass.” She hopped off her high stool and walked around to meet them, spinning around at the last minute to show the stylized WA on the back pocket of her pants. She turned to face them, holding out her hand as she drew closer. “And dare I pray you want to get your tongue pierced today? A nipple?” She pointed to his crotch. “Something in the lower region, perhaps?”
“I can’t take the time off from using my tongue to let it heal.” Win almost sounded disappointed as he shook her hand. “And if I can’t take the time to let my tongue heal, then anything lower is out of the question.”
“Ohh, kinky.” Mai chuckled before looking up at Iffear. “I hope he’s pulled you from your life of celibacy and popped your second virginity so you can stop being such a raging bitch.”
Win’s laughter was loud and obnoxious and he didn’t care. Talk about getting your roles reversed.
“Why do I like you?” Iffear snarked down at her, tapping her on the nose with his free hand. “And why haven’t I fired you yet?”
“Because I am the one who keeps your sorry ass organized. What would you do without me, boss?” She laughed, punching him lightly on the arm. “Like the time those drunk twin sorority girls –”
“So,” he spoke loudly over her, “This is my shop manager and main piercer, Mai Wind. She’s snarky.”
“I like snark.” Win chuckled.
“And Mai, this is Win Arcarius, my husband.”
Dragon Heart (Dragon 3)
Stephanie Burke
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2019 Stephanie Burke
“I will kill them all.” Vulwin wasted no time in breaking the magic circle he had created and stumbling down the stairs to his Dragon.
Mai hustled after him, looking as incensed as a Brownie could look as she flicked her fingers at him, cleaning him up and changing his clothes into a longer black tunic as he moved.
Vulwin had several things on his mind at the moment, but first he wanted to be with his mate. He left the wooden stairs and made it to the bedroom where Chinsie still sat beside a slumbering Iffear.
“Well, the link is broken to the chain and the poison,” Mai informed him as he moved into the bathroom. There was a popping sound and a smell of fresh herbs filled the air. “But you might want to bathe him to remove the rest. I have drawn a bath of elderberry, honeysuckle, plantain, and comfrey. It should soothe his pain and pull out what is left of the poisons in his system. I’m going to burn these sheets and change the bed… and then you can tell me what that grateful soul whispered to you.”
“A name, Mai,” Vulwin spoke softly as he unwound his Dragon from the blanket that encased him as Chinsie looked on. “It gave me a name.”
Mai tilted her head to the side and considered her friend’s mate for a moment. “I am to assume that this name will cease to be?”
“You can be assured that his direct line will cease to be,” Vulwin growled, but the aggression was restricted to his voice as he tenderly cradled his Dragon in his arms. His eyes filled with love as he stared down at Iffear.
“Bathe.” Mai waved her hand toward the waiting bath. “Get out and take your romantic nonsense with you. I have work to do. Chinsie and I are going to ward this house properly now that my secret is out.”
“Iffear didn’t know?” Vulwin pulled his eyes away from his mate long enough to ask.
“He suspected, but then he left me to my privacy. He gave me a choice. He has always given me choices. He’s cool like that.”
“Yes, he is,” Vulwin agreed before turning and exiting the room, his mate in arms, and he felt powerful Brownie magic begin to cleanse the air.
He had no idea how long he sat in the tub, cradling his mate close before Iffear jerked in his arms, his eyes snapping open.
“Settle,” Vulwin purred at Iffear, hugging him tighter to his chest. “Settle, my Dragon.”
“What happened?”
Vulwin smiled to discover not a hint of weakness in his mate’s voice. He watched, amazed, as Iffear sat up, his eyes traveling around the room, before he turned and centered his gaze onto him. “Vulwin?”
“You were poisoned.”
Iffear’s eyes widened at that before a low growl rolled from his throat. “How?”
His hand went to his chest, going to grip the amulet, and he started when he discovered that there was nothing there. Again his gaze went to Vulwin for an explanation.
“I sang it to rest, my Dragon. The soul is at peace.” Vulwin felt the tension leave his mate as he relaxed against him again.
“Yes.” Iffear was nodding. “I don’t feel its lure anymore, nor its cries of pain.” He looked up at Vulwin, his red eyes glittering in joy. “I thank you, my mate.”
“It was also how you were poisoned.” Vulwin knew that his voice had deepened in anger, but he couldn’t help himself. Someone had tried to make him suffer, to take away the one thing that he held most dear.
“It would not have killed me.” Iffear sniffed. “I am virtually indestructible, even more so with your protections holding me safe.” He waved the threat away. “It was a stupidity of their belief system and outdated information, I would assume.”
“Yet they did this to annoy me? To claim my vengeance? To start a war? It doesn’t make sense.” Vulwin reached out and pulled his Dragon into his arms, inhaling his scent, feeling his body warm and alive in his arms. “Why?”
“Miscalculation, I suppose.” Iffear hugged Vulwin back just as hard. “I am sorry I scared you.”
“Having a mate passing out mid-coitus will do that to a Dhrow.” Vulwin relented and joked a little, though he was still horrified at the thought of losing his mate. “You stole years of my life away.”
Iffear snorted, flicking him on the nose with a wet finger. “You haven’t even reached maturity yet, Dhrow. You have years to spare. And then you can’t start losing them until after our son is grown. Seeing you have a neat piece of contraception jewelry, um… thrust upon you, that won’t even happen until the king decides to release you.”
Iffear chuckled but stopped as Vulwin stiffened in his arms. “Say that again?”
“No son, because you haven’t reached your majority?” Iffear pulled back enough to look back up at him again. “Contraception ring?”
“It is not common knowledge that I have not yet reached the age of my majority,” Vulwin said carefully as his mind roared with plots and information and schemes. Being politically minded was a bitch some days, but in other ways it did more than make one suspicious of everyone else’s motives. Sometimes it pointed you in the correct direction whether you wanted it to or not.
Beleive it or not… I’m still getting my head around this one, I have been nominated for Love Romances Cafe Best Anthology/Box Set for How Not to Date Volume 2
Yes, there is great Dancing in the Streets and rejoicing in the house. I can dance if I want to! I look like a lame chicken doing the Tango, but I can dance! LOL
Here’s hoping for a win! Fingers crossed and the voting link is below! Thanks, Loves. I still has a big stupid grin. *g*
Has it been that long? Sheesh! I’ve got a lot of updates to share!
Since we last spoke a lot of things have happened… Books have been published, Publishing Houses have closed, and I have a huge backlog that needs new homes.
I completed the Sympathy for the Devil series too! How about that? Now there is a complete set! LOL
That’s not all I did. Remember Cocky-Gate and all of that stupidity? Well some of us at Changeling Press wanted to do something about that. So With A Whie… as in Cocky with a Whie was born. Yes, he is a computer programmer working on video games and has two huge problems… one is that he is in love with a fellow programmer who he thinks doesn’t notice him and the other huge problem is in his kilt cause pants can sometimes be uncomfortable. LOL
I have started a few new projects too.
I did an Urban Fantasy that mixed paranormal with the contemporary world complete with rules and troubles of its own. Man, I cannot write a peaceful world if I tried. I tried once and got zombies and death stalking the woods. Sad to say it was a children’s book too. My children who I was writing it for, were not amused. LOL
I digress… easily, I know, but I can admit my faults. So this book wound up being three books. Yup, I did an unintentional series that may have more coming. It’s called The Dragon Stone series… And I am itching to get back to that world. Dragons and Dhrows and war and politics… I made a few people sniffle over this one but they were happy tears, I swear! *g*
And I just completed the first book of a new series, The Mai-Fly Mysteries. This book has an interesting start. I promised my children when they hit 21 I’d write them a book. It was awesome because I could use their personalities. It was bad because… yeah, graphic sex scenes. I got over that by pretending they were not the characters I had written. it took a day, but I blotted out any points of familiarity with my daughter and her boyfriend through the use of crying, swearing, and pure obstinance and got the scenes done. Then I had a huge drink of rum. LOL The cover is coming and when I get it, I’ll post it all around. Until then know it’s… The Mai-Fly Mysteries: The Case of the Dead Frat Boy.
This one touches on some sensitive topics like date rape and use of drugs but nothing graphic. I am not into torture porn though some of my characters would disagree. *g* I feel it is important to discuss what is going on today in society as these issues affect all of us. That being said, it also contains a lot of action, some humor, and revenge. I like revenge stories. Comeupance can be a good thing in my book.
Now on to the more personal stuff. I’ve had a lot of medical things happen all at once so bear with me on this.
I ran from a doctors diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis. I mean, I already have Nail Patella Syndrome, Scoliosis, Fibromyalgia, Hyper-extension Mobility Syndrome, Arthritis, Spinal Stenosis, a moderate heart murmur, bad knees, and Costochondritis. I didn’t need anything more added on. But it got to the point where I could barely move. It takes me a lot of time to get up in the morning and the chronic pain is intense to the point where I can’t ignore it anymore. I got a new Rheumatologist and had a lot of tests done and now I can’t run from this diagnosis. The MRI found a few other issues I’ll be dealing with later but for now, I just want to help ease the back pain AS causes.
To that effect, I am now on Embril injections in addition to some mild antispasmatics. I am not in a hurry to go back into a heavy drug rotation again. Remember a few years ago when I couldn’t remember my name and could barely move I was so drugged up? I do so I am doing my best to stay functioning… even if it means killing my immune system a bit and having to dodge Den and Lani-Boo who things hunting me down and stabbing me in the butt with the injectors would be a good and fun thing to do. Sorry, no. They can pick a thigh and no hunting as long as I get an ice cube to deaden the burn a bit. LOL Yes, it burns a bit going in and makes me a kind of loopy. I take it at night now so I can sleep through the worst of the side effects. Takes about three months to see if it’s working and I have had four once a week injections already. Not seeing much change but I have time for it to work before we discuss trying something else. For now, putting my best face forward.
So… that’s about it. I am still working a bit slower than before but more organized. I am still fighting the good fight and eating junk food like there’s no tomorrow. Here’s hoping the meds will help and I can still Flash you all for years to come. *g*
Love you, Loves! Always and forever!
Flash
I blink and get hit with a new one… This is Raisa Greywood who is serving up some shifter wood… Damn…
I’m the last of the Andreyev tigers. My species is extinct, except for me. Tigers used to be considered royalty. Atlanta is cold and dark now, and no safe haven remains in the once vibrant city. The devastating solar storms a hundred years ago saw to that. There is no prey and no chance for a mate in this poisoned world. Hunger and attrition have no respect for the shifter hierarchy, though. I am empress of a dying empire.
Aliens from a place called Ximera offer safe haven for humans. They want mates, too, and they offer fresh air and green space. It’s very tempting, and my tiger is hungry. My misgivings are put to rest when I go to the Exodus Authority and see the face of my mate. He is arresting. Not human, but his otherness is enticing. Even through a vid screen his fathomless brown eyes bore into my soul, and I want him. He is mine. And I don’t give a rat’s ass about who I have to eat to get him.
