Kaska means to make Matia the centerpiece in an erotic ritual to honor his
Dark god.
Matia of Ruza is one of the legendary Battlemaids -- a woman warrior who has
taken an oath of celibacy in service of the Maid of Light. When mercenary
Kaska of Artane helps Matia defeat a gang of brigands, the two become
partners.
Matia finds her oath of celibacy tested by her handsome Shieldmate’s
erotic appeal. But Kaska means to do more than test her. He worships the Dark
One, and he wants to make Matia the centerpiece in a sizzling erotic ritual in
honor of his god.
But first, he must defeat her in combat -- and win her heart.
EXCERPT
Kaska of Artane slowed his stallion to an easy amble. Prince Britar's fortress
lay a full day away, and he'd ridden poor Warbringer hard this past month. He
knew the Prince awaited the intelligence he'd gathered as a spy in neighboring
Trovan but laming his horse would serve no purpose.
Particularly with war on the horizon.
Besides, the last time Kaska had come this way, he'd had to battle the local
brigands. Two fell to his blade before the rest fled, but that left five. And
they might be in the mood for revenge. I don't care to ride headlong into an
ambush.
"Whoreson bastards!" A woman's roar of fury brought Kaska's head up. He drew
Warbringer to a prancing halt.
Swords clashed, interspaced with male taunts and laughter. The laughter had a
distinctly ugly note. The woman swore again, an edge of grim desperation in
her voice.
The thieves had found a new victim.
Kaska set his heels to Warbringer's flanks and thundered up the road toward
the sound. Rounding the bend, he saw five men fighting a lone female traveler
they'd managed to unhorse. He recognized the dented, rusted armor and unshaven
faces; it was indeed the same band of thieves.
But their victim was no common woman. Her armor and sword marked her as a
follower of the Maid of Light -- a female warrior. She was tall for a woman,
with a lithe, muscular build and pretty breasts barely contained by her
intricately embossed breastplate. Long black hair swirled around her face as
she spun and hacked at her tormentors with a slim sword designed for a woman's
hand.
One of the brigands already lay dead at her feet, but four others remained,
odds too great even for one of the legendary Battlemaids.
A grin of sheer, savage joy spread across Kaska's face. With a howl, he drew
the blade sheathed across his back and kicked Warbringer into a thundering
charge.
The nearest of the brigands whirled too late. Kaska took his head with a
single stroke.
Another of the men jumped at him, hacking for his thigh with an axe, but Kaska
spun Warbringer aside and thrust his blade into the thief's chest. The man
tumbled off the lethal point, gurgling out his life.
Meanwhile, the third brigand fell to the Battlemaid's sword. His head tumbled
from his shoulders.
The fourth man looked from Kaska to the thieves' would-be victim, calculated
the odds, and took to his heels.
Kaska snatched a dagger from his thigh sheath and hurled it at the coward with
an expert flip of his wrist. The man went down, the blade buried to the hilt
between his shoulder blades.
Scarcely breathing hard, Kaska turned to the maid. "Are you well?"
"Well enough." She studied him, her dark eyes level. There was a sharp and
elegant beauty to her face, with its broad, high cheekbones and square little
chin. Her lush mouth could inspire a monk to carnal fantasies.
"My thanks, warrior," she said at last in a low, husky voice, pushing the long
black hair out of her face. "There were too many of them for me to best
alone." She considered him, appraising the width of his chest and the strength
of his sword arm. Female appreciation lit her gaze, mixed with a warrior's
caution.
She had reason for that caution, for he meant to challenge her himself. He
worshiped the Dark One, and his god relished nothing as much as the moans of a
defeated Battlemaid.
Imagining the tight grip of her virgin ass, Kaska felt his cock swell behind
his loincloth.
Give her time to rest, and then…
Of course, the maid might well kill him instead, but looking at her long legs
and full, sweet breasts, Kaska thought it a chance well worth taking.
But as he opened his mouth to warn her of his intent, all color left the
Battlemaid's face. Her eyes rolled up. Kaska threw himself from Warbringer's
back as she collapsed in a heap.
Two long strides carried him to the maid's side. Dropping to one knee on the
dusty road, Kaska began an anxious examination. He found no wounds on the
front of her body, so he rolled her onto her back.
The maid groaned and lifted her head. "Wha -?"
"Seems one of your cur attackers landed a blow after all," he told her grimly.
"There's a stab wound in your back just under your backplate, over your left
hip."
"Aye," she said, letting her head fall. "One of them had a dagger."
"'Tis not deep, but it bleeds still," Kaska said. "I can treat it, if you
permit."
"Aye," the maid said, breathing now in shallow pants. "My thanks."
Kaska nodded and rose to retrieve his pack of battlefield medicines from
Warbringer. Well, he thought as he walked to his horse, I won't be challenging
her any time soon. Not with that wound.
Later, perhaps. When he'd examined her, he'd noticed she had a truly delicious
ass.
He wanted it.
About the Author
New York Times best-selling author Angela Knight has written and
published more than sixty novels, novellas, and ebooks, including the
Mageverse and Merlin’s Legacy series. With a career spanning more than
two decades, Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine has awarded her their Career
Achievement award in Paranormal Romance, as well as two Reviewers’
Choice awards for Best Erotic Romance and Best Werewolf Romance.
Angela is currently a writer, editor, and cover artist for Changeling Press
LLC. She also teaches online writing courses. Besides her fiction work,
Angela’s writing career includes a decade as an award-winning South
Carolina newspaper reporter. She lives in South Carolina with her husband,
Michael, a thirty-year police veteran and detective with a local police
department.
Author on Facebook
Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @changelingpress
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