Dating a Dragon (Love Bites: A Dating Agency for Paranormals) by Abbey MacMunn ➱ Release Tour with Giveaway
Excerpt 1
The sugary scent of magic filled
the air, the aroma like that of an old-fashioned sweet shop.
Kat had smelt magic before—her
witchy best friend used magic on occasion—but this was different. Despite the
fading light, the forest took on a somehow enchanted atmosphere. The bluebells
seemed bluer, the leaves on the trees a brighter green—even the drizzle was
warm and pleasant. If the sun had been shining, she might think she’d walked
right into the pages of a fairytale picture book, but that was daft, right?
She forgot how to breathe.
The guy’s full lips parted
slightly, his striking eyes filled with hope, with expectation.
Did she know him? Had they met
before? He wasn’t smiling, but somehow she knew the way his mouth would curl as
he grinned, how one side would lift slightly higher than the other, and she
knew how that smile would make a dimple appear in his right cheek, denting his
flawless skin.
A movement to her left forced her
attention elsewhere. Her Westie appeared, wagging his tail excitedly. “Toby,
there you are.” Mud covered his paws and nose. “What have you been up to, you
little scamp?”
Toby scooted past her so fast she
couldn’t catch him, then made a beeline for the guy.
Her dog yapped and wagged his tail
like he was greeting a long-lost friend.
The guy scooped Toby into his
arms. Her dog licked his handsome face. “Hey there, boy.” He ruffled Toby’s
ears and chuckled as he turned to face her.
And there it was—his heart-melting
smile, complete with the dimple in his cheek.
Blood pulsated in her ears,
drowning all sounds of the forest. Her heart beat a frantic rhythm inside her
chest.
Did she know him from one of her
previous lives? Did he know her… intimately?
Excerpt 2
Kat entered the crowded pub and
searched the bar area where she was supposed to meet her date, Egan.
She gasped, stopping mid-step.
Even before he turned around, she
recognised him. But it wasn’t Egan.
No, the guy perched on a barstool
had blue-black, wavy hair—like the hot, fantasy guy she’d sort of met
yesterday.
Her gaze focused on his broad
shoulders. The last time she got a glimpse of those shoulders, they’d been
bare, not covered by a turquoise-blue casual shirt she was sure would bring out
the striking colour of his eyes.
As she approached the bar, his
back stiffened. He turned around slowly. The same sugary scent of magic wafted
around her as it had in the forest where she’d lost her dog.
Yes, it was him all right.
Kat blanked him, reminding herself
she was here on a date with Egan. The half-dragon. If she could find him.
She searched the crowd. No sign of
this Egan guy. He was late. She hated people who were late.
Hyperaware of fantasy guy’s gaze
boring into her, she tried to grab the attention of the barman. Did he
recognise her? She’d been wearing a hood yesterday, and his view had been
partially obscured by the bush he hid behind.
Naked.
Her cheeks warmed, much to her
annoyance.
“Hello,” he said. The mere sound
of his voice made her belly flip.
She gave him a fleeting glance,
pretending she’d not noticed him until now.
“Hi.” Kat swallowed, then tried to
get the barman’s attention again. She needed a drink.
“Do you remember me?”
She went for total ignorance. “No,
should I?”
“In the woods yesterday? I rescued
your dog, Toby. How is he after his little adventure?”
Kat turned to face him,
deliberately taking her time in appraising him. He wore smart jeans, the navy
denim clinging to barrelled thighs, and she’d been right about the blue shirt
bringing out the colour of his eyes. Topaz-blue eyes that hinted at wickedness
and sin.
“Oh yeah, I do remember now,” she
said nonchalantly, arching a brow. “I didn’t recognise you with your clothes
on.”
His face broke into a smile,
producing a dimple that dented his cheek. “Yeah, sorry about that. Please, let
me buy you a drink by way of an apology.”
That was it? He wasn’t going to
explain why he was naked? “No, thanks. I’m supposed to be meeting someone, but
he’s not here yet.”
“No, he won’t be. Egan can’t make
it.”
“Wait, you know Egan?” Sexy,
mysterious, fantasy guy suddenly got even more interesting.
“Yes, I know Egan.”
“Couldn’t he have sent me a
message?”
“It was a sudden thing. A bug, I
think, or something he ate.”
No, what he meant was, she’d been
stood up, and the half-dragon had sent his friend to soften the blow. She had
no complaints. “Okay, no big deal.”
“Since you’re here, would you like
to have a drink with me instead?”
Hell yes. “Won’t Egan mind?
Do you two not have a friend's code?”
“I don’t know what that is, but
no, Egan won’t mind. In fact, he suggested I come in his place.”
Yep, definitely stood up. “He did?
You must be close.”
“We are. Like brothers, you might
say.”
Kat regarded him for a moment,
trying to think of why she shouldn’t have a drink with him, but she had
nothing. Nothing except the same weird feeling of knowing him, perhaps from one
of her previous lives. Damn amnesia. “Okay, I suppose one drink won’t
hurt.”
Excerpt 3
Phoenix soared through the clouds,
the cool breeze fanning his dragon wings. Heavy rain rolled off his obsidian
scales, but he didn’t care. Flying was his guilty pleasure, his sanctuary, but
even with the magic veil that hid his dragon form from the humans, he still had
to be wary.
“Hey, Nix, slow down,” said Egan,
circling him. “What’s up?”
With a downward thrust of his
wings, Nix ignored his brother and flew above the clouds, towards the sun that
shone low in the sky to the west. Egan meant well, but there was nothing he
could say or do to lighten his mood today.
It sometimes happened if he
allowed it, the soul-destroying despair that clawed incessantly at his heart,
ripping it a little more with each passing year. Most of the time, he coped
with the loss, got on with his life, such as it was, but today felt like it was
all an act, a cruel waiting game doomed never to end.
He spread his powerful wings
wider, purposely causing a shift in the airflow and breaking the aerodynamics
of Egan’s flight path. His half-brother was no match for him, but it didn’t
stop him from trying.
“Watch out, you idiot!” Egan’s
laughter carried on the wind. His wings twisted against the downward draft, and
he dropped several metres into the clouds.
Nix soared higher still, leaving
Egan below.
The wind buffered against his
scaly skin and horn-tipped wings. He breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with
the sweet air, relishing the warmth of the sun on his face, but it wasn’t
enough.
What’s the point of eternal life without her?
Last time their souls had crossed
paths, he’d imagined there had been a glimmer of recognition. He’d seen nothing
more than the hint of memory in her eyes, but it was enough to give him hope
that her next reincarnation would be the one where she would finally recognise
him. She would remember their simple, beautiful life together before that
jealous bitch of a sorceress had cursed them.
His stomach cinched at the memory,
and he caved to the anger and frustration. He needed to reach the air where it
got thinner and made it difficult to breathe—the sweetest air. Just a taste to
erase the memory, if only for the briefest time, then he’d come back down.
Extending his black, iridescent
wings to their full span, he soared upwards.
“Phoenix, you’re going too high,”
his brother warned.
“Leave me alone, Egan!” he
snarled, his dragon voice similar to his human one but raspier and with an
occasional wisp of smoke puffing from his lips.
Egan tried to match his tempo, but
his smaller dragon wings were barely strong enough to carry his human body.
“Come down. We’ll talk.”
Nix tore through the air, beating
his wings harder, faster, as he continued his ascent. “There’s no point to any
of this. It’s been almost a hundred years since her last reincarnation, and I
still haven’t found her.” He’d come out of this dark abyss soon; he always did,
but right now, he needed to forget everything.
“You will find her, Nix,” Egan
shouted from below. “It’s just a matter of time. You have to be patient.”
“I’m done with being patient.” His
very soul ached to see her beautiful face again, but he refused to let the hope
diminish because hope was all he had.
The air thinned. He closed his
eyes, retracted his wings and let them fold onto his back, then succumbed to
the thrill of freefall.
Out of nowhere, something smashed
into his shoulder. Pain forced his eyes open. Wind thundered in his ears as he
nose-dived through the clouds and towards the woods that loomed below.
Shit.
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