The Stone Initiation
Debbie Cassidy
(Gargoyles of Stonehaven, #1)
Publication date: May 11th 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
There’s no place for a half blood at the gargoyle table.
I’ve been a shameful secret all my life. Shunned by my pureblood gargoyle father to keep up appearances. But it never mattered because I had Romi.
My half-brother. My best friend. My true family.
Until death took him from me.
They say it was an accident. I say that’s bull.
They’re hiding something, and the only way to get to the truth is to step into Romi’s world.
Stonehaven Academy is where Romi worked with his elite guard to hone the next generation of warriors, and it’s where I’ll find my answers.
A world where I’ll be pitted against pureblood gargoyles and not expected to survive. A world of secrets, revelations, and forbidden fruit in the form of Serath—the lethally beautiful sigma leader of the elite team.
If I want answers, I’ll need to get close to the sigma. I’ll need to play with fire and be prepared to get burned.
But there’s a reason Serath is off limits.
A reason, that could mean the difference between life and death.
Because the Stone Council is hiding a horrific truth.
One, that if revealed, could tear our world apart.
The Stone Initiation is the first book in the Gargoyles of Stonehaven series. A Paranormal MF Romance featuring a strong female lead and a sizzlingly tempting gargoyle hero.
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EXCERPT:
I leapt back as something large and gray swooped at me, and the next moment I was in its grip, boots off the ground and airborne.
“Cam!” My friends’ cries drifted away as every sense in my body focused on the thing…the creature that had me in his grip.
Serath held me against his body. Thick muscled arms crushing me to him.
“Don’t struggle,“ he said. “I don’t want to drop you.”
Struggle? I couldn’t think, let alone struggle. His woodsy scent, his arms around me, his body pressed to mine…
Overload.
“Breathe,” he said with a soft chuckle. “Just breathe.”
I hated him for hurting Touron. I wanted to punch him in the face to even things out. I’d do that as soon as he put me down. As soon as he let me go.
That was right.
That was the plan.
I exhaled and inhaled in quick succession then regretted it because his delicious aroma flooded my mind and my traitorous body melted against him.
He cursed under this breath, the word vibrating against me like an intimate invitation.
We landed in a clearing, nature pressing in around us, cocooning us as he continued to hold me. His heart beat like a drum against me.
I was so mad at him. So pissed off. Oh god, this felt good. It felt right. I rubbed my cheek against his pectoral, and he made a soft vibrating sound like a purr.
What was I doing? “What are you doing?”
“Having this moment,” he said, his voice a low-grade rumble.
I lifted my chin to look up at his monstrous gargoyle face. To trace the strong lines that made up the features that were both frightening and compellingly beautiful. The combination made my heart ache, and the urge to reach up and trace his scar rushed through me so strongly that my fingers were hovering at his jaw before I managed to catch myself.
I clenched my fists. I was here for a reason, and this…This wasn’t it. This was hormonal, pheromonal, needy body bullshit. “You hurt my friend.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Dammit, why wasn’t he being an asshole? I grit my teeth. “Tell him that.”
“I will. I swear it. I will. And after this moment.” His throat bobbed. “After this moment, I’ll stay away from you. I won’t touch you. I won’t covet you. I’ll let you be. I just…I need this one moment.”
There was an aching throb to his words that echoed inside me. My eyes heated with the threat of tears that made no sense. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I didn’t want to mate with him. I didn’t need a fated lover, but my body didn’t seem to agree. It yearned for him. Longed to stay here, like this. Enveloped in his heat, so even though I didn’t want it, I found myself asking.
“Why? Why can’t you—”
He gripped my jaw and forced my head up. “Don’t ask it. Never ask it.”
Author Bio:
Debbie Cassidy lives in England, Bedfordshire, with her three kids and very supportive husband. Coffee and chocolate biscuits are her writing fuels of choice, and she is still working on getting that perfect tower of solitude built in her back garden. Obsessed with building new worlds and reading about them, she spends her spare time daydreaming and conversing with the characters in her head - in a totally non psychotic way of course. She writes Urban Fantasy, Fantasy and Reverse Harem Fantasy. All her books contain plenty of action, romance and twisty plots.
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