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    Hunted By The Dragon Duke: Dragon's Council, #1
    Hunted By The Dragon Duke: Dragon's Council, #1
    Hunted By The Dragon Duke: Dragon's Council, #1
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    Hunted By The Dragon Duke: Dragon's Council, #1

    By Mina Carter

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    About this ebook

    Sexy, royal and one of the ferocious black dragons… he's way out of her league. 

    Orphaned and forced to live under the cruel eye of her stepmother, Saskia spends her days and most of her nights sewing gowns for rich dragonesses to wear to balls she will never see. When a chance encounter brings her into contact with the handsome Callan, Duke and cousin to the Queen, she thinks nothing of it. After all, what royal duke would want a woman with a broken, mad dragon?

    But when the otherworldly intervenes, Saskia gets her chance to go to the ball, and dance with the man of her dreams…

    Tiny, delicate and utterly beautiful… but where has he seen her before?

    A royal duke by birth, and a black, Callan's life has been dictated since the moment he was born. Ordered by his cousin, the queen, to pick a bride at the ball or she'll pick for him, he's between a rock and a hard place. Until he sees her. The tiny woman in the purple gown runs him a merry chase over the ballroom but one look and he's determined. She will be his.

    And she is, for the briefest of moments before his duty intervenes and he has to return a wayward youth to his father before he gets himself into a lifetime of trouble. When he returns his delicate princess is gone, leaving behind a single shoe…

    Furious, Callan launches a hunt for his love…one that leads to a woman who is not who she pretends to be, a raid on a brothel and a fight with a troll. Can he persuade his delicate princess she's not broken, but that she's the perfect dragoness for him?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMina Carter
    Release dateDec 6, 2017
    ISBN9781386719922
    Hunted By The Dragon Duke: Dragon's Council, #1
    Author

    Mina Carter

    Mina Carter was born and raised in Middle Earth (otherwise known as the Midlands, England). After a slew of careers ranging from logistics to land-surveying she can now be found in the wilds of Leicestershire with her husband, daughter and a cat who moved in and never left. Suffering the curse of eternal curiosity, Mina never tires of learning new skills which has led to Aromatherapy, Corsetry, Chain-maille making, Welding, Canoeing, Shooting, and pole-dancing to name but a few. A full-time author and cover artist, Mina can usually be found hunched over a keyboard or graphics tablet, frantically trying to get the images and words in her head out and onto the screen before they drive her mad. She's addicted to coffee and Dairy-lea cheese triangles.

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    • 5/5
      even though this was a retelling of cinderella, I loved it !! it is one of my favs of hers so far

    Book preview

    Hunted By The Dragon Duke - Mina Carter

    Chapter 1

    F or heaven’s sake, girl, get it together !

    The sharp rebuke brought Saskia Evans out of her daze. She blinked and ducked her head, murmuring a soft apology as she fluffed the full skirts of the dress on the mannequin in front of her.

    I don’t know. Her stepmother, Goranka, sighed dramatically, stopping just short of an eye roll as she spoke to the woman in front of her. You just can’t get the help these days. If she weren’t such a neat stitcher… I’d have to let her go. She’s a bit… simple, shall we say? Took her in out of the goodness of my heart. Much thanks I’ve had for it.

    A blaze of color covered Saskia’s cheeks, and she tried her best to hide behind the ball gown. That was her life—always in the background, trying to stay out of sight and avoid her stepmother’s wrath. Not that anyone would know she and Goranka were related, albeit by marriage. Her stepmother didn’t like people to know that Saskia was the daughter of her late, third husband… instead passing her off as a hired-help charity case.

    Unbidden, one hand lifted to her throat and touched the two chains around it. One was fae-wrought silver, imbued with magic to keep her unstable dragon under control. Saskia’s fingers skittered away from it, the strong magic making itself known at her touch. She concentrated on the other one instead.

    Delicate rose-gold, it disappeared under the neckline of her dress and held the small locket set with amethyst hanging between her breasts. It had been her mother’s, one of the only things she had left to remember her by. The rest had been destroyed by Goranka when she’d married Saskia’s father years ago.

    Her father had been dead five years now. Her beautiful room in the tower of their ancient home had been replaced with a corner of the cellar, a ratty pallet and a thin blanket.

    Unstable. Can’t be trusted with anything nice, her stepmother’s voice rang in her ears. Can’t control the change. Can’t control her dragon… Useless.

    The hot prickle of tears stabbed into the backs of Saskia’s eyes. It was a warning sign. Quickly, she shut that train of thought off and concentrated on what she was doing. Crying here, in the middle of the royal court in front of Cadeyra, the White Queen herself, was so unthinkable Saskia dared not even imagine what punishment would be doled out for such an infraction.

    You’re very good to take her in, the queen commented, her expression distracted as she walked between the three mannequins Saskia had set up. Each bore a sumptuous ball gown, specially designed for the queen’s petite figure. For saying she was the most powerful weredragon on the planet, a rare white dragon, in human form she was tiny and delicate. If Saskia hadn’t known she was dragon, she’d have suspected Cadeyra was a pixie or fairy of some description.

    Well, Goranka simpered, we all have to do our part for the less fortunate. Don’t we?

    Oh, yes. Indeed, we do. Cadeyra paused at the middle gown, a confection of gold silk and lace with a fitted bodice and white skirts that would sweep the floor when she moved. Now this I like.

    "So pleased that you do, Your Majesty. Goranka was all smiles, motioning one of the girls by her side forward. Floriana worked night and day for a week on that gown."

    Really? The queen reached out and smoothed a delicate hand over the lace of the bodice. It’s simply beautiful. Good work. Well done, my dear.

    Floriana dipped into a curtsy, cheeks flushed. Thank you, Your Majesty.

    Saskia kept a straight face, standing to one side of the three mannequins, and bit her lip to keep her words inside. Not one of the gowns had been created by any of the three women in front of her. In fact, of the creations put out by the Blaise fashion line, none of them were created by Goranka nor her two daughters, Alexandria and Floriana. Every design, from conception to construction and final garment, was by Saskia herself. Not that her stepmother or stepsisters would ever admit that.

    Nor would they. Saskia had been warned more than once, if she ever breathed a word of the truth, things would go very badly for her indeed. She dropped her gaze, kept her mouth shut, and tried very hard to not breathe. After all, she had no skills other than dressmaking. And in their world, who would ever employ an unstable dragon?

    I’ll definitely take the gold. You can deliver that next week, Cadeyra decided. Lips pursed, she tapped them with her finger as she looked at the other two gowns. Maybe the scarlet… but the purple is just not my color.

    Of course, Your Majesty. Purple would not suit your complexion I don’t think, Goranka murmured, shooting Saskia a hard look, as though she should have realized Cadeyra didn’t like purple. Girl! Goranka snapped her fingers at Saskia. Show Her Majesty the accessories.

    Of course, ma’am. Quickly, she hurried to do her stepmother’s bidding, knowing any delay would incur a punishment later. Opening the bag she’d brought with her, she started to set out delicate sandals, gloves, and wraps in shades of scarlet and gold. The purple and silver items she left safely in the bag, not wanting to add to the punishments her stepmother no doubt already had lined up for her. Even breathing the wrong way could add hours to the lists of chores Goranka had for her each day, ensuring she fell to her pallet exhausted each night.

    Keeping her gaze down, she laid the items out on the small table for the queen to peruse and stepped back to pack away the gowns. Goranka and her daughters hovered around the table, offering banal compliments and simpering. Saskia bit her lip at the outright lies that fell from their lips. Alexandria worked on this… Floriana sourced that in Europe especially…

    Cadie? Are you in here?

    The deep male voice made all the women in the room, apart from the queen, turn around. Cadeyra didn’t bat an eyelash, smoothing an elbow-length glove up over her arm as she called out, In here!

    The door opened and the biggest man Saskia had ever seen filled it, his broad shoulders literally blotting out the light of the corridors behind him. His gaze swept over the little tableau, a wrinkle of distaste between his brows for a half second as he spotted the three Blaise women. By the time any of them focused on his face though, his expression was smooth and neutral.

    Shopping again, cousin dear? he asked as he strode forward, sweeping past Saskia

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