The Queen's Strength
()
About this ebook
By the time Riker secures a meeting with the hawk shifters, the situation between his human, Val, and the rest of his pride has not much improved. Riker expects Val to make some concessions for shifters as he does with humans, and Val is hesitant when it comes to the one he wants most: having sex out in the open. She demurs, but Riker makes it clear it won’t work for long.
Then he shows up at her human workplace, shirtless and sexy and exuding so much confidence that Val nearly lets the barbell drop on her client. Riker is testing her confidence, testing her limits ... and she doesn’t know much longer she can hold out.
Read more from Deidre Huesmann
Yearning Young Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burning Britely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Priestess Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsApocalypse NOPE!! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blistered Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarrior Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Queen's Strength
Titles in the series (2)
The Alpha's Pride Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Queen's Strength Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
The Dragon’s Assassin Wife: Dealing with Dragons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Savakis Merger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hearts Like Silver Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWrath of the Dragons: Dragon Born Saga Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Russian's Acquisition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Feather-Strewn Bones: a villain romance: The Red Echoes Duet, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAutumn's Rescue: Alpha Barbarians, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dragon’s Assassin Wife Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSilver and Salt: Beneath the Fire Tree, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRiven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPublic Displays of Affection: Love Isn't Just Behind Closed Doors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsControversy: Always After Dark: Shifters Forever Worlds, #7 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5OverRun: The Over Ruled Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrow: The Fulcrum (Crow Series, Book 4) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMask of the Crime Czar - the wager Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExalted: Four Stars Over Ardatz: Sovereigns, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Godborn and the King Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Crimson Vixen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurfaced: The Clockwork Siren Series, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShades of Chaos: A Mist Riders Novella: Mist Riders, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHealer's Touch: Deadly Touch, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMonsters of Our Own Making: Crowmakers, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Throne of Nyte Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unforgettable Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOrigins: Finally After Dark: Shifters Forever Worlds, #43 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thick as Blood: Hard as Stone, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Secret Until Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Knight's Runaway Maiden Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Paranormal Romance For You
My Alphas: The Complete Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eternal Bonds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Siren: Rise of the Drakens, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blood That Binds US Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shadow's Claim: Immortals After Dark: The Dacians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Entreat Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lassiter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Magpie Lord: A Charm of Magpies, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fighting Destiny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fortuna Sworn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flames of Chaos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Silver Under Nightfall: Silver Under Nightfall #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadows of Fire (The Shadow Realms, Book 1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5AITA? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Descent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Hunger Like No Other Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kodiak's Claim: Kodiak Point, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreams of a Dark Warrior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Oxford Year: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Savior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dweller on Two Planets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLothaire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Burning World: A Warm Bodies Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One True Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Warlord Wants Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Her Future Vampire Lover Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eternally Bound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scales and Sensibility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vampire Fight Club Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Queen's Strength
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Queen's Strength - Deidre Huesmann
Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2018 Deidre Huesmann
ISBN: 978-1-77339-742-9
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE QUEEN’S STRENGTH
Blood Bonded, 2
Deidre Huesmann
Copyright © 2018
Chapter One
Val had always been one to wake quick and early, even before she started spending nights with her new boyfriend. Before the sun would peek into her cramped studio apartment, she’d be up and in her jogging clothes, slipping the key into a hidden pocket in the waistband of her shorts. She loved breaking into the cool morning air, how dew clung to her face and gave way to sweat as she ran. The sweet smell of grass refreshed by the night’s precipitation.
Early mornings were her favorite for a run: few cars, fewer people. Pleasant smells, better sounds, softer than a dream. Quiet. Calming.
If only mornings with Riker were so nice.
She lay naked on a bed of animal furs, cloaked in the tepid warmth of a mid-autumn morning. Her eyes were open the barest sliver, her breathing even. The slamming of her heart against her ribs sent pulses through her eardrums—unwanted fear. Others occupied the den as well … though they were shifters, unlike her, and most slept in their lion or lioness form.
Riker didn’t. She felt his warm presence at her back, his chest expanding in even rhythm, one arm slung casually yet protectively over her waist. As much as she wanted to cuddle back into him, she didn’t dare move. Not yet.
It had been almost three months since she and Riker had blood bonded, a ritual where shifters allowed their blood to mingle with someone whose soul sang to them. It had been an ethereal experience, more so because Val was the first known human to blood bond with a shifter. An alpha, even. The alpha, the leader of the lions, who perched comfortably at the top of the food chain.
As a result of their bond, Riker’s pride—the lions, not his ego, though the double entendre never failed to amuse her—was less than enthused. In fact, Val still remembered her fight with them in stark clarity, to the point her jaw sometimes ached where one of the shifters had punched her.
Though only one shifter had picked petty fights since, Val couldn’t rest peacefully. She loathed that summer was over, forcing the shifters to share the den. They seemed to hate it just as much as she did. All of them slumbered near the entrance, as