Exclusive Excerpt from A Love Like Fire
by Tricia Owens
“I’m glad I met you, Hadrian.” The quiet rumble of the mercenary’s voice against his ear made him shiver. “I’m not sure I’ve encountered anyone quite like you.” Rough fingertips were gentle as they tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. Hadrian’s lashes fluttered like moths attempting to fly away. “I’ll see you this evening. I promise.”
Something long repressed made Hadrian turn his head and blurt, “Will you?”
Caledon’s evident surprise gave way to low-lidded look of pleasure that melted Hadrian’s defenses. Caledon’s gaze dipped to Hadrian’s mouth for a moment before the mercenary’s thumb replaced with look with a touch. “I always keep my promises, love. And this is one I want to keep very badly.” He stroked Hadrian’s bottom lip, staring as his mouth opened for him. “Very badly, indeed.”
Hadrian’s heart pumped so erratically he feared it would explode. Oh, gods, he wanted to lick Caledon’s thumb. He wanted to grab him and, and―what? Sadly, he didn’t know what he wanted, just more of this luscious, blood-stirring feeling that made him ache in all those secret places and left him hungry. Hungry for touch, for taste, for emotions.
He knew he was trembling by the way Caledon’s eyes darkened as they looked over him. “Gods be damned,” the mercenary said abruptly. “Meet me in the stables beside the Fickle Harper Inn.”
Hadrian started to nod automatically, then stopped himself as reason began to intrude. “No, I―I can’t. I need to meet too many―”
“Later tonight,” Caledon breathed. “After you’ve had your supper. I want to see you.”
Gods, if his father ever found out…But, found out what? What if the mercenary only wanted to speak with him? Ah, but what if he wanted more? Hadrian had little idea what that “more” could entail, but he wanted to find out.
He nodded, regretting the action as it dislodged the touch from his mouth. Caledon smiled at his expression as though he understood. “Meet me tonight and I’ll give you more,” he promised.
More. Whatever it was, Hadrian wanted it. He couldn’t tear his gaze away as Caledon backed away and strode from the room. When the tavern door closed behind him, Hadrian cupped his face in his palms. He was flushed with heat and his heart was a wild thing. A smile flirted with his lips, begging to be expressed. He normally only felt this way when he magicked. He wondered if what he had just experienced with Caledon wasn’t its own form of magick.
He prayed he would soon find out.
About A Love Like Fire
When the mercenary Caledon meets a young man named Hadrian, he falls instantly, hopelessly in love with him. Black-haired and silver-eyed, Hadrian is unlike any man Caledon has seen before. His uncertain responses to Caledon’s advances only make the mercenary more determined to pursue and win him.
But Hadrian is a mystery, and harbors untold secrets. He hails from an island inhabited by sorcerers and has come to Caledon’s city to recruit the mercenaries for a well-paying job offered by Hadrian’s father. Except the job is a lie. Hadrian is far more dangerous than his disposition suggests, and what he wants with Caledon and the mercenaries of Rhiad will forever change the land and set in motion a prophecy that will bind two men together in love, lust, and hatred…until death.
A previous version of this book was published as The Sorcerer’s Betrayal. This book has been re-written and re-edited.
Available: Amazon
About Tricia Owens
Tricia Owens has been writing m/m fiction since 2000, after stumbling onto the term ‘slash’ and thinking it referred to horror stories. She is the author of the Sin City, A Pirate’s Life for Me, and Juxtapose City series, among several others. She lives in Las Vegas.
The Blogger Girls 
Thank you for the exclusive excerpt! Congrats on the book release!