First Chapter Friday
from Hidden Magic
Gorgeous Owain Lovage belongs to an ancient family of elven
beings. A glamor hides his elf beauty as he runs a reindeer farm and visitor
center in an English rural town. He’s yearning for a handsome, sexy man in his
life. Owain hardly uses his magic these days, but that’s about to change.
Rowan Carter reluctantly leaves California to stay with his
folks on vacation for the holiday season in the town where he fleetingly meets
Owain.
Captivated by Owain’s looks and masculinity, Rowan seeks him
out.
Melting hot kisses in the snow are only the start of what he
has in mind to do with this red hot guy.
A deep erotic passion ignites between the two handsome men
and sets in motion an ancient magic spell that will change both their lives
forever.
Chapter One
“Hey, Rowan,
you might meet that special someone.”
Rowan made a
face at his friend. “Unlikely—and if I did, what good would it be? He’d live in
a different country. Here’s the real question. How am I going to stave off the
boredom? There’ll be no parties, no special nights at our favorite gay bar—”
Jason shook
his head as he interrupted Rowan. “I despair of you. Why go if that’s going to
be your attitude?”
Rowan
shrugged, knowing his friend had a valid point, but all the same, the optimistic
comments from his group of friends over the last couple of months had begun to
irritate him. When he needed a hug, empathy, and someone to let him wallow in
misery for a while after his relationship break up, their constant attempts at
cheerfulness hadn’t helped him heal his broken heart. He wished they’d just let
him be gloomy for a few weeks, and as for him meeting someone special, Rowan
had lost hope. It had taken so long to meet the man who’d finally broken his
heart. Sex was easy to obtain, but love—not so much.
Rowan pushed
his sandwich away and leaned back from the café table he shared with Jason.
“I’m going to see my parents, and that will
be good. They’ve wanted to take this vacation for a long time, and now Dad says
he loves the place and wants to stay for a couple of months. I have to visit.
It would be mean not to, but as for meeting someone
I’ll expect nothing and that way I won’t be disappointed.”
Jason gave a
loud sigh. “Look at this as an adventure. You might even get a white Christmas.
You’ve never been farther than Palm Springs.”
Rowan tried
to smile. “I know, but I’ve never wanted to. I’m happy here I kinda dread the
eleven-hour flight.”
“Cowboy up,
Rowan.” Jason grinned, then obviously giving up on the conversation he added,
“Are you going to eat that sandwich, ’cos if not, let’s go. I’m meeting Paul at
two.”
An unwelcome
spike of jealousy at Jason’s mention of his husband made Rowan bow his head.
“I’m not really hungry. Let’s go.” They’d already paid, so he stood and walked
to the exit.
Jason
followed him into the bright sunshine of the unseasonably hot LA day.
****
Owain Lovage
closed the farm office gate and stepped away to survey his handiwork. The
entire building glowed with Christmas lights. Snowflakes drifted in the frosty
air, glistening as they fell through the beams of white sparkling light. A
smile wreathed Owain’s face. He gazed past the building to the rows of stables
where strings of festive lights entwined all the trees that lined the paths.
Owain sighed with pleasure when each cloud of snowflakes changed color as they danced
past the green, red, and blue lights.
It was only
four PM, but an indigo sky heralded complete darkness and Owain had sent his staff
home early. Owain expected the gentle fall of snow to turn heavy during the
night. Two red deer returned to the farm having visited a nearby Christmas tree
outlet to show off their antlers and pretend they led Santa’s sleigh on
Christmas night. He gave them fresh straw and feed as he talked to them, went
around the rest of the stables to check everything was perfect, and then he and
three of the other staff had clambered around the office roof anchoring the
seasonal lights. He hadn’t needed the help. In fact, if he’d wanted to, he
could have gathered his magic and produced the decorations, but involving his
staff was more fun. Owain didn’t use his magic much or often. He thought it was
better that way.
He walked
along the wide gravel drive to the car park, empty now of staff vehicles. His
SUV stood under one of the silvery safety spotlights that perched on poles
around the lot.
Owain lived
at the end of the lane, but he’d needed to visit the village store at lunchtime
or face having nothing for dinner that night, so he’d driven to work that
morning. Sometimes Owain walked, and sometimes, when the snow was deep enough,
he used his two huge and favorite red deer stags to pull a small sled. He loved
those times, even though his colleagues thought it ostentatious. That was
because they didn’t really know him, not the man who hid behind the frequently
renewed glamor—the man whose pointed ears were pierced with rose-shaped diamonds,
and whose dark hair held a streak of glowing silver. Owain belonged to the last
family of elven people in the country. As far as he knew none of his family had
seen or heard from any others in centuries.
He got into
his car and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He could see through the
spell cast to disguise his true looks when he wanted to, but over the years
Owain had become attached to his human appearance. It wasn’t so far from
reality. He only dropped the glamor at family gatherings, just as the rest of
his kin did. Yule was one of those times, and Owain smiled as he started the
car. Snow layered on snow making white the dark gravel of the car lot, and
Owain’s eyes twinkled. Nothing pleased him more than a white Christmas,
although the hard body of a man naked in his arms came a close second.
Copyright E. D. Parr , Evernight Publishing (36,100 words)
All other Amazon sites http://mybook.to/HiddenMagicEDParr
Siren Bookstrand http://www.bookstrand.com/hidden-magic-mm
5* for Hidden Magic "This is a beautiful, sweet,
engaging, poignant, sexy, and captivating tale. The story had some unexpected
twists and turns, plus the ending caught me by complete surprise. If you want
to read something that is definitely NOT your average holiday story, then this
gem more than fits the bill."
If you like elves, magic, and Yule traditions, if you want
to watch two men fall for each other despite their very different outlooks on
life, and if you’re looking for a cute read with lots of mystery, some drama,
and a very passionate romance, then you will probably like this novella.
