The Bride and the Beast
by Teresa Medeiros
Gwendolyn Wilder did not believe in dragons. But the superstitious
villagers of Ballybliss did, and so Gwendolyn found herself
bound to a post as a sacrificial offering to the Dragon who haunted
the ruins of Castle Weyrcraig. Fifteen years earlier, someone
had betrayed the Laird of Weyrcraig and his handsome young heir
to the English for a thousand pounds in gold. Now the Dragon
was demanding that very amount. The frightened Highlanders hoped
that instead of gold, the fair virgin would satisfy the beast's
insatiable appetite.
As for Gwendolyn, she never doubted that the so-called Dragon was
a fraud. She knew there was a perfectly good explanation for the
mysterious lights seen flickering in the crumbling castle and the
unsettling sound of bagpipes drifting through the glens. But as
she waited for whoever -- or whatever -- to claim his prize, she
could not help trembling as a furious storm lashed about her...
and she saw what appeared to be dark wings and a stream of silver
smoke emerge from the shadows.
Rumor had it that the Dragon could take the form of a man, and so
he did with Gwendolyn -- a man who would not show her his face. He
carried her into her lair and made her his prisoner, his pampered
pet. And while she didn't expect to be eaten by the fire-breathing
Dragon of Weyrcraig, neither did she expect to be warmed by his
sensuous caresses or devoured by his passionate kisses.
The Dragon had demanded gold and the fools had given him this
golden-haired maiden. She was the very last thing he expected --
now there was no way he could let her go. She could never know
that he was no monster but a flesh-and-blood man who had just laid
eyes on the one woman who could slay him. Still, this supremely
handsome man of devastating virility was more dangerous than any
dragon. He would take it upon himself to enchant the practical
Gwendolyn as she had enchanted him. He would weave a spell of
sensuous magic around her that would defy all her commonsense
notions and tempt her to believe in something even more unlikely
than dragons and more powerful than the past that threatened them
both -- true love.
Beauty and the Beast
Back To Main Page