• Shop
My Account
  • Register
  • Login
Header Logo
You are here: Products Ishtar’s Blade by Lisa Blackwood
Cover image of the book
Cover image of the book

Ishtar’s Blade by Lisa Blackwood

Warrior.

King’s confidant.

SKU: B01C6X68MC Category: Romance Tag: Fantasy & Futuristic
360 product view

    Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/102028-77823.cloudwaysapps.com/jqxysxqutc/public_html/wp-content/themes/megashopNEW/inc/theme-functions.php on line 1233
0%
  • Description
  • Reviews (0)

Description

About the author:

Lisa Blackwood grudgingly lives in a small town in Southern Ontario, though she would much rather live deep in a dark forest, surrounded by majestic old-growth trees. Since she cannot live her fantasy, she decided to write fantasy instead. An abundance of pets, named after various Viking gods, helps to keep the creativity flowing. Freya, her ever faithful and beloved hellhound, ensures Lisa takes a break from the computer so they can rid the garden of cats with delusions of conquest.

Here is a short sample from the book:

Iltanni approached a small alcove, one shrouded in potted plants.
A table laden with food and comfortable benches took up a good portion of the area.
She stumbled to a halt as Burrukan executed an elegant bow. The benches were occupied she realized belatedly. A woman sitting on the other side of the table looked up and offered Burrukan a smile and then graced Iltani with a surprisingly honest grin. On the near side of the table, mere feet from where Iltani stood, a broad-shouldered man sat with his back to them. Due to the sultry heat of the day, he was bare-chested.
Her eyes roved over his back, taking in the familiar old training scars. Three of which she’d accidentally given him when they were younger. They’d been mock fighting in the forest during a bout of hand to hand combat. It had been an impromptu fight started by Ditanu and they hadn’t checked the area first. She’d managed to flip him on his back, and he’d landed just off the path, where he’d skidded down a small slope. The rocky terrain had proven far less forgiving than the sands of the practice ring. Healers had spent half a morning picking bits of gravel, twigs, and other debris from Ditanu’s back while Iltani had gripped his hand and offered apologies. He’d only laughed and said it was his fault for starting the fight.
The scars were familiar, but in contrast, the rest of him had changed. He’d filled out…nicely. She watched with purely female interest as his muscles bunched and flexed under his skin as he turned to glance over his shoulder. As the familiar angles of his face came into profile, Iltani belatedly dipped, half falling into a deep bow even as her cheeks burned with embarrassment at almost being caught staring.
Iltani was slowly straightening from her bow, seriously thinking of hanging back while Burrukan made introductions, when her gaze landed on a pair of sandal-clad feet directly in front of her. Slowly, she followed the ankles on up to powerful calves and then up a bit more to the hem of a richly embroidered robe. Her eyes tracked to the side. The bench where the king had sat seconds ago was empty. Heart pounding in her chest, she studied the fine quality linen. She followed the stylish cut higher up to where it hugged powerful thighs and a trim waist. She got as far as a thick belt made out of hammered gold links. It reminded her of fish scales the size of her thumbnail.
“Iltani?” Ditanu said, “Great Gods look how you’ve filled out.”
At the sound of his voice, she jerked her gaze up to look in his face. The youth she’d known was gone. In his place, a stranger with far sterner features looked back at her. The hard line of his clean-shaven jaw, high, well-defined cheekbones and strong brow that hooded his eyes all added to the harder look of a king. Only the slight softening of firm lips and a bounty of dark lashes ringing his hawk-like gaze softened the king standing before her enough that she could still see hints of the boy she’d grown up with.
She couldn’t get her mind to formulate a thought or her mouth to string together words. Instead, she just stood there and stared at her king like a dolt.
With a second, hoarser ‘Iltani’, she was swept up in powerful arms and pressed into that hard chest. It was Ditanu’s voice, alternately whispering her name and laughing in almost tearful emotion.
The feel of his warm body, the sound of his heart, the scent of his skin, it was all too much for Iltani’s starved senses. Snaking her arms around his waist, she clung to him. Then she merely stood, absorbing everything about him in detail, more than happy to stand there for half an eternity if he would allow it.
His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer. Just when she thought he was going to smother her, he loosened his hold and held her out at arm’s length to study her.
“Gods.” Ditanu’s rich voice had steadied a touch. It no longer shook with emotion, but his face was still full of wonder at seeing her again. “My Little Shadow, you can’t imagine how much I’ve missed you.”
That voice. She just wanted to close her eyes and listen to its familiar cadence. It was a touch deeper in tone but still sounded like the Ditanu she remembered.
Requiring a bit more willpower than she wished to admit, she snapped her mouth closed and schooled her expression into what she hoped was polite attentiveness as she fought for something intelligent to say.
When her mind stayed stubbornly blank for ten whole beats of her heart, she dodged the awkwardness by retreating into another deep bow.
Coward, her internal voice scolded and she couldn’t debate the issue. She’d taken the coward’s way out after Ditanu’s strong showing of affection.
“My king,” she said, hoping a formal turn of phrase would cover her earlier social blunder. “I come before you as your loyal servant. Please take my humble gifts into your house and use them as you may.”
“Humble gifts?” King Ditanu chuckled, “I doubt there is anything humble about your gifts, but even if you had no magic at all, you would still be welcome into my house for the rest of your days.” A long fingered hand settled on her shoulder, its weight and warmth the only things that seemed real at that moment.
She fought the urge to rub her cheek against the back of his hand. Instead, she forced her gaze up to his deep brown eyes with their golden flecks and found all the warmth, humor, and love she remembered reflected back at her. Ditanu slung an arm around Iltani’s shoulders and dragged her toward the table laden with fruits, cheeses and nuts where Burrukan already sat, deep in conversation with Consort Ahassunu. King Ditanu guided her over to the bench and then pushed her down when she would have balked. Before she could shift over, he settled next to her. Close enough their thighs brushed when he reached for various items on the table.
She felt half intoxicated by Ditanu’s scent—that mellow sandalwood fragrance which was purely his own blended with the sweet spiciness all gryphons carried even when they were in human form.
Her heart very much wanted to convince her nothing had changed in the years she’d been away, that she was still the only one in Ditanu’s heart. Alas, no matter what her foolish heart wanted her to believe, her mind knew better.
In all their species’ long history, never once had Iltani read or heard a ballad mentioning a mated gryphon taking a lover. Even Ishtar respected that bond, for the most part. Only once had the Queen of the Night interfered. That time, a gryphon queen had lost her consort before they had sired any young, so to save the royal line, Ishtar had that queen and her male blade perform the Sacred Marriage. That had been nearly three thousand years ago now, and the scroll she’d read hadn’t given much detail. At first, Iltani had imagined it was only possible because of Tammuz and Ishtar’s passionate love, but then she’d got thinking. There must have already been a very strong and loving bond between that queen and her blade, for she hadn’t descended into grief madness at the loss of her consort. She wouldn’t have felt lust for her blade, but she must have loved him enough to live for him, and Ishtar must have assured they had a fertile union.
But she’d often wondered about that poor man. Had he been in love with his queen, desperately looking forward to each future Sacred Marriage? Or had he just seen it as his duty? For his sake, she hoped it was only a duty and he had not been in love with his queen, for outside of the Sacred Marriage, those two could not have shared an intimate relationship. Iltani wouldn’t wish her own misery on another living being.
“Eat,” Ditanu said, shoving food before her and drawing her out of her glum thoughts. “If I know Burrukan at all—which I do—I’m sure he hasn’t given you time to eat yet.” He pressed a finger to her lips. “Don’t argue. Burrukan trained me. Well do I remember his demanding ways.” Ditanu rotated one shoulder as if trying to ease a phantom pain while giving her one of his boyish smiles she remembered so well. The same one which often haunted her dreams.
Iltani felt her own lips curving in response. As she had done in her youth, she leaned closer to whisper in his ear that he was a terrible liar, but glanced across the table and found both Burrukan and Consort Ahassunu watching them. Betraying heat raced over her cheeks and she glanced down at the food on the table. Spotting a tall glass of some drink, she picked it up and sipped at it. Lemon mixed with something a touch sweeter, but her mind was too preoccupied with Ditanu’s nearness to reason out what that other fruit might be.
Ditanu suddenly reached around behind her to snatch the stoneware cup on her other side. While he was pouring himself a new drink—faster, she noted, than a servant could come forward to do it for him—Iltani’s befuddled mind remembered Ditanu was dominant on his left side. The cup she just took a drink from had been his.
She’d just stolen the king’s drinking vessel.
Great goddess Ishtar, please don’t let your humble servant embarrass herself further in the coming hours.
King Ditanu topped hers up.
Frozen in horror, Iltani stammered out an apology. Ditanu brushed it off and then turned to one of the other Shadows standing guard along one wall.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “Ishtar’s Blade by Lisa Blackwood” Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related products

Prev Next
  • Cover image of the book

    Sex With Strangers (8 super short erotic tales) by Natalie Foxe

    0 out of 5

    A collection of 8 filthy erotic tales. Sex With Strangers indulges into this mysterious ‘no strings’ world where two sexy strangers come together for pure adulterous pleasure! No relationships, no emotions…just raw sex! Each tale is guaranteed to steam up your screen and make you squirm in your seat. This collection is designed to be quick bites of lust to be read individually or collectively. Ideal for bedtime quickies. Come inside and explore a world many have only ever dreamed of…

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Curvy Girls Love it Hot by Marisa Michaels

    0 out of 5

    My best friend since elementary school, Trevor Larrson, is a handsome professional football player who was just traded to our local team in our hometown. Trevor always dated skinny girls who looked like models, not girls like me. When he moved back and sparks started to fly between us, it was a dream come true. I had lusted after Trevor for a long time. I didn't think a curvy girl like me would fit into Trevor's world, but the way he looked at me said that wasn't true at all.

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Cover image of the book

    Fated Mates by Michelle Fox, Selena Kitt, Michelle McCleod, Cerys du Lys, Ava Catori, Deanna Roy, Eve Langlais, Ty Nolan, J.E. & M. Keep, Adriana Hunter, Liliana Rhodes, Lynn Red, A.T. Mitchell, Skye Eagleday, Alexis Dare, A.E. Grace, Georgette St. Clair

    0 out of 5

    If you like your men dark, dangerous and alpha, this exclusive shifter romance boxed set is for you. Featuring hot stories from popular New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble bestselling authors, including Adriana Hunter, Liliana Rhodes, Lynn Red, A.T Mitchell and more, these steamy books and alpha shifters will be sure to whet your appetite and leave you longing for more.”

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Cover image of the book

    Fourteen Shades of F*cked Up: an Anthology by ML Rodriguez

    0 out of 5

    Fourteen authors have brought you stories of pain and love.

    Struggle and dissonance.

    PETITION DENIED by Alyson Hale

    DARKNESS CONSUMED by Ariel Marie

    EXCITABLE by Brittney Coon

    CONSENSUAL by Cristina Slough

    F*CKING ADDICTED by J.A. Kerr

    FOREVER PROMISES by J.L. Baldwin

    A STRANGE AND DISTANT SAFETY by Jennifer Loring

    WICKED GAMES by Lilly James

    AFFLICTION by Marie Skye

    STORY OF US by ML Rodriguez

    HER MISTAKE by N. Mills

    MISS X by Quinn

    KILLER DOM by S. Valentine

    ANOTHER LAST GLANCE by Zack Halford

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Cover image of the book

    What Do Lesbians Do In Bed? 21 Sapphic Stories by Giselle Renarde

    0 out of 5

    Have you ever wondered what lesbians do when they get together? Is it all fingers and scissors and lips between legs, or is there WAY more to the slippery story of lesbian sex?

    In this hot new anthology, enjoy twenty-one explicit tales of lesbian love. From shoe fetish to opera gloves, sex in public to quiet winter mornings, from a taste of taboo to strap-on DP to extremes that shan’t be mentioned here to full-on Sapphic bukakke, even connoisseurs of fine girl-on-girl action are likely to discover a new idea or two in this sexy new collection.

    Whether you can appreciate this book’s title ironically or you’re authentically curious about what girls who love girls do in bed (or in parked cars or at the office or in a church basement or in a restaurant bathroom), grab a copy today and get in on the nitty-gritty secrets of lesbian sex.

    Giselle Renarde’s erotic fiction has appeared in over 100 anthologies, including prestigious collections like Best Lesbian Erotica, Best Lesbian Romance, Best Women’s Erotica, Girl Fever, and the Lambda Award-winning collection Wild Girls, Wild Nights.

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Cover image of the book

    A Love For Romance – Anthology by Stephanie Phillips

    0 out of 5

    A preview of Trading Yesterday by USA Today Bestselling Author Kahlen Aymes

    The Break (Breaking Free, Part 1) by USA Today Bestselling Author Debra Presley

    Always Too Late by Micalea Smeltzer

    Until the Stars Forget to Shine by Amber Garza

    The Only Chance by Magan Vernon

    Awakened: A Leila Marx World Novella by Amber Garr

    Do You Mind? by Freya Barker

    Cock-Blocked by W. Ferraro

    What Happens on Spring Break by R.C. Stephens

    Always There by Elizabeth Hayes

    Falling for Lindy by Ashlee Taylor

    Burning the Midnight Oil by Eilson Grace

    Babysitting for the Biker by Sammi Starlight

    Chasing Love by Misha Elliott

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Cover image of the book

    Three Happy Endings (Secrets, Surprises and Submission: Three Passionate Romances from New York Times Bestselling Author) by Opal Carew

    0 out of 5

    “TOP 15 B&N BESTSELLER (THREE)

    TOP 100 E ROMANCE ON AMAZON (THREE)

    Three men are better than one…

    Secrets, surprises, and submission – three torrid tales of triple passion!

    THREE

    Hot steamy dreams… a sexy stranger… and his two brothers… all add up to a sexy adventure she’ll never forget.

    Lori’s steamy dreams about a hot hard stranger are hitting fever pitch. She needs way more than eye contact and a smile across a crowded subway station. An instant connection sizzled between them and now Lori, who’s never believed in love at first sight, is its helpless victim.

    When Lori goes to her best friend’s cabin for the weekend to spend time with Marie, her new husband and his brothers, she’s surprised to wind up face-to-face with her fantasy stranger. But he’s Marie’s husband!

    When she meets his brothers, however, she finds that there just might be a way to make her dream come true.

    Now Lori is experiencing her wildest fantasy yet, three ultra-sexy men all focused on her. But she wants more than a steamy dream brought to life. Because she’s in love. But can her sexy stranger return her love?

    Note: This intriguing short story is scorching hot, with more than one handsome hunk to bring your wildest fantasies to life. Consider yourself warned!

    THREE MEN AND A BRIDE

    What do you do when you can’t stop lusting after your new husband’s two gorgeous brothers?

    Can Marie successfully suppress her fantasies of the three brothers making wild, luxuriant love to her, or will she have to endanger her happy marriage by admitting her feelings to her husband, Drake?

    Although this is the second story in the erotic THREE series, this steamy read is the prequel to Three. You can enjoy Three Men and a Bride on it’s own, or after you have read THREE.

    THREE SECRETS

    Keeping one secret is intriguing. Two is naughty. Three… deserves to be punished.

    Sharing secrets has never been so exhilarating…

    When they met in Paris, Nicole and Abel enjoyed a sensual, romantic two month fling. The last thing Nicole wanted was to fall head over heels for this sweet, loving man, because she knew he would never accept the truth about her. Unfortunately, the heart wants what it wants, and hers wanted Abel. But Nicole was not one to be controlled by anyone or anything, so once they returned home, she walked away.

    When the pain of losing Abel became too much, Nicole finally decided to share her secret with him. Little did she know he had a secret of his own.

    Will Abel’s secret extinguish Nicole’s craving for him once and for all? Will Nicole’s revelation bring Abel to his knees?

    This is a collection of super hot short stories.

    Length: 25,500 words

    Plus excerpts from The Office Slave (Volume 1 of The Office Slave Series) and His To Possess (about billionaires, bikers and bad boys all rolled into one).”

    Purchase
    Quick View
  • Cover image of the book

    Box Set: Shades of Pleasure (Five book bundle) by Tawny taylor

    0 out of 5

    Dominant billionaires. Secrets and blackmail. Fantasies come true. Shades of Pleasure brings you five books from New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Tawny Taylor. This decadent five book bundle of novellas contains: What He Wants, At His Mercy, Pleasing Him, Ties that Bind and Enslaved by Sin–a total of over 90,000 words. If purchased separately, these books would cost over $12.00.

    What He Wants (My Alpha Billionaire, 1)

    Billionaire Shane Trant is used to getting what he wants. What he can’t buy, he takes. When he sees Bristol Deatrich, he knows he wants her. But there’s a problem. Only complete possession of her mind and body will satisfy him…

    At His Mercy

    Sometimes freedom can only be gained through captivity…

    Elena Caine has secrets. The kind that could devastate her life if they’re revealed. And now a selfish bastard is dragging the skeletons out of her closet. She’s being blackmailed. There’s no way out–but to turn to the man Elena trusts least, the quietly seductive Dom Kyler Pierce.

    Pleasing Him

    Britt Olsen is shocked when the man who bought her house, the gorgeous Andre Cruz-Romero, shows up at her front door a week after closing. Now Britt has her chance to get to know the enigmatic man who has inspired a fantasy or two, or more. But she is both shocked and thrilled to learn about Andre’s extreme erotic tastes…

    Ties that Bind

    Illusion. A word shaded with nuance, making the men who practice it–the masters–enigmas. Particularly when they magically materialize from the shadows of a woman’s past.

    It’s been fifteen years. No longer the tormented young men Blair knew and loved so long ago, Damon and Trey still know how to touch her heart, how to draw out her secrets, and how to bring her to the edge of ecstasy. Blair has two weeks to unravel the ties that have bound the three of them together. Two weeks to solve the mysteries veiled by her seductive masters’ illusions. And two weeks to surrender to the smoldering desires burning in her body as she submits to their darkest demands.

    Some ties can never be severed.

    Enslaved by Sin

    Over two hundred years ago, the Master of Sin welcomed guests to Castle Greh, inviting them to taste decadent carnal pleasures every night. Now, some claimed the castle was haunted by the dark prince and his many lovers. She was about to learn the truth…

    Purchase
    Quick View

Book Categories

  • Collections & Anthologies
  • Contemporary
  • Erotica
  • Fantasy
  • Gothic
  • Historical Romance
  • Multicultural & Interracial
  • Mystery & Suspense
  • Paranormal
  • Romantic Comedy
  • Science Fiction
  • Time Travel
  • Westerns
  • Romance
  • Author Interviews
banner-01testtesttesttest
banner-01testtesttesttest
banner-01testtesttesttest

Top Rated Products

  • More Than Everything by Delphie Gray
    5.00 out of 5
  • Her Majesty's Harem by N.J. Adel
    5.00 out of 5
  • Crashing Into Me by R.L JACKSON
    5.00 out of 5
  • Captured by Conner Kincaid
    5.00 out of 5
  • Hidden Embers by Jane Burrelli
    5.00 out of 5

Author Marketing Club

WantonReads.com supports indie authors!

for Authors

  • Submit Your Book
  • Submit an Author Interview
  • Get Featured Placement

for Readers

  • Discover New Books
  • Meet the Authors
  • About WantonReads

Thanks for visiting!

  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
© 2022 - WantonReads.com
View Cart Checkout Continue Shopping