The Bride and the Beast by Teresa Medeiros

The town takes her ties her up and leaves her for the Dragon, when the he appears out of the mist she faints. The Dragon ask for more food and now money, the town believe they can chase him away with a virgin sacrifice and the only person that fits that description is Gwendolyn. Although Gwendolyn never believed in Dragons the town did and recently discovered a letter left by him, which they approach Gwendolyn and have her read his current demands. Show More where she takes care of her father and sisters. 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. He would take it upon himself to enchant the practical Gwendolyn as she had enchanted him. Still, this supremely handsome man of devastating virility was more dangerous than any dragon. 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. She was the very last thing he expected-and now there was no way he could let her go. The Dragon had demanded gold and the fools had given him this golden-haired maiden. 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. He carried her into his lair and made her his prisoner, his pampered pet. 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. 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. 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. As for Gwendolyn, she never doubted that the so-called Dragon was a fraud. The frightened Highlanders hoped that instead of gold, the fair virgin would satisfy the beast's insatiable appetite.

Now the Dragon was demanding that very amount. Fifteen years earlier, someone had betrayed the Laird of Weyrcraig and his handsome young heir to the English for a thousand pounds in gold.

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.

Gwendolyn Wilder did not believe in dragons. It is the unforgettable story of two indomitable characters whose love affair is the stuff of which legends are made. Teresa Medeiros makes her hardcover debut in this magnificently sensual and romantic tale filled with passion, humor, and suspense.

The Bride and the Beast by Teresa Medeiros