COVER REVEAL
Book Title: Distinctly Daray (D’Vaire, Book 43)
Author and Publisher: Jessamyn Kingley
Cover Artist: LJ Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations
Release Date: February 6, 2025
Genre: MMM Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Trope: Fated mates
Themes: Love, overcoming obstacles
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 90 460 words
It is not a standalone story, but does not end on a cliffhanger.
The odds are against them, but they refuse to allow anything to get in their way.
Blurb
Victor Antonov-Daray is a lucky man. Thanks to his impetuous decision to apply for a job he didn’t qualify for, his life changed forever. In the decades since, Victor has gained experience, poise, and a found family. The Darays anchor his world.
Every twelve months, new fallen knights are resurrected. Keegan Hayes considers himself fortunate to be among them. As a recruit, he is eager to train and study. Shortly after classes begin, Keegan discovers there is a shifter sentinel struggling to adjust to his resurrection. Keegan insists on meeting him.
No sentinel likes to stick out, but Phillip Osdraconis has no choice. His dragon will not allow him to rest. It takes sorcery to force the beast into submission. His precarious start means he is not ready for the courses necessary to prepare him for his future duties.
Phillip refuses to accept his fate idly. He is determined to forge a bond with his dragon, read his textbooks, and spar with his brethren. To his surprise, visitors arrive at his dorm door to greet him. One of them is his mate, Keegan.
Although they are pleased to be paired, their relationship is awkward. That is, until Phillip and Keegan are invited to dine with the Darays and they meet the missing part of their soul, Victor.
Now the three men must navigate the perilous road of a triple matebond. They do it willingly and with complete determination. Victor, Keegan, and Phillip soon learn everything is easier with love.
Excerpt
Preoccupied with ensuring drinks were being dispensed and that he’d forgotten nothing, Victor barely noted the shift in the air as a teleportation circle brought six men into the condo. That was until his dick grew hard and the scents of sunflowers and spicy cinnamon overwhelmed his senses. His head whipped to the side. A black-haired sentinel with wide, dark gray eyes stared at him. At his side was a redhead with pretty waves and a stunning brown gaze. The fallen knight’s mouth hung open, but it made him no less handsome.
Mates.
Somehow, Fate had brought Victor the other half—strike that, the other pieces—of his soul. Victor had two mates. He trembled and sweat dripped down his back. Thankfully, due to their large audience, his erection was wilting, but the scents of his mates had barely receded. Their expressions hadn’t changed either. They continued to gawk at him.
To call the moment awkward was an understatement of titanic proportions.
“Victor,” Chander said, moving close to him and laying a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Blinking heavily and nearly smiling at the way his cat purred and pranced through his mind, Victor managed a shake of his head.
“What is going on?” Alaric asked.
The sentinel with the messy dark hair briefly flicked his gaze from Victor to Alaric. “I believe Keegan and I have found a missing piece of ourselves.”
Keegan’s mouth snapped shut, and he glanced at Phillip. “You’re right. This must be at least one of the reasons we’re so weird around each other. We needed a cat shifter.”
Neither Victor nor his Russian Blue liked hearing about any struggle his mates were enduring, and he was sadly reminded that the only reason he was meeting Phillip and Keegan was because the Darays wanted to ease the troubles Phillip had faced since his resurrection.
“Cat shifter?” Baxter asked. “What does that mean?”
Victor raised his hand slightly. “Me. I’m the cat shifter they’re talking about.”
“What do you guys want with Victor?” Baxter demanded.
Knowing that the overprotective men in his family would soon swarm the newcomers with questioning and accusatory stares, Victor pulled himself together and approached the pair he hoped would be part of his future. His concern first went to Phillip.
Victor ignored everyone but his mates.
“Hi, I’m Victor,” he told Phillip and Keegan with a small smile. At five-foot-five, Victor had to glance up. Keegan was probably a handful of inches taller than Victor, and Phillip had a few inches on the fallen knight. “How’s your dragon doing, Phillip?”
“My dragon is handling everything well thus far. I believe he is like me and relieved to know Keegan and I have found you. At my resurrection, the first smell I registered was of coffee. It soothed me. That is what you smell like to me.”
“Same,” Keegan said, a grin lighting up his big brown eyes. “It’s a comforting scent to me too, and I basically can’t live without at least a few cups of it a day. What do we smell like, Victor? Wait, did I say how wonderful it is to meet you?”
“Neither of us did, I am afraid,” Phillip lamented. “This is such a momentous day; words are failing me.”
“That’s okay, my mind is reeling too,” Victor assured them both. With closer proximity and his senses returning somewhat to normal, Victor was finally able to differentiate between the scents of the two men. Phillip smelled like cinnamon, while the floral scent of sunflowers clung to Keegan, which he explained.
“He is a floral scent to me too, but I could not place the flower,” Phillip remarked.
“Will someone please explain to me what is going on right now?” Baxter exclaimed.
“Dude, seriously,” Dra’Kaedan drawled. “They’re mates. How did you not figure that out?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t randomly have conversations about scents,” Baxter retorted. “It didn’t click in mind…wait! Mates. A triple matebond? Another sentinel with two mates? This is incredible.”
“This is, of course, wonderful news,” Alaric stated.
Wondering at the flatness of Alaric’s voice, Victor glanced at him, but his face was an expressionless mask. At his side, Chander’s pewter gaze was filled with wonder. Even the tiny goblins Chander had summoned for Alaric—Rogue and Pizza—were oddly solemn.
Victor bowed his head briefly as he immediately understood the lack of joy. Not only was Phillip currently locked in a struggle with an unruly dragon, but statistically triple matebonds had a less than fifty percent chance of succeeding. That should have frightened Victor or given him pause, but confidence radiated through him. His cat believed in their success.
Victor’s beast was drawn toward Keegan and Phillip equally. It was up to Victor to do his part to honor the bonds Fate had granted him. He wasn’t sure why, but Victor refused to accept a smidgen of doubt. They would succeed. He was sure of it.
About the Author
Jessamyn Kingley has published over thirty titles and refuses to pick a favorite among them. With an extraordinary passion for her characters, she enthusiastically adds tales to her D’Vaire series and avidly re-reads them whenever her schedule allows. After decades living in the Washington, DC area, she now resides in Nevada with her husband and their three spoiled cats. When she is not writing or adding new ideas to her beloved notebooks, she is gaming with family and friends.
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