Mach'Doshna Series: Jasmine's Joy

By Lynn Daniels

Jasmine’s boyfriend dumped her.
Literally.
In the ocean.
Alone, with no land in sight, all hope is lost. Then she sees a mysterious beach ahead. A beach she soon learns is not what it seems.

Jo’siah is running out of time to find his lifemate. Insanity and death await him. He is sent on a quest to save his brother's mate, when fate drops his mate in his lap. Fate in the form of a baby dragon.

Fall into the land where the impossible becomes possible. A world where Gods of old mettle in the lives of humans, and humans turn into beasts.

*MM/FM/Ménage

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lynn Daniels
• Release date: Jul 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005855802

Lynn Daniels

Lynn Daniels is retired, with hours and hours to write the next great novel. Worlds come alive in my head, characters stand over her shoulder, and sometimes they wake her up at night. All of them want to come alive, to have their stories written. No matter how she thinks the story should go, it goes according to how the character decides it should. An evil character finds redemption. A beloved character is massacred for no good reason. They all write their own stories.The ideas come to her, the character develops a personality, and the result is a book. She sincerely hopes that everyone will love her books, but she knows that what she writes isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. She simply wants to bring life and color into the world through the pages of her books. Every time someone buys a book, or leaves a review, she's delightfully surprised. She offers her eternal gratitude to all of you, for reading what she has written, and allowing her to become a small part of your life.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Mount Olympus

Aphrodite watched the woman she had planned to mate to Jo’siah, as she was thrown into the frigid waters of the Pacific Ocean by the man whom she thought she loved. The very same man, who had pledged his love only moments ago, blood money would now pay for the boat he steered away from his betrothed.

She glanced over at Até, Did you have anything to do with this? I know how you like to get into mischief, as your past deeds have proven. Did you lead her out here, then cause her to be thrown to her death?

Of course not! I’m just a minor Goddess, I don’t cause these things. I don’t help people out of the jams they get themselves into, but I certainly don’t create the messes they make. Humans do enough of that on their own, without interference from us.

She cocked her head at Até, then gave her a sidelong glance. You don’t, by any chance, know if any other God’s might have been messing around with her life? Perhaps making a small wager on what the outcome would be?

Até and Brizo looked at each other, unspoken words seemed to pass between them. Até gave a slight nod, then looked away.

Brizo looked at Aphrodite, What business is it of ours, if one or two Gods do or do not interfere with the lives of humans. I only wish to protect those who call to me for aid when they are in my kingdom.

Kingdom? This very small section of the mighty sea that Zeus has deigned to present to you, is that what you mean?

Yes, please. Make your decision quickly, the foolish mortal has chosen to swim further out to sea, instead of back to shore.

Chapter 2

Southern California

Jasmine was so excited; they were going to go out on Marcus’ new boat today. It was a huge cabin cruiser he had purchased just a few days before, and this would be her maiden voyage.

They had met two years ago, while still in high school, and immediately felt a connection. Both had grown up in foster care, and at one time were living in the same home. The romance just seemed to be the next step. After all, they came from the same situations and could relate to the other as no one else could.

Marcus’ family was an on again, off again thing. He would spend anywhere from a few weeks up to six months in foster care, then go back home. His father was abusive after a few drinks and would sometimes beat his mother so badly they had to call an ambulance. The police would come and haul him off to jail, and Marcus would find himself back in the system.

His father would stay dry for a month or two, and then it would start all over again. It was always the same, he would beat his mother until she was on the brink of death, then he would come with promises of how this time it would be different. Once Marcus reached fourteen, he put his foot down. No longer a helpless child, he decided he wasn’t going to stand for his father’s abuse any longer.

He had come home drunk one night and raised his hand, only this time Marcus was ready for him. That night he left the house for the last time, and nobody had seen or heard from him since.

Although, she thought it strange, that sometimes she would see his mom, she would have bruises on her arms or legs, and even a black eye occasionally. She told Jasmine that she had become clumsy with age and was always falling down and hurting herself. Just last week she had run into her at the store, her arm was in a sling, and she had a black eye. Nervously, she told Jaz that she had fallen down some stairs.

Jasmine suggested she go see a doctor, maybe there was some kind of infection in one of her ears that caused a balance problem. She had promised she would look into it, and that was the last time they had spoken. She hoped everything was okay.

The major differences in their situations, were their parents. She barely remembered hers. Her mother had loved her with all her heart, and her stepdad had always treated her like she was his own baby girl. She was only six when they had come to the house and dragged her away, screaming and crying for her parents. As time went on, her mom had jumped through hoops to get her back, but it seemed no matter what she did, it was never good enough. Jasmine never gave up hope, she just knew that one day she would be reunited with her loving family.

That is, until that night, her foster mother had awakened her with the news.

Her mom and stepdad split up shortly after she was taken away, each blamed the other. Her mother, deep in the depths of despair started drinking. One night, in one of her drunken stupors, she had left the apartment, a few days later a hiker found the car at the bottom of a ravine. They said her blood alcohol was three times the legal limit. They had no way of knowing if she did it on purpose, or if she had just passed out behind the wheel. Those were questions she would never have the answers to, which would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Jasmine’s mother had taken out a million-dollar insurance policy on herself, just a year before her death, and Jasmine was the sole beneficiary. On her eighteenth birthday, she found herself suddenly a millionaire.

She had great plans for the money. She was going to open a haven for foster children, someplace they would find love and understanding. A place where they would never go without, due to the greed of people who were only after the checks from the government.

The moment she had been informed; she started the process. The funds were put into an account that would be used to care for the children, and someone was appointed to continue drawing in more money to keep it sustainable. She could hardly wait to share the news with Marcus.

A horn from outside in the drive announced his arrival. As she ran from the house, she called back her goodbyes to her foster parents on her way out the door.

Hi, Marcus! I’m so excited to see your new boat! I told my parents that I would be gone all weekend. This is going to be so much fun! Wait until you see what I brought along, something special just for you. She winked at him, blushing a deep shade of red.

I can hardly wait, baby. He sounded distracted, then turned his attention to the couple who were still standing in the driveway, watching as they drove away. Hey, listen, how come you’re still living with those people?

Because, silly, they’re my family. Besides I’ve started looking for my own apartment, I should be able to move out by the end of the month.

They aren’t your family, they’re just people who are collecting a check, who decided to let you live under their roof for a while. How much are you paying them to stay there?

She turned in her seat to face him. Marcus, I know you’ve had some bad luck with foster parents, but they aren’t all like that. These are good people. They don’t need for me to pay them. They love me.

Yeah, whatever. That was Marcus’ way of telling her he was done with that conversation.

She knew if she brought anything else up, they would just argue, and she didn’t want to start the weekend off like that. She was delighted; this would be the first time they spent the weekend together.

~

They had finally arrived at the marina, she unloaded her bag, and helped him carry the groceries down to the boat. Her head was bobbing back and forth, anxious to get her first peek at the new boat.

Marcus finally stopped in front of a blue cabin cruiser. Here we are! What do you think? He beamed with pride.

Oh, Marcus! This is beautiful! How can you afford such a nice boat? It must have cost a fortune!

Jasmine stood on the dock looking at the biggest boat she had ever seen, it was so big there were stairs leading up to the deck from the pier.

Nothing’s too good for my baby. Wait until you see the cabin below. Stow your gear and help me push off, will ya? He pointed to the dock where the boat was tied off, Just unwind those ropes and pitch them over here.

Jasmine ran up the stairs, then over to a doorway that led deeper into the boat. She climbed down the steps then dropped her bag on a large sofa just inside the door, and was looking around in awe, when Marcus called out to her, What are you doing? Come on, I don’t have all day!

Coming! She ran back up the stairs and over to the edge of the boat. Then stood for a moment looking down at the distant pier, wondering how she would get back up once she threw the ropes onto the boat. When she looked up, she saw Marcus was glaring at her with his hands on his hips. He started rolling his hands in the air, his patience had nearly reached a peak.

Climbing down, once again, she grabbed the ropes, unwound them and pitched them to him, but they fell short and landed in the water.

What the hell, Jaz! How hard is it to throw a rope? Let’s see if you can get the other one, this time be more careful.

Again, the rope fell short, Shit! Now they’re all wet.

Once they got the boat out on open waters, Marcus went below and came up with a couple of beers. They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying a day out on the ocean.

The sun had just started setting, when Jaz finished fixing dinner. Walking over to the open door, she called up to Marcus, Hey, how about you drop anchor so we can eat?

Already on it, babe. Bring it on up here. I have something I want to ask you.