BLURB:
When you make the Devil’s bargain, be prepared to take the heat. A lot of heat.
Most of cat-girl Xia’s early memories are repressed, thank the Great Cat Mother. But her body remembers how to kill.
The longer she and her fellow Malcolm crewmates are holed up on lawless Cibari hiding from assassins, the twitchier she gets—until the planet’s insanely sexy warlord, Rahal Mizyar, borrows her skills to take out slavers.
Rahal suspects Xia is his mate, but the human-raised female never learned the finer points of felinoid rituals. The solution: make her fall hard and fast for him, even if it means playing dirty.
Hired to determine if Xia is the long-missing granddaughter of the felinoid prime minister, Cal Janssen has finally tracked her down. Getting past Rahal, though, is a problem—until he’s mistaken for a notorious arms dealer and playboy. And he finds himself the object of both Rahal’s and Xia’s seduction.
When their first mission brings Xia’s memories bulleting back to the surface, she realizes she’s fallen for two men who don’t exist. Running away, however, could be her deadliest mistake.
Warning: Contains an assassin with a swiss cheese memory, a badass warlord who’s getting tired of his own con, and a freelance lawman. Secrets, lies, and hot sex with no rules.
Series blurb:
In the 26th century, humans and numerous alien races share the galaxy. Technology has advanced massively. Old Earth is a vast preserve and museum, and humans have spread to the stars. But some things remain the same. Love, lust, and money motivate both humans and other sentient species. Politics can get ugly. And crime can pay very well indeed.
Meet the crew of the independent freighter Malcolm. They usually succeed in keeping things only a little bit illegal. But then a seemingly legit job goes supernova—and they’re on the run, hiding from assassins, a planetary government, and their own dark pasts.
It’s the perfect time to fall in love!
Sexy excerpt (cat-boy and cat-girl in action):
“Let’s put it this way. You agree to my offer, you get me. Any way you want, for as long as you want.”
“I’m not sure it counts as a good bribe,” Rahal said. “I’m all in for sexytimes with you, don’t get me wrong. But you’ve flat out said you’d sleep with me, so I’ll need more than that to consider it a bargain, not just a good time between two people who want each other already.”
Time for a careless shrug and studying her nails nonchalantly. “I never sleep with anyone. Never spend the night. But I will with you if you want. And, yeah, I was going to sex you once. No one ever gets more than once, even if they’re as good as you probably think you are. But you’ll get me all you want if you let Mik and Gan off the hook. No limits.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “If you say no, I’m out the door and you will never touch me again. But if any harm comes to my fathers because of this little plot of yours, I’ll be the one doing the touching.”
“In a life-ending sort of way?”
“In a life-ending sort of way. When you least expect it. I don’t care how tough you are or how good your bodyguards are. Sooner or later, you’ll slip up and I’ll be there.” Not an empty threat, she realized. He was good. He was probably way better than she was. But if he harmed her family, he was dead.
Rahal laughed. It sounded menacing, but mischievous, and definitely erotic. It made her shiver with lust right down to the tip of her tail. She hoped she wouldn’t have to cut off her chance to taste more of the beautiful body she’d enjoyed.
“You are so sexy, Xia. Hot and evil and good at the same time, and good’s something I don’t see enough of. You make death threats seem like the most erotic thing ever. I’ve had plenty and, trust me, they don’t usually affect me that way. So I’ll take you up on this, make you the face of my campaign to stop child abuse and slavery. Leave your dads out of it. In exchange, you’ll share my bed every night for as long as I find it entertaining. Which might be a long time.”
A cold lump formed in her stomach at the words share my bed, but she’d find a way to deal. After all, she’d just told him her deep, dark secret, that she’d been a slave herself. And maybe he’d wear her out so much she wouldn’t be able to find the dark place, so he wouldn’t hear her whimper. “Deal,” she said, extending her hand.
He shook her hand. “Deal. But I can think of better ways to formalize it than a handshake.”
She tried to keep her cool. She really did. But what came out of her mouth was “Great stars, yes. Here. Now.”
“Hands and knees.” His voice deepened to a rumbling, prurient purr. When she didn’t drop quickly enough for his taste, he gave her a little shove.
She didn’t stumble and she figured he didn’t expect her to. Balance was too well engrained in their species, an instinct that, even spending most of her life among clumsy species like humans and Furagi couldn’t dim. Instead of an awkward fall, she used the energy of his push to spring to the ground, landing on all fours. She looked back over her shoulder, arched the long length of her spine and bared her fangs at Rahal in challenge. Her tiny wrap skirt and halter wouldn’t be in the way, but she untied a few knots and let them fall to the floor.
Naked was better.
She crouched lower on her hands, raising her now-naked ass in the air, spread her legs wider to show off her wet sex then curved her tail high and to one side. Without even thinking about it, she growled deep in her throat.
He slithered out of his pants. Then he pounced, a graceful, lithe movement that ended with her as trapped as any prey she’d ever caught, his teeth at the back of her neck. “Mine,” he chortled. “Mine, mine, mine.” His voice went singsong.
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Author bio: Teresa Noelle Roberts started writing stories in kindergarten and she hasn’t stopped yet. A prolific author of short erotica, she’s also a published poet and fantasy writer—but hot paranormals and BDSM-spiced contemporaries were her favorites until she realized science-fiction romances offered new possibilities for outrageous adventure, wild sex and love that overcomes serious obstacles, including being from different species! Find her at www.teresanoelleroberts.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTeresaNoelleRoberts, or on Twitter, where she hangs out as @TeresNoeRoberts. |