Tormented, the sequel to my Ellora's Cave novel Plagued, is now available from Changeling Press.
* * * * *
Rahenna doesn't want to be a wicked vampire bitch . . . but she can't help it. She's been stricken with a mysterious infection.
The toxins that have saturated her cells result in some disturbing behavioral abnormalities she can only haphazardly control. Still, she summons the will to provide protection for one of her fledglings recently turned mortal as he celebrates his first real birthday in over six hundred years. And it proves to be a very strange party indeed.
There, Rahenna meets the ancient vampire Rugh--wise, magisterial, and magnetic. After they rout the evil undead trying to crash the birthday celebration, they become increasingly drawn to each other. Soon, it's time for some healing . . .
Following are the book's opening paragraphs. For more information, including another excerpt, click on the link in the post's title.
* * * * *
Rahenna was in the middle of feeding from a young, succulent, muscle-bound fisherman on Pico Island in the Azores when she felt a strange tugging at her blood vessels, en masse, as if they were a net being pulled from the sea. Veins, arteries, capillaries all seemed on the verge of popping through her pores.
Stiffening, she removed her lips from the man’s throat and let out an agonized groan as the insistent tugging continued. The man likely thought she was climaxing, since his cock was buried deep within her body, pounding away like a pestle.
She almost had achieved climax, but this intensely disturbing sensation had quashed it.
Blood trickled from three small punctures her sharpened nails had made in her lover’s neck. A few drops fell on Rahenna’s chin. The rest formed a scarlet slick just above his collarbone. Instinctively, she licked his skin. It was something she normally did with unrestrained relish. Yet, at the moment, the act almost made her nauseous.
The twisting, churning ache within her body continued, pushing her to the brink of hysteria. The feeling was not only distressing, but frighteningly unfamiliar. She simply couldn’t fathom what was happening to her.
Still fretting and anxious, Rahenna was jolted by a keener sensation—two blasts of pleasure-pain, centering on her nipples. It felt as if her breasts were being branded. Her body didn’t seem to know how to respond. It alternately arched forward and shrank back, her spine bowing first one way, then the other. A quavering whimper crawled up her throat. It spiraled into a broken cry.
What was going on? In all her centuries on earth, she’d never experienced such a physical onslaught, such a tangled, thorny mass of stimuli.
* * * * *
Copyright (c) 2008 K. Z. Snow
TORMENTED, sequel to Plagued, by K.Z. Snow
Read User's Comments(0)
Red is on sale!
“Oh, I get it,” she replied, still not exactly whispering, “You want me to turn a blind eye so you can bump and grind with the bad guy.”
As I led Kat closer to the door, I felt a familiar prickle along my skin. It was the unmistakable feel of power that radiated from the very alpha.
“Hello, Red,” Marco’s rough sexy voice said from behind me.
Kat smiled from ear to ear as I turned toward where Marco stood, draped casually against the doorway. I took my time, letting my hungry eyes take in the sight of him. Marco was definitely eye candy, and I’d always liked sweets. He wore dark red leather pants, so dark they were nearly black, but closer to a deep cherry, with a matching shirt that looked to be satin. The shirt hung open to reveal his natural golden tan as well as the trail of dark hair that spread across his chest, down the ridged curves of his abs to disappear below his belt. I felt him watching me as I traced that trail of hair with my eyes.
“I knew you’d come,” he said.
Kat staggered forward and giggled, “So, do you like to huff and puff, or just blow things down?”
To my surprise, Marco laughed. He flashed her a smile of nice even white teeth as he replied, “I don’t see anything wrong with a little huffing and puffing now and then.” He put his arms around us both as he added, “Please, come in.”
When he stepped close, I breathed in his scent and felt my eyes roll to the back of my head. If someone could bottle Marco’s scent, they could sell it as a form of Ecstasy.
Marco led us past the dance floor, and up a flight of stairs. There were several booths and tables there that were separated from the rest by wrought iron railing, but had an excellent and elevated view of the dance floor. The air was so thick with the scent of sex and werewolves that even I wanted to howl. Perhaps visiting Marco so close to the full moon had been a mistake. The music thumped in my chest like a second heartbeat as I felt Marco press himself against my back. He wrapped his arm around my waist, carefully avoiding the silver belt buckle.
“Would you like to dance first, or get straight to business?”
As I considered the question, I turned to face him. “Are you planning to kill me?” I asked.
“Why, are you planning to kill me?”
I reached out and found whatever it was I’d found that night with Bade. A fever warm and sinuous flowed through my veins as I responded silkily, “Not tonight.”
I watched as the pulse in his throat beat faster at the sound of my voice. He was fighting to control his reaction, but he felt it, whatever it was, he felt it. Kat took a few shaky steps forward, and rested her head against Marco’s arm.
“He smells really good,” she spoke to me as if he wasn’t standing there.
Marco put his arm around her shoulders to prevent her from toppling over the railing in front of us. I had been sadly mistaken on how much alcohol she’d managed to keep down. I had never seen Kat that drunk before.
“I think you may be wrong,” she continued directing her comments to me, as she leaned on Marco for support. When I noticed she wasn’t taking the opportunity to cop a feel, I decided it was time to take Kat home, she wasn’t herself anymore.
“About what?”
“Bad guys don’t smell this good,” she half whispered to me as if she were revealing some secret of the universe.
The grin on Marco’s face could not have been more devilish if he’d had horns.
“It’s werewolf pheromones, Kat. Don’t be fooled.” I glanced back at Marco as I added, “He may smell good enough to eat, but trust me when I say, you don’t want hair in your food.”
“Maybe we could get him to wax,” she suggested, running her hand up the front of his bare chest.
This succeeded not only in making me laugh, but I felt some of the sexy power drain from my voice. However when Marco looked as if that didn’t sound like a bad idea, I pulled her hand, roaming ever lower, from Marco’s body. Kat looked like it was Christmas, and I’d just stolen her present, but Marco laughed and suggested, “Perhaps your friend would like to retire to one of the VIP rooms upstairs, alone,” he added the last part in response to the look I gave him. “She could sleep it off a bit.”
“I don’t need to sleep anything off,” Kat insisted with as much dignity as she could muster. “Can’t a woman make a pass at someone without being considered sloshed?”
“Well, then perhaps I could find someone to accompany her,” he directed the suggestion to me.
“You want me to leave my friend alone with one of your wolves? I don’t think so.”
“Would it matter if I said that I trusted him?”
“No, it wouldn’t.”
“Is he good looking?” Kat asked hopefully.
Marco smiled. “I think so,” he teased.
Kat leaned forward and whispered, “What do you think, I’ve still got the mace?”
I just shook my head. Marco was listening to our every word. It does no good to whisper in front of a werewolf.
She smiled up at him and replied with more discernment than I thought her capable of at the time, “Why don’t you have him join me at that table over there?”
Marco looked to me before responding, “Alright.” He snapped his fingers at a waiter as he said, “Send me Luther.”
Without hesitation, the young man turned and went back past the tables to disappear behind a red door. A moment later a tall man with long white blond hair emerged, looking like he’d stepped off the pages of a dirty magazine. He wore an outfit similar to Marco’s except that it was completely black, making his hair look all the more white, and his skin was more a darker shade of pale than tan. As he approached, I saw that his eyes were a nice clear blue, and despite his at first, creepy impression, he had a pleasant smile.
There was something about him that was very familiar to me, though I couldn’t quite place it until he spoke. “Lilith,” he said. “Don’t you remember me?”
“Oh my God, Luther.” I stepped forward and embraced one of my childhood friends whom I’d not seen in nearly ten years. We were in drama together. I couldn’t believe how much he’d changed. His voice and his smile were the only remnants of the boy I once knew. Luther had never been this sexy in high school, I was certain of it.
“How’ve you been?” he asked, looking down at me. Luther was about six foot two, but to me, even in heels, that required looking up to answer him.
I motioned around at our surroundings as I said, “About as good as you’ve been, it seems.”
“Does this mean that you’ll leave him alone with your friend?” Marco asked.
Truthfully, I’d forgotten he was still standing there. I was so shocked, not only to see Luther again, but to know that he was a werewolf. We had never been intimate, but we were relatively close in school, and for a minute, I didn’t feel quite so alone. But I remembered, he was a werewolf and I was something in between, so technically, I was still alone.
“Yes,” I said, still looking at Luther, “I trust him. Now, it’s her I’m worried about.” I smiled at Kat. “Don’t attack the man in public, alright?”
Kat pretended to pout but couldn’t stop smiling as she replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll behave myself.” I watched as she and Luther took a seat at a booth in the corner and appeared to start telling dirty jokes. Maybe he hadn’t changed as much as I’d thought.
“Well?” Marco asked, turning my attention back to him. “What will it be, business, or pleasure?”
I looked him up and down once more, lingering longer than was polite across the front of his tight leather pants. Looking at Marco was like reading a really good book; you just wanted to take your time. As I stepped closer to him again, I breathed in his scent and could no longer keep my hands to myself.
Pulling his shirt open, I placed both my hands against his chest, just as they had been in my drawing. For many sleepless nights, I had longed to run my hands over Marco’s body. His skin was hot, feverish to the touch and I felt the hot sexual power flow over me again as I touched him. My voice became sex as I leaned in to whisper, “You’re hot.”
He gasped in response, apparently touching his bare skin made it harder to resist the power in my voice.
“Full moon,” he said, his voice growing deeper with desire.
“What about it?” I leaned close enough to breath in the scent along his collar bone.
“It’s in three days,” he said, swallowing hard.
“Mmm, do you always run a fever so close to transformation?” I pressed my lips to his throat.
“Always,” he breathed.
People at the tables around us were staring, Kat included. Marco and I were beginning to draw our own crowd.
“Maybe dancing isn’t such a good idea,” I said, pulling back from him slightly. It took all I could do not to rip off his clothes and throw him on a table top as it was. If I had danced with him, the audience might have gotten more than a display of my dancing skills.
Red is the first book in my Lilith Mercury Werewolf Hunter Series. Available now at www.newconceptspublishing.com/red.htm.
You can watch the trailer at http://www.traceyhkitts.com/book_trailers.htm
Red is on sale right now for 15% off at Fictionwise!
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook66283.htm?cache
Tracey
As I led Kat closer to the door, I felt a familiar prickle along my skin. It was the unmistakable feel of power that radiated from the very alpha.
“Hello, Red,” Marco’s rough sexy voice said from behind me.
Kat smiled from ear to ear as I turned toward where Marco stood, draped casually against the doorway. I took my time, letting my hungry eyes take in the sight of him. Marco was definitely eye candy, and I’d always liked sweets. He wore dark red leather pants, so dark they were nearly black, but closer to a deep cherry, with a matching shirt that looked to be satin. The shirt hung open to reveal his natural golden tan as well as the trail of dark hair that spread across his chest, down the ridged curves of his abs to disappear below his belt. I felt him watching me as I traced that trail of hair with my eyes.
“I knew you’d come,” he said.
Kat staggered forward and giggled, “So, do you like to huff and puff, or just blow things down?”
To my surprise, Marco laughed. He flashed her a smile of nice even white teeth as he replied, “I don’t see anything wrong with a little huffing and puffing now and then.” He put his arms around us both as he added, “Please, come in.”
When he stepped close, I breathed in his scent and felt my eyes roll to the back of my head. If someone could bottle Marco’s scent, they could sell it as a form of Ecstasy.
Marco led us past the dance floor, and up a flight of stairs. There were several booths and tables there that were separated from the rest by wrought iron railing, but had an excellent and elevated view of the dance floor. The air was so thick with the scent of sex and werewolves that even I wanted to howl. Perhaps visiting Marco so close to the full moon had been a mistake. The music thumped in my chest like a second heartbeat as I felt Marco press himself against my back. He wrapped his arm around my waist, carefully avoiding the silver belt buckle.
“Would you like to dance first, or get straight to business?”
As I considered the question, I turned to face him. “Are you planning to kill me?” I asked.
“Why, are you planning to kill me?”
I reached out and found whatever it was I’d found that night with Bade. A fever warm and sinuous flowed through my veins as I responded silkily, “Not tonight.”
I watched as the pulse in his throat beat faster at the sound of my voice. He was fighting to control his reaction, but he felt it, whatever it was, he felt it. Kat took a few shaky steps forward, and rested her head against Marco’s arm.
“He smells really good,” she spoke to me as if he wasn’t standing there.
Marco put his arm around her shoulders to prevent her from toppling over the railing in front of us. I had been sadly mistaken on how much alcohol she’d managed to keep down. I had never seen Kat that drunk before.
“I think you may be wrong,” she continued directing her comments to me, as she leaned on Marco for support. When I noticed she wasn’t taking the opportunity to cop a feel, I decided it was time to take Kat home, she wasn’t herself anymore.
“About what?”
“Bad guys don’t smell this good,” she half whispered to me as if she were revealing some secret of the universe.
The grin on Marco’s face could not have been more devilish if he’d had horns.
“It’s werewolf pheromones, Kat. Don’t be fooled.” I glanced back at Marco as I added, “He may smell good enough to eat, but trust me when I say, you don’t want hair in your food.”
“Maybe we could get him to wax,” she suggested, running her hand up the front of his bare chest.
This succeeded not only in making me laugh, but I felt some of the sexy power drain from my voice. However when Marco looked as if that didn’t sound like a bad idea, I pulled her hand, roaming ever lower, from Marco’s body. Kat looked like it was Christmas, and I’d just stolen her present, but Marco laughed and suggested, “Perhaps your friend would like to retire to one of the VIP rooms upstairs, alone,” he added the last part in response to the look I gave him. “She could sleep it off a bit.”
“I don’t need to sleep anything off,” Kat insisted with as much dignity as she could muster. “Can’t a woman make a pass at someone without being considered sloshed?”
“Well, then perhaps I could find someone to accompany her,” he directed the suggestion to me.
“You want me to leave my friend alone with one of your wolves? I don’t think so.”
“Would it matter if I said that I trusted him?”
“No, it wouldn’t.”
“Is he good looking?” Kat asked hopefully.
Marco smiled. “I think so,” he teased.
Kat leaned forward and whispered, “What do you think, I’ve still got the mace?”
I just shook my head. Marco was listening to our every word. It does no good to whisper in front of a werewolf.
She smiled up at him and replied with more discernment than I thought her capable of at the time, “Why don’t you have him join me at that table over there?”
Marco looked to me before responding, “Alright.” He snapped his fingers at a waiter as he said, “Send me Luther.”
Without hesitation, the young man turned and went back past the tables to disappear behind a red door. A moment later a tall man with long white blond hair emerged, looking like he’d stepped off the pages of a dirty magazine. He wore an outfit similar to Marco’s except that it was completely black, making his hair look all the more white, and his skin was more a darker shade of pale than tan. As he approached, I saw that his eyes were a nice clear blue, and despite his at first, creepy impression, he had a pleasant smile.
There was something about him that was very familiar to me, though I couldn’t quite place it until he spoke. “Lilith,” he said. “Don’t you remember me?”
“Oh my God, Luther.” I stepped forward and embraced one of my childhood friends whom I’d not seen in nearly ten years. We were in drama together. I couldn’t believe how much he’d changed. His voice and his smile were the only remnants of the boy I once knew. Luther had never been this sexy in high school, I was certain of it.
“How’ve you been?” he asked, looking down at me. Luther was about six foot two, but to me, even in heels, that required looking up to answer him.
I motioned around at our surroundings as I said, “About as good as you’ve been, it seems.”
“Does this mean that you’ll leave him alone with your friend?” Marco asked.
Truthfully, I’d forgotten he was still standing there. I was so shocked, not only to see Luther again, but to know that he was a werewolf. We had never been intimate, but we were relatively close in school, and for a minute, I didn’t feel quite so alone. But I remembered, he was a werewolf and I was something in between, so technically, I was still alone.
“Yes,” I said, still looking at Luther, “I trust him. Now, it’s her I’m worried about.” I smiled at Kat. “Don’t attack the man in public, alright?”
Kat pretended to pout but couldn’t stop smiling as she replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll behave myself.” I watched as she and Luther took a seat at a booth in the corner and appeared to start telling dirty jokes. Maybe he hadn’t changed as much as I’d thought.
“Well?” Marco asked, turning my attention back to him. “What will it be, business, or pleasure?”
I looked him up and down once more, lingering longer than was polite across the front of his tight leather pants. Looking at Marco was like reading a really good book; you just wanted to take your time. As I stepped closer to him again, I breathed in his scent and could no longer keep my hands to myself.
Pulling his shirt open, I placed both my hands against his chest, just as they had been in my drawing. For many sleepless nights, I had longed to run my hands over Marco’s body. His skin was hot, feverish to the touch and I felt the hot sexual power flow over me again as I touched him. My voice became sex as I leaned in to whisper, “You’re hot.”
He gasped in response, apparently touching his bare skin made it harder to resist the power in my voice.
“Full moon,” he said, his voice growing deeper with desire.
“What about it?” I leaned close enough to breath in the scent along his collar bone.
“It’s in three days,” he said, swallowing hard.
“Mmm, do you always run a fever so close to transformation?” I pressed my lips to his throat.
“Always,” he breathed.
People at the tables around us were staring, Kat included. Marco and I were beginning to draw our own crowd.
“Maybe dancing isn’t such a good idea,” I said, pulling back from him slightly. It took all I could do not to rip off his clothes and throw him on a table top as it was. If I had danced with him, the audience might have gotten more than a display of my dancing skills.
Red is the first book in my Lilith Mercury Werewolf Hunter Series. Available now at www.newconceptspublishing.com/red.htm.
You can watch the trailer at http://www.traceyhkitts.com/book_trailers.htm
Red is on sale right now for 15% off at Fictionwise!
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook66283.htm?cache
Tracey
Red - "She's torn between the man who saved her humanity and the one who makes her want to embrace the beast."
Broken Hero by Anne Whitfield
Blurb
Audrey Pearson’s life changed dramatically when WWII broke out and her large home, Twelve Pines on the East Yorkshire coast, became a convalescence home for wounded soldiers. Her life is no longer lavish with entertainment, beautiful clothes and surrounded by a loving family. Soldiers, physically and mentally wounded now fill her home. The smell of disinfectant replaces her mother’s perfume and gone are the friends and acquaintances - instead nurses roam the hallways.
Captain Jake Harding, a doctor training in psychiatry arrives at Twelve Pines. Audrey immediately finds herself attracted to the Captain, but he is remote towards her. Puzzled by his cold behaviour, Audrey tries to learn more about the handsome Captain. He reveals that he’s lost a wife and baby in childbirth and refuses to ever remarry. However, despite this, Audrey believes she can change his mind and make him aware he doesn’t have to spend his life alone.
The ice around Jake’s heart begins to melt. For years he has rejected the possibility of finding love again because of the pain it caused him before, but the beautiful Audrey shows him her love and she needs someone to love her in return.
Could he honestly walk away from her, from the love that could be his?
A lovely review for my WWII historical romance, Broken Hero.
Review snippet:
'Broken Hero' produces a rich, cohesive view of a few lives during the turbulent war years, and also gives us a hint of life before the war. The writing invites us to read slowly, understand the individuals' histories, and savor the story. Foremost; this is a really beautiful romance.Full review here:
http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/review-broken-hero.html
Purchase Broken Hero from Amazon.com (as well as Fictionwise and Barnes & Noble, etc)
http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Hero-Anne-Whitfield/dp/1601542267/ref=ed_oe_p
Regards, Anne.~ http://www.annewhitfield.com
Broken Hero out now! Check website for details.
Her Shadowed Heart and Woodland Daughter released soon!
Second Time Around by Jamie Hill
When he's finally ready to re-enter the dating scene, he realises his own needs have also changed. Instead of blonde hair and a big bust, the image turning him on these days is dark haired, and masculine.
His first attempt at a same-sex date ends up a fumbling, sticky, back-seat mess. But when he meets handsome Niko Bulajic, he realises he might just have found what he's looking for...the second time around.
Enslaving Heaven by Michelle Houston
Now available from Phaze Books:
Enslaving Heaven by Michelle Houston!
Lyssa is disgusted by the whole sale of slaves, but finds herself drawn to one of the ladies on the selling block. After impulsively purchasing her, Lyssa now has to decide what to do with Alya – she can't just keep her. But the former prostitute, now slave, has other plans for her new mistress, including convincing her to let her stay.
As if Lyssa doesn't have enough to deal with, her pilot and best friend Nita is having problems adjusting to the newest member of their crew, and how it makes her feel. Nita had once found what Lyssa has, but lost it thanks to her. When an accident gives Nita a second chance with the woman she loves, she risks Lyssa's wrath to be with her.
More information or purchase hereRead an excerpt here
Ivy at Manic Readers says:
Michelle Houston writes very well. The action scenes are well done, and don't seem incidental to the plot as in some erotica. There is a plot, and it's not just there to further the sex. The sex is of the BDSM flavor, and all female/female. It's done quite well, and there is just the right amount of sex scenes.
The Dread Moon is out!!!
Lilith's reputation as the best in the business has spread, and not just to the lycanthrope population. She's just been hired to find the original vampire. The vamps want what everyone else wants, equality. However, she will soon realize that the original vampire isn't just out for blood, or the return of rights to his people ... he wants Lilith too.
Rating: Carnal-violence, adult language, and situations, sex scene with autoerotic exphixiation.
“If you could help me with my cloak,” Dracula whispered softly against my hair as he leaned on me for support. “I believe it will conceal me well enough.”
Luther held him steady while I placed the long black cloak around his shoulders and pulled the hood over his dark hair. He looked like he’d stepped off the pages of an erotic novel. He wore one of those wonderful white shirts with ruffles around wrists which hung over the tops of his knuckles. The front of the shirt had laces between the ruffles, but they were not tied, leaving the shirt open to reveal a portion of his beautiful body. The hood cast a shadow over half of his face, leaving only his full pink lips visible. But I knew somewhere in the darkness lay those piercing emerald eyes, and it made me shiver.
Luther snapped his fingers in front of my eyes and I blinked.
“You ok?” he asked.
I realized then he was waiting on me to take the vampire downstairs. Marco had gone and apparently the car was waiting on us. How long had I been standing there? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I let Dracula put his arm around me. Without really considering what I was doing, I reached my hand inside his cloak and around his waist for support. His hand touched my bare shoulder and I wanted more. My mind was filled with visions that were not my own. His face hovered above me as his long dark hair cascaded over my eyes. His eyes burned like emerald fire. His shirt was open, I reached for him. I licked my way up his chest, over his throat. It wasn’t enough, it would never be enough. I craved more of him, all of him, and the scent of that wonderful cologne.
I cried out suddenly and clung to his waist to prevent falling in the floor. I hadn’t had an orgasm, but I was close.
Luther who had already turned his back on us was instantly beside me, “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I said quickly at the look he gave Dracula. “I’m not in any pain,” I gasped.
The Dread Moon is book three in my Lilith Mercury Werewolf Hunter Series, available now from New Concepts Publishing.
Books one and two are available now at http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/.
Book One – Red - www.newconceptspublishing.com/red.htm
Book Two Object of My Affection - http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/objectofmyaffection.htm
Tracey
The Dread Moon
“The beast inside of her craved some sort of satisfaction and Lilith knew just where to find it.”
CINDRA AND THE BOUNTY HUNTER is now in PRINT!
I'm thrilled to announce that my bestselling sci-fi erotic romance Cindra and the Bounty Hunter is now available in PRINT! And it's got a HOT new cover designed by the fantastic and very talented artist Rae Monet!
Beautiful Cindra Mallory is determined to become an interplanetary bounty hunter and has set her sights high for her first job. She tracks a major organized-crime figure halfway across the galaxy, only to run out of both leads and money. Facing the possibility of going home empty-handed, she decides to enlist the services of more-experienced bounty hunter Bladen Sloan. Unwilling to share the glory – or the bounty – with the ruggedly handsome Bladen, however, Cindra fabricates a convoluted story that has her posing as a jilted bride-to-be, with her bounty as the fiancé she needs Bladen to track down. But when Bladen discovers she has no money to pay him, he agrees to do the job only in return for some extremely special compensation.
Before she knows it, Cindra finds herself signing a contract that has her agreeing to provide ten sexual favors to Bladen in return for his services. How difficult can it be? she thinks. After all, the man certainly isn’t hard to look at. And besides, she can always skip out on the deal the moment they find her fugitive. However, things get complicated when she discovers that Bladen believes in spankings plus she not only enjoys being Bladen’s sex toy, but is starting to fall for him as well. But is there a way to tell Bladen the truth, get her bounty, and still keep the man she’s falling in love with?
Excerpt:
Bladen lifted his gaze to her face and found her regarding him expectantly. “While your offer is very tempting, Ms. Mallory, I can’t accept it."
Her brow furrowed beneath her long, sexy bangs. “Why not?”
He gave her a small smile. “Because for one thing, it wouldn’t be very professional of me. And for another, I would feel like I was taking advantage of you.”
She blinked, obviously surprised by the words. But then her lips curved into a smile. “You wouldn’t be taking advantage of me, Mr. Sloan, I assure you. I know exactly what I’m offering you, and I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to retain your services.”
Bladen said nothing for a moment. Damn, she must want to find her ex-boyfriend bad. And since she obviously wasn’t going to let Bladen bow out of this gracefully, he was going to have to try a different approach. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Ms. Mallory. I find you very attractive, but I don’t think that a single night of sex would be a fair trade for ten-thousand credits worth of my services.”
While he’d been careful how he phrased the words, he could tell by the color rushing to her cheeks that he’d clearly offended Cindra Mallory. Then again, maybe that might be a good thing, he thought. If she was suitably insulted, maybe she’d storm out of his office in a huff and he could forget all about her very tempting offer. But instead, she simply lifted a brow.
“Then I’ll sleep with you more than once,” she said. “Is there a particular number you have in mind?”
Bladen had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. Shit, that hadn’t gone like he thought it would. Cindra Mallory was seriously willing to sleep with him in exchange for his help. And the sultry look she was giving him right now was making his cock stand up and demand to be put in charge of the negotiations.“I’d have no idea what the going rate would be,” he said. “But even if I give you the benefit of the doubt and say that a single night of lovemaking with you is worth a thousand credits, that would still mean you would owe me...”
“Ten nights of unbelievable passion,” she finished for him. “Deal!”
For the second time that night, Bladen stared at her in disbelief, stunned by what she had just agreed to. His cock however, was quite thrilled. “Let me make sure I understand this,” he said slowly. “In exchange for my services, you’re agreeing to provide me with ten sexual favors, of my design, and at the time of my choosing?”
“Yes, Mr. Sloan, that’s exactly what I’m agreeing to,” she told him.
* * * *
What was she thinking, agreeing to sleep with Bladen Sloan ten times in exchange for his help? Cindra wondered. But she’d been so caught up in their sexy banter, not to mention mesmerized by his hypnotizing good looks, that the words had come out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying. Was it too late to back out of it? she asked herself. But one look at the expression on the bounty hunter’s face told her that he considered it a done deal. Maybe she should tell him that she changed her mind, and then make a mad dash for the door.
But she didn’t. Instead, Cindra forced herself to take a deep, cleansing breath. Why was she freaking out? What difference did it really make if she agreed to sleep with Bladen Sloan once or ten times? It wasn’t like she was actually going to have sex with him anyway. She’d flirt and lead him on just like she planned, then when Sloan found DelCour for her, she would be off Pendari before she’d ever have to honor their agreement.
Behind his desk, Sloan inclined his head. “Then I’ll draw up a contract and we can make it official.”
Cindra frowned at that. She found it hard to believe he was actually going to put something like that into writing, but she said nothing as he dictated the terms of their agreement into the computer. Well, she could only hope he was just as thorough when it came to looking for DelCour, she thought wryly.
Once the contract was printed, the bounty hunter came around the desk and held it out for her signature. Quickly reading it, she saw that he had simply put their agreement into words. There was something about seeing it on paper that made her blush though, and her hand trembled a little as she signed it. It wasn’t as if the contract would hold up in any council of law in the galaxy anyway, she told herself. At least she didn’t think it would.
“So, what do we do first?” she asked, handing the signed contract back to him.
He set the contract on the desk, and then turned to give her a grin. “You.”
Cindra looked up at him in confusion. “Me?”
Taking her hand, he pulled her gently to her feet. She had known the bounty hunter was tall, but now that he was standing so close, she realized just how tall he really was. The top of her head didn’t even reach his chin.“I think it would only be fair for me to get a partial payment up front, don’t you?” he said softly.
Her pulse quickened as she realized what the bounty hunter meant. He wanted to have sex with her. Right then! “Here?” she asked, looking around the office.
Bladen released her hand to lightly run the tips of his fingers up and down her bare arm. The touch sent the most delicious little shivers up and down her back. “Why not?”
His nearness was making it difficult to think. Or speak, for that matter. She hadn’t expected to have to make good on her side of the bargain quite this soon. “B-but anyone could walk in,” she stammered. Damn, he smelled good! Not like cologne either, she thought, just pure, unadulterated masculinity.
He reached behind him to press a button on his computer. A moment later, a lilting female voice confirmed that the doors had been locked and the office was now secure. “Not anymore,” he told her.
Cindra chewed on her lower lip, trying to come up with some excuse she could use to avoid having sex with him right that minute, but for some reason, nothing would come to mind. Maybe it was because she was flustered, she told herself. Then again, maybe it was because with Bladen standing so close to her, she was suddenly thinking that sex with him wasn’t necessarily something to be avoided. Before she could really decide if that was a good thing or not, the question became moot as Bladen lowered his head and covered her mouth with his.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)