Atone By Treaty

by Kayla Stonor

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  Obsession By Treaty

  Book 6 in Qui Treaty Collection

  She vows to break him.

  Her love knows no limits.

  Obsession by Treaty is set in war-torn Earth, as the United Regions awaits the arrival of the Qui Empress, her consort, General Jaden, and the prisoners of war liberated under the new Qui Treaty.

  On a routine tech recovery mission at a downed alien warship, Major Darby McCabe is contaminated by a psychotropic alien device. Her mind and emotions are twisted by psychosis as the love she secretly harbors for her commanding officer, Ethan Saracen, morphs into a dark, dangerous obsession.

  A sharp, highly competent military officer, Darby uses all her wits and resources to abduct Ethan, forcing him into sexual submission and taking complete control of his life. Ethan can see no escape from the downward spiral of his destructive, forced relationship with sociopath Darby, a woman he once loved and now hates. She's taken everything – his pride, command, and capacity to function as a soldier, but the inconvenient truth that hurts most... he still loves her.

  This is a dark psycho-thriller futuristic sci-fi romance with graphic language and violence that will appeal to fans of the prequel Under By Treaty. Readers are advised this novel contains scenes of a non-consensual nature and explicit sex.

  Excerpt

  Darby stood at the center of a revolving world. She felt alive, a conduit of energy.

  “I need help here!” Saracen yelled again, distracting her reverie.

  Her eyes narrowed in his direction, angry now.

  Saracen used his bare hands to dig rock and sand off Lukas’ emerging face. She watched him, his desperate fight sparking a fire of lust. He never stopped. Strong, his muscular body working in perfect coordination – she wanted him.

  The black specks blurred with dark shapes emerging from the horizon. The shapes materialized into soldiers and she remembered Saracen had called for back-up. Some hurtled forward to help his rescue effort. Others formed a protective perimeter. Saracen glanced her way. She sensed disapproval in his gaze, saw others look at him, and then across to her.

  Anger exploded into fury. He rebuked her in front of everyone.

  She glared at Saracen and his eyes flashed, first with anger and then something else. Her fingers tightened around the pebble. As willing hands freed a shaken but unharmed Einarsson from an early grave, Colonel Saracen stood up and walked over to her, his muscled body taut with tension, dirty and sweaty.

  Piercing dark eyes swept over her from head to toe. “Major?”

  He stood one foot away; so close she inhaled his earthy male scent. Desire for him trickled into her crotch. Lust fueled her anger and Saracen physically stepped back. Shock glinted in his eyes and she relished his confusion.

  Her stomach flipped in pleasure and she smiled. She had the power to hurt him.

  The pebble burned in her hand.

  A hard look tightened the colonel’s face and the sweet ache in her belly exploded.

  “Is there a problem, Major?” The gentle volume of his words harbored a dangerous edge that drew attention.

  Silence fell. All eyes turned to them.

  Hot embarrassment flooded her. They might not hear his words, but they knew. Passive aggression screamed from every part of his body. He wanted to rebuke her. Indecision battled annoyance in his expression. Darby knew what stopped him – the powerful connection between them that kept her awake at night. An idea formed with pristine clarity. His secret feelings for her would cost him his freedom.

  He would pay for his high-handed attitude, his constant orders, pretending to be superior and righteous when all the time he wanted to climb into her pants. Darby swallowed her pride. Holding the pebble helped, centered her steaming emotions.

  “Sorry, Colonel, I got up too fast. Is Lukas okay?”

  His eyes narrowed, his mouth pursed. He held her gaze for long moments, searching for an answer he couldn’t find. Darby projected her most professional expression and, finally, he nodded.

  “Yeah, I think he’ll live. Report to medical, McCabe.”

  She sensed his lingering suspicion. “I’m fine, sir.”

  “No. No, you’re definitely not fine.”

  End Excerpt

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  Betrayal By Treaty

  Book 7 in the Qui Treaty Collection

  & sequel to Under By Treaty

  They had a deal.

  She promised to protect him.

  Jaden forfeited rank and freedom to serve as tribute to the Qui Empress and save Earth. A devoted lover, Jaden’s iron will won the love of the Empress, but his backbone and loyalty to Earth breeds mistrust. On a diplomatic mission to Earth, a Surashan connection is revealed and tension runs high within the Qui Court. Humanity has unwittingly become a gateway for the enemy, at the center of a treacherous plot to strike at the Empress herself.

  There is no peace for a tribute who commands the heart of an Empress.

  She promised to protect Jaden, and now his life and Earth’s fate rest on an impossible decision. The Empress must choose between love and duty. Both demand sacrifice.

  Betrayal By Treaty is a bold, fast-paced adventure of alien shapeshifter erotic romance with a strong alpha hero who will strike a deal with the devil to save the Empress he loves.

  Excerpt

  “Sonestra, I am your mother. Do not ask me to stand silent while you destroy your bloodline’s right to the throne. This SuraQui does not negate the evidence of a Surashan presence on Earth. Humans cannot be trusted. Your tribute has proven that.”

  A sibilant hiss threaded K’rista’s tone and Jaden’s muscles bunched with tension. Sonil flashed him a warning. Her mother enjoyed riling him and liked to display her Qui to maximum effect. Jaden fought to relax, the effort visible and dispelling both Sonil’s irritation and K’rista’s overt antagonism until mischief entered Jaden’s eye.

  “Honored Qui, may I offer you a drink?”

  Sonil sighed. He couldn’t stand for K’rista to believe him cowed. She sought to soothe her mother’s ruffling feathers. “My stateroom is our private residence while aboard my flagship. Jaden is not subject to the stringent limits of the Court of Katar here.”

  “Your throne follows you always.”

  “I will remind him of this. Later.”

  Jaden shrugged, folded his arms. Sonil narrowed her eyes. A pleasurable retribution might be called for. His eyes twinkled in sudden amusement and K’rista threw out her hands in despair.

  “Please, Mother, I value your experience. I would hear your mind.”

  K’rista bestowed Sonil with an approving smile, dismissed Jaden with a flick of her wings. “Sonestra, you inherited your position by virtue of traditions and customs established by your ancestors, but advocate a philosophy of respect only you understand. A Qui protects their tributes by virtue of good training. This respects their sacrifice. You undermine Jaden’s training by granting him an illusion of freedom in private. This leads to confusion. Anarchy!”

  Jaden refused to be dismissed. “I do not take my commitment to Sonil lightly, K’rista, painful as that can be.”

  The serious honesty in his tone, almost a reassertion of his pledge set Sonil’s pulse racing. She raised an eyebrow to her mother in challenge. K’rista inclined her head, for a moment said nothing. Then for the first time since descending on them, she faced Jaden, a proper acknowledgment of his presence.

  “I do not doubt your sincerity, Jaden. I respect your devotion to my daughter, but others will only respect your absolute devotion to the throne. The Qui is not a person. The Qui represents the rule of the Court. The Qui is the Empire, and, Sonestra,” her eyes flicked to Sonil, “your Empire is in disarray. The Surashan see your treaty places Earth in a favored position outside your Empire. They smell blood. They will use Earth to attack the Empire until the Qui are forced to rescind the treaty and terminate the human threat.”

  “The United Regions won’t ally with the Surash
an,” Jaden said.

  “What about those humans outside the United Regions?”

  He laughed. “There’s nothing to be gained from working with them. The Fringes don’t have the tech.”

  “The Surashan do.”

  Jaden fell silent. “That’s possible, Sonil.” He grimaced then glanced at K’rista. “Well, this is weird.”

  K’rista made to speak, hesitated.

  “Mother?”

  “Earth is divided. It may be in the interests of both the Qui Empire and the United Regions to change that before it becomes an issue.”

  Jaden smacked his palm against his forehead. “You want to destroy the Fringes! Is this why you came? To pit human against human! Fuck. That won’t happen.”

  “Why not?” Sonil asked. “I signed the Treaty with the United Regions. If the Surashan form an alliance with the Fringes, I will protect my Empire. The United Regions’ logical response is to destroy those who threaten long term peace for their world. My mother only wishes to pre-empt the inevitable.”

  His head jolted back. “No! You don’t understand the numerous races on Earth, the different cultures and religions! I don’t either! But that doesn’t mean you can just wipe them out. You’re talking genocide!”

  “It would have to be done quickly, before the Surashan establish a stronghold,” K’rista said, almost as if Jaden hadn’t spoken.

  Sonil placed a restraining hand on Jaden. His tendons hardened with fury— at K’rista, certainly, but also annoyance that Sonil once more asserted her authority in their private space. She resisted tightening her grip, attempted a diplomatic approach. “I need evidence, Mother.”

  Jaden shook Sonil off. “I won’t support you on this!”

  K’rista raised her rigid scaled brow, shot her daughter a triumphant smile, and left with a regal swish of her wings, her mission accomplished.

  Jaden glared at Sonil, fists clenched in rage. “Do not tell me I have to shut up and watch you bomb the shit out of the Fringes! This isn’t what I signed up for!”

  “You have chosen me over Earth once before, Jaden. I know your heart.”

  “So don’t go breaking it!”

  She winced at the volume of his voice. Her calm response had only infuriated him further and normally she would have argued her viewpoint, but she did not want to fight with Jaden. Especially now. “My mother’s suspicion is speculation, nothing more.”

  “Don’t give me that!” he shot back.

  His eyes lit into her, his mouth tight and angry. Arousal tingled in Sonil’s nipples, lifted the scales along her spine. Her wings itched to break out.

  “Your mother laid out a scenario guaranteed to pit us against each other,” Jaden raged and Sonil instantly knew a soothing approach designed to alleviate the seeping ache between her thighs would not be well received. “K’rista set out to expose my illusion of freedom and smack me down, and it worked! Fuck! Why do you listen to her?”

  Sonil took a deep breath. She hated when they fought, when his human clashed with her Qui, when the demands of her position encroached into their private life. She fought her rampaging pheromones, her body’s instinctive response to the testosterone emanating from his every pore.

  One day he would push her too far, unleash her mating Qui in full, a place she could never take him, not as her tribute. Skal. Jaden did not solely own the illusion of freedom.

  End Excerpt

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  Under By Duress

  She caught him.

  Now she has to turn him in.

  Tahima has escaped to the Blue Ridge Mountains following a devastating break up from her ex-Dom. When a Mafia heir wanted for murder crashes into her life, she determines to turn him in. Her only option is to force him down the mountain. It is a mission fraught with danger. Rossini is a Dom who promises to be uncooperative. She will have to switch roles.

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  Under By Vengeance

  He ruined her career.

  She locked him in chastity.

  Deep undercover, a mission to take down an international trafficking ring leads Jenna Tayler into the dark side of sexual slavery — an exclusive conspiracy selling wealthy women retribution for their wayward men. To infiltrate the Kabas operation, she’s forced to turn against her fellow agent, Ryan Crichten.

  Maddeningly arrogant. British. Sexy alpha male. Ryan signed up for any mission, whatever the cost, but his reactions to being abducted must ring true or Jenna’s cover is blown. Everything Jenna learned about safe, sane and consensual is scrapped. To keep Ryan alive and maintain cover, she must force him into submission.

  She’ll do whatever it takes, but he’s not making the job easy.

  Ryan believes Jenna to be CIA, on assignment to London. She catches his eye and throws him off-balance, but she’s in way over her head. When he pulls her off the team — for her own protection — she abducts him. The woman’s gone off the deep end, hell bent on subjecting him to constant sexual frustration. His elite spy training never prepared him for sensual torture, and the mixed signals from Jenna confuse the hell out of him.

  She’s hiding something, and not just the key to his manhood.

  This erotic romantic suspense novel containing BDSM themes is the third book in Kayla Stonor’s Surrender collection.

  Excerpt

  Jenna peeled off the latex glove then stepped up to Crichten’s left side and crouched beside his head. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. The rhythm of his breathing increased, a muscle in his jaw twitched, but his eyes stared fixedly at a point in front of him. She gripped his hair roots and yanked his head back so he looked at the ceiling.

  “I should wash out your mouth.”

  His gaze flicked towards her. “You did leave a sour taste.”

  She smiled and shook his head from side to side. “But your ass is so inviting. When did you last experience a good, old-fashioned spanking?”

  “Is that the best you can come up with?”

  “Of course your training covered humiliation. Still, you haven’t had me spank you before.”

  She pushed his head forward then rested her ungloved hand between his shoulder blades. He twitched at her touch. She trailed her fingers down his spine to the small of his back.

  “How are you doing down below?” She swiveled around so she could run her hand under his waist and explore his caged cock. He tensed when she rubbed the skin bulging through the air vents. Her index finger traced the Vengeance cage to its tip where the head of his penis strained to escape the tiny slit. She scraped the exposed flesh with her nail.

  Crichten hissed.

  “That hurts, huh?” She dug her nail into the sensitive spot until he was straining away from her touch.

  She leaned down and kissed his back where smooth, toned skin met the muscular curve of his buttocks. Moisture seeped into panties already damp from when he’d trapped her up against the wall. She stopped toying with his caged penis, stood up, and stripped off her bikini bottoms, her modesty protected by her sarong. Then she moved in front of him, bent down and pressed her panties against his nose.

  *****

  Ryan recoiled from the musky scent filling his nostrils, all too aware the sweet smell of her sex would drive him to distraction. Her swift retaliation had drawn an unwelcome response from his treacherous cock. Fingers gripped his hair, holding him trapped. The need for air compelled him to inhale through the silky material. He struggled not to collapse as his limbs turned to mush. His cock hardened until he winced.

  “I think you liked that,” she taunted him.

  Holding back a moan proved a challenge. Some perverse part of him wanted Jenna to know her effect on him. A saner part resisted the dangerous notion. When the material lifted away, he gulped in fresh air. He didn’t expect her to pinch his nose.

  Immediately, he held his breath, determined to fight her every step of the way. She waited. Seconds ticked by. Then a minute. He struggled to escape her relentless hold, dropping his head to the floor
and shaking furiously, but his restraints were secure and allowed little movement. His lungs began to burn. On the verge of passing out, he gasped for air. It came with a ball of musky material. Her panties filled his mouth. He gagged and she let go of his nose so he could breathe. The taste of her desire extended down the back of his throat.

  Hell, he could drown in her scent. His arousal mounted.

  “That should do the trick. Watch your mouth in future, Ryan, or I’ll watch it for you.”

  She moved out of sight and he immediately started work on ejecting the makeshift gag with his tongue. The unmistakable sound of ripping duct tape doubled his efforts to no avail. She returned and plastered the tape across his lips and Ryan blasted her with a furious glare. His anger kept a rising panic at bay — a horrible fear that he’d made a bad decision letting her cuff his hands to the floor. She’d been vulnerable to attack; he could have killed her with one blow.

  Instead he’d trusted his instincts.

  Last night, he’d sensed her pull back. He needed to see how far she would take him. More than that, he needed to know he could handle how far she was prepared to go, like it or not. He had little choice in the matter. She had the back up to handle him any way she wanted.

  Jenna crouched down to his level and stroked the under curve of his jaw. Her gentle fingers mocked his impotent fury. “You really need to learn the consequence to disrespect.”

  End Excerpt

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