Drahka nodded, his trousers swelling too. “Look at how Bithia’s breasts bounce.”
Bithia ended the display by palming the crystal. Both men whined unhappily. “I got the idea from the Treagen people and my sister. You see, at every empress bonding, someone sneaks in a memory crystal. They aren’t supposed to, but they do, and then the recorded information manages to make its way across the galaxy.” Bithia shook her head. “Kasmiri was furious when she found out a bunch of perverted barsitas were watching her most intimate moment with Sterlave.” Bithia paused for effect. “I, however, want them to watch.”
Drahka and Viltori exchanged dubious looks.
“For a price.”
Slow, spreading smiles crossed their faces.
“You intend to sell copies.” Viltori nodded. “You lusty yondie.”
Smirking, Bithia coyly asked, “Why give it away for free when you can sell it and make a fortune?”
A frown replaced Drahka’s smile. “Isn’t the ceremony sacred?”
Bithia had already considered this. “Yes, but still, does it matter to the gods if we are witnessed by a hundred people or a hundred million people? We have to have witnesses to confirm the relationship was consummated. I don’t think the number matters. Besides, every empress, from my greatest grandmother to myself, has had to deal with that moment being shared with those from other planets.” Bithia hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she decided he was better off knowing the truth. “Drahka, even our first ceremony has already made the rounds. And from what I’ve been told, it’s wildly popular.”
Drahka’s eyes widened.
“Since it happens all the time anyway, what’s wrong with me taking control of the situation?”
“Are you sure you got all the copies?” Viltori asked.
“The guard I selected was very thorough.” And a little too enthusiastic about searching some of the guests, but Bithia would deal with that later.
“But once someone has a copy, they can just make more.” Viltori tried to put the crystal back on the display unit, but she snatched it away.
“Ah, I thought of that too. There is a way of recording so that you can watch only once. After that, the crystal is useless.” Math had never been Bithia’s best subject, but even with her own quick mental calculations, she saw the potential, and apparently, so did Viltori. “This will return not only me but all of Diola to a position of strength. Too, it puts Eld’s scheme to shame. Let him tell others what he knows. Let him show them his crystal. I do not think the elite will care if I can save their entire world.”
Drahka, who had been frowning lightly, smiled.
“You weren’t sure about this, were you,” she asked.
“Not until I heard you say that.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, I am proud of you and your inventive mind.”
Viltori kissed her too. “I think you will go down as the cleverest empress ever.”
Bithia shook her head. “No, that’s not how I wish to be remembered. I want to be known as Bithia the Wicked.”
“You are that.” Viltori clasped her hand.
“Most definitely.” Drahka took the other.
Together, they went off to celebrate their bonding and announce her plan. Bithia had lost her freedom, gained an empire, but most important, she had the unconditional love of the two most amazing men in the entire universe.
About the Author
Anitra Lynn McLeod has been writing since she was twelve. Creating unique worlds is her forte, combining unlikely genres such as historical, fantasy, futuristic and erotic into a steampunky—and steamy—brew.
Reading, writing, and white-water rafting are the three things she enjoys the most. You can visit her at www.AnitraMcLeod.com, write to her at [email protected], or connect to her at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000672143257 or fan her at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anitra-Lynn-McLeod/323123001356 You can also follow her on twitter @AnitraMcLeod
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The Fringe
Thief
Coming Soon:
The Fringe
Overlord
The Onic Empire
Dark Empress
On the edge of freedom lies a dangerous love.
Thief
© 2010 Anitra Lynn McLeod
Nothing has ever come easy for Jace Lawless, captain of the salvage vessel Mutiny. Forced into thievery after a virus unleashed by the InnerWorld Government killed his family, only one ambition burns at the back of his mind. Kill the next IWOG officer he has at his mercy.
Bargaining over goods with a middleman isn’t exactly his strong suit. But who in his right mind spends an entire salvage job’s profits on a woman, even if she has a body built for sin and eyes so fathomless a man could lose himself in them? He must be getting soft.
Once Kraft realizes Jace expects only the “cook” part of their cook-whore contract, she sets out to change his antiquated ideas about women. A challenge she relishes, especially if it earns her the freedom and money to get her own ship. Her big mistake is letting down her guard.
Shameless flirting only intensifies the itch to ride Jace hard and put him away wet—several times. It’s an itch it would be dangerous to scratch. Exposing her heart could reveal her secret, one that the still-grieving Jace must never know..or showing her mercy will be the last thing on his mind.
Warning: Contains a celibate ship captain who can’t abide swearing, a kick-ass woman with a marshmallow heart, a motley crew of misfits, interstellar battles, thwarted groping, sensual seduction, and a total bastard who owns his own planet.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Thief:
Kraft willingly cooked, willingly fought, and claimed she would willingly whore. By her own honor, she offered the full of herself up to him, but Jace sensed that she expected him to restrain himself by his own dictates of honor. Asking her to cook and fight was one thing, but asking her to whore? Well, that was an entirely different matter.
When she saw him approach, Kraft stood at full attention with her face demurely lowered. All at once he felt a foot taller than her when he wasn’t.
He’d ordered her to his bunk as a spur-of-the-moment way to get her to stop defying his authority. He never thought Kraft would actually obey. Now that she had, he wasn’t sure what to do with her. Feeling awkward and shy, he thought the first thing he should do was explain and apologize.
Embarrassment at her having saved him and his crew fueled his need to remind her and himself that he was in charge. As he drew close to her, he longed to reach out and touch her face. On a rush of emotion, he wanted to confess he didn’t always know what to do, or how to proceed, and sometimes acted rashly, fueled more by his heart than his head.
As a captain, Jace wanted to ask for her help and make her his partner in crime. Perversely, he felt he shouldn’t need her help and should make her his partner in bed. As a man, Jace wanted to possess the full of Kraft. He wanted to protect her even though he knew he couldn’t. Worse, he knew he didn’t have to coddle Kraft, which only increased his longing to claim her as his bedwarmer. Beyond that corral of confusion, Jace knew Kraft shouldn’t have to protect him.
Instead of saying anything, he unlocked his bunk with a slap of his hand to the wall com. The metal catch released with a soft snick that vibrated the floor below their feet.
Her braless breasts jiggled against the worn yellow fabric of his secondhand shirt. The enticing movement caught his attention, and he forgot what he intended to say. Instead, he found himself imagining what she would look like topless.
“If you’d like, I could put the harem outfit on.”
His gaze went from her chest to her mouth.
Lifting her lowered face a fraction, Kraft met h
is gaze, and whispered, “Someone placed the costume in my closet.” She flashed him that slow, lazy and sexy smile.
Jace had no idea who put the outfit in her closet, but he wouldn’t mind seeing her in that getup again. Fluffpink clinging and exposing the full promise of her undeniably strong and sexy body was certainly worth a second look. After seeing her in the revealing outfit, he knew her nipples were large and toffee-dark against her skin. He remembered the snug slit of her innie bellybutton drawing his gaze down to the wide pleasure of her hips. Between her lush thighs, he would find another snug—
“Should I fetch that costume, Captain?”
Her seductive, superior attitude dispelled all his thoughts of apologizing. Kraft didn’t worry one bit about him taking charge, because she assumed she had the upper hand. His blushing and backing off made her think she could say or do anything, and he’d just turn away. Normally he would have, but not this time.
Slipping a finger under her chin, he lifted her face until she met his gaze. Fathomless black eyes held a smirk that he wanted to quash in a sudden rush. For the first time, she didn’t flinch away from his touch. She melted to him as he stroked his finger across her full, sensuous lips. More than anything in the Void, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to taste every bit of her luscious mouth. Kraft had a body built for sin, but she had a mouth destined for seduction.
Jace lowered his voice as his mouth descended on hers. “Seems like a waste of time for you to put on all those complicated clothes when I’m just going to make you take them off.”
Her eyes widened.
Placing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, “Or did you want to dress up and then strip for me?”
She tensed and swallowed with an audible click.
He pressed closer. “I’ve never had a whore in my bed. If you’re familiar with the concept, maybe you could walk me through it.”
Kraft pulled back and narrowed her gaze. “After ten years of celibacy, I think a walk is all it would take.”
“Is that so?” Refusing to back down, Jace traced his finger along her ear to her neck. “Since it’s been a decade for me, I’m thinking you won’t be able to walk by the time I’m satisfied.”
Her jaw damn near hit the floor.
Jace took a perverse delight in shocking her, and her dismay made him even more determined to make her back down this time. Even if he had to say the most vulgar things in the Void, he would force her retreat.
“I can’t believe you’re surprised.” He stroked her lips with a forceful fingertip. “You can read me so well, right?”
She darted her gaze to the floor. “I told you, I can’t read you like that. I can read—”
Plush lips gave way below the thrust of his silencing finger. When her hungry eyes met his, he said, “Don’t try to distract me. I don’t care what you can read. You don’t have to read me. I’ll tell you what I want.”
Lowering his mouth to her neck, he nipped lightly. “I want you.” After pulling her mocha skin, marking her, he lifted his mouth to her ear. “I want you writhing and panting and sweating below my thrusting body.”
She placed her large hands on his chest, pushed him back and looked him right in the eye. The depths of her black gaze swarmed with heat, smoky and slightly unfocused. “You want me by force?”
He heard the catch in her voice and sensed her desperation. He smiled at her as he answered her question with one of his own. “How can I force you when sex is part of your contract, my lovely cook-whore?”
Kraft withdrew with a startled step back. She pressed against the metal door of his bunk and flattened her palms against the smooth durosteel to steady herself.
Closing in on her, he took a half-step forward and placed his palms on the door, encasing her with his arms. In a tingling rush, a fleeting ripple washed over his body, and he wondered if he could actually feel Kraft trying to read him through the door. He forced himself to contain the rush by focusing his mind and constricting his body to a tense stance.
Kraft stood taller. Confusion and fear darted across her expressive face. He wondered if the darkness in him caused her reaction, or if he’d succeeded in preventing her from reading him. Either way, he sensed his advantage.
Pressing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, “What’s wrong, sugar-britches? I thought you were all for this kind of dance between us, especially after what you said in the cargo bay.”
With her back to his bunk door, she lifted her face and the whole of her body until she met his gaze with level intensity. Since she couldn’t force him to retreat verbally, she now tried to force his retreat with the fierceness of her gaze, and it almost worked.
He fought down the urge to step back by moving closer. She radiated the scents of cooking, but below, he found that enticing hint of her musky perfume. Her scent was rich, intoxicating and alluring. He wanted to find the source of her fragrance and lose himself in it.
“Just give me the order, Captain Lawless, and I’ll ride you until we both collapse.”
One fleeting vision of her proudly riding astride him caused him to blush and turn away. The triumphant look on her face clarified she thought such a command a distinct impossibility.
She seemed pleased that she’d finally forced him to back down. He watched Kraft’s pulse jump below the smooth skin of her neck when he closed in on her and said, “That’s an order I’m not likely to give.”
Her lips parted in surprise. She lowered her face but not her gaze.
“I wouldn’t order you to ride me because I like to be on top.”
He forced her chin up so their lips came close without touching. “Stop giving me that submissive face when you’ve got nothing behind it but arrogance.”
Kraft stood tall. “I thought you preferred submissive women?”
“As a matter of fact I do.” Tracing his finger along the open V of her shirt, he smoothed the fabric against the curve of her breasts and popped open one of the small wooden buttons. “Do you like submissive men?”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, but it caught in her throat. When he looked down, he discovered her nipples were pressed tight against the soft yellow fabric of his old shirt.
He chuckled and stroked the barest brush of his fingertip over the swell of her nipple. “Obviously not.”
His beast will have her beauty…but only on his terms.
Prince of Dragons
© 2010 Cathryn Cade
Orion, Book 3
Sirena Blaze has left a string of smiling males across the galaxy—but she’s not smiling now. After two attempts to sabotage her ship, it’s time to call for backup. Her warriors deserve the best, and that means recruiting a member of the elite Serpentian guard as co-commander.
One look at Slyde Stone, and Sirena’s smile returns. She sets out to indulge in the sensual delights for which his people are legendary.
Slyde would like nothing more than to bed the famous beauty, but a secret binds the hands that burn to take her. He is a half-dragon shifter, a race thought to be nothing more than a myth. He’s real, and so is the code he must live by—he can mate only once.
Sirena’s fury at Slyde’s refusal knows no bounds—until saboteurs loose a pair of deadly serpents on board the Orion. And the infuriating man has the gall to make a wager. If she finds them first, she can have him. But if he wins, she must agree to be his alone—for life.
Warning: Space cougar on the prowl, a handsome virgin in her sights. Hot love scenes, and even hotter dragon shape-shifting.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Prince of Dragons:
Sirena looked down at the naked male straining beneath her and smiled. She might be a siren, but she led males not to disaster, but to pleasure greater than many of them had ever known. And this one wouldn’t forget her any time soon.
“Ah, gods,” he groaned, his hands clamped on her hips as she rode him with sinuous abandon, letting his cock slide nearly out of her before enveloping it once again. His pleasure-glazed eyes were locked w
ith hers. Sweat soaked his short dark hair and gleamed on his skin, enhancing the play of muscle beneath. “That’s so damn good! You are…unbelievable.”
Since he was approaching his third orgasm, she chose to believe him. She herself was far ahead of that number. She supposed this would be his last effort—human males were lucky to be able to achieve arousal more than twice in such a short time.
She rose and fell on him, closing her eyes to enjoy the sensation of the shaft working inside her, stroking her tight channel. Tipping back her head, she lifted her arms and twined them behind her head, knowing that the motion thrust her breasts out more prominently.
Her com-link beeped a tiny warning in her ear. She ignored it as the pilot surged upward, filling his hands with her breasts and suckling greedily on her nipples.
“Mmm, yes. Like that.” The pleasure began to tighten inside her, and she rode harder, feeling her orgasm begin.
Her com-link beeped again. Protocol demanded that whoever was paging her wait for an answer before opening a holo-vid link. She hoped for their sake they abided by the rules, because any commander who opened a link now was going to get an eyeful.
A hologram sprang up in sharp relief against the shadowed stateroom. It was Slyde Stone, watching her ride the other man. His stance was rigid, jaw clenched, his eyes flaming with such heat she was vaguely surprised her skin didn’t burn.
In the two lunar months they’d been working together, they’d been through a major crisis, trained new guards and improved the quality of security on the Orion. And through it all, the heat of desire hadn’t faded, and he still refused to act on it.
Her gasp of shock caught in her throat and, as their eyes held, it became a soft, escalating moan as she climaxed harder than she had all night, pleasure imploding deep within her pussy and then exploding outward through her body. Her co-commander’s voyeurism was as delicious as the cock inside her.
Wicked Empress:The Onic Empire, Book 4 Page 32