Blooming Desire: An Extraordinary Spring Romance Collection

by S. J. Sanders

  He smiled, a dazzling show to rival the treasured birds frolicking above them. “I will not disappoint.”

  She could believe him as much as she could believe in herself, and the next day’s ritual, Minerva’s frantic communiques, and the path ahead of her felt less daunting with that knowledge. Her time with Davinth could come to an end, but as his hands trailed along her arms and their lips reconnected, she had a feeling this was just the beginning.

  The End.

  About the Author

  Dani Morrison writes enticing paranormal, sci-fi, and fantasy erotic romance featuring diverse heroines, lush worldbuilding, and adventure. Whether creating twisted dark fantasy with The Aelven Dominion series or weaving wereshifter mythology in The Havenacht Chronicles, there’s always something new on the horizon. Consider signing up for the newsletter to receive exclusive teasers, ARC opportunities, hot read recommendations, and more!

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  Other Works

  Diverse High Fantasy Romance

  An Ignoble Invitation: Dispatches from the Aelven Dominion #1

  A Thief’s Debt: Dispatches from the Aelven Domionion #2

  Multicultural Paranormal Romance

  The Binding Eye : Havenacht Chronicles Book One [A BW/WM Why Choose Romance]

  Breaths of Desire

  A Seyton Mate Novel

  Octavia Kore

  Breaths of Desire

  A Seyton Mate Novel

  Octavia Kore

  Kidnapped by one alien and gifted to another, Samantha has a problem, and it's not just that she is stuck in an alien world. Exploring resettlement opportunities for humanity on X9, the scientist never expected to become a captive bride.

  Olan is a breeder who was gifted a human. He has spent his whole life being treated as equal, wanted. He now has to learn that he doesn’t always get what he wants handed to him. The fiery human was definitely not what he expected.

  Zuran is a hunter; hunters are not allowed to have brides or a family. It is forbidden, and yet he burns with breeding heat. He feels as if he is going to go mad, but just when he thought all hope was lost he found Samantha. Will he be allowed to keep her?

  Disclaimer:

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. This work of fiction is intended for adult audiences only and may be triggering for some. Strong language is used. Proceed at your own discretion. This book is an MFM romance novel. It contains adult situations, graphic sex, and violence.

  Dedications:

  Thank you, Heidi, for editing our baby<3 It means the world.

  We’d also like to send out big hugs to, SJ Sanders our mentor (who this heroine is based off of) and Calista Skye, who listened to us (mostly Hayley) even when she (Hayley) was annoying and were our biggest supporters!

  Thank you, Julie Vance, for helping us outline and getting just as excited about our story as we are.

  Thank you, Caitlin Cross, for alpha reading and being awesome even when Hayley word vomits.

  Thank you to all of you for letting us bounce ideas off of you, and encouraging us to never give up.

  And to our significant others, thank you for supporting our dreams, giving us inspiration, and loving us no matter how weird we are. We love you.

  1

  Samantha

  The bright stream of light that filtered into her vision had her squinting against the twin suns high in the sky. Samantha checked her watch again, wishing that it actually told the time on planet X9, but the numbers on the face were constantly scrambling. Assuming her calculations were correct, forty days had passed since she lost contact with the S.S. Constellation. Forty days of her stuck on the surface alone with nothing but the supplies that she had been sent down with. She was never meant to be here for longer than a month, and all of her rations were gone at this point. Hungry, tired, and frustrated, Samantha stomped through the misty woods searching for something safe to eat.

  Another oversized mosquito bit into her arm, and she swatted at it frantically, vowing once again that she would never sign up for another first exploration for as long as she lived. Sure, it had sounded like a great idea when she first heard about the opportunity, but now as she fought off bloodthirsty insects and struggled to breathe in the constant humidity, Samantha was having reservations.

  With any luck a rescue team would come down and sweep her away soon, taking her back to the comfort of her own lab where she could read about the planets rather than being the one sent down to explore them. From the reports she had been given on this planet, it had seemed like coming here would be the perfect assignment. All expenses paid vacation while she got to earn money? Sign her up. Unfortunately, she was completely and utterly wrong. This wasn’t a vacation; it was a nightmare.

  Without thinking, she rested her sweaty palm against the fleshy leaf of the plant at her side, yanking it back when she felt something slimy run across her skin. She shook her hand, the red liquid that dripped from the stem onto her palm could be easily mistaken for blood, and the sight of it made her stomach clench in disgust. Calling her decision to come here a mistake was a serious understatement.

  Fieldwork was obviously not her strong point, no matter how interesting the world around her looked, it was clear she wasn’t cut out for this. Flowers the size of trees towered over her, wrapping around the hard red bark of the trunks. Screams from beasts she knew nothing about pierced the air, and she bemoaned the fact that her only defense against whatever resided in the forest around her was a soiled lab coat and a small pocket knife.

  While being back on the ship would mean she was safe, walking around down here afforded her the opportunity to breathe in the sweet fresh air. Finding humanity a new home while Earth healed itself meant that she spent a lot of time in a ship filled with stale recycled air. Honestly, she would do almost anything to smell that again.

  It wasn’t that she wanted to be stuck behind the confining walls, but it would be better than becoming food to the next mutated animal that crossed her path. The beasts here were incredibly territorial, and they defended their areas with blood-curdling cries and claws the size of daggers. Getting by the last one had nearly cost her an arm, and she wasn’t in a hurry to repeat that encounter anytime soon.

  “If Marsel doesn’t see my worth after this fiasco then I’ll offer him up as a sacrifice to the mosquitoes of death on this damn planet.” Samantha wiped her hand across her lab coat, remembering how white it had once been, before slicking back her sweat-drenched purple hair from her face. What she wouldn’t give for a hair tie.

  Getting in shape for this assignment hadn’t been very high up on her list of priorities before she’d been deposited here on the planet of doom, but it obviously should have been. Instead of focusing on physical fitness, Samantha had preferred to read through all the research that had been compiled on X9 or to immerse herself in a good book. Maybe making use of the gym and the glass pool in the ship would have been better than reading one of her coveted romance novels, but it was a little late for that.

  Well, she couldn’t imagine being a boring old scientist, and how does a girl even explore the stars without a little romance and fantasy to fuel her along the way? Though she hadn’t lacked offers, Samantha didn’t have anyone warming her bed at night. Although the flight was long, she’d found that her one sexual experience, misguided as it was and fueled by the celebration of finding a planet that humans could survive on, was more than enough contact with the men on board the ship.

  Something far too close to her made a sharp hiss, and her head swung left and right as the sound echoed around her. There was no way to pinpoint which direction it had come from as it bounced off the trees. She shivered as the image of an old-world anaconda dangled at the forefront of her mind.

  Maybe it was m
ore like one of the big cats from Earth getting ready to pounce on her when she turned her back to it, or so the old vids said. She should have spent more time over the last forty days getting a feel for the planet's surface and its native flora and fauna and less time attempting to repair her malfunctioning console.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” The curse had become her new mantra since coming here.

  Samantha crept quietly over the deep purple terrain, careful not to make any sudden movements that might draw attention to herself. Her flight response was definitely being triggered, but she knew better than to give the predator something to chase. Just like cattle, she felt like she was being led to slaughter. The hiss transformed into menacing growls that seemed to be closing in from all sides, surrounding her. Shadows lurked in the fog before her, creeping around the trunks of the trees and engulfing the smaller plants. The further in she walked the denser the gloom became. Even if she turned around now, she doubted she would be able to find her way back to her ship.

  A sharp pang pierced her gut, a reminder that it had been two days since she last ate. Two days since her supplies ran dry. Turning back now was not an option. Three-headed creatures similar to Earth salamanders with wings atop their back rushed across the forest floor, slithering over her leather boots. Under different circumstances, those guys might have been cute, but she was already spooked by everything going on.

  Little silvery glowing bulbs shot up from the ground, static seeming to emanate from them as they sparked. An arachnid with a ruby-colored rock for an abdomen crawled up the nearest tree, its fangs nearly the size of its long spindly legs. “Nope. Nope, nope, nope.” She stumbled back.

  Another shiver rolled through her as a large shadow loomed overhead, her neck craning uncomfortably in an attempt to take it in. That was another nope. The name of every living nightmare she could think of came to mind just as her feet began to fly over the uneven ground. They’d had no information on the inhabitants of this world which was probably why she had to sign that pesky waiver before she was allowed to come. Uncontrollable, intense fear sped through her like the raging winds that brought in a storm.

  Get away! Need to hide somewhere. The faster, the better. A cluster of rocks had tumbled into each other and created a perfect nook for her to duck into. She needed to get between the stone walls before whoever, or whatever, was pursuing her caught up, and if the mounting screams and cries behind her were any indication, that would be sooner than she liked.

  Diving into the tight, damp space, she sent up a silent prayer that there were no venomous creatures crawling around the corners as she curled her legs up to her chest. Samantha’s heart pounded behind her ribcage, threatening to break free as the air fled her lungs in her terror. Maybe if she hadn’t been so sleep deprived and distracted by hunger she probably could have thought more clearly.

  A shadow slithered across the ground, drawing her gaze and making her press back harder against the rocky wall. Its movements were almost snake-like, making her earlier fears seem a lot less imaginative and far too real. She waited with bated breath for several moments before the shadow waved as if it were watching her movements. After a few drawn-out seconds, she released her pent up breath. Nothing had attacked her yet. Had she just been paranoid?

  The black form of the body curled in on itself suddenly. Like a house cat playing with a mouse, the shadow figure seemed to toy with her emotions. It crept closer causing her stomach to drop just as the silky tip of something curled around her ankle and pulled her across the ground a few inches. Her gasp seemed to stop it for a moment before it tried again.

  It wasn’t a snake, she was almost positive, but none of the pictures she conjured in her mind were much better. Her shirt rode up her torso as she was dragged from the shadows of the hole she hid herself in, branches and rocks scraping and scuffing her soft skin as she struggled.

  Samantha’s fingers clawed frantically at the ground, but it was nearly as hard as the rocks she had sheltered in, and she only succeeded in fracturing her already short nails. The creature who had hold of her was too strong, and despite her efforts, she felt her body twist around so that she slid on her back across the debris-strewn forest floor before being lifted into the air.

  A shriek left her mouth as she swung for a moment, spinning slightly. Before she even had time to renew her struggle, she found herself face to dick with an unknown alien. The length hung between his legs, covered only by a loincloth tied at his waist.

  It was honestly pretty impressive and oddly arousing- no, I am not going there right now. There were more important things to focus on. Like the fact that a rather primitive looking alien had captured her and had her dangling upside down like an animal caught in a trap. He pulled her a little higher as if he were trying to figure out what he had snagged, and she wiggled in his grasp. This only made her swing closer, her nose nearly brushing the area above the cloth.

  “Whoa!” She clenched her hands to keep from reaching out to steady herself. “If you could put me down that would be great,” a huff fell from her lips as she looked up the length of his body to his chiseled face. “This isn’t even an attractive angle.” She muttered to herself.

  His skin was the color of the darkest onyx stone; the little silvery-blue dots scattered across his face and down the sides of his body seemed to spark with electricity. His white eyes glowed softly and were bisected by a black pupil much like a cat’s. Two large, curved horns crowned his head like a shotel blade but slightly twisted at the top; they were the same shimmery black as the braided hair spilling over his shoulders. The small beads woven into his hair caught the light from the sparks, sending tiny prisms scattering across his face. Two of his braids were so long that they reached down all the way to his four-toed feet, nearly brushing the ground.

  When he spoke it was in a language she was unfamiliar with. It was melodic, beautiful in that “I’m going to die because he thinks I’m the enemy” sort of way. He didn’t look at her like he was afraid of what she might be or what she might do. He looked at her like he had come to dominate, and he wasn’t going to suffer any disobedience.

  2

  Zuran

  Zuran pulled the little alien higher in the air, inspecting her. It wasn’t very often that one of their kind fell from the sky and lived. None of them had ever looked like her when they managed to break free from the flying rocks. He tilted his head as he gave her another cursory glance, wondering how she was not uncomfortable in the restricting garments she wore. Most days the heat here was too much even on Seyton skin.

  He could feel his lightning building alongside his agitation. What was stopping him from killing this alien, like all of the ones who had come before? Maybe it was the fact that he had been able to identify her as female. All of the other aliens that had fallen here had been males as far as he could recall. Her species must not care too much for their females if they just shoved one of them into a flying rock and flung her from wherever it was these creatures came. Unthinkable.

  The sharp retractable blade that hid deep in his tail jutted upward out of its sheath so that the tip shined under the twin suns. They were the only things visible through the thick fog. He knew he should dispatch her with haste, unsheathe his blade fully and end her as quickly and painlessly as possible, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Perhaps he would keep her. She wiggled in his grip, muttering in what he assumed was her native tongue. Surely Ama wouldn’t care if he kept a female from the stars for himself.

  “Zuran! You have made a catch? What is our reward?” Zyar called, his tail curling with anticipation as he appeared, stepping through the thick fog.

  “I have caught a female.”

  Zyar bent down, twisting so that he was nearly turned upside down next to the alien, his face scrunching as he sniffed her. “She smells. You’ve caught a smelly, alien female.”

  “A female all the same.” Zuran narrowed his gaze on the alien as she spoke again, this time a little louder and more insiste
ntly. “I think I’ll keep her. I cannot imagine one of the Star Born could ever be a coveted one.”

  Nodding his head in agreement, Zyar straightened, his hands coming to rest on his lean hips as he scowled. “Surely not. Will you share her?”

  Zuran looked down at the female as her face turned a deep red, her hands covering her mouth in the most peculiar way. “I do not know. She is strange, is she not?”

  “Should she be turning that color?” Zyar reached out as if to remove the female from Zuran’s hold.

  Swinging his tail toward his body, Zuran pressed her close. “Do not touch!”

  Zyar curled his lip over his fangs, his pupils dilating as he huffed in annoyance. “Then you will have the honor of explaining to Ama how you killed the female.”

  With a sneer, Zuran reached out, grabbing the little thing around her waist and flipping her around so that her strange feet were on the ground. A surge of satisfaction leapt through him when the red began to drain from her face returning her to the pale color she had been when he found her hiding between the rocks. “There.” He steadied her as she swayed, his tail still wrapped possessively around one of her legs. “I fixed her. She is fine now.”