Welcome to Sunday Snog. This week an excerpt from my new sci-fi menage novel RECKLESS.
Back Cover Information
Aurora Zenith is battling to survive in poisonous London. Working at a docking station to Planet Alpha is not helping. Why? Because each day she witnesses lucky humans rocketing to a better life in the stars. With a surname last on the list to escape and a lung condition making her first on the list for death she’s getting desperate … and reckless.
Seeing an opportunity to stow away on sexy Captain Ciro’s shuttle to Alpha, Aurora acts first and thinks later. Trouble is, without a plan she’s flailing in space and lost on an alien world.
A string of rash decisions and a hasty retreat make for a perfect storm of danger, deceit, and lust. Will Aurora escape the evil Xyran who has her in his sights? Will Captain Ciro ever tear his attention from his gorgeous copilot and notice her? And what do the Alphans mean when they say a woman will complete them?
The only thing to do is fly with them and see where she lands.
Excerpt
Ciro added another log to the fire.
“Would you like more food?” he asked when he’d finished stoking.
“No. I’m not hungry anymore.” She glanced around. “Shall I perform some chores? Earn my keep?”
His brow creased. “I do not understand.”
“I’m here, in your home. You’re feeding me, protecting me. I feel I owe you something in return.”
“What nonsense.” He appeared bewildered.
“But—”
“Alphan men revere human women.” He paused and walked up to her, his gaze not leaving hers. In an instant he’d knelt before her and placed his hands on her knees. “You are a most precious and rare gift to find, Aurora. It is an honor not only to protect you but to have you in our home. You will not be performing any chores.”
“Oh, I see.” She breathed deep, inhaling his dark spiced scent. His body heat flowed onto her knees and seemed to spread across her body. “But Luc just said I was strange.”
“You must forgive my bondmate. He is trying to learn some words of the great poets, but he’s not always as eloquent as he could be.”
“So he doesn’t think I’m strange?”
“He thinks you are as beautiful as a newborn star, as enchanting as a full silver moon.”
“He said that?”
“Well no, the poet Aranck said that, but it doesn’t make it any less true.” Ciro moved a little closer and slid his hands up her legs to the tops of her thighs.
If anyone else had touched her that way, been so presumptive, she would have batted them away. But Ciro was mesmerizing and beautiful. His warrior strength and handsome angled face held her captivated. Plus he’d saved her from a life as a sex slave.
“Do you think I’m beautiful, too?” she asked quietly as she studied the golden flecks that sat deep in his irises.
“Yes, very.” He tipped forward and brushed his lips over hers.
“And you taste beautiful also, better than an efenip plucked from a branch and eaten warmed from the suns.”
He’d kissed her! A tremble attacked her belly, and she curled her toes against the floor. “Did ... Aranck say that, about efenips?” Efenip, what on earth was that?
“No, that’s one of my attempts.” He smiled, his sensual lips stretching wide. “May I touch my mouth to yours again?”
“Yes, you can kiss me.” She’d never wanted anything more. She’d admired Ciro from afar for so long, and now...
He slanted his mouth over hers and cupped the back of her head.
She sighed into the kiss. Her thoughts became blurred. He was all she could think of. This amazing Alphan had overwhelmed her and captivated her.
The tip of his tongue stroked against hers. A small groan rumbled up from her chest. Her nipples tightened, pressing against the material of the soft sweater, and heat licked between her legs. What were they doing? How far did Ciro intend to go? She knew he liked fucking, hell, she’d seen him in action.
A sudden image of Luc flashed before her. Ciro and Luc and the way they’d looked at each other when she’d spied on them. Theirs was a solid, strong bond, and here she was coming between it, possibly rocking it, maybe even about to ruin it for them, forever.
She pressed her hands on his chest and pushed. “No, no, what are you doing?”
“I am kissing you, Aurora.”
“But why?”
“Because I want to and I thought you wanted it?”
“But what is this it?” She stood, slipped past him and walked
to the fire. Held her palms to the warmth for something to do rather than wanting the heat. She was hot enough already.
“I don’t understand.”
She sensed him standing and turned. “You’re with Luc. Why would you want to cheat on him with me?”
“Cheat on him?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t understand that word, I know you do. You and Luc are bondmates. You’re together, committed to each other. You can’t have me, too.”
“Why not?”
“Because life doesn’t work that way.”
“We are bondmates yes, and our relationship is a committed one. I can’t imagine existing without him. But that doesn’t mean we can’t or don’t want a woman in our lives also.”
She tipped her head, trying to decipher what he was saying. “You want sex with a human woman?”
“Not just sex, we want a woman in our lives.”
“You do?”
“And not just any human woman. You, Aurora. I want you.” She raised her eyebrows. “And Luc won’t mind?”
“No. If Luc were in my place he would want to have sex with you also.”
She wasn’t so sure. Luc had been kind and caring and there’d been a flash of desire in his eyes when he’d talked about mating, but nothing like what she was seeing in Ciro now. This was a full-on furnace, hotter than the fire behind her.
He stepped up to her and took her hands. “Luc and I have made a decision. We want a female to complete us. Our relationship is fulfilling, but we’ve felt for some time that we needed more. Recently, very recently, we realized that it was a human female we needed to fill that void in our lives. We’d planned on going down the official route of finding that woman, starting the process as soon as we’d finished our week’s rest and relaxation here on Veyron, but now...” He paused. “Now you have come into our lives and we’ve already decided not to go back to Earth to mate.”
Her guts rolled. She’d put them off human women forever. She looked away, hoping to control the tears that pricked her eyes. Was she really so terrible?
“Why would we look for another mate when we’d never find anyone as beautiful and unique and delicate as you, Aurora? It was mapped out in the stars for you to be here, with us. For you to need a safe place to stay.”
“Do you really think so?” She looked up to him, her vision a little blurry. It seemed she’d gotten the wrong end of the stick.
“Yes.” He nodded, once, his expression serious. “I do.” He bent his head to hers and spoke against her lips. “We want you to be ours, Aurora.”
She couldn’t speak, could hardly breathe. “But I need to know one thing first,” he said.
“What’s that?” she whispered. He’d done it again. Being so close to her seemed to empty her mind. He was all she could think of, all she wanted.
“Do you belong to another? If I mate with you will another Alphan warrior come to my door and challenge us for you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I belong to no one but myself.”
He kind of smiled, a small twitch of his lips. “But soon you will be ours.”
Aurora didn’t have time to respond, because Ciro pulled her close and set about delivering a deep passionate kiss that made her heart rate rocket and her knees turn weak.
His body was so hard and solid, and she clung to his thick biceps as she absorbed his flavor. What was she doing? She was kissing the Alphan of her dreams, her absolute hottest dreams.
Life was good.
Oh, delicious, Lily!
ReplyDeleteTalk about fantasies come true...