Amidst a Crowd of Stars (8 page)

Placing his body over hers, Bradi willed himself to be hotter. His body reacted to his command and he felt his core temperature rise even more. If he had to, he'd shift forms, but the last thing he wanted was for Marisa to wake and find herself under a partially changed man. Somehow, he didn't think that would go over so well. Fully shifting wasn't an option either. It wouldn't make it any easier on her to find herself pinned beneath a black panther.

Marisa moaned and he looked down to see if she was awake yet. Her eyes remained closed, but she moved her hands slightly. Bradi tensed when he felt her fingers running over his back.

“Doc?”

“Mmm,” she whispered, grinding her hips upwards.

The sweet scent of her cream filled his head. His erection, which he seemed to permanently sport while around Marisa, ached to dive into her, sample her flesh and claim her for his own. The tiny silken barrier of her panties served as a reminder that he couldn't—or rather shouldn't—take her.

She shifted a bit. “Mmm, I want you in me.”

Bradi froze as she grabbed his ass. “Doc, wake up.”

Cool lips met his and he fought to keep his body from responding. The minute her tongue pushed through and found his, he lost all control.

If I'm going to die out here anyway, I might as well die making love to her. Marisa is the closest to heaven I'm ever going to be.

Marisa's hands pushed between their bodies. She wrapped her fingers around his cock and he nearly came on her bare stomach. Never before had a woman's touch brought him so much pleasure so quickly. Reason fought its way through to him. “Doc, baby, wake up, now! You don't want to do this. It's not right.”

Her lips fastened onto his as she pushed her panties to the side and rubbed the head of his cock in her wet juices. “It's more than right. I want you. I've dreamed of touching you from the moment I boarded the ship.”

Bradi wanted to take the time to love her as she should be loved before entering her, but he was no longer in control. The beast within could smell her cream, her sex, and the desire to mate with her was overpowering. Easing his cock head into her opening, he gritted his teeth at how tight she was. Inching in a bit more, she cried out and grabbed hold of his arms. The pleasure of her tight channel wrapped around the tip of his dick overshadowed the pain in his shoulder as he worked himself into her more.

“Oh…yes,” she whispered, kissing his face feverishly.

He savored the feel of her. “You're so fucking tight, Doc.” He briefly wondered how she could be this difficult to enter when she and Pete had been together for so long, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, not wanting to think about his betrayal. This was his moment to be in Marissa—the woman who called to him on a primitive level.

Marisa's erect nipples rubbed against his chest as he pushed a bit further into her. Meeting with slight resistance, Bradi hesitated. Could it be? He stopped. She'd been with Pete for close to two years, they had to have had sex—right? There was no way she was a virgin. Not the sexually charged doctor who made him weak in the knees. No.

Marisa dug her nails into his arms and thrust her head back. “More!”

Any concerns he had flew away at the sound of her command. Thrusting into her, she cried out as he brought himself to the hilt. Somehow, she'd managed to accept all of him, her channel fisting his dick to the point he wanted to come, and he'd only just started.

She's got him right where he wants her.

Enslaved

© 2008 Sydney Somers

Dominion sentinel Kaela Garrett will go to any lengths to gather evidence against a suspected traitor, even if it means auctioning off her body to the highest bidder. Posing as a slave should have been the perfect cover to gain access to an exclusive gala. Only she hadn't anticipated a sexy treasure salvager with a grudge outbidding everyone—including her mark—to possess her.

Lorcan Hunt can't believe the very sentinel who had him arrested six weeks ago is on the auction block, completely at his mercy. What better way to get even—and pass the time until his next job—than force her to submit to every new and wicked revenge he can imagine? His every demand for her submission, however, comes with a price: a burning need that slides under his skin and grows stronger with every concession she makes.

When Kaela finally gives in to the fierce desire between them, Lorcan finds himself hopelessly caught in an impossible choice. Honor the commitment binding him to his next job—or hold onto the one woman he can never have.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Enslaved:

Kaela scowled at the restraints, jerking their joined wrists up to eye level. “Don't feel obligated to lavish me with gifts so soon, Hunt. Might give a girl expectations.” And make it a whole lot harder to maintain a respectable distance between them.

A satisfied smile caught the corner of his mouth. “I wouldn't want to lose my
slave
in the crowd.”

“I'll bet.”

Without warning, he snaked an arm around her, hauling her closer.

Too close. Breathing now meant drawing him in, letting him overwhelm her senses when she was still reeling from the unexpected turn of events. Events that gave him every legal right to drag her around. For now. She'd taken the mission knowing the risks, agreed to the terms set forth by the bondskeeper and hadn't complained, even when the final step meant accepting the mark of an indentured slave on her hip.

But she sure as hell wanted to complain now. The arm looped around her back felt too tight, the grip too possessive, the man holding her too dangerous, arrogant and out of his ever-lovin' mind. Plastered to his front, the hard planes of his chest made her increasingly aware of how little she wore, and each steady inhale only made the silk bunched between their bodies less noticeable. Seeing as how his gaze dropped to her cleavage, which was perilously close to spilling over his hasty tie job, he knew it too.

“The only expectations you need to worry about,” he growled, “are mine. More specifically, how many ways I'll want your legs wrapped around me.” His rough voice and the hypnotic sweep of his thumb along her jaw made for a treacherous combination. Made it impossible not to think about it—his body covering hers, his mouth sliding down her throat and her legs anchored around his hips, locking him against her, inside her.

Which made it pretty damn impressive she could respond at all. “Either they left you in solitary confinement too long, or you've always been this deluded.”

The dig had the desired effect. Lorcan's expression darkened and he spun around, jerking her after him. Left with barely enough time to suck in a relieved breath, she had no choice but to follow. It was either that or be dragged. Taking a stand against her
prime
in the middle of the promenade would land her in the brig faster than being caught on the run.

And that was the best-case scenario. She refused to consider the lengths to which some primes went to teach their slaves a lesson in obedience. Kaela hadn't forgotten the party she'd attended while tracking a Battalian scientist wanted for testing his biological weapons on innocent settlers in the Astral quadrant.

Lorcan strode away from the promenade, away from Varek's slave dealer and Caplan. The farther he led her along the spaceport's winding corridors, the more determined she became to devise a new plan.

Getting him alone could give her the opportunity to incapacitate him, but wouldn't solve the problem of disengaging the locking mechanism on the bands joining them. She'd need tools for that. Unfortunately, lugging around an unconscious man until she could track down something to do the job would be a bit too conspicuous.

All of which left her back at square one.

He picked up the pace, turning toward the port's merchant district.

“Hunt,” she began.

“I think Master has a much better ring to it, don't you?”

“So does fuck y—”

He turned a corner off the main corridor, one she suspected led to a maintenance shaft, and pivoted to face her. “I think you and I need to come to an understanding.”

Kaela snorted. “
I
think you need to let go of me.” She stared at the hand that molded to her upper arm, mentally running down and discarding any maneuver that would involve breaking her own wrist or arm to get him to release her. Being Lorcan's slave didn't qualify for that kind of extreme measure. Yet.

“Now that's the beauty of this arrangement,” he continued. “What you think doesn't matter.”

An old anger flared to life inside her, his tone a little too reminiscent of superior officers who'd made it their personal mission to remind her, as often as possible, they didn't believe she'd earned her position on merit alone. More than once she'd been tempted to point out her mother hadn't involved herself in Kaela's life since becoming a quadrant chancellor years ago, let alone pulled any strings where her career was concerned.

Overtly disagreeing with those ignorant opinions had always landed her the shit assignments. She didn't doubt that disagreeing with Lorcan now would invite retaliation, one she feared would prove she hadn't been the right sentinel for this assignment. Not taking into account Lorcan's unexpected role.

Stumbling across Hunt outside a trading settlement on the Outer Rim had given her a way to evade the handful of mercenaries looking for her. Escaping them without having obtained her mission objective or positively identifying the Dominion official Varek was suspected of bribing pissed her off more than getting caught. She hadn't expected to find anything on Hunt's ship when he gave her a ride to the closest spaceport, least of all cargo that didn't belong to him. “It wasn't personal.”

A cold smile hugged his lips. “It was to me.”

“I was doing my job.”

“We both know you could have looked the other way.”

Not when looking the other way meant ignoring the duties and responsibilities she took seriously. Once any Dominion officer started down that path, letting greed compromise their integrity, a one-way trip to Dadelus penal colony lurked right around the corner.

Lorcan's eyes narrowed. “You cost me a lot of money.”

“Here's a tip. Don't steal.”

“You made the wrong call.”

“Not my problem.”

He leaned in, his mouth hovering above her ear. “It is now.”

Amidst a Crowd of Stars

Megan Hart

A love as rare—and precious—as a desert rain.

Marrin Levy needs a man. Not to have children. Her husband gave her three before he died—along with a failing homestead and crushing debt. What she needs is a strong back to help her wrest a living from the harsh, desert planet of Lujawed.

She's sent away for a field-husband to take over the hard labor, nothing more. She never expected the devastatingly handsome, forever-young Seveeran, Keane Delacore, would fit so easily into her family's life.

Keane's heart is as strong as his back, bringing Marrin more than just help in the fields. He offers her love she never thought she'd feel again…if she has the courage to reach out and take it.

This book has been previously published.

Warning: Contains three-alarm love scenes and a three-hankie love story. Read it and weep—in a good way!

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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Amidst a Crowd of Stars

Copyright © 2010 by Megan Hart

ISBN: 978-1-60928-183-0

Edited by Lindsey Faber

Cover by Kanaxa

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: September 2010

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