Darias, Supreme Chief of Nexar, is tired. When the offworlder crashes on his planet, he takes her as slave, hoping to gain some respite in her sleek, sexy body. Instead he finds himself confronted by a woman whose tongue is as sharp as his blade. Worse, her outrageous beliefs on the roles of females are spreading, causing unrest among both sexes and damaging his tenuous control over an already unsettled populace. It’s time to tame his fiery captive. Darias demands her complete obedience.
But Riana demands his surrender. An independent trader with her pick of handsome, accomplished lovers, Riana has the sector by the tail until her cargo ship is caught in a fierce ion storm and crashes on a planet filled with barbarians. Taken slave, she gets a crash course in living life without her most precious possession—her freedom. Used to getting herself out of tight situations, Riana won’t go down without a battle. The too-sexy warrior is about to have the tables turned him.
The battle of the sexes just took a twist.
Publisher’s Note: This title was previously published elsewhere but has been extensively revised for Ellora’s Cave.
Short Excerpt:
“Surrender.”
A deep voice murmured the command in Riana’s ear as hard hands wrapped leather manacles around her wrists. Groggy, disoriented from the crash of her sleek, small ship, the word was slow to penetrate. When it did, pure instinct took over. She slammed her knee upward, catching the man beside her on the side of the head.
He grunted, his fingers slipping from the buckle on the manacle.
Riana scrambled to her feet, ignoring the burning pain in her knee. Swinging her hand in a downward, backhanded fist, she caught the man just below the temple, rocking him back on his heels. Not giving him a chance to recover, she pivoted on one leg, the heel of her other foot aimed with deadly precision for the leather-clad warrior’s throat.
She might have succeeded if the ship hadn’t shifted without warning.
Riana lost her balance and landed heavily on the floor. The breath knocked out of her, she couldn’t summon the necessary strength to fight when he covered her body with his.
The metallic studs on his gauntlet bit painfully into her breastbone, and his hand circled her throat, the threat obvious—cooperate or be choked. Long silky hair, as dark as his expression, brushed her cheek, the side of her neck. His scent, hot, exotic and all male, enveloped her.
Riana shivered.
His forearm slid up slightly. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met his. She had just enough time to realize his eyes were the color of antique gold before she felt a round, metallic object just below her ear, a jolt of pain and then nothing.
Beautiful cover, Alvania. It really captures the battle of wills aspect to the story while still looking very sci-fi and other worldly. I love it.
ReplyDeleteNatasha