In At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, Captain NarrAy Jorlan meets with Luc Saint-Cyr and Senth at a coffee shop adjacent to the Thieves' Guild. But in this deleted version, they were to meet at the starport. She is about to discover whether Senth's expertise is
worth paying for...
Worth Paying For?
Kelthia, Miraj City, Starhaven Leojnimaj Coffee Shop, Concourse D
"Anything yet?" NarrAy held a cup of coffee in front of her mouth to hide her words. She wore a plain black dress with long sleeves and a lace collar, hidden beneath a black hooded cape.
"Nothing yet," Broxus answered from the south terminal.
"No sign." Encie made ticking sounds in the transmitter. "He's late."
"We'll give him two more minutes."
"You're too easy, boss." More ticking.
What was that noise? She scanned the area. "Encie, I thought you quit chewing your nails."
"I'm not chew-- Hey. How'd you know I was doing that?"
"You may be on the north side of the concourse, but I can see you slouching between the lockers." NarrAy blew on the coffee.
Her assistant straightened. "Forgot about those enhanced eyes of yours."
"It was my enhanced ears that heard you nibbling."
"Nibbling what?" Senth said behind her.
Twisting around to see him, NarrAy set down her coffee so fast it spilled. "Where did you come from?"
"Thief, remember?" He dropped into a chair and used one of her napkins to sop up the coffee. He leaned back with a smooth slide of masculine confidence, folding his hands across his waist. "If those cohorts of yours could spot me, would I be worth paying the Guild's price?"
A fast-paced sci fi romance with an adorable, fun-loving hero who's half-human and half-cat and a by-the-book army captain heroine. Hired to steal back a prototype taken by the imperial armada, Senth retrieves it, but his brother is kidnapped to force Senth to surrender the device. Now he has to rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. He must do it in the company of NarrAy, a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It's a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
The title of this book, At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, makes it sound super sexy. I mean, look at this guy, right? The name comes from his heroine, NarrAy, an enhanced human whose pheromones allow her to control others. Can he resist her? Does he even want to? Sadly, he must or he will not be able to free his brother, who’s in the worst possible situation…
If you love a great romance with unforseeable twists, but don’t really care for explicit content, this book is for you. It’s adult in nature, but is rated PG13.
In this scene, Senth must meet someone at a hotel above a nightclub, and when you look as young as he does, getting in isn't that easy...
---
As Senth approached The Ghost, the club's beefy Kin bouncer put out a hand. "Hold up, kid. You--" She motioned toward Khyff -- "Wait over there. You..." She motioned Senth aside. "You got ID?"
Senth opened his cloak, revealing the lining with its unmistakable Thieves' Guild insignia, a skeleton key inside a slashed circle. He gave his Sen'dai's hand sign.
"Ffffftt!" The bouncer made an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. Why didn't you say you were the Man's right up front?"
"His shouldn't have to." Senth brushed a hand down the front of the cloak. "And I'm no kid."
"Sorry, sir." She opened the door for both of them and bowed.
Once inside, Khyff held out one palm, and Senth slid his down it, hooked his fingers as Khyff did, and with hands clasped, gave one downward shake.
"C'mon, Bro." Khyff led the way past the darkened foyer.
Inside, music pulsed like a living entity. Throbbing bass tickled Senth's chest, and he coughed. Drums pounded. Colored lights swept the cavernous room. Strobes flashed across the congested dance floor, highlighting bobbing heads and upflung arms. Light glinted off human bodies slick with sweat, while bared and damp Kin furskin stuck out in points, laden with glitter.
"Stay close," Khyff shouted over the pulsating music, standing next to Senth. He headed for the rear and left no chance to argue. They skirted around the crammed dance area. Senth liberated a few loose credit stubs clipped to belts and stuffed them into the pockets of his cloak.
He tried not to stare at the slakes along the wall, but their clothing and attitude declared their availability. A pair of male and female slakes bent over a low railing, their pants around their ankles. Androgs handled their bodies like merchandise.
Khyff nudged him. "Comparison shoppers."
"Not funny."
"Try being the one hanging over the railing." Khyff jerked his head. "Come on."
Females ruled on the Kin planet Felidae, and the majority who visited The Ghost had more than one male in their company. A single Kin female at the bar turned and looked Senth over from head to foot. Tall and slender, she wore brown leather the same color as her hair. She slid her tongue across her upper teeth, back and forth between her fangs, and wiggled her cute feline nose. Then she twitched her pointed ears toward Senth. A tap on his arm drew Senth's attention.
"Stay away from her, Sen." Khyff glared at the Kin. "She'll take you to bed and then eat you for breakfast. That's not a figure of speech. HalfKin who leave with her aren't seen again. She's working this floor for someone. Watch this." Khyff slid a hand down his body, giving the Kin a slow smile.
The female crooked a finger at Khyff and smiled back.
When Khyff rubbed his fingers and thumb together in a sign for money, she turned away. "Yeah, I thought so."
"You wanted her?"
His brother snorted. "You couldn't pay me enough to screw a Kin."
Sweet Science Fiction Romance with a Kick. A fast-paced sci fi romance with an adorable, fun-loving hero who's half-human and half-cat and a by-the-book army captain heroine. Hired to steal back a prototype taken by the imperial armada, Senth retrieves it, but his brother is kidnapped to force Senth to surrender the device. Now he has to rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. He must do it in the company of NarrAy, a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.
Any of my characters mentioned on this page may be found in multiple books in my story universe.
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In the published book, Captain NarrAy Jorlan meets with Senth at a coffee shop adjacent to the Thieves’ Guild. But in this version, she met him at the Starport.
Inside secret: the starport on Kelthia is named Starhaven Leojnimaj. Those are my sons names combined, backward (Joel and Jamin). NarrAy’s last name, Jorlan, was chosen in honor of the hero of Dara Joy’s book Ritual of Proof.
Kelthia, Miraj City, Starhaven Leojnimaj Coffee Shop, Concourse D
NarrAy sat, holding a cup of coffee she didn’t want and had no interest in tasting. A plain dress hid beneath her black hooded cape, covering every inch of skin as the law required for Betters. How long would it be before they forced her to hide her face too? She blew on the coffee. Where was her thief?
“Anything yet?”
“Nothing.” Broxus answered from the south terminal.
“No sign.” Encie made ticking sounds into the transmitter. “Your pretty boy thief is late.”
“We’ll give him two more minutes.”
“You’re too easy, boss.” More ticking.
What was that noise? NarrAy scanned the area. “Encie, I thought you quit biting your nails.”
“I’m not bi– Hey. How’d you know I was doing that?”
“You may be on the north side of the concourse, but I can see you between the lockers.” She blew on the coffee.
Her assistant stood up straight and glanced around. “I forgot about those eyes of yours.”
“Yes, well, it was my ears that heard you nibbling.”
“Nibbling what?” Senth asked, dropping into a chair.
NarrAy set down her coffee so fast it spilled. “Where did you come from?”
“Cohorts didn’t see me?” His inviting mouth stretched into a smile. “Level nineteen thief, remember? If those two could spot me, I wouldn’t be worth what you’re paying.” He used her napkin to sop up the coffee.
Brox’s and Encie’s questioning voices broke into her concentration.
“He’s here. We’re leaving.” When she rose, Senth assisted her with her chair.
Not that she wanted or needed help, but imagine a thief with manners. Well, well… This could be interesting.
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
In this scene from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, the story opens with Senth searching for his brother through the darkest side of Miraj City. The area known only as Crooktown…
Somewhere in Miraj City
Deep in the shadows outside a ruined warehouse, Senth Antonello shoved back the hood of his sensor-blocking cloak and fanned himself. The Thieves’ Guild tech let him hide from copbot scans, but it didn’t cool him. Sweat beaded on his skin. Using his fangs, he unfastened first one glove, then the other, and peeled them off. He tucked them into one of dozens of hidden pockets in the cloak, and wiped his face.
The faint sound of gang chant carried in the chilled night air. Gangs in the Crooktown District of Miraj City hunted mixed breeds like him. At first glance, Senth appeared human, but with his catlike eyes and fangs, no one could miss his Kin nature. In moonlight, his eyes would glow.
The chant grew louder, along with the sound of breaking glass. The deeper darkness that followed meant two things: another streetlight had met its end, and that gang was closer than Senth had thought.
“You come down here, I skin you.” Senth flattened himself against the brick wall. “I skin you, the Grand Master skins me. Let’s do each other a favor, huh, boys?”
Worse, the Grand Master would inform Senth’s Sen’dai. His guild master. The crime lord all the other crime lords feared. The Man. The Harbinger. Luc Saint-Cyr.
The Guild didn’t accept non-humans, unless they were enslaved to a human member. No one could rise past level ten, unless related to a human member. Guild-arranged marriages and adoptions happened regularly. To keep the Guild happy, Saint-Cyr was Senth’s lord and master and his adoptive father.
No way Senth wanted the Man angry with him. The last time, he’d almost…
Senth shook off the thought, drew his hood forward again, and edged around the corner into a darker alley. “Ffffftt!” The Kin cuss word hissed past his fangs. Where was Khyff? He had to be close. Senth had looked for hours. His HalfKin sense of smell caught a faint whiff of male, mixed with… He took another sniff. Someone–or something–else.
Pressed against the wall, Senth slipped around a corner, and hunkered down. He melted into the concealing darkness behind a barrel, and narrowed night-sensitive eyes.
His human half-brother leaned against the opposite wall of the trash-strewn alley. Khyffen Antonello’s blond hair shone in the muted light. A female pinned him, arms around his neck. She tore open Khyff’s shirt and ran her hands over his chest.
Senth folded himself into the tight space behind the barrel and settled in to wait. Protection of his brother went before any assignment. Family came first. At least tonight. And Khyff would need it in Crooktown, Miraj City’s worst district.
Senth’s mother had died after birthing him. Khyff, who’d been three, had been told Senth was dead, and Khyff had been sold into slavery. Neither of them knew the other lived until a month ago. Neither had a clue about their biological fathers. Until Khyff found him, Senth’s “family” consisted of the Man.
Pulling out a square of paper, Senth angled it to catch the dim light and read the words he’d copied from Saint-Cyr’s note once more. You and Khyffen meet me at The Ghost. I have a job for you. Do it and I’ll buy and free your brother, but it’s going to cost you.
Of course it would. The Man didn’t do anything for free. But if it got Khyff out of that hellhole, Senth would do it.
He tucked away the note, and slipped on his gloves.
Senth’s master had raised him to believe that no one should have to sell his body to survive. Saint-Cyr owned one slave, Senth, and only so he could rise within the Guild.
Senth and Saint-Cyr might not agree on much, but they both believed Khyff needed his freedom. With Khyff’s record, freeing him wouldn’t be cheap, and it sure wouldn’t be easy.
[bctt tweet=”Check out this sweet Sci Fi romance with a kick: At the Mercy of Her Pleasure” username=”kayelleallen”]
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
Antonello Brothers 1: a Scifi Romance At the Mercy of Her Pleasure is a military science fiction romance set in a dystopian world. The standalone story has a heat level of sweet and has a happy ending.
Hired to steal back a prototype taken by the imperial armada, Senth Antonello retrieves it, but his brother is kidnapped to force Senth to surrender the device. Now he has to rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. He must do it in the company of NarrAy Jorlan, a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss. He’s a thief. She’s a soldier. Do opposites attract? Oh, mercy! — Genre: Sweet Romance, Science Fiction Romance, Scifi Heat level: PG – sweet romance with a kick Book length: 59,650 words (full novel) Publisher: Romance Lives Forever Books Series: Antonello Brothers (standalone books) Universal buy link https://books2read.com/u/m2o9P1
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Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
In this scene from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure, NarrAy Jorlan has just met Senth Antonello for the first time. She’s taking it slow, sizing him up for the job at hand. Usually, men are distracted by her pheromones, but on this occasion, she finds herself on the distracted side.
Do Opposites Attract?
NarrAy crossed her legs, exposing a good portion of her skin under the short dress. If she’d been sitting opposite Senth, the length might have been welcome. But his father lounged in that chair and Senth sat beside her on the couch. Her position put her a little closer to him.
“Empress Destoiya murdered my parents,” NarrAy continued her story, “as surely as if she’d been the one who shot them in the back. They were scientists working on secret technology. When rumors got out that they were planning to give their findings to the rebellion, the Conqueror had them killed and then confiscated everything, including their personal belongings. There was a locket my mother inherited from my grandmother, which my grandmother inherited from her grandmother. It’s mine and I want it back.”
She met Senth’s penetrating gaze and held it. She heard rather than saw Encie enter the room and take up a place near the door. Broxus moved to stand beside her. NarrAy couldn’t take her gaze off Senth. How did I ever see him as a boy?
He had a man’s hands, well-groomed nails and sinewy forearms that revealed power and strength. His biceps bulged. Angular jaw, a firm mouth with lips made for kissing. A hot flutter rose within her and she tamped it down at once, refusing to let her pheromones get the upper hand.
Senth watched her, gaze narrowed, head tilted. He gave a sniff and then eased into a smile. His proximity heightened her desire. He smelled clean, fresh and ruggedly male. A tingle signaled the imminent letdown of her pheromones and she clenched her hands into fists, fighting to calm the spike of lust flickering through her like a torch about to combust.
Senth’s faint smile revealed nothing, but he lifted his head, sniffing the air. Kin could smell emotion and desire. Could HalfKin?
He asked me something. Pay attention to business and not your body. She sat up straighter. “I’m sorry. Would you repeat that, please?”
“What I said was no one hires a level-nineteen thief, transports him to another world to break into a government building and then wants him to steal back a locket with sentimental value. Especially one in the custody of the Conqueror. What’s it really worth?”
“It’s a priceless heirloom.” She set a hand against her bosom.
Senth didn’t follow her hand movement. Instead he tilted his head as he leaned back against the couch. “I’m more skilled at this job than you are beautiful, NarrAy and that’s saying something. Tell me the truth.”
Her cheeks warmed. When had she ever blushed over an offhand compliment?
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
Antonello Brothers 1: a Scifi Romance At the Mercy of Her Pleasure is a military science fiction romance set in a dystopian world. The standalone story has a heat level of PG13 and a happy ending.
Hired to steal back a prototype taken by the imperial armada, Senth Antonello retrieves it, but his brother is kidnapped to force Senth to surrender the device.
Now he has to rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. He must do it in the company of NarrAy Jorlan, a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.
He’s a thief. She’s a soldier. Do opposites attract? Oh, mercy!
—
Genre: Sweet Romance, Science Fiction Romance, Sci Fi
Heat level: PG13 – sweet romance with kick
Publisher: Romance Lives Forever Books
Series: Antonello Brothers (standalone books)
Universal book link https://books2read.com/ab-at-mercy
JOIN US FOR BOOKHOOKS Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. It’s a chance each week for you the reader to discover current works in progress or previously published books by possibly new-to-you authors. Thank you for stopping by. Please say hello or leave a note in the comments.
In this scene from For Women Only, Khyff has received a notereader (a tablet-type device) filled with information about his mother, who died when he was three. More info is available to him, including his father’s name, but at what price?
Khyff flung himself back in his chair. Every time he and his brother talked, they ended up arguing. He rubbed his eyes. The pleasant meal they’d started lay almost untouched and any appetite he’d had was gone.
It had taken seconds to read the all too short bio of their mother that his brother was perusing now.
Sileenya Antonello had run away from home on Trien at age ten and been arrested for theft at eleven. While still on probation, she’d disappeared at thirteen and been arrested at age fourteen for unlicensed prostitution. When her pregnancy test had come back positive, they’d placed her back on probation. She’d run away again and been fifteen when she’d given birth to Khyff.
Two years later she began living with an armada-enlisted man who transferred to Felidae, taking Sileenya and Khyff with him, but then he abandoned them. Her next boyfriend addicted her to drugs and prostituted her to newly recruited male Kin soldiers eager to spend their first pay to experience sex with a human female. When she became pregnant, he transferred off-planet, leaving them to fend for themselves.
An Elder of the Ruh clan found Sileenya huddled in an alley during a thunderstorm, holding the nearly lifeless Khyff in her arms. A scant month later, the Tzesar of the Kin ordered the halfbreed newborn destroyed, but the elder intervened and sold Senth to slavers to save his life.
Sileenya and Khyff had been cast into the streets.
Days later, she was dead by her own hand and Khyff was a slave. Senth ended up at an orphanage where he was later adopted by Luc Saint-Cyr.
Senth poked at the notereader’s buttons. “This thing is encrypted. What if the Empress knows who my father is? Don’t I have a right to know that? You have to talk to her. Find out what she wants. Maybe she’ll give you the key.”
“Destoiya’s not going to give me information without demanding a favor. I have nothing left to give that woman. She’s already taken way too much.”
“Khyff, that’s unfair. I need this. You can’t ice up and go all mental.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
His brother growled, a predatory cat sound that made the hair on Khyff’s neck stand up. He scrambled out of his chair and stepped back from the table.
“That”–Senth pointed a finger at him–“is what I mean. I do anything Kin-like and you freak. Get hold of yourself, Khyff. You’re falling apart. The brother I knew two years ago would’ve done whatever it took to find out who his father was. He would’ve helped me find mine.”
Khyff shoved his chair under the table and leaned over it. “Don’t lecture me about doing whatever it takes. If it wasn’t for me interceding with Destoiya, you’d be dead.”
“I’d be dead? I rescued you, in case you don’t remember.”
“NarrAy rescued me. You were unconscious. I carried you in my arms when we transported back aboard the ship. You had nothing to do with it.”
Senth stood. “If it hadn’t been for me, we wouldn’t have gotten in the palace and found you.”
“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been a captive in the first place!” He stepped around the chair and set a hand on the corner of the table. “I got my freedom and the next day the Empress held me hostage to control you!”
[bctt tweet=”He’s a broken hero. She’s a warrior. The love neither expected holds them captive in the middle #scifi #romance” username=”kayelleallen”]
Fawni’s people destroyed Khyff’s family. To protect his only brother he accepts a mission that will remove her from power. After meeting the female warrior and discovering her noble heart, he begins to doubt his cause, his past and even his own memories.
Khyff’s secret truth could devastate her family and make her an outcast. She should shun this human, return to her own people and forget him. Yet how can she let him suffer in the darkness that binds his heart?
His secret truth is her people’s darkest lie.
For Women Only is a quick-reading sci fi romance with an edge. He’s a broken hero who hungers for revenge. She’s a warrior who thirsts for justice. The love neither expected holds them captive in the middle.
BookHooks is a blog hop where authors share only a small snippet of a story, an enticement to read more.
Today’s snippet is from Bro, the Story Behind the Antonello Brothers. Other books in the series include At the Mercy of Her Pleasure and For Women Only. Bro is free on this website. The other two are free on Kindle Unlimited.
Khyff Antonello is off work for the day and heading for a well-earned rest. When his client mentions he knows someone with the same last name as Khyff, it gets his attention. Then he hears the person is a HalfKin like the brother he thought was dead.
“No, never mind. He wouldn’t be related to you. I just remembered. He’s a HalfKin.”
Half-human, half-feline humanoid Kin.
All the air left the room. Khyff fought to drag in a breath. “What’s his name?”
“Seth, I think. No, Senth. Yeah, that’s it. Senth Antonello.”
The light grayed around the edges.
The guy took a step forward, concern on his face. “Hey, Khyff, you okay? You look a little pale.”
Hearing the name Senth Antonello catapulted Khyff back into the past. To the point in his life when his world had unraveled, torn itself apart and dumped him into hell. He hit the floor with a smack that stung his hands and knees and he crumpled.
Bro, the Story Behind the Antonello Brothers
When you can make yourself invisible, invisible truths are revealed.
Senth and Khyff, the Antonello Brothers from At the Mercy of Her Pleasure and For Women Only, did not grow up together. They were separated at Senth’s birth. Bro shows how and why, and what event reunited them.
Join the Romance Lives Forever Reader Group and get a free copy of Bro, the Story Behind the Antonello Brothers https://kayelleallen.com/bro plus three more books at the same time.
[bctt tweet=”When you can make yourself invisible, invisible truths are revealed.” username=”kayelleallen”]
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
He’s a thief. She’s a soldier. Do opposites attract? Oh, mercy!
Amazon https://amzn.to/1f7FQ2h
“At the Mercy of Her Pleasure is a story filled with vice and a political empire whose leader, the Conqueror, has no scruples about its application for her own benefit. Add to the mix slavery, kidnapping, blackmail, behaviour enhancing/suppressing drugs and NarrAy Jorlan, one very tempting, genetically engineered human female soldier, and the Antonello brothers, Senth and Khyff, have a lot to contend with to save each other from a life of slavery and submission. …the enigma of Luc Saint-Cyr (the Harbinger) was fascinating. I hope we’ll get to read more about him in this series.” Reviewer: Meredith Gurr, Merry’s Reviews https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1369914461
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
This review is for the current edition of At the Mercy of Her Pleasure. Here are a few reviews from previous editions.
Review 4.5 Ribbons
Apr 2010
With a dazzling cast of characters and an action packed plot, Kayelle Allen introduces us to her extraordinary Empire of Tarth and the alluring Antonello Brothers, where everything is possible and the only boundaries are only those created by her illimitable imagination.
http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/KAAt_the_Mercy_of_Her_Pleasure.shtml
Romantic Times Book Reviews
Review 3 Stars
May 2004
Passion is the name of the game in this story. … At the Mercy of Her Pleasure is an amazing, captivating science fiction story.
http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/mercy-her-pleasure
Long and Short Reviews (formerly Whipped Cream Reviews)
Review 4 Cherries
This story definitely had the right amount of sugar and spice. Because this was a sci-fi story based on another world the author really had free rein to use her imagination.
http://whippedcream2.blogspot.com/2010/04/at-mercy-of-her-pleasure-by-kayelle.html
You Gotta Read Reviews
Review: You Need to Read
Aug 2010
Overall, I wish I could recommend reading this book, but I must instead recommend reading it twice. The ending is a serious twist that throws everything into a different light. I won’t ruin it by saying any more then that.
http://yougottareadreviews.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-at-mercy-of-her-pleasure-by.html
I’m editing a previously released scifi romance in preparation for re-release. It’s mainstream scifi (but was erotica). Taking out the graphic content means the story itself shines for a whole new audience.
The story deserves an all new cover as well. It’s had two previous ones. The first one was by Laura Givens, and the second by Anne Cain. The Author’s Secret did this one. Since I own the business, I have to brag. Our custom covers come with a month of ad space on The Romance Studio, and a month of DMCA Take Down service from Book About.
Oh Mercy
This is the first book I ever wrote, and it’s in need of some shaping. I’ve written other books since, and this is in the same universe as they are. I’ve fine tuned details since this came out. This is not the absolute final version, but it’s not likely to change much. I’ve even rewritten the blurb to better fit the story.
I’ll be sharing info on how and why I edited various scenes as I recreate the book. This is the first in a series and contains the new blurb, as well as the first two pages.
At the Mercy of Her Pleasure
Here are the blurb, and the first three paragraphs of At the Mercy of Her Pleasure. I hope you enjoy it.
—
If he touches her, he’ll be at the mercy of her pleasure.
Professional thief Senth Antonello is hired to retrieve a stolen prototype for which the imperial armada has already killed twice. When Senth’s brother is kidnapped to ensure the device is surrendered, Senth must rescue his brother, outsmart the armada, and keep the item out of imperial hands. All doable, except for one small problem. Senth must accomplish it in the company of a genetically altered woman whose pheromones could enhance the mission or crumble it into dust with a single siren kiss.
Excerpt
Once in the shadows, Senth Antonello shoved back the hood of his sensor-blocking cloak and fanned his face. The Thieves’ Guild tech let him hide from copbot scans, but it didn’t cool him. Using his fangs, he loosened first one glove, then the other, and peeled them off. He tucked them into one of dozens of hidden pockets in the cloak.
The faint sound of gang chant carried in the chilled night air. Gangs in the Crooktown District hunted mixed breeds like him. At first glance, Senth appeared human, but with his catlike eyes and fangs, no one could miss his Kin nature. In moonlight, his eyes glowed.
The chant grew louder, along with the sound of glass breaking. The deeper darkness that followed meant two things: another streetlight had met its end, and that gang was closer than Senth had thought.
You come down here I skin you. Senth flattened himself against the brick wall. I skin you, the Grand Master skins me. Let’s do each other a favor, huh, boys?
Worse, the Grand Master would inform Senth’s Sen’dai. His guild master. The crime lord all the other crime lords feared. The Man. The Harbinger. Luc Saint-Cyr.
The Guild didn’t accept non-humans, unless they were enslaved to a human member. No one could rise past level ten, unless related to a human member. Marriages and adoptions happened, regularly. So, to keep the Guild happy, Saint-Cyr was Senth’s lord and master and his adoptive father.
No way Senth wanted the Man angry with him. The last time he’d almost…
Don’t even go there. Senth shook off the thought, drew his hood forward again, and edged around the corner into a darker alley. “Ffffftt!” The Kin cuss word hissed past his fangs. Where are you? Come on, you have to be close. Senth’s HalfKin senses caught the scent of his quarry.
Pressed against the wall, Senth slipped around one last corner, and hunkered down. He melted into the concealing darkness behind a barrel, and narrowed night-sensitive eyes.
His human half brother leaned against the opposite wall of the trash-strewn alley. Khyffen Antonello’s blond hair shone in the muted light. A female pinned him, arms around his neck. She tore open Khyff’s shirt and ran her hands over his chest.
Senth folded himself into the tight space behind the barrel and settled in to wait. Protection of his brother went before any assignment, at least tonight. Family came first.
Senth’s mother had died after birthing him. Khyff, who’d been three, had been sold into slavery. Neither of them knew the other lived until a month ago. Neither had a clue about their biological fathers. Until Khyff had found him, Senth’s only “family” had consisted of the Man.
Pulling out Saint-Cyr’s note, Senth read it once more. Get your half brother and meet me at The Ghost. I have a job for you. Do it, and I’ll buy Khyffen and free him, but it’s going to cost you.
Of course it would. Senth slipped his gloves back on. The Man didn’t do anything for free. But if it got Khyff out of that hellhole, Senth would do it. Leaning out from behind the barrel, he spied Khyff.
For Women Only
His brother had clenched his fists, eyes squeezed shut, face lifted to the night sky, mouth open in a silent scream.
Senth’s master had raised him to believe that no one should have to sell himself to survive. Saint-Cyr owned one slave only, and that was Senth, and only so he could rise within the Guild. They might not agree on how but they did agree on what.
Khyff needed his freedom.
— At the Mercy of Her Pleasure will be out by the end of July, along with its sequel, For Women Only (Khyff’s story). To get one email when one of my books is released, sign up on Author Alarms. You can also subscribe to the newletter and follow the blog. Both options are listed on the left.
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