An impossible dream...
As soon as they
returned to their own ship, Nako and Terig went in search of Ulof and Piper.
The hour was late, and the pair had agreed it might be fun to spend some of
their sleeping hours in more active pursuits.
Nako felt badly that
his Imdiko was missing out on the pleasures enjoyed by his clanmates with the
Earthling beauty. Ulof was too unsure of himself to attempt to seduce Piper on
his own.
My Imdiko deserves a woman like her. The thought startled Nako as
he moved down the corridors. Was he thinking of sex, or was that stray notion
indicative of more?
“She’s amazing,” he
ventured to Terig.
“No shit. Ulof won’t
know what hit him.” Terig laughed as they reached their quarters and checked
the interior. “He’s not here. Let’s see if she’s already asleep or helping him
in the kitchen.”
Piper’s quarters
were closer, so they went there next. She wasn’t in her room.
“On to the kitchen,”
Nako said. “I wonder what we should do with her once this matter with Maf and
the death ship is dealt with?”
“I assumed you’d
hand her over to Kalquor before you take us back out to refuse the Empire
our glorious presence once more. Or were you thinking of bringing her with us?”
“What if I was?”
Nako stopped in the middle of the corridor.
Terig halted as
well, his eyes rounding in shock. “Fuck, Nako. I was joking.”
The Dramok tried not
to show his disappointment. “Yeah, it’s a dumb idea. Never mind.”
“No, wait. Don’t
drop a bomb like that on me and then walk off. Are you thinking of clanship?”
“Hell, Terig. She’s
only just showed up. Of course I’m not talking about that.” Nako ignored how
his pulse had quickened at his clanmate’s words. “But if she stuck around…if
things went well for say, a few months…well, who could say what might happen?”
“Hmm. I can’t deny
the idea has appeal. Beyond sex, I’m attracted to her for several reasons.” He
considered and shook his head. “This is no life for a woman. Especially not
someone who’s gone through what she has. Piper deserves a real home. She
deserves happiness, and she’s not going to get that stuck on this raider,
avoiding the authorities.”
Terig’s good sense
deflated Nako’s pleasant fantasy. “You’re right. She rates far better than what
we can offer.”
Releasing July 3. (No pre-orders.)
She escaped to Kalquor to warn the empire…but did she bring its
destruction instead?
When a rogue Kalquorian raider snags a Bi’isil cruiser in Empire space,
the outlaw crew is hoping for supplies. Instead, they find a Tragoom and an
Earther woman with a dire warning: Bi’is is set to unleash a fatal plague on
the Kalquorian Empire.
Piper Warren, with the help of her friend Ob, has faced death to save
the Kalquorians from utter destruction. Instead of help, she stumbles on a ship
filled with men who swear no loyalty to anyone but themselves. Can she convince
them to set aside their lawless ways to save their people?
Captain Nako turned his back on Kalquor after Fleet Command
decommissioned his raider. Abandoned by his government, he swears he will never
lift a finger to aid them, not even against the traitor Dramok Maf and his
fleet. With the new Bi’is threat, if Nako doesn’t do something, the empire will
fall and its people will die.
Nako’s Nobek clanmate Terig is as fierce as they come. However, his
shameful past destroyed a once-promising career, and leading his men into
battle can only end in defeat. But how
can he refuse when utter annihilation is racing straight to Kalquor?
Dual breed Imdiko Ulof is a terror to anyone who crosses him. Leaving
broken bodies in his wake, the ex-convict struggles with equally broken dreams.
No one can tame him, until a beautiful Earther and an unlikely new friend show
that belief has the power to heal all wounds.
The survival of Kalquor depends on this unlikely band of misfits. Clan
Nako learns that love for an Earther woman can make heroes out of
outcasts…until they discover that Piper harbors dark, deadly secrets of her
own.
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