Well, hello. If you're surprised by the headline, I'm right there with you. The release of Clans of Kalquor 13: Alien Haven, has been beset by all sorts of mayhem. I was on the brink of announcing it coming out on November 29. Today I discovered, much to my chagrin, that certain booksellers already have it on sale rather than pre-order, and I can't get them to switch it back. And another bookseller has put the rankings and comments of Alien Redemption on Alien Haven's sales page. Nice, huh?
So here's the lowdown: for those of you who don't know, Smashwords was bought out by Draft2Digital. It was through Smashwords that sellers like Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo, to name a few, received my books. Now it's through D2D.
Alien Haven is my first book to be loaded onto the D2D platform. I went through the process carefully, made sure to put November 29 as the release date, and hit "Submit." All seemed well until the emails started rolling in this morning. "Your book is now on sale at Smashwords." "Your book is now on sale at Barnes & Noble."
"Hmm," says I. "Surely they meant on pre-order." I check the links...and no, those aren't pre-orders. The book is on sale. Right now. With no promotion, no excerpts to lead up to the big day. And...no way for me to fix it. I tried. D2D somehow reverted it to an immediate release, and I can't change it. To say I'm disappointed might be putting it lightly.
I mean, this is the 50th Kalquor Universe book! A return to the original Clans of Kalquor series. It was due having a big deal made of it, right? I'd certainly planned to.
Sigh.
I'd already set up the Amazon release for the 29th. The bulk of my readers use Kindle. So with no relief in sight from D2D, I moved up the release for Kindle...but the earliest it can be had on that platform is November 12. The print book is on sale now. At least I could manage that.
Oh, and another major glitch, thanks to Kindle. The sales page for Alien Haven on Amazon? Yeah, that's the one with Alien Redemption's reviews. If you own Alien Redemption, when you go to buy Alien Haven, it'll alert you that you've already bought it. It won't keep you from pre-ordering or buying Alien Haven, but cue the confusion. Ditto for the print link...if you click that from Haven's kindle page, it'll take you to Redemption's print sales page.
Are we having fun yet?
Okay. Deep breath. Life has handed me this big ol' basket of lemons. Time to make lemonade.
Let's do this.
On sale now at Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Amazon (print).
Coming on November 12 to Kindle (if Amazon approves the date change...still waiting for confirmation).
Coming soon to Apple and Kobo.
Clans of Kalquor 13: Alien Haven
Two versions in one book!
If you had told me way back when that my first book, Alien Embrace, would spawn a series, I’d have laughed. A bunch of stories of intense romance between three doubly-endowed aliens and a human woman? Right. I’d have suspected there was a bridge in Brooklyn you want to sell me too.
If you’d told me it was the first of fifty books set in the Kalquorian universe, I would have asked you what you’d been drinking and could I please have a bottle or five?
Yet here we are, and the books are still coming. To say I’m amazed would be putting it lightly. I mean…FIFTY books about Kalquor! That’s a staggering number.
It seems fitting this particular story returns us to the original series, Clans of Kalquor, which I thought I’d wrapped up in 2018. When I put Charity Nath and Dramok Ilid on board a shuttle at the end of the fifth installment of the Dark Empire series, I realized they had their own separate story to tell. It was almost immediately obvious theirs was a Clans of Kalquor story.
At first. For at the end of their journey to the agricultural planet of Haven, awaited two more young men, Nobek Detodev and Imdiko Mitag. Here were four people, strangers to each other, on a collision course of love and adventure. I couldn’t deny it also felt the story fit in the Clan Beginnings series. A little problem on that front: Clans of Kalquor has always been all about the men loving the woman only, and Clan Beginnings is geared toward the men turning to each other for intimacy.
Which route would I choose? That turned out to be the wrong question. The right question is, what will you, the reader, choose?
There are two versions of Alien Haven included in each volume. The first is what you’d expect from the Clans of Kalquor series: it’s all about the heroes doting on the heroine, no same-sex interaction.
Version Two is quite a bit freer. It contains a mashup of Clans of Kalquor and the same-sex intimate interplay between the heroes of a Clan Beginnings series.
The choice of which to read…or to read both versions…is yours. I hope you enjoy whatever path you set out upon as we take our fiftieth journey together in the Kalquor Universe.
With much love and gratitude,
Tracy
* * * * *
Using the alias Jennifer Seng, Charity Nath hides on Haven, a planet settled by Earthers and Kalquorians. She’s less than thrilled to be on the agricultural outpost where the height of culture is a play titled Cow Patties in Paradise. With a bounty on her head and ruthless enemies determined to cash in, she has little choice but to work on Clan Amgar’s farm until the danger is past. At least the view is nice, thanks to three young, handsome Kalquorians…but they have their own secrets they’re unwilling to share.
After his encounter with a merciless entity that performed horrific medical tests on him, Dramok Ilid is eager for a place where he can feel safe again. Haven’s strict security protocols mean the pandemic raging in his home empire has little chance of striking the planet. Better yet, there’s little opportunity for the enemy Darks who traumatized him to show up either. Still, he knows he isn’t the man to lead a clan of his own despite the tempting potential of his new friends who are everything he could hope for.
Imdiko Mitag is charming, gorgeous, and resolved to draw out the trio who seem perfect for the clan he’s always dreamed of. His eagerness conceals a long-ago tragedy and an unloving childhood he’s determined won’t dictate the rest of his life, if he can convince the others.
It isn’t that Nobek Detodev doesn’t want friends and lovers. As a Nobek who hates who he is, he’s certain no one else could want him. His aloof persona begins to crack when Charity, Ilid, and Mitag refuse to let him remain unapproachable. But surely they’ll run when they discover the truth.
When Charity comes under attack by those who’ll stop at nothing to destroy the uneasy peace between Earth II and Kalquor, the quartet finds secrets are the greatest danger to keeping her safe. Can her life and their growing love survive the truth of their pasts?
After six years, a new novel for the original Clans of Kalquor series…the fiftieth book in the Kalquor Universe…is here. One big adventure in two versions celebrates this milestone. Version One is the traditional Clans of Kalquor heroine-centric story. Version Two is both a Clans of Kalquor and Clan Beginnings same-sex-friendly edition. Both versions are here in one volume. Choose which to read…or read both.
* * * * *
Chapter 1, Scene 1
The woman who’d introduced herself to her shipmates as Jennifer Seng ran her palms along Dramok Ilid’s chiseled chest as he drowned her in a kiss. He clutched her honey-blond hair in a demanding manner that excited her. “Jennifer” had enjoyed intimacy with a few men, including aliens at the university she’d attended until recently, but never a Kalquorian.
His body, still fully clothed, was a revelation of curves and hollows. Kalquorians were naturally muscled. Jennifer’s companion, slightly older than her twenty years, had obviously worked to add to his delicious physique, improving on what genetics had generously bestowed.
They’d had a couple bottles of kloq to start their tryst in her tiny sleeping quarters. They traveled on board a Kalquorian fleet shuttle, which was taking them to the planet Haven. The room was cramped from the massive bed Jennifer and Ilid writhed on. She’d compensated for the tight space by ordering the window and ceiling vids to display the vast stretch of space the shuttle shot through. Satin blackness was dotted by sequin stars overhead and next to the bed they lounged upon.
Had she thought of them as lounging in their star-speckled retreat? No, they weren’t doing anything so restful or serene. They were squirming and groping and clutching, rumpling the cover and sheets to a fine mess.
The handsome Kalquorian tasted of the warm ale they’d imbibed. The scent of his arousal, a sweetish aroma accented by the bite of spice, mingled excitingly with his flavor.
He lay half on her, his excitement hard against her thigh through their clothes. He was intent on removing barriers as he kissed her deeply and passionately. He tugged on the front of her blouse, parting the resealable seam to bare her to his eager touch.
Two days. It had taken her this long to get him where she’d wanted him from the moment she’d set eyes on him in the shuttle’s main cabin. They were mere hours from docking at her port of exile. She was thrilled to have at last herded him where curiosity and pure lust could be satisfied.
He succeeded in getting her top open, and his hand was hot as he rubbed along her abdomen and ribs. He found her bra-clad breast and rubbed his thumb on the brazen nipple poking at the fabric.
Thank the prophets he acted as if he were in as much of a hurry to get to the good stuff as she. He didn’t delay by undoing her bra. He simply shoved it up toward her throat, and his calloused fingers closed on bared voluptuous flesh. A flash of brilliant excitement shot straight to her pussy, and her wide-mouthed moan interrupted their kiss.
“Ancestors,” he muttered, purple cat-pupil eyes staring at her. “You bear no resemblance to the fabled repressed Earther female.”
She smirked. “I’m not only not repressed, I’m extremely vocal. As our earlier petting has forewarned you. I hope you like it loud.”
His grin lit his bronze face. “Where you’re concerned, I like it any way you’ll give it to me. Especially since my parents are nowhere in the area.”
An important point. Their transportation was an older shuttle, and the walls weren’t soundproof. Ilid’s parent clan’s quarters were next door to Jennifer. His room was on the opposite side of his adoring fathers and mother, collectively known as Clan Codab. Their proximity on the small vessel and Jennifer’s uncontrollably loud delight during sex were the reasons it had taken the couple so long to get a real chance at intimacy.
There was nothing like parental presence to dampen even the fieriest of youthful urges.
Ilid buried his face between Jennifer’s ample breasts, groaning his approval. Her breath caught as he kissed his way to a nipple, then to the other. He’d admitted to little experience with women…none where Earthers or the rare Kalquorian females still in existence were concerned. Nonetheless, she discovered no reason to complain as his hot mouth licked and sucked and kissed her to heady rapture.
“Still too many clothes,” she gasped. She pulled at his soft blue shirt, untucking it from the black trousers he filled out oh so well. She wanted to feel him naked against her.
“Ladies first,” Ilid chuckled. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head to thwart her eager attempts to unclothe him.
The hint of dominance sent wet warmth fleeing between her thighs. Dramoks were the breed acknowledged as Kalquor’s natural leaders. During the two days they’d spent together, Jennifer had seen hints of command from Ilid on occasion, but not as often as the majority of Dramoks she’d encountered. The sudden control he exerted was a thrill.
He was intent on stripping her, but she sensed the constraint he placed on himself to do so. He concentrated on thoroughly enjoying all he revealed. She was delighted at how he meticulously unfastened her belt and slid it through the loops of her pants’ waistband. He slowly peeled them down her legs. He licked his lips as he eyed her lacy panties, which matched the bra crumpled above her chest. He paused to inspect his conquest, and Jennifer basked in the satisfaction of her curvy figure. At least that hadn’t been altered when she’d left behind her identity on Alpha Space Station. She’d have fought the Kalquorian Empire’s spy contingent tooth and nail if they’d attempted to change one inch of her lush five-foot-six frame. The modifications to her hair, eyes, and face had been more than she could stand as it was, thank you very much.
Ilid stroked the skin he’d revealed, his expression of reverence shaking her. She’d been gazed at appreciatively, lustfully, and hungrily, but never had anyone appeared worshipful before. She wasn’t sure anyone should be stared at in such a manner. Her particularly.
“Magnificent,” he breathed and went for her panties.
They wetly peeled from her flexing pussy. He drew an admiring sniff. He grinned at her and tossed a glance at the ceiling. “Watch the sky.”
“As an astronomy student, I watch it all the time. I’d rather watch you.”
His tone took on the edge of a Dramok’s natural command and repeated, “Watch the sky.”
She huffed even as she obeyed instinctively. Dramoks had the ability to encourage compliance from the reluctant. Jennifer wasn’t reluctant in the least when it came to sex with Ilid. She also wasn’t known for submitting without a fight. Or at least an intense discussion.
As he kissed, licked, nipped, and caressed every inch of exposed flesh he could find, she found the will to surrender, if only for a few seconds. Each instant of contact roused her higher, and her excited noises grew loud as he worked his way lower. Her gyrations increased too. He’d descended halfway down her abdomen when she bucked hard enough for him to look up.
“Do I need to tie you up?”
A surge of exhilaration greeted his threat. Or maybe it was his hot yet steely gaze.
“How?” she smarted off, pretending there was no tremble in her voice. “Do you see any ropes floating around space?” She gestured at the ceiling.
“I suggest you stay still and take it or suffer the consequences.” He was in full Dramok mode.
Jennifer blew a raspberry and snuggled deep into the bed, as if sinking in it might keep her immobilized. She wished they did have some rope. The idea of being helpless for Ilid’s attentions was a stimulating notion.
He kissed her deeply to take any sting from his dominant demand. His muscled thighs squirmed between hers. She dared to shift so his crotch, deliciously engorged behind the trousers, rubbed where it felt most incredible.
“Watch the sky,” he muttered, moving down.
No argument this time as he mouthed her throat, her breasts, her abdomen. She loved the vast depths of space, teasing its mysteries of far reaches in the distant twinkles of planets and stars. There was no better view than infinity as Ilid slid her legs up on his shoulders and bent to where her pulse pounded hardest.
His rough, raw silk tongue lapped. She unleashed a cry of rapture, singing to the galaxy her pleasure. Another lick and a ringing shout of her avid approval as bliss devoured her—
“…can’t imagine even a fleet vessel mess crew thinking such a meal is worthy of being served…”
Jennifer gasped as Matara Diju’s voice spoke outside her door. She shoved at Ilid. “Your parents!”
He came up, his lips shiny from her passion and scowled. “Damn!” he hissed so he couldn’t be heard. “Why are they back from dinner so soon?”
“Apparently, the food wasn’t very good.” She could hear them chattering about under-tenderized ronka and pastry burnt at the edges as they entered their quarters. She eyed his obvious excitement, which hadn’t eased despite the shock of nearly being overheard. She wondered if his discomfort was worse than her own ache of unfulfillment. “Damn. We were so close. Me especially.”
He grimaced, adjusting himself. The shuttle was small, a nondescript little vessel. The craft had been utilized by the spy arm of Kalquor’s fleet to escape unwanted attention as it transported those who needed to keep a low profile to safety.
In short, there was nowhere besides the sleeping quarters to escape to for a tryst. Since Jennifer’s pussy had a direct connection to her vocal cords, even those “private spaces” were no real sanctuary from sensitive Kalquorian hearing. Particularly when it came to the ears of doting parents.
Her disappointment was tinged by curiosity. She wondered once more why Ilid and his parent clan warranted a secretive escort to Haven. Ilid had hinted he’d once been on a spyship crew before leaving the fleet. His former duty had allowed them to hitch a ride when their application to visit the mixed Earther-Kalquorian colony of Haven on business had been approved.
Jennifer strongly suspected there was more to the story than had been revealed. Ilid had little to say when it came to his recent past. The haunted expression he often wore and the way his parents’ often nervous attention focused on him suggested he was running from someone or something.
Jennifer had her own issues and her own secrets to keep, however. Taking on another person’s problems was beyond her current capacity. She liked Ilid, but she’d firmly counseled herself he was simply a distraction from her exile to what she feared was the most backward planet in the known galaxy.
He smiled at her ruefully as he helped her recover her clothes. “We’ll both be close to the town of Sunrise, smack in the middle of farms and ranchlands. I’m sure we can find a place to meet where we can both yell our heads off and not be heard.”
“Yay for Planet Farm Hell, where the deer and the ronka play. Just don’t expect me to go for a roll where we might find their blessings heaped.” Jennifer swept her hair loose from the blouse she’d put on, letting still-unfamiliar honeyed waves tumble to her shoulders.
Ilid chuckled. After their conversations, he was aware of her sight-unseen opinion of Haven. “I’ll make it a point to scout out the cleanest pastures.”
“Ha! Find us a nice room in a decent inn, or forget it.” She grinned and kissed his lush lips, making it a hearty smack. At least she could get away with that amount of noise. Ilid’s parents continued to audibly chatter their low opinions of the kitchen staff on the other side of the too-thin wall.
“Consider the earliest reservation at a local inn done.” Ilid sighed his regret as he closed her blouse, hiding her heavy breasts from his view.
On sale now at Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Amazon (print).
Coming on November 12 to Kindle (if Amazon approves the date change...still waiting for confirmation).
Coming soon to Apple and Kobo.
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