Slave to Lust

Slave to Lust
Mikala Ash
Second Edition
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2007, 2014 Mikala Ash
An Authorized Excerpt

Katsumi Ryal counted the price of her short-lived freedom. Fourteen bruises on her arms, eleven on her legs, and five dotted around her rib cage.

Her fingers and toes still tingled uncomfortably. The manacles and leg irons had been far tighter than necessary. The Skollonian guards hadn't been very empathetic, ignoring her complaints with scowls and amused grunts. Beating two of them into unconsciousness might have had something to do with their active neglect.

Thirty bruises. "Well, that's thirty I'll inflict on my wedding night. If that doesn't make old smelly breath Bifflout divorce me, nothing will."

Her limbs ached in the chill of the tiny cell. The stuffy air was a foul cocktail of the belches and body odors of a half dozen different species. The rattle of the ventilation system was punctuated by the hysterical ranting of another prisoner somewhere down the corridor.

Katsumi exhaled a long and miserable sigh. Stretching out on the stone bench she used a trick she'd learned in childhood and sent her consciousness to a far nicer place.

A tropical island, with harlequin parrots perched decoratively on the branches of red palm trees draped artistically over a lavender sea. Thin olive clouds scudded across a wide cerulean sky and a light breeze caressed her bronzed skin. She wriggled her toes in the wet sand while cool water lapped at her feet like an affectionate cat.

A drink would be nice. A fruit punch with a dash of Silvern wine would fit the bill perfectly, served by a handsome, dark-skinned waiter with a lyrical, yet masculine accent.

She'd reach out for the glass and their fingers would touch. A magical spark would pass between them, a mutual affirmation that soon their bodies would be so entwined.

He'd be a student. No. Better than that. He was a prince in disguise, paying his own way through university. Why? Because that's just the type of man he was, much too self-reliant to rest on the advantages of birth. No, he intended to succeed by his own efforts. Becoming ruler of the galaxy, he'd bring peace and stability to the wide expanse of civilization. She'd rule by his side, of course, a partnership made in heaven.

His electric smile would light up the sky. She'd flick her hair coquettishly, sending it cascading over her shoulders. With a subtle movement, she'd drape the blonde strands provocatively over her jutting breasts barely contained in a transparent and diminutive bandanna.

He'd be naked to the waist. His drum-tight ebony skin would stretch across a powerful chest whose finely defined musculature shimmered in the bright sunshine. When he crouched down to deliver the glass to her reaching fingers, his loose fitting shorts would expose his firm thighs and offer a glimpse of secret flesh.

Their eyes would meet and their gazes linger. The moment hung pregnant with possibility. The melodious, soft chattering of the parrots ceased and the waters at her feet receded.

There was a loud gravelly cough. Suddenly, the parrots took raucous flight, sending the branches springing into the darkening sky. From nowhere, a tidal wave swept up the beach, sending the future ruler of the galaxy tumbling flotsam-like into the swampy graveyard of her fantasies.

Her eyes sprang open.

Standing at the open door of the cell was the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

She blinked to make certain he wasn't the student from her fantasy. No, he was real enough. A few years older than she, this Adonis was tall and dark-haired with broad shoulders. He was a spacefarer, she guessed by his tight fitting flight suit which left absolutely nothing to the imagination. It molded itself to his statuesque frame, adhering like paint to the wide expanse of his chest with its well defined pectorals and further down to a stomach flatter than the bench she was lying on.

His narrow hips topped solid, well shaped legs adorned with the sexiest calves. But it was what sat arrogantly at the juncture of those fantastic thighs that attracted her eyes like a magnet. The impressive bulge took her breath away.

"Princess," he said, his teeth flashing brilliantly against his ebony flesh. "I've come to rescue you."

Katsumi Ryal smiled. Her prince had come.