Eight Reasons the Heroine Refused the Hero...

8-8-2008 ~ That was the release date for TANGERINE CARNAL DREAMS, my stallion shifter, sci fi sizzling romance ~ so this is my novella’s One Year anniversary. Yippee and whinny!

The story opens with my heroine, Corporal Katta, pursuing a bad guy who has framed her father. She’s in an old space cruiser headed toward Yemisque, a tiny planet-world where the tangerine light acts like an aphrodisiac. Little does she realize the stallion-man who has chased her half-way across the galaxy is waiting.
Prince Ziocese, the hero, is In Pursuit. This is the traditional courtship of his people. The men will chase the wife of their dreams no matter how long it takes until they win her. Okay, Zio is also enjoying the carnal playground, the way of his race until they actually claim their Mate. Yep, being the virile studs they are.

Zio first sees and scents Katta when he enters the wrong room at a spaceport hotel, on the way to being with another woman. He’s utterly enchanted, especially since she’s bathing in a translucent pink tub.
I never wrote that actual scene of Zio and Katta’s first meeting... so, why not now?

Eight Reasons His Future Wife Refused Him

Anticipating a rolling romp with the elf-like Bregril seductress, Zio shoved the crystal entry card into the tiny slot. Within moments the opaque force field lowered and Zio knew the female he scented was the same women he’d watched leave the spaceport bar. He’d trained his lusty eye on her deliciously round curves and on her beautiful athleticism as she’d disappeared from view.

Lamenting the woman hadn’t stayed long enough for him to saunter her way, Zio committed the uniquie signature of her scent to his memory. It would be easier to track her later. Had she remained, he would have nibbled her ear with words, convincing her out of that intergalactic military uniform she wore, one that was also specific to her world.

For some reason he didn’t understand, unless the Bregril woman wanted a threesome, he stood inside the luxuriously appointed room, inhaling the officer woman’s honey musk scent and knew she bathed. Moving closer, he fully indulged his flaring nostrils, drawing in her flame-wild fragrance, partially due to her fire-shooting ability. Some in her race possessed the power to shoot lightning-like blazes from their palms.

It had been whispered about the galaxy, though, that when they were immersed in water, the power was dampened and nearly useless. If this was some kind of nefarious setup against him, he hoped that was true. Not all of his business trades were considered legitimate by any number of worlds.

Zio wasn’t prepared for the sight that met his gaze once he rounded the long sweeping pearlescent wall. Entranced, he stared.

She lay supine in the pink translucent soaking tub. Her mane of fiery goldspun hair tumbled in waves down the side and pooled on the clear platform, a most splendid loveliness. Her strongly formed face was also a sweetness that tugged at his soul, despite his raging arousal.

Obviously in a deep state of relaxation, her eyes shut, she didn’t move a muscle. Folding his arms, he leaned against the stout pillar that formed the edge of the wall. Gradually, Zio ran his gaze down the length of her body, seeing only one arm and her leg dangling outside the tub. Her skin was the color of sun-shimmering ivory and he glimpsed the shape of her round sumptuous curves through the florescent pink of the bathing tub.

Stars straight to Eros, even the way her calf was formed belonged to a Love Goddess. Suppressing his urge to snort ownership like a primitive, he straightened approaching her. Almost immediately, she opened one eye. One brightly jeweled eye the same color as the sky above his family lands.

“I didn’t request the attentions of a gigolo.” She spoke in universal galactic, her tone commanding.

“Are you certain? I’m quite accomplished in the carnal arts.” Zio halted, giving her time to become accustomed to his physical appearance.

“I’ll just bet you are.” She trained her gaze like a weapon on his standing bulge, yet remained languid in posture, not moving.

“Would you like a demonstration of my prowess?” Zio eased closer and sank to one knee before her. Her gaze, ferocious with warning, raised to his face as he smiled with his male charm. To be singed by her hand would be worth it, if the whispers were wrong.

“I’d like a demonstration of you leaving my room. I’m quite accomplished in the use of a pistol phaser.” With deceptive slowness she lifted her arm from the water, the tiny weapon held in her palm. “Your career as a gigolo could be temporarily abated.”

Zio didn’t doubt her intention or her aim. He didn’t doubt his next words, either. “Most gorgeous woman in all the galaxy, please, be my bride.”

Her eyelids fluttered. Staggered, she regarded him seriously. With her training in the detection of truth, she would know his utter sincerity.

“I must decline.” Her softly spoken words held a stern note and she didn’t lower her pistol phaser.

“Eight reasons why I should become your husband. Counter them and I will leave. For now.” Given her high intelligence, Zio decided engaging his future Mate in this manner would let him remain with her for a longer time.

She blinked once, then brought the pistol higher, his bare throat her target. “Eight reasons, I’ll play your ridiculous game. But if you don’t leave, your voice box is mine.”

Who would have known his chosen woman would be a warrioress? Zio had certainly never considered such a wife. Now the thought excited him unbearably and unbridled his savage passions.

“First reason. My kind are monogamous.”

“A definite plus in a husband. Your kind, against my view, aren’t allowed on my home planet.”

“Second reason. My kind are faithful. No philandering ever.”

She hesitated for several moments, her breath quickening. It beat his heart faster. “Another plus. However, bonding by genetic disposition is not necessarily love.”

“Third reason. I’m fun to ride as a stallion and as a stud.”

The corner of her mouth threatened to quirk upwards and a hint of amusement shone in her eyes. “There are other stallions to ride on my world. And I’m not interested in living with an arrogant stud.”

“Fourth reason. I have the means to take care of you, to provide your every desire.”

“Is that so? How would I know that? True, your garments do display a certain level of wealth. However, that hardly guarantees your words.” She eyed him, her expression as intense as a no nonsense mare.

“Fifth reason. My endurance will be to your liking in our marital pleasures.”

A small smile possessed her kissable, temptress-full lips. “Endurance is one of my requirements in a husband. Since I’m not willing to give up my home world, your studly endurance doesn’t count.”

“Sixth reason. My heart already favors you. Ours will be a marriage of love.”

The misty softening of her eyes for the barest moment had Zio ready to lunge for her and capture her as his. Only his promise to her kept him immobile.

“My heart is not easily won. If you want a loving bride, choose another.” Emotional pain as he’d rarely witnessed flared up in her eyes, only to be swiftly hidden.

“Seventh reason. I dance extraordinarily well.”

She raised one redgold brow. “By yourself?”

“Alone, and as your partner. You will find it a delight to dance in my arms.”

“A delight? That is tempting, I admit. Still, who do I dance with on my world? I’m betting a year’s pay, you’re nature as a husband is possessive.”

“Primal and possessive.” Zio reined in his rearing ‘nature’. “Is it Corporal, your rank?”

“Your eighth reason. I’ve been on a long draining assignment and my patience is hanging by a thread. Or should I say, by a horse hair?”

“Eighth reason. With one touch I will bring you down to your knees, your passion for me as scorching as the flames you shoot.”

She studied his face, speculation flickering in her eyes along with something else, embers of awakened desire. “Maybe.” Her voice was tight with restraint. “With one touch of my thumb I will bring you down to the floor, writhing in agony and clutching your throat.”
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HAVE A WONDERFUL SHAPESHIFTING SUMMER

~ MAY ALL YOUR READING DREAMS COME TRUE ~

Savanna Kougar

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~
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Katta & Zio invite you to read their love story ~
TANGERINE CARNAL DREAMS...a fire-shooting fierce woman...a shapeshifting prince of a stallion...and the tangerine aphrodisiac winds on a world far away...Available from Aspen Mountain Press ~ http://tinyurl.com/6vu6hm ~ http://aspenmountainpress.com ~
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