(Coletti Warlords #3)
by Gail Koger
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance, Humor
Synopsis
For Voss, a Coletti Warlord, conquering the universe is a piece of cake. After all, he's a master of psychic seduction; no one can resist him when he sets his mind to it.
Zoey Jones is determined to find her mother's killer. Surrendering to a fierce Coletti warrior is the last thing on her mind. When Voss is determined to make Zoey his mate, she unleashes her own brand of whoop-ass to discourage his pursuit. When her clever disguises, skunk perfume, stun gun, and smoke bombs fail to stop the ruthless warlord, she's forced to negotiate her surrender: she would mate with him if he would help her find her mother's killer.
To Zoey's surprise, Voss agrees, and the hunt is on. Their quest to bring the villain to justice leads to unlikely alliances in an interplanetary war, and more surprisingly, to love.
Excerpt
**Contains Adult Content**
You've been warned; continue reading for a taste of hot loving, warlord style!
As my desperation grew, so did my recklessness. It wasn’t rational, but fear drove me. I had stood in that ice-cold mortuary and promised Mom I would find the men responsible for killing her. I had to fulfill that promise. I couldn’t, wouldn’t let Voss stop me.
I’m a damned good investigator and an even better actress; with my psychic abilities, I could become anyone I wanted. My chameleonlike talent had gotten me some award-winning stories and made me some enemies. If I couldn’t pull off this simple masquerade, Mom’s killers would go free.
Charred metal superstructures of the once-vibrant downtown Phoenix rose like freakish skeletons against the turquoise sky. A few dying palm trees offered meager shade from the sweltering sun.
Navigating around the bomb craters littering the road, I wondered if Central Command was ever going to get their act together and start rebuilding Phoenix. It had been two years since the last Tai-Kok attack, and the downtown area was still a mess.
Sweat trickled down my back as my wheezing air-conditioner blew warm air around my stifling hot car. Detroit made new cars, but only the very rich could afford them. It made me wonder how the general got that fancy red sports car he drove.
Was he the traitor? Maybe. I knew he was getting kickbacks from somewhere, but I couldn’t pin down the money trail. A grim smile touched my mouth. If he was responsible for Mom’s murder, I would put a bullet in him.
I brought my beat-up piece of crap to a stop and carefully scanned the few dilapidated houses still standing. Heat waves quivered across the empty street like restless spirits.
Skeletal trees surrounded Jose Chavez’s tiny weather-beaten house. A brand-new red monster truck was parked in the tumbleweed-filled front yard. Who knew working as a day laborer at a chicken farm paid so well? "
I have captured Marie and Alejandro Vega,” Voss announced in my head.
Shoving my car door open, I hissed, “So much for the esteemed Coletti honor.”
“I cannot allow you to continue on this foolish path. Drop your shields.”
“Not happening. You hurt my friends, and I will kill you.” Horror knotted my stomach, and I gave myself a mental head smack. I was turning into a motormouth with suicidal tendencies.
Voss’s voice was a purr of menace. “You issue another challenge?”
“No. I’m merely stating the facts.” I practically ran up the cracked sidewalk. Dear God, it was like my evil twin had taken over my brain and was deliberately trying to piss off Voss.
I eyed the faded picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe taped to a cracked window. It’d take a miracle to escape the Battle Commander.
Pounding frantically on the door, I shouted, “Hey! I accidentally hit your truck.”
The door flew open, and the real Jose Chavez stood there. His eyes widened in shock. “What the fuck?”
“Hola,” I said and shot him with my handy-dandy tranquilizer gun.
Jose’s eyes rolled back in his head, and down he went.
Grabbing his legs, I dragged him inside the house and shut the door. My radar went on red alert, and I instinctively ducked.
A black cast-iron skillet missed my skull by an inch.
I spun around, and this tiny Hispanic grandmother dressed like a hooker took another swing at me. “Te voy a matar!”
I jumped back. The skillet whizzed by my nose and took out a lamp. I think she said she was going to kill me. Now was that nice? I hadn’t hurt her son.
“Me cago en la madre que te pario,” she snarled as she came at me again.
Did she really say, “I shit on the mother who gave birth to you?” I backed away, tripped over an end table, and fell.
The old biddy raised the skillet over her head. “Die, puta!”
Power rippled around the stuffy room.
Shit! He had found me. I scuttled backward as Granny tried to bash my head in again.
The Battle Commander appeared, yanked the skillet away from her, and pointed to a chair. “Sit!”
Her eyes glassy and unfocused, Granny obediently sat.
I shot to my feet and eyed the door.
“Go ahead, I love a good chase,” he said with an evil grin.
“You mean a very short chase,” I retorted.
Voss shrugged and surveyed me from head to toe. “Another excellent disguise.”
“I won’t let you stop me.”
A smile touched his hard mouth. “You have two choices. Either you drop your shields and accept me as your mate, or I take you back to my ship and lock you up.”
My stomach knotted in dismay. “I know this is a difficult concept for a Coletti to grasp, but I have no desire to become your broodmare.”
Voss cocked an eyebrow. “Broodmare? Explain.”
“You know, you take me back to Tanith, and every year I pop out a little warrior for you.”
“You find having my children unappealing?”
“If that’s my only purpose in life, you bet your ass I would find it unappealing.”
The Battle Commander stalked closer and closer. “You are not nor will you ever be just a breeder. I chose you because you are a warrior. I need a mate who is fearless, powerful, and cunning. I want you, Zoey Jones. No other.”
I backed into the tiny kitchen. Cunning? Fearless? Really? He scared the piss out of me. “So you won’t stop me from going after the traitors?”
“You agree to finish the mating bond now, and we will hunt them together.”
I gaped at him in horror. “You want to do the nasty here? In front of them?”
“Refuse, and you will never find your mother’s killer.”
For a brief moment I considered filling him full of lead, but the bastard was wearing his battle armor. I had no choice but to surrender, and he knew it. “I have your word that we are full partners in the hunt for the traitors?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have a deal, but if you break it, I will kill you,” my evil twin spat.
Voss threw back his head and roared with laughter.
“I’m glad you find me so amusing.”
“Your defiance is a refreshing change.”
“I guess you are used to scaring the snot out of people. Maybe if you stopped stealing women, you’d make a few more friends, and everyone would stop trying to kill you.”
“We do what we must to survive.”
“What a load of crap.”
His face hardened, and he commanded, “Drop your shields.”
God, I hoped I was doing the right thing. I had to find Mom’s killers and stop the traitors, no matter what the consequences. I lowered my shields, flinching as he slid into my mind and made himself at home. I could feel him sifting through my memories of Paul.
I hissed, “Jealous?”
His big hand stroked my neck possessively. “He was your only lover, and as a warrior should, he died protecting you.”
I bristled as the old pain swept through me. “Those memories are private. Stay the hell out of them.”
His hand tightened. “Take off your pants.”
Say what? No foreplay? Not even a kiss? “You want to have sex with me looking like a guy?”
“I will have you no matter what you look or smell like,” Voss growled.
I had used the antidote cream after my escape, but the faint scent of skunk still clung to me. It took every ounce of courage I had to remove my gun belt and drop it on the counter. “We really don’t have time for this.”
Implacable resolve filled Voss’s eyes, and he drawled ominously, “There is no going back. Take off your pants.”
Nervously I chewed on my lower lip. I could do this. So their penises were different from humans. How bad could it be?
“I don’t have any pubic hair either,” Voss added.
That I could live with. I slowly toed off my boots. “And how about balls? You got any of those?”
“No.”
“Paul had nice big ones.”
A dangerous light glittering in his eyes, Voss queried, “Do you think I care?”
“Probably not.” I sucked in a deep breath and removed my jeans, revealing the Askole armor.
Voss shook his head in disbelief. “You were the one who ordered the child-sized armor?”
“Yep, you should have seen the general’s face when he got the bill.” I smiled at the memory of his tirade.
Something thrashed wildly against the front of Voss’s pants.
Okay, that was a bit freaky. “You got a critter in your pants?”
“No,” he growled through gritted teeth.
Then it hit me. It was his snake penis thingy. “Is it supposed to do that?”
“The drive to complete the mating bond is very strong.”
No kidding. It was almost as if the thing was trying to eat its way out. I backed away from him. “Kinda like the salmon swimming upstream, huh?”
“It’s not quite the same.” The Battle Commander pounced with a ferocity that startled me, and with one quick movement had my armor off.
Panic bubbled up. “Wait! Can I see it first?”
Voss sat me on the counter. “See it?”
“You know, your snake penis thingy.”
He stared at me for a long moment and then nodded. “Yes, you may examine my thingy.” He removed his weapons belt, boots, and battle suit.
Wowzers, that was one fine ass. Tight. Muscled.
Voss turned.
His chest was so ripped, and I wanted to lick every inch of it. My eyes bugged out. Holy guacamole! A slit had opened in his abdomen, and out it slid. His penis was snakelike with a frill of tentacles around the top. Kinda freaky.
“Freaky?” The Battle Commander’s voice was a low growl.
Oh hell! I had forgotten the cardinal rule. Never, ever make fun of a guy’s penis. “No need to get all snarky. I was just a little…uh…surprised. Can I touch it?”
“Yes.” The snake stopped, and the copper-colored frill opened and closed almost as if it was scenting the air.
I reached down and wrapped a hand around it. It was velvety to touch, but I could feel a steel-like hardness beneath the skin.
The tentacles petted my hand.
An amazed laugh broke from me. “I think he likes me.” The snake grew in size. “A lot.”
A shudder shook Voss, and he barked, “Spread your legs.”
“But…” I pointed at his now enormous penis. “That’s never gonna fit.”
He bared his fangs in a vicious snarl. “Do it.”
I quickly obeyed. Someone was being a cranky butt.
Voss dropped his shields, and his overwhelming need slammed into my mind. It was a wild, out-of-control rush of hunger only I could satisfy.
My body suddenly burned, ached for him. I needed him inside me. I needed to touch him. I wanted his possession.
Voss was everywhere. The gentle brush of his mind against mine was incredibly intimate. He slid a calloused palm under the elastic bandage wrapped around my chest and stroked my breasts, sending pleasure cascading over me.
I licked and suckled his right nipple. God, I loved his spicy taste, the way his muscles danced beneath my fingers.
His greedy mouth fastened on mine, branding me, claiming me.
“You are mine,” Voss rumbled in my head.
My body convulsed as his engorged penis thrust into me and penetrated my womb. I screamed as the tentacles pulsed and vibrated wildly. Hooboy. Who needed sex toys? Even better—no batteries.
I wriggled and squirmed as the vibrations intensified. “Oh God. That’s incredible.”
“Mine,” Voss shouted again. His penis seesawed across my clit.
Nearly helpless with desire, I grabbed his buttocks and hung on. The fiery mating of our mouths was almost primal. Voss filled that empty void inside my heart, and I knew he would never leave me. I was his for all eternity. I felt the mating bond snap in as a brain-jelling orgasm hit. Boneless, I slumped across the counter as spasm after spasm shook me. Oh my God! Sex with a warlord was an incredible, mind-blowing rush.
Voss put his uniform back on. “Get dressed. We hunt now.”
I struggled into a sitting position and glared at him. “So much for coital bliss.”
Pure male satisfaction flashed in his eyes as he tossed me my armor. “I made you a promise.”
Carly's One Question:
I asked Gail to share with us why she started writing and where she finds inspiration.
"I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department and to keep from going totally bonkers – I mean people have no idea of what a real emergency is. Take this for an example: I answered, “9-1-1 emergency, what’s your emergency?” And this hysterical woman yelled, “My bird is in a tree.” Sometimes I really couldn’t help myself, so I said, “Birds have a tendency to do that, ma’am.” The woman screeched, “No! You don’t understand. My pet parakeet is in the tree. I’ve just got to get him down.” Like I said, not a clue. “I’m sorry ma’am, but we don’t get birds out of trees.” The woman then cried, “But… What about my husband? He’s up there, too.” See what I had to deal with? To keep from hitting myself repeatedly in the head with my phone, I took up writing. Most of my ideas come to me in my sleep. Scary? Huh?"
Author Profile
I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for thirty-one years and to keep insanity at bay, I took up writing. Not to worry. The insanity isn't catching – much. Other than the addiction to chocolate and the twitch in my left eye, I’m good. My current project is Reality Bites, the next in the Coletti Warlord series.My newsletter Coletti Life: Gail dishes out all the juiciest gossip, news, and photos on your favorite warlords and their kick-ass mates. I'll investigate the craziest and most outrageous rumors. What's true? What's not? Get free stuff and snippets of upcoming books.
To join the newsletter's mailing list simply send a request to: morecolettisplease@aol.com
Gail's Links
Wow that whole scene was intense. A really different kind of book then I usually read but sounds really interesting. I will have to add it to mu wish list! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteOMG!! Love your books! I need more vacation mommie time! Write faster!! Giggle! The ladies one line-ers are the best. I have tried them on the hubby and he gives me a funny look, shakes his head and walks away laughing. Still don't know if I want spiders to talk to me or be in my hair. But "we bite, he dies" almost has me wishing....almost. LOL
ReplyDeleteI loved this book. So good I have read it twice.
ReplyDeleteI also read the first book in the series Just My Luck and it is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteI have read the first book and laughed my way through it - except for the smexy times which were HOT! I was a huge fan of the Father character and am so looking forward to reading his book (#2) and then this one! In fact it was this one that drew me to the series/author and I had to read the whole series!!
ReplyDeleteHe really is one hot piece of alien male!!
I'm looking forward to reading the series, it sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteNow it really makes me want to read it!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat exceerpt. I have read the Warlord's Comeuppance, Just My Luck and Vexing Voss. My favorite was Just my luck. Kaylee is just too much and I love the Kotsors. the dialogue is hysterical. One of my favorite books. Thanks for a chance to win a book I don't have, (I Hear Voices)
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome excerpt! I don't always add a book to the TBR list from posts such as this, but I did this time! :-)
ReplyDeleteLoved the excerpt, has me very eager to read. I have read Warlord's Comeuppance and Just My Luck and loved both of them.
ReplyDeleteLove reading your books! Just my luck and vexing voss are the best entertainment.!
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of her books but would love to win one and give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the intense hot except
ReplyDeletei loved the excerpt ive only read vexing voss and i loved it cant wait till reality bites hits the ebook stores yay love ya Gail
ReplyDeleteI've read vexing voss & look forward to reading more!!
ReplyDeleteI love this book! I can't wait for more from Gail!
ReplyDeleteOk your book sounds intense and like I could get hooked. Shame on you Gail...lolol.
ReplyDeleteThat was just fantastic and now am gonna have to check into those Warlords!!
I have read this book 3 times now. I LOVE Vexing Voss! The writing is fabulous. The humour is a wonderful addition and the hotness factor--wow!! Love the excerpt, love the book! Cannot wait fir more warlord stories!!
ReplyDelete