Naughty Nights (Collection)
by Kate Hill
Format(s): Ebook
Heat Level: Erotic
Pairing(s): Multiple Partners
Genre/Themes: Sci-Fi
Length: Novella
Publisher: Changeling Press
Cover art: Sahara Kelly
ISBN: 978-1-60521-135-0
Purchase Links:Changeling Press
Blurb:
When Finesse, a private detective from Earth, is hired for a dangerous job on the planet Shandra, she can’t resist the challenge. She’s tired of passive Earth men and the aggression of Shand males is known throughout the galaxy and beyond. Finesse has spent her life fantasizing of a man who can dominate her, but she never dreamed of finding two.
Security Chief Blackstare and his aide, Rocksurf, have been lovers since their training days. Still, Rocksurf hasn’t been able to tempt the scarred, brooding warrior into a traditional Shand marriage — two men, one woman. Little did they imagine it would take a willful Earth woman to change their lives forever.
Excerpt:
Every Shand baby inherited a family name that was seldom used, except in public records. By the age of six months, children were given a single name by their parents or guardian. When they reach eighteen, they selected a third name. To the Shand people, three was a sacred number and the third naming ceremony was an important rite of passage to adulthood.
Names were not given at random, but reflected a characteristic of the person. His parents had called him Stare, due to the intensity of his eyes, even in infancy. Growing up, he had learned to use his icy blue eyes to control others. He’d found that many adults couldn’t endure his gaze and often bent to his will. He thought long and hard over the perfect third name. After the rite of passage, during which he fought three full-grown warriors then used the ritual poker to burn three small spheres into his chest, he became known as Blackstare.
On the same day, four other boys also took the rite, among them his oldest friend, Darkrock, and a youth called Rocksurf, who had recently come to their sector.
Rocksurf wasn’t as tall or burly as most Shand warriors, but he was strong and very quick. During his matches at the third naming rite, Blackstare couldn’t help admiring him. He had dark brown hair that he wore fairly short. It dampened with sweat as he fought, the glossy tendrils matting to his head. He had strong features, an aquiline nose and wide-set eyes of a very rich brown. Other than his height, Rocksurf was a perfect example of a Shand male — dark and ruggedly handsome with enough scars on his sleek body to make him respectable.
Blackstare, on the other hand, was ugly even by Shand standards. There was nothing wrong with his body — few males could compare with his nearly perfect proportions — but a shuttle accident when he was fourteen had left him covered with scars. He wouldn’t have minded if he’d won them in battle, but they had been the result of a stupid error by a pilot during training maneuvers.
After the ceremony, Blackstare, Darkrock and the other boys — now men — decided to celebrate in the city. Rocksurf glanced in their direction, then turned and walked away.
“Hey, aren’t you coming?” Blackstare called. Something about this guy gave him the same rush as battle.
Rocksurf paused and turned, looking rather surprised. They’d never met before today, but after sharing the rite of passage together, they were no longer strangers.
“Come on,” Darkrock said, motioning with his head toward his shuttle, which they’d be using for their trip to the city.
Rocksurf approached and fell into step beside Blackstare.
“You’re new to the sector, right?” Blackstare said, unable to keep his gaze from his new companion. On Shand, male-male relationships were common. A typical Shand marriage consisted of two men and one woman. This was done for two reasons. First, three was a sacred number. Second, on the planet Shandra men greatly outnumbered the women. If two men didn’t share a wife, then many males would never have the opportunity to marry and have children.
Blackstare hadn’t thought much about having a family. Dedicated to his career, he focused on perfecting his skills and serving his sector. Yes, he’d been with men before and even an occasional woman, but this was the first time anyone had ever made his pulse race just from walking beside him.
No doubt Rocksurf felt the intensity of his gaze. Blackstare excelled at using his eyes to get what he wanted.
Social
