Surrender in the Dark
Radek, king of the Underworld, knows that Nia is destined to be his. Yet as the crown princess of Upperworld, Nia is unavailable to him. Desperate to claim her, Radek puts the safety of his own colony at risk and lures her to him by seducing her in his dreams.
A progressive ruler, Nia believes in the importance of modernization. But as princess, her say is limited. Her mother, the Queen of the Upperworld, forbids the Underworld’s king from attending Nia’s crowning. So when a man from Underworld invades Nia’s dreams and invites her below, she accepts the offer, hoping for an audience with the king.
The moment Nia lands in Radek’s throne room, she realizes her mistake. By Underworld law, she is Radek’s slave for seven days — and seven nights. Radek vows to make use of every moment.
Nia’s society expects women to dominate in bed, but Radek draws out her hidden desires. How can serving him be so deeply thrilling? Even when he shows her the pleasure In pain, she craves more of his brand of dominance.
The seven days pass far too quickly. When Nia and Radek must face the censure of two societies, passion may force them apart more thoroughly than it held them together.
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Excerpt
The joint council meeting had been in progress for over an hour. Radek stretched and leaned back in his chair as one of Queen Eveleen’s ministers droned on and on about the need to bring more traders to the Althean ports. He made no effort to hide his obvious boredom.
After ruling the Althean underworld for nearly half a century, he wondered if it wasn’t time to name a successor. At first, the power had been intoxicating. Every citizen of Underworld feared him, even those who pretended not to. The people of Underworld were a diverse mix of humans and aliens. But Radek was one of the few members of their ancient race to ever leave their homeworld, so most Underworlders had never met a Lalatian before. And without even being aware of it, they responded to the aura of power that surrounded him.
Each time he granted one of them an audience, he sucked down the energy of their fear as they groveled before him. He doubted his harem had an equal, even on the wealthiest planet of the Common Worlds. Women flocked to the smell of power. They were prepared to serve him, even when he fucked them so hard they couldn’t walk, even when he wanted their pain.
Most Lalatians had nearly insatiable sex drives, and he certainly fit that profile. So the worship he received from the women of Underworld should have been heavenly. But lately he found himself craving more than just a willing partner. As a Lalatian dominant, he needed the energy a woman sent out when she experienced the mixing of pain and pleasure.
He’d had no trouble finding women who found pleasure in the stroke of his whip. But for a Lalatian submissive, there was another level to the exchange. Submissives needed the energy the dominant gave off as he inflicted pain. For them, submitting to a dominant’s sexual needs would be as natural as breathing. He longed to feel that harmony.
He couldn’t go back to Lalatia. He had no idea if he could find that connection with a woman of another race, but he was restless, and he wanted to try. Since negotiating his truce with the Gaelish queen, his life had been infuriatingly quiet. As much as he enjoyed luxuriating in pleasures, a man could only take so much pampering before stirring himself to action. At the very least, he didn’t want to live this lonely existence for the rest of his life, easily another hundred of the human years the Common Worlds had adopted as their standard. He needed a new adventure.
A door opened behind him, interrupting his reverie. He turned to see who dared to interrupt the council. When he saw the young woman standing in the doorway, his cock turned to marble. Gaelish women aged even more slowly than his kind, and Radek had never excelled at guessing their ages. But the young woman did not wear the purple beads Gaelish women received at their fertility ceremonies, so she had to be younger than thirty common years.
Her blond hair hung to her waist in loose, rounded curls, and her ripe, round breasts pressed against the neckline of her tunic and threatened to spill over. She’d belted the tunic at her narrow waist, emphasizing her curves. Gods, he would like to fit his hands over the swell of her hips and pull her lush body onto his cock. Her softness would cradle him perfectly while he fucked her.
She must have sensed him staring, because she looked up and met his gaze. He admired her high cheekbones and her almond-shaped, catlike green eyes. She certainly had the face of a royal Gaelin, even if her body was built for pleasure.
He gave her his most wolfish smile, the one that told women he wanted to eat them up. She looked away quickly. He imagined that even in her innocent state, she knew what he wanted from her.
Radek took a deep breath and willed his cock to settle down, promising it a feast later. His strong reaction to this woman wasn’t surprising. Any man would find her devastating.
But it wasn’t just her body that attracted him; it was the way she held herself. Except for when she’d looked at him, she kept her head down, her gaze cast toward the floor. He could smell fear on her. He suspected she was a rare creature indeed — a Gaelish submissive.
Gaelish women were expected to dominate their men, whom they either kept as pets or kept locked in quarters little better than stables while expecting them to do all the physical labor required to bring in their crops. The Gaelish women were not permitted to show weakness, certainly not in front of an Underworlder. But Radek’s sensitive ears could hear the catch in the young woman’s breath, the sound of her heart racing. She wanted him, and he would be happy to see that she got what she wanted.
Since the Gaelins’ arrival, men from the Underworld had captured those among them more suited to serve than to be served, but Radek had not been tempted enough to risk upsetting the balance of power. Until now …
He forced himself to give his attention to the meeting long enough to confirm that no one would expect him to speak soon. Then he lowered his shields and sent a mental probe toward the woman at the door. He forced himself to go slowly and press gently against her shields. Without having gone through her fertility ceremony, she would not have her full powers, though she might be sensitive enough to detect his probe.
Her mind yielded, and her surface thoughts spilled along the link. Within seconds, he’d measured her fundamental nature. There was no doubt about it; she was as submissive as the women he’d enjoyed back on Lalatia.
Radek pulled back, barely able to suppress a smile. Years had passed since he’d found a woman who fit his needs this well. This woman could feed him for nights on end and never tire of his demands. He could well imagine that her heart sped up and her pussy dripped with cream every time she watched one of the older Gaelins disciplining her pets. But not, as the other women might assume, because she wanted to be the one delivering the spanking. No, this young woman would be wishing she could take the man’s place.
He breathed deeply, drawing in the scent of the woman’s fear. Her smell alone made him want to order everyone from the room, rip off her tunic, and fuck her on the long, wooden table. One way or another, this woman would call him Master.
