DesireeZ

When my sister is chosen for the Monster Mate Hunt—an annual event where two women must sacrifice themselves to the orcs for the good of us all—I volunteer in her place. The orcs hunt me as I bolt through the forest. I'm captured by the gruff, growly Commander Jaus, who expects me to cook and clean, plus sleep in his quarters with him at night, despite insisting he doesn't want a mate. Then something changes, and his dark, brooding gaze turns my way . . .

With a traitor in our midst, I shouldn’t be consumed with memories of our night together. And I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about just how well he lit my fuse. Especially when that traitor’s attacks are getting deadlier and hitting closer to home each time. Can I protect both the academy and my heart? Or will they end up shattered beyond repair?

From the moment I scent her, I have to have her underneath me. The human female spins and runs straight into my chest. “Oh!” she says but then she stops, frozen as she stares up at me. “Hi.” I, too, am stopped in place. This female is nothing like the others I have seen. She is petite, with long flowing black hair. Her features are as foreign to me as any humans, but for some reason I find her face pleasing. Before I can think better of it, my tongue sneaks out over my lips to scent my surroundings.

I signed up for a research mission with five other women. Instead, we crashed on an alien planet with too many dangers to count. Separated from the other women, I’m on my own until a huge alien with color-changing skin and a massive sword gets me out of a bad spot. I don’t understand Savair’s language, but I think he’s under the impression that I’m his. I am NOT his. I’m a 34-year old divorced scientist with no time for such nonsense. But if he can help me find the others in my group then perhaps I can play at being “his” for a while.

Gemma Hara is drowning under the weight of her father’s debts. Working herself to the bone, she knows that if she doesn’t pay them off in time, the sadistic creditors will take everything: their home, their respected name, and, worst of all, her two beautiful sisters.

I hate Dante Moretti. He is cold, calculating, and vicious. It’s no secret that he wiped out his former fiancée and her entire family on the eve of their wedding. He’s the kind of evil that makes even devils cry. But that’s not why I hate him.

Mazak is a weary cyborg mercenary about to settle his debt to a deadly trade lord. He is furious when one last job is demanded of him—to deliver a captive human female with an encrypted message inscribed on her arm to a dangerous space station before the message fades from her skin. It should be straightforward, but Mazak’s outdated cyborg systems are malfunctioning, making him vulnerable. To make matters worse, the female lights a fire in both of Mazak’s synthetic hearts—something he did not think possible since becoming part machine.

Arus Bor'vak understands machines better than people. He likes them better, too, so when human women begin to populate the Stryxian settlements, he finds it best to give them a wide berth. They’re beautiful, soft, and utterly incomprehensible, and none captures his attention like Keira Becker, the strong ex-lieutenant who makes him lose his tongue in her presence.

Xarik Tek-ra is one of few of his kind who do not want to take over the Stryxian empire by force. He is a Vanyi—one of the rare, silver-scaled Stryxians possessing devastating mind powers. When he finds an unconscious human female, Andi, in the middle of nowhere and returns with her to his settlement, his mala is awakened. She may be his true mate, but she is terrified of him. It was other Vanyi who had abducted her, making winning her trust the greatest challenge of his life.