2 February 2015

New Release: Cinder and Char

Buy Links: Liquid Silver Books | ARe | Amazon | B&N | Kobo

Blurb: The two things Cinder Relli loves the most in the galaxy are gorgeous men and high heels. When he’s offered a pair of glass high heels by a massive alpha werewolf claiming he’s the ruler of a planet far, far away, Cinder is skeptical, but both the heels and the man holding them are too gorgeous to resist.

Prince Char Charming of the Charming wolf clan believes he’s the luckiest man in the entire Ever-after Galaxy when he finds his fated mate in a strip club, but claiming Cinder is harder than he thought. When planetary rebellion, politics and betrayal get in the way of their romance, can Char still convince Cinder their love is worth fighting for?

Cinder Relli worked out the creases on his metallic red latex bodystocking and ran a finger across his gorgeous hair. After emptying three bottles of the galaxy’s most expensive, ultra-effective hair spray, his bouncy red locks were exactly how he wanted them—elaborately piled on top of his head like a multi-layered beehive and secured by scores of beautiful, shiny chopsticks.

Cinder gave his reflection in the dressing room mirror a kiss before finishing off his sultry appearance with a contrasting white-feather boa. He knew he looked to-die-for, especially since his new knee-high heeled booties showed off his long legs to perfection.

Gods of the Ever-after Galaxy, Cinder loved high heels. He loved them only second to his wonderful job.
He could hear the crowd outside the dingy little dressing room, calling his name and waiting to see him own the stage with every dance move. They were probably the usual patrons—cargo pilots knocking off from work, airship grunts and mechanics, and a few off-planet tourists.
Oh, well. It wasn’t like Cinder danced for any of them. He danced for himself, and he loved losing himself in the music and the lights, knowing every eye in the strip bar was on him.
“It’s a full house tonight, Cinder. Can’t say I’m complaining, since it pays the bills,” Brill pointed out.
The sapphire-skinned Jotoshi elf wore only a tight slinky g-string already stuffed with a dozen or so space credits, despite it being the start of the evening. Brill slumped into the chair next to Cinder.
“Full house?” Cinder asked. He snapped the final buckle on his heeled boots.
“Yup. There’s a mix of customers tonight.”
Brill winced at the magenta boots with their six-inch heels. “Can you even dance in those things?”
Cinder gave his long-time friend an affronted look. Really, he couldn’t ask for a more loyal friend, even if he asked the darndest questions sometimes. Brill almost always had the juiciest gossip too, but his boring and conservative sense of style pained Cinder beyond reason.
Brill got him this job in the first place after Cinder’s painful ejection from a space shuttle. He’d been broke, homeless, and friendless. After living with his controlling, anorexic stepmother and unfashionable stepbrothers in his dingy backwater homeworld, Cinder was determined to make his own place elsewhere.
“Just watch me, blue elf.” Cinder strutted about the small space to emphasize his point, making Brill laugh.
“Save all the sauntering for the stage, Cinder. Can’t you hear? The crowd’s restless. I hear there’s also some important off-planet folks out there Sulli wants us to butter up and impress.”
Sulli was an unfortunate cross between a human and a Phantus, a humanoid species who looked far too similar to what Cinder and the terrans called an elephant. Sulli was also, unfortunately, Cinder’s boss, and far too greedy for his own good.
“It isn’t my job to kiss up to off-planet dignitaries, Brill. You know my personal rule, just dancing. No touching.”
Cinder knew a lot of strippers, including Brill, were open to a little negotiating of the flesh outside the club. Cinder stuck to his ironclad rule. Not because he was high handed or stuck to the morals of his homeworld. He just didn’t believe in doing freelance work using his body, thank you very much. If he’d wanted to be a whore, he wouldn’t be dancing in a strip club, he’d just go straight to the pleasure houses.
Besides, as embarrassing as it was, Cinder was too inexperienced to do that kind of work. When he came to Planet Kies five years ago, Cinder had been a naïve and hopeless dreamer. He’d always imagined some hunk, perhaps the rich ruler of some exotic planet, would come strolling in through the strip club’s doors, offering Cinder better and bigger things.
Well, it was nice to dream once in a while. Reality was as harsh as ever. The credits Cinder made each night were barely enough to cover the rent he shared with Brill for a tiny capsule apartment near the club. Even if Cinder indulged in a little extra freelance work, he’d never get anywhere. Cinder would be stuck in this hellhole for life.
It wasn’t that bad. Cinder loved to dance and he still had his heels.
“Yeah. Just be careful, Cinder.”
“Always, elf.” Cinder nodded to Jeb, who manned the stage’s hologram background effects and music.
“The usual?”
Cinder nodded. The blank screen on stage warped to the sultry, crimson and vermillion background of some desert planet Cinder had never been to, complete with a triple sunset and shady palm trees. Once the music boomed through the state-of-the-art surround sound speakers, Cinder began to strut on stage.
The sounds, thumps and yowls of the crowd fell away from his ears.
Despite how low Planet Kies ranked on the Ever-after Galaxy scale as a transit planet, the kind of place where commercial shuttles and merchant vessels passed through before moving on to bigger and better planets, Sulli’s club was the finest establishment on the dingy sphere.
Cinder had chosen the club because of its investment in their equipment in the first place. Besides, he was still under contract and he wasn’t going anywhere.
Cinder posed dramatically against the pole for a few seconds before he began to mount it, his legs twining around the brass. Credits were waved, piquing his interest, but Cinder schooled himself to follow his routine.
* * * *
Prince Char Charming, leader of Planet Woof, couldn’t take his eyes off the male stripper on stage. He’d seen Cinder’s face numerous times during his secret stalking missions and while skulking around the god-forsaken transit planet, but it was the first time he’d ever seen the man dance.
He watched each provocative sway of the stripper’s hips and devoured each seductive and playful wink. If Char had his way, those lovely long lashes would only flutter at him and he’d make sure only his eyes could feast on Cinder’s lovely, slender body.
Cinder, if Cinder was truly the stripper’s real name, sashayed on the stage, swaying to the music as if he couldn’t see or hear the rowdy crowd thrusting their credits at him.
“How about a private—” the miner beside Char was saying. It wasn’t purely reflex that drove his elbow into the man’s face, breaking the cretin’s nose. Cinder would be his. And very soon.
The miner looked like he was priming for a fight, but wisely backed away when he caught sight of Char’s eyes and bared teeth. Like all shifters of Planet Woof, he had bestial yellow eyes and very sharp teeth, and Char wouldn’t hesitate to use them if he needed to.
His beta and second-in-command, Gunter, was silent beside him. The man knew his leader had already made his choice and could do nothing to stop him.
“I’ll speak to the manager.”
Gunter returned by his side minutes later, just as Cinder was finishing his routine.
Char had a fine view of Cinder’s tight and gorgeous little ass as he gracefully swiped the credits tossed on stage. He couldn’t wait to get a hold of that ass.
Char withdrew his planet’s most revered treasure from the inner pocket of his coat.
There was none quite like it. The rules of his planet had handed down the sacred object from father to son, from one alpha to the next, so the current ruling alpha could present the treasure to his mate. Char was about to toss the family heirloom onto the stage of a dingy strip club, in the presence of a rowdy crowd, no less, but he knew his mate would catch it.
He’d seen the way Cinder cherished his favorite accessory. After weeks of careful observation, he also knew what a willful creature Cinder was. Damn, Char was getting horny just thinking about how he was going to bring his new mate to heel. He could feel his cock perking up in his tight leather trousers, straining demandingly against the material.
Calm down, wolf. Cinder isn’t your mate yet.
Char tossed the treasure, and it landed with a soft thump just a few feet from Cinder. He watched with unconcealed appreciation as Cinder’s red-lined eyes fastened on the glass slippers. Cinder looked very much like a man taken by lust, and soon enough he’d look at Char the same hungry way he looked at the slippers.
Acting nonchalant, Cinder swiped the glass high heels and clutched them tightly to his chest. He scanned the crowd, quickly but desperately, until his eyes locked with Char’s.
A wide smile began to spread across Char’s lips as he watched Cinder shudder and look away from his penetrating gaze. Soon, I’ll have you.
Char had to have Cinder, or all the months spent hopping from one planet to the next would be wasted. He’d left his homeworld in a hurry, but not without purpose. His father, the previous king, had passed away not long ago, leaving an empty throne and the planet in disarray. Char’s brother Ulfric was temporarily in charge while he searched for his mate.
He’d taken his father’s last words to heart. “A king is the pillar of his kingdom, but ruling an entire planet is a long and lonely road. A good Woofian king needs a mate to solidly support him and in turn, be his pillar of strength.”
His wolf had sneered at all the men and women from various species they’d come across, but the beast instantly knew its mate was near when their ship landed on Kies’ landing docks. Over the centuries, his race had struggled with infertility. To adapt, their scientists modified the genes of fertile shifters so they could transfer body-altering fluids to their potential mate through their mating bite, enabling them to carry children. Sassy, sexy, and defiant, Cinder was exactly the kind of mate Char imagined building a life with, bearing him strong-willed children, and ruling an entire planet by his side.
Gunter returned by his side. “Most venerable Alpha, the manager says he will give us half an hour backstage with…your potential mate.”
Char slapped his second on the shoulder. “Good job, Gun.”
Char and Gun were making their way through the narrow corridor to the dressing room when they heard the rise and fall of voices.
“How many time have I told you, Sulli? I don’t provide ‘extra services’, and I’m not starting now.”
“You listen to me, Cinder. This particular special guest has traveled all the way from—”
“I don’t fucking care where this asshole comes from.”
Before the situation escalated to unnecessary violence, Char stepped into the open, announcing himself. “Is there a problem here?”
“Not at all, my prince. Just a minor argument, right Cinder?” Sulli asked.
The scum let out a surprised sound when Char caught his descending hand. It wasn’t the first time this Sulli had raised his hand to Cinder. The blossoming bruise on Cinder’s left cheekbone was testament to that.
Char’s metaphysical wolf threatened to leap out of his skin in fury, but he shoved it back. He settled for snarling at the manager.
“Touch any part of him again, and you’re dead, you understand?”
“O-of course, but understand that Cinder is under contract—”
“How much?” Char demanded, cutting him off.
“P-pardon me, prince?”
“How much for Cinder’s work contract?” Char let go of Sulli’s hand and watched in disgust as greed overtook everything else on the aging manager’s face. The fiend named an extortive amount of credits.
“Done. Draw up the contracts, my second will transfer the credits within three days.”
“Just hold on a damn second. You can’t just sell my contract and get rid of me like some transferable merchandise,” Cinder sputtered.
The former stripper didn’t shrink back as Char turned and loomed over him.
“Get this into your sparkly little head, Cinder. You’re now mine.”
Defiant green eyes glared back at him.
“Get this into your hard head, mister. I’m not a slave with no free will of my own. According to the Intergalactic Employment Act in the Ever-after Galaxy Inter-planet Accords, I’ll only be your employee until my contract expires. It means I’m only yours for three more weeks and I don’t intend to renew it.”
“Three weeks?” Char demanded. Cinder looked unnerved by his expression. “I can work with three weeks. Now pack your things, we’re leaving this shithole of a planet.”
Copyright © 2019 Angelique Voisen