The Klockwerk Kraken

By Aidee Ladnier

Blurb:

When the right space pilot walks into his bar, a desperate bartender uses all his wiles (and tentacles) to talk the man into business and his bed–but the spacer is still enslaved by his past and isn’t sure he can deal with a two-armed lover, much less one with six.

As the supply shipments stop coming, Teo Houdin needs all his tentacles to keep his waystation bar open. Facing a riot by thirsty miners stranded in the backwater of the galaxy, Teo helps a greenie space pilot buy a ship in return for a regular haul of liquor. But he longs for the courage to invite the enigmatic spacer to fill his lonely bed as well.

Still smarting from his newly implanted navigational ports, Jimenez knows owning his own ship will prevent him from ever being bought and sold again. For a former slave, transporting cargo through the emptiness of space sounds like paradise, but after meeting the compassionate and sexy Teo, his heart feels empty, too.

At the edge of the galaxy’s spiral arm, can Teo convince Jimenez that the heart has its own tentacles and theirs should be entwined forever?

Excerpt:

Jimenez opened the bar’s airlock and the urge to run out again washed over him like a splash of cold water. He commanded his frozen legs to shuffle forward and inside. This could turn ugly if he lost his concentration for even a moment. But he wouldn’t. He’d been practicing, becoming accustomed to groups larger than this for revs now.

He could be just like everyone else.

None of them would see the scars on his back or the brand of his tattoo that had marked him since puberty.

Men and women filled half the tables and booths, some laughing and drinking, a few puffing blue smoke. The gaming tables on the side were empty, while a lone player at the billiard table opposite pocketed ball after ball. The room rang with loud voices, clinking glasses, and raucous music.

Jimenez slid into an empty spot at the pale stone bar and caught sight of the clearest, happiest eyes he’d ever seen, a shade lighter than the man’s tousled brown mop above. A dimple quirked at the side of his full lips, mesmerizing Jimenez. The loud voices behind him slid away and for a moment, it was quiet in his mind. Jimenez flinched when his shoulder was jostled and the spell broke.

“Hey, you okay, buddy? First time? What can I pour for you?”

Jimenez blinked, realizing the tall bartender was speaking to him. The man’s smiling eyes crinkled at the corners of his bronzed face. Jimenez swallowed, and he ducked his chin, trying not to stare again, trying to hide his hot cheeks. He’d never been so close to such a handsome man.

“Did you want a drink?” The bartender quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah… I mean yes. Whiskey neat.” His voice came out gruffer than he expected.

“Bourbon, Scotch, Rye…?”

“Surprise me.” It was a game Jimenez played. He’d order whiskey and discover what the bartender served. If he reached for the rail bottle closest to hand, it meant he would pour either the cheapest or the local favorite. If he pulled something from the top shelf, the bartender angled for a bigger tip. But if he grabbed a decanter off to the side or behind another bottle, he’d score the bartender’s personal pick.

“Coming right up.”

The bartender raised a tentacle in greeting, calling out to another patron.

Oh, God. The man was a Pod.

Of course he was.

In a joint named the Klockwerk Kraken, who better to tend the bar than a tentacled man?

Buy Now: MLR Press | Amazon | iBooks | All Romance eBooks | Kobo | Barnes and Noble

Review: Goodreads

HANDLING CYNTHIA, Book 2 in the Second Chances series by Andrea Dalling, is now available on Kindle Unlimited.

Cynthia Darlington can’t forget how Trent Weber kissed her before they left for college—backed up against her Mustang, wrists firm in his grip, her body yielding to his desire. Now, five years later, she seeks him out at their class reunion, newly aware of her submissive nature, and hungering for his dominance. With so much time and distance between them, he’s practically a stranger now. Giving herself to Trent could be the culmination of all her hopes—or a teenage fantasy gone horribly wrong.

When Trent watched Cyn walk away after their kiss five years ago, it was enough humiliation to last a lifetime. But with one look at her in that tight black dress, his old desire resurfaces—and with it, the dark fantasies of her bound and submitting to his will. He longs to master this beautiful, confident, and supremely independent woman. If he can’t convince her to submit to her deepest cravings before the weekend is out, he could lose his last shot at the one who got away.

This BDSM erotic romance novella is intended for an adult audience. It contains scenes of flirtation, hot kisses, seductive bowling, a spoiled sub, a demanding Dom, second thoughts, and second chances.
Excerpt:

With a thrill in his stomach, Trent caught sight of Cyn. She looked edible. Short dark hair, ivory shoulders he wanted to graze his teeth across. The old fantasies rushed back—fingers closed around her wrists, restraining her the way he had during that kiss. What would she think of him if she knew?

Moot point, because he’d never get that close to her again. Fool me twice, shame on me. He wouldn’t be a fool for any woman. Not even Cyn.

As he approached, she stepped forward and hugged him. He breathed her perfume, like oranges at Christmas, and imagined himself taking a bite. She held him in a long embrace. A knot in his chest loosened and he held her close, then remembered his resolve. As he pulled back, the accidental glide of his palm down the silky bare skin of her arm shot heat into his groin.

His throat thickened. Ever since that decadent kiss, his fantasies of dominating her had grown stronger, darker. Her body, so pliant in his arms as he’d held her against the Mustang when they were teenagers, had betrayed her submissive bent.

“I’ve missed you.” The words spilled from his lips without intent. Way to play it cool.
She stepped back and smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “I missed you, too.”