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The Pleasure Principle --by Calista Fox
Coming Winter 2009 from eRedSage.com
Three Kinds of Wicked Series
To get the legendary commander of the Protective Forces to return to an intergalactic fight, patriot Gizelle Sobera must use every power of persuasion she possesses against D.T. Vaughn—including orchestrating the ultimate three-way seduction…
The year is 3091 and blockade runner Gizelle Sobera is determined to recover the largest lost treasure in the history of three galaxies. Claiming the bounty lost on PX330 (aka the Pleasure Planet) would help to supplement the resources and provisions needed by the Protective Forces of the Milky Way Galaxy as its inhabitants fight the invading forces of Gyllian. But when Gizelle discovers the gold has already been found, she knows exactly who has swiped the treasure from under her nose—D.T. Vaughn, a pirate who’s stolen a variety of booty from her…
D.T. is secretly known as Dylan Tanner, a legendary former Major General of the Protective Forces. He retired at the height of the fighting, after sixteen grueling and painful years of combat. Escaping to the Pleasure Planet, D.T. has set up a new life for himself. He frequents the Pleasure Clubs, but with an ulterior motive in mind, for D.T. is a spy who gleans important intel from the Pleasure Providers as he supports “the Cause” from afar.
Gizelle has recently discovered who D.T. is, though… And she’s willing to use every power of persuasion she possesses to get him back into uniform. Succumbing to her would lead to D.T.’s return to a life he willingly left behind. Yet when Gizelle orchestrates the ultimate seduction, with a sexy stranger who looks remarkably similar to D.T., he knows he can’t hide from his true destiny. Or turn his back on the sexy blockade runner who’s stolen his heart.
Read Excerpt
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Excerpt
The pleasure principle is a psychoanalytic concept originated by Sigmund Freud that continuously drives one to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasure_principle)
“That self-serving son of a bitch!” she screamed.
To which Trey poked his head around the wall of the cockpit of her small cargo ship and said, “Something wrong?”
She narrowed her eyes on him.
Trey cocked his head to the side. “Guess you didn’t get what you wanted from Vaughn.”
“Oh, I got what I wanted from Vaughn,” she said between clenched teeth. “He gave me the gold. It’s in the cargo hull.” He’d given her something else, too, but… there really was no need to share that with Trey.
“Damn him,” she said. “I need more than the gold. I need General Tanner!”
Trey’s dark brows knitted together. “Now you’ve lost me. I didn’t catch much of the conversation after the, uh, show.”
Shaking her head—and ignoring the heat that touched her cheeks at his unabashed remark—Gizelle said, “I’ve lost me, too. I mean, all this time… he was right underneath my nose.”
“Come again?”
Gizelle’s teeth ground together at that non-intentional innuendo. Any sort of sexual double entendre was sure to set her on edge at this point. Because the mere thought of sex with D.T. was still so damned appealing!
Even though she currently hated him. Again.
With a sigh, Gizelle said, “D.T. is General Dylan Tanner. The one I intended to persuade to return to the Milky Way to help lead the Protective Forces. That’s what a good portion of the gold was for.”
“Ah,” Trey said, apparently catching on. “And your friend refused your offer.”
“He’s not my friend,” she said, irritated. And hated the fact that she was almost pouting. Damn it. D.T.’s refusal to return to Earth with her did more than annoy or anger her. It broke her heart. “He’s selfish and arrogant and self-indulgent and…. Christ. He’d rather be holed up here, drowning in the whole… sensuality… of this stupid planet,” she said with disdain, “then help his own people.” Shaking her head again, she said, “What kind of heathen is that, I ask you?”
Trey merely shrugged a broad shoulder. “Maybe he’s got a reason. A good one.”
“For letting his fellow human beings suffer? Die? Um, yeah,” Gizelle said in a flippant tone. “I’m sure he’s got a damn good reason for that.”
And she hated every one that popped into her head.
He was more interested in the Pleasure Providers on this rotten planet.
He was more intoxicated by his decadent, vintage Scotch.
He was more captivated by the four fucking moons!
Gizelle’s temper flared. “There isn’t a reason good enough for turning his back on the Protective Forces when they need him. Now more than ever!”
She really needed to pace, to release some of her frustration and tension. But the one-person cockpit didn’t allow her much space. And it didn’t help that Trey seemed to take up more than a fair share of what little space she did have.
So she stood in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest. “I have the gold. And with it, I can do a lot of good things to help The Cause. But we really need General Tanner to rally the weary troops.” Staring long and hard at Trey, she asked, “How in hell am I going to convince D.T. to return to Earth with me?”
Trey propped a broad shoulder against the wall and said, “How’d you get him to give you the gold?”
Gizelle ground her teeth for a moment before admitting, “I didn’t do anything. He’d already intended to give it to me. Apparently, he only stole it so I’d come to him to claim it.”
A slight grin tipped Trey’s full mouth. “Sounds like a man who knows what he wants.”
“And isn’t afraid to go after it.” Lord knew, he’d pursued her relentlessly from the get-go.
“So,” Trey mused in a contemplative, if not somewhat devious, tone. “If he was willing to use trillions in gold bars to lure you to his lair—and hand over said gold… I’d say that clearly gives you the upper hand in this scenario.”
Her eyes narrowed on her tall, dark and handsome companion. “How so?”
Trey pushed away from the wall and closed the gap between them with one wide stride. Staring down at her with a smoldering look in his dark-as-night eyes, he said, “You believed you could seduce him for the gold.
Obviously, you didn’t have to. Can you seduce him into returning with you?”
Gizelle let out a half-snort, half-laugh that was decidedly unladylike. Plopping into her chair, she said, “Not a chance in hell. D.T. was adamant. And when he’s being stubborn about something, there’s absolutely nothing I can do to sway him.”
“Oh, really?” Trey asked as he knelt down, wedging himself between Gizelle’s legs, forcing them apart.
“Hey,” she said in protest. But then the wicked glint in Trey’s eyes, and the hands on her bare thighs told her exactly what he was getting at. “Oh, I don’t think…. I mean, really…. This would never work….”
As a dark eyebrow crooked at her response, Trey’s large hands moved further up her legs until they disappeared under the hem of her loose skirt. The erotic touch notwithstanding, she managed to swallow down another protest.
She’d considered using Trey in a no-holds barred seduction in order to get the gold—before D.T. had handed it over to her sans strings or the need for seduction. Or violence.
She knew she possessed the ability to ignite his lust with little more than a sexy outfit. After the way he’d responded to her tonight, acting so territorial, so… possessive…. Wouldn’t he just shoot through the Solar System if he saw her with another man?
And Trey was, she knew, the only man who could help her pull off this seduction. For one thing, he was bold and daring. He proved that by keeping his gaze locked with hers as his thumbs absently—or maybe purposely—caressed her inner thighs. And he looked remarkably similar to D.T., which would no doubt tweak D.T.’s massive ego and make him determined to prove to Gizelle that even a devilish imitation like Trey wasn’t the man for her.
A smile teased her lips as a plan formed in her head.
“Oh, you’re good,” she whispered. To herself. To Trey. Because his sensuous touch and the heat in his onyx eyes made her believe she could persuade D.T. to return to Earth with her.
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