What to do when you’re kidnapped to another planet, and find yourself being wooed by three brothers, all intent on sexing you up? Hell, you just go with it. And that’s what Miri ends up doing…again and again and again. In this scene, the youngest brother, Kaivan, is toying with her, setting the stage for a steamy evening.

Just now she was being driven slowly mad by a very unknowing Kaivan. Dinner was long over, but they were all lingering at the table. The men were playing a board game that used pegs and little wooden discs. It was like a cross between backgammon and checkers, with certain rules that changed depending on what side of the board you landed on. It was intricate but it looked like a lot of fun once you got it down.

They’d been playing their game with a cut-throat sort of gusto, wagering extra portions of wine or dessert to keep the game interesting.

Dessert was especially good tonight – a fruit they called paiua. It was incredibly tart, but once you paired it with creamy, sweet syrup called movi, it was delicious in the extreme. Kaivan was helping himself to a third portion as he concentrated. Talan and Avi had been eliminated and it was up to Kaivan to dethrone the reigning champion, Lunan. He was taking it seriously, too. So seriously, that he was absently dipping his slices of paiua in the syrup and rubbing them across his bottom lip, over and over. Then he slowly – very slowly – kept licking them off as he studied the board.

Miri couldn’t stop looking at him. At his mouth, specifically. At his mouth and his lips and the way his tongue kept sliding between them to slowly lick that syrup off. She had no idea how long she’d been staring as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Kaivan had been limiting himself to stealing kisses since the incident in the orchard, but she could feel his eyes on her every time he was near, and she could see very clearly in them that he hadn’t forgotten that day any more than she had.

Right now, it was all she could think about – the way his mouth had – gah! She had to stop this!

She let her breath out in a huff, drawing the eyes of everyone at the table, including Talan who, to her embarrassment, knew exactly what her problem was. He gave her a knowing grin and her face flushed with color.

The game resumed, and she found herself unable to stop looking at Kaivan still. Now he was sucking the tips of his fingers, getting the last of the syrup off as he stared at the board and contemplated his next move. He was just about to make his play when he noticed Lunan, staring pointedly at Talan, who gave a half smile and a shrug before his eyes cut to Miri. Kaivan’s eyes followed suit, and when he made contact, he realized she was staring at him. She was staring at his mouth.

He stopped, nonplussed for a moment. Then he very deliberately brought his fingers back to his lips and slipped his tongue between them, never breaking eye contact as he delicately lapped at the remaining sweet sauce. Miri’s mouth parted, then she dropped her gaze abruptly and turned beet red with embarrassment.

Oh my God, he caught me, she groaned, inwardly. Talan gave a chuckle and her mortification increased tenfold when she saw the smirk that Avi was trying so valiantly to hide. She gave him a scathing look as she stood up.

“I’m going to bed.” She caught Kaivan’s eyes, locking with them for a moment before she added with a bit of fluster, “To sleep! I’m going to sleep!” She turned on her heel and got out of the room as quickly as she could without running outright.

Of course, you can guess that Kaivan follows her, with the movi syrup in hand. Things get hot and sticky from there…

Sky Woman is book one of The Seeder Saga, and if you like funny, steamy, not-your-usual-sci-fi-romance books, this one is definitely for you! And don’t forget – it’s going to be Free on Fridays for the month of June!!