Sunday Snippet: Threshold

Seasons' Greetings!

For whatever holiday you celebrate, I hope you have a joyous time filled with cheer and merriment. We'll be low key per usual with a trip to my dad's and hopefully some FaceTime with my brother in Arizona.

The weather is still playing back and forth. We have a bit of snow and it's pretty cold right now. The temps are supposed to warm up into the forties and fifties over the next few days.

Finished up two projects this week and have one on my plate. January looks to be shaping up with multiple projects and I'm so grateful for those. The short break gives me some time to finish getting my side project ready to launch and I hope to do that next week during the holiday.

Only a semi-good week of viewing. I had some big cleaning projects to work on and got a good bit of that completed. Still working on a few others and hope to have them finished before the end of the year.

Watched another episode of Mr and Mrs Murder. I remember parts of this one but hadn't seen the entire episode. Ended up being pretty good.

Also watched an episode of London Kills. The plot thickens regarding the disappearance of David's wife. Looking forward to seeing how that ends up being resolved. Also enjoying Billie so much on this show.

Enjoyed the one hundredth episode of Death in Paradise. So lovely to have Camille back for a brief stay. Also nice to see Spirit Richard. This also marks, in my opinion, when Catherine and Selwyn take on larger roles in the show. Looking forward to rounding out season ten with the last two episodes.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Threshold, a novella that puts a couple on their path to freedom after years of servitude.

Here's the miniblurb:

Satin Welch takes one look at the gorgeous Blade Killian and has to have him. She purchases his slave contract and grants him freedom. Blade doesn't trust the beautiful woman or her idea to make him a partner on the Threshold, a pleasure ship traveling throughout the galaxy, but he can't quite resist the chance to make his own choices after a decade of sexual servitude.

And a sneaky peek…

Who are you? A great question. One Satin would answer in just a moment. First, she had something very important to do—before Blade ended her life.

She choked out an order. "His collar. Remove his collar." The words gurgled from her throat.

Blade's eyes widened when the circlet of silver fell to the deck. He swooped around, locking an arm around her torso, resting just below her breasts. She held up the controller and he snatched it from her hand but didn't loosen his grip.

Satin dragged in air then nodded toward the device. "I thought you'd like to have the honor of destroying the unit." The next step to calm the raging man.

She hoped.

After shoving her away, Blade dropped the tiny device to the deck and stomped on it. He picked up the collar and threw it against the wall, shattering the thing into pieces. Symbolically, she'd given him his freedom. Now she had to earn his trust.

He spun around. "Again, I ask, who are you and why shouldn't I kill you right now?" His chest heaved with barely controlled emotion.

Satin smiled. "The who is Satin Welch and the why is something we'll get to in a moment, but first—" She crossed to the kitchenette and grabbed a stack of papers.

Taking the first one, she tucked the others under her elbow. She retrieved a handheld mincer.

She returned to his side. "I'm setting you free. This is the purchase contract from the transaction with your former owner." She shredded the pages and let the pieces fall to the ground. "As of this moment, you are no longer a slave."

Blade crossed his arms over his chest. "Why should I believe you?" He clicked his tongue against his teeth. "My first owner did the same thing—yet here I am, ten years later, newly purchased. I've traded one owner for another … again."

Satin lost her patience. "You moron. I didn't buy you, I bought your contract so you can become my business partner." Maybe she'd misjudged his intelligence.

Blade blinked then threw his head back and laughed. "You're amusing yourself, right? You said business, but you mean bed, don't you?" His derisive tone suggested disgust at the thought.

Satin sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, I don't." She gave him a slow once-over. "I certainly wouldn't turn you down, but you'll never be forced to pleasure me—or anyone else—in bed from this moment forward…" She paused a moment. "Unless you want to earn more on the side or you choose to bed someone of your own volition." She tried really hard to make her intention clear and succinct.

If he could get out of his own way enough to see.

I love how this story is coming together. Satin and Blade are interesting characters and I enjoy writing them.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye