EXCERPT

In a Different Light
by Marteeka Karland
cover art by Bryan Keller
ISBN: 1-59596-373-1
Genre(s): Futuristic
Length: Short story

Damn his father to hell and back! He didn't want to get married! He was perfectly happy with his life as it was. And what the fuck was all that nonsense about them making more money? They were the richest family in Solum, by the gods! Kamar swam to the shallow end of the pool and scrubbed the water from his face with one hand.

An heir to the De'main and Son shipping empire, Dalia De'main, was supposed to meet him here. Her idea. He'd never actually met her, but she was supposed to be a beautiful woman.

He never even knew Tamron De'main had a daughter. From all accounts, she ran her part of the company with an iron fist. That was the funny thing about this whole mess. Neither family needed the money. Neither company needed this merger.

So what the fuck was going on?

He was pondering this, oblivious to his surroundings, when he realized he was no longer alone.

"Mind if I join you?"

Leah? He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard her approach. That kind of mental lapse in the nebula could get him killed!

On second thought, if he'd been aware of her approach, he might have not appreciated the view as much as he was at this moment.

At first, he thought she was naked. She walked through the pink and lavender mist coming off the pool, the bikini she wore practically nonexistent. The tiny scraps of cloth were the same color as her flesh.

Kamar gulped. When had Leah grown into such a stunningly sexy woman? Her body was perfect. Lush curves and silky purple hair accented creamy skin. Her breasts were full and rounded, her waist tiny and her hips flared into a nice, rounded ass just right for gripping during a hard ride.

She sank into the pool without waiting for his answer and immediately disappeared beneath its cool depths. He watched her glide through the water to the other side before surfacing, her breasts rising and falling as she took a deep breath of air. For the life of him, he couldn't take his eyes off them. He wanted to peel that ridiculous excuse for a swimsuit from her body and feast.

"It's been a while since we've spent any time together, Kamar."

"Indeed." He choked out the word as best he could, but it sounded strangled to his ears.

"Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thanks." How in Solum was he supposed to make small talk when all he wanted to do was explore the girl who had become a woman overnight? How had he missed this transformation? How the hell had he missed those breasts? This was definitely not the way he'd pictured Leah all these years.

He stood from his place in the pool and advanced toward her with every intention of finding out for himself just how sweet her body was. Before he reached her, however, another voice greeted him.

"Kamar, greetings from my father. I trust all is in order for the wedding celebration?" The voice was deep, and before he turned around, he thought it belonged to a man. The woman he found stepping into the pool definitely did not fit the voice.

She was pretty enough, with her long dark hair, but even with the dark, thigh-length wrap, Kamar could tell she didn't have the womanly curves that drove him wild. She was muscled with no wasted flesh to her body. He definitely couldn't envision being able to hang on to her ass.

Not like the vision he'd just had of Leah.

"Dalia De'Main?" This was the exact picture he'd had of the woman given everything he'd heard about her. After his parents announced the "merger," he'd tried to find an image of her, but there simply weren't any. Rumor had it she never allowed herself to be digitized.

"In the flesh, love." She whisked the wrap open and off her finely muscled arms to pool on the floor behind her. She eyed him hungrily, moving her gaze up and down his torso. "This match might be exciting after all. You look like you can handle a woman like me."

Kamar cringed inwardly. This wasn't going to work.

At all.