Pleasure Satellite by Danielle Monsch 
Published by Romantic Geek Publishing, Self Published Genres: Erotic, SciFi
Pages: 80
Format: eBook
Nevan’s life is nothing but duty and honor. The eldest son of a prestigious House, he has a life mapped out ahead of him, including mating a woman for whom he feels nothing but brotherly affection. But then one night he discovers a woman who makes his blood boil and his body hard. Seena has known nothing but blood and pain in her life. A fighter for the BloodRing, she is nothing more than spectacle, her life and death meaningless except as entertainment for the masses. Then one night a male comes to her in secret with a bargain the likes of which she has never been confronted with. The ultimate fight, which will lead her either to freedom…or to his bed. Nevan will allow nothing to stop him from possessing the human. On the Pleasure Satellite anything is permissible, and to the strongest goes everything.
Seena was acquired by Samos as a child. As a human child, Seena was a novelty and Samos would find some use for her. She showed an ability for fighting and weapons, and she has become his undefeated champion. The crowd is there to see bloodshed, especially since the fights are to the death. The novelty of a female fighter, let alone a human female, draws them in.
In Nevan’s world, the men are strong warriors but the women are their exact opposite. They are demure, quiet and submissive. They never speak against a man, never voice an opinion and most won’t look a man in the eye. So when Seena looks up to his box and stares him in the eye, he is immediately intrigued, and after watching her defeat her opponent in the BloodRing, he knows he will not leave the Pleasure Satellite until he has had a taste of her. He knows that once he returns home, it is his family’s wishes that he mate with Farana, a woman like all the others on his world, who will fear sex and only participate often enough to bear children. Before he accepts his fate, he plans to have Seena in his bed.
He could have her forcibly brought to him, but that’s not what he wants. He wants this warrior as a willing participant so he offers her a challenge that she won’t be able to refuse. Fight him in a fair challenge. If she wins, he will help her escape. If she loses, she comes to his bed for the remainder of the celebrations.
Seena would do anything to be free, but with a male like Nevan, maybe losing won’t be such a hardship.
THOUGHTS:
This erotic novel is Pornacus–um, I mean, Spartacus in space. You have to keep in mind that this is an erotica rather than a romance so some sections are simply one sexual position to the next. But we get enough conversation between Nevan and Seena to see that they are great characters and they truly deserved more of a story plot. It’s not really a spoiler alert – but Nevan wins. Surprise! It wouldn’t be much of a story if Seena wins, but it would have been funny.
Seena is very laid back. She accepts that she lost the fight so she won’t be freed, but as a BloodRing fighter, a few days off from fighting to have incredible sex with a hot male who is treating her very well is a vacation from being a slave. Since she has nothing to lose, she doesn’t sugarcoat anything she says to Nevan. He talks about the stresses of running the family since his father is just a figurehead and what is expected of him, and Seena tells him straight out what he needs to do and where he needs to stop whining. She’s certainly not a submissive female and she has nothing to lose so she doesn’t pull any punches to spare his feelings.
She also figures out pretty quickly what gets him worked up and uses that to her advantage so she can enjoy her sexcation.
It was an enjoyable novella for what it was given. I really hate when a short story contains really good characters since they don’t get much time in the spotlight. It always seems like such a waste to me because I don’t want to let them go. There was certainly room to build more of the plot points that drove the story when they weren’t having sex, and there certainly could have been more BloodRing matches to fill out the story.
It was intended to be a sexy short story, and it certainly was, but it also included some good basic characters and story plot to hold one’s interest beyond the sex.
Received an review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Favorite Scene:
His eyes held all her attention as he spoke, just as they had from the first moment she had seen him from the ring. They were a black-green, and yet it was as if a light was directly behind each one, illuminating them in a way no human eyes could ever match.
Seena had noticed him. She always looked toward the top tiers to see Samos, and the slimy little shit never disappointed her, always ingratiating himself with the most powerful to be found.
This time, though, she felt something beyond her usual hatred of Samos as she stared at the box, her heart pounding faster as she noticed the Tevarian half rise from his seat.
“If you truly believe you can kill me, then I have a proposition for you that you would be foolish to turn down,” the Tevarian said, his voice breaking into her musings. Seena hoped her body didn’t betray the surprise she felt at those words, the jerk that brought her so very aware.
He could be an agent of Samos. It wouldn’t be the first time. Samos was always playing his little mind games on her.
He could be, but it didn’t feel like that. If anything, Seena felt nothing but contempt coming from the Tevarian, as if the Rilion disgusted him as much as he disgusted her.
Of course, if he truly felt that way, why was he at the games?
“A proposition?”
“A proposition,” he repeated, and then nothing, simply watching her, waiting for her to decide.
She looked around, more out of habit than any true fear. She had already made her choice when she spoke her first words to him after all, revealing she could indeed speak. Seena did not quite understand why, just there was something about him that made her want to trust, to connect. So stupid a feeling, but there it was.
She moved toward him, wanting to look as closely at him as the cage would allow. “What is this proposition?”
“I buy you for the duration of these games, giving Samos enough that you will not have to fight while here.”
Of course he would. She was no fool, had seen the way his eyes took over her while she was on display in Samos’ chambers. If they were meeting, both free, she would have openly returned that interest, but–as this cage forcibly reminded her–she was not, and since she was not a whore she lied. “That hardly tempts me.”
His lips lifted at the corners, and she was hard-pressed not to swallow. “I did not say I was finished. Once you are brought to me…we fight.”
Not that truly confused her. He was looking over her because he wanted a warrior to test his skills on? Perhaps she did not understand his motivations as she thought. “Fight?”
“Yes, fight. A sword in your hand and a sword in mine,” he answered, his voice that low rumble that should not sound so sexual when he was talking about bloodsport.
A proposition, he said. Something for something. “And what would we be fighting for?”
“You, little human, would be fighting for your freedom.”
One thing for the Tevarian, he did not play with small stakes. Bloodsport or not, her interest was suddenly very high in this conversation, though she kept her voice even and her words measured. “Freedom? That is truly a great prize. What would you be fighting for to rival it?”
“I’ll be fighting for the right to fuck you.”
His eyes were on her, holding fast as if they were physical force. She could not look away, could barely breathe, as desire swept through her, making her knees weak, making her feel as if she would fall. “I am not…”
“No, you are not a whore.” So slowly, he put his hand through the cage bars. She could have stepped back at any time, but she did not, and his hand landed on her, his fingers around her neck, the thumb pressing against the pulse point at the base of her throat. Warms hands, strong and calloused, promising everything if she would just give in. “Let me speak plainly, little human. After the celebration, I will returning to my lands. At that time, I will announce that I will take a woman as a mate, a woman who I feel nothing for, not love, not lust, nothing. Bedding her will be nothing except duty, but out of honor, once I mate her I will never betray her.”
His hand traveled slowly up, skimming her throat until this thumb caressed her bottom lip. “Your eyes met mine before your fight, and I became hard. During the fight I felt pride in your strength, and after you had won…” His eyes narrowed as they focused on her mouth and his thumb pulled her lower lip down, surrounding itself in the moisture of her mouth. “Afterward, if I could have gotten you away from that bastard, you would have been mine.
Seena stepped back. She had to get away from his touch, the physical touch of his hand as well as the caress of his voice. She had to regain some footing to continue this conversation without giving him everything before even the chance of gaining anything. “How does this concern your proposition?”
He dropped his arm and brought it back to his side but did not step back. “I want you, but I want you as a willing participant, not in my bed because of force. Maybe I am blinded by my attraction to you, but when I look at you I see character and I see honor. I believe if we make a bargain you will stick to it, as I would.”
