Chasing Booty-sneak peak

This is due out May 11th from Amber Quill. I haven't gotten a cover yet. It's a science-fiction erotica. I had a blast with with one.

EXCERPT:

“I’m looking for a Saurian, goes by the name of Gagmar. He’s a little over seven feet tall with a sleek build and reptilian skin.”

She slid a three-by-five pictograph engraved with Gagmar’s likeness toward him.
The man picked up the picture. “A Chamaeleon?”

Gaelyn nodded. “He can change the color of his skin, as well as the texture.”

“It’s a good thing they wear clothes,” the bartender said, his words slurred by the deformity of his lips. “Otherwise you’d never see ’em. Yeah, he was here. ’Bout a day or so ago. Said he needed to ditch some bounty bitch.”

He glanced at her, a smirk tugging at the corner of his crooked mouth.

Gaelyn snorted. “Did he say how long he’d be staying?”

The bartender shook his head. “Nope. But I expect he’s still around. You might check the ice tunnels in Sector 2. Them lizard folk don’t feel cold like the rest of us. Seems a good place to start.”

She thanked him for the information, downed her drink in one gulp, and handed him the empty shot glass. “Hey,” she said, just as he turned to leave, “anyone else asked about him?”

The bartender pondered her a moment, contemplating his response. He nodded and leaned toward her. “Big guy. Long black hair. Red skin. Looked like the devil ’imself.”

His voice scarcely reached a whisper. The mingled aromas of bourbon and cigarettes danced on his breath, combined with the putrid odor of infected flesh. Gaelyn tried not to gag.

Before asking him anything else, the door to the bar creaked open. The hairs on Gaelyn’s neck stood at attention. Straining to see around the bartender’s impeding frame, she caught a glimpse of the scale-skinned figure standing in the threshold.
Gagmar.

Their glares locked across the smoke-filled room, her golden honey eyes clashing with his forest green. The texture and color of his skin instantly changed to match the scarred wood grain of the front door. Only his khaki pants and brown leather coat prevented him from blending right in, becoming near invisible to the naked eye.

“I’ll have to settle my bill later.” Gaelyn jumped to her feet and practically knocked the bartender aside as she moved to get around him.

While she doubted he’d send the cops after her for one unpaid shot of whiskey, she didn’t make a habit of dodging bar tabs. She always kept her word. Once she’d either captured or secured her hit, she’d return and pay up.

“Sure,” he replied, trying to get out of her way.

By the time she sidestepped the stunned bartender, Gagmar had turned tail and ran. The front door stood ajar from his hasty retreat.

“Dammit!” Whipping a stun gun from her hip holster, Gaelyn raced out the door after him.

An empty alley greeted her. She scanned the pathway from front to back, top to bottom, slowly making her way behind the bar. It appeared as though he’d vanished.

He’s here…

Her eyes strained to see an outline, a shape, anything.

I know he’s here!

But without her de-cloaking goggles, she’d never see him, even if he stood against the wall right in front of her.

That slimy son of a…

She spotted what looked to be an article of clothing tucked behind a pile of empty crates near the back door. Using the toe of her boot, she pulled the item from its hiding spot. Instantly recognizing the khaki pants, she knew she’d been duped.

“Dammit!” Re-holstering her weapon, she retraced her steps and went back inside the bar. Ignoring the bewildered patrons who’d all stopped to watch her entrance, she went straight for the counter.

“Where are the ice caves?” she demanded, not waiting for the bartender to finish pouring his customer’s drink. “What’s the quickest way there?”

The bartender nodded toward a shrouded figure seated at the other end.
Gaelyn grit her teeth. She didn’t have time for games. Glancing at the cloaked being through narrowed eyes, she quickly evaluated any potential level of threat.

Male. Tall. Well-built. Who is this guy? Where’d he come from?

She hadn’t noticed him before.

With an air of don’t-fuck-with-me in her step, she made her way toward him. “The bartender seems to think you can be of some assistance,” she declared, stopping a mere six inches to the left of the man’s seated frame.

He ignored her, choosing instead to take a long swig from his mug.

Removing her laser from its holster on her left thigh, she plopped it onto the counter top. Her hand rested lightly on its black metallic shape, her finger hugging the trigger. “Well?”

“I can take you there, for a price,” he replied, his deep voice a thunderous rumble within his muscular chest.

Annoyed, she lifted her chin. “Name it,” she practically growled.

The man chuckled. “It’ll be steep,” he warned. “Perhaps more than you’re willing to pay.”

Gaelyn’s patience wore thin. They wasted precious time. Is this guy gonna get down to business or what?

Struggling to see his face beneath the shadowed hood, she leaned a little closer. “Look, buddy. I don’t have time for games. Either name your price or I’ll take my business elsewhere.”

He glanced at her, his onyx, deep-set eyes two bottomless black pits within his handsome angular face. “I want half the booty. For starters.”

Gaelyn’s breath caught in her throat. Reese.

This wasn’t happening.

He pulled back his hood, letting the heavy material fall onto his broad shoulders in a neatly folded pleat. “Hello, Gael. It’s been a long time.”

Shannon Leigh