(Cat O’Nines)
LGBTQ+, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Date Published: May 2, 2025
Catkind -- they're rough, they're tough and they don't take no for an
answer. But who'd want to say no? Not Gabriella, a barmaid in a tiny
roadhouse named Gatos near the Mexican border. Nor her sister Marnie. With
his sisters carried off by the Catkind, Tony's left to run Gatos, but he
won't be alone -- a couple of misfit "alley cats" have joined
forces with Tony.
Lucia's a party girl with two hot, hunky Catkind on her trail. Orion, a
white Tiger, and Jomei, a Bengal, are royalty among the Catkind. They're
about to learn Lucia's much more than a pretty face. When the four Gatos
siblings return with their Catkind mates for a final showdown against their
nemesis, Anuetta thinks she's got these tigers by their tails, but she
doesn't count on the mighty strength of the Gatos family. The line's been
drawn in the ashes, and the claws are out!
This collection contains the previously released novellas in the Cat
O'Nines collection: Cat's Claws, Cat's Eye, Cat's Cradle, Cat's Meow, and
Cat's Paw.
EXCERPT
Excerpt from Cat's Claws
"So there I am, standing in the middle of the street, screaming at him
en Espanol. I'm calling him things our abuela would turn over in her grave
to hear me say. And then she'd wash my mouth out with soap."
"Lucia, when are you going to learn?" Gabriella unlocked the door
to Gatos' cold storage unit. "You stay away from men like him. They're
trouble."
Lucia, her sister, had the fire of a Roman candle and a temper to match.
She jammed her hands on her hips in indignation. "Like you have room to
talk," she shot back.
"I do. Do you see me getting tangled up with any troublemakers like
him?" She yanked open the door, and cold air escaped with a whoosh.
"Uh-uh. Oh, that's good." Gabriella closed her eyes and swayed in
bliss. It was a gorgeous day outside in the shabby outskirts of San Miguel,
the sky pure blue and the horizon clear for miles. Which meant it was hot
enough to suit the devil himself, especially back in the warehouse. She let
herself enjoy the cool air coming from the cold storage unit for a moment,
then got back to business. She nudged the handcart. "Come on, you take
one crate and I'll take the other."
"We shouldn't roll out a keg?"
"If you think you can manhandle a keg in heat like this, dolly or no
dolly, you're welcome to try. Grab a case for now. Tony can get the rest
later." Gabriella sized up the hefty crate stamped with the Moctezuma
Brewery logo. Nothing tasted as good or as rich as their cervesa. Moctezuma
was why locals bothered traveling to her tiny, out-of-the-way bar. If the
brew master hadn't been a friend of her brother Tony, no way she'd have
gotten her mitts on any of their goods. "Come on, Lucia, put your back
into it."
Lucia pouted briefly before bending and lifting the crate. Tendons stood
out in her neck from the effort as she wrestled a heavy crate onto the
dolly. "We need some strong young stud for this."
"And there you go again, thinking about men," Gabriella chided.
"I'm not saying I wouldn't like to have a strong young thing around,
especially if he's hot, eh? I'm saying we can get by fine without one. You
seem to think that's a mortal sin, which is why I'm listening to you pitch a
fit in the street." She tempered the sting of her words with the
fondness of her tone.
Gabriella shut the door to the cold storage unit and clicked the padlock
back in place before taking the handle of the dolly. Oof. She had to admit,
the crates were terribly heavy. Together they headed back to the main room
of Gatos, the tiny tumbledown bar that had been their sole legacy from their
mother.
Not exactly a rich and abundant inheritance. Ah, well, Mama had
tried.
Lucia was still stuck back on Gabriella's opinions. "You're telling me
if a man like Roger came on to you, you'd say no? He looked so pretty."
She swung around to walk backwards. "Those cornflower blue eyes and his
soft golden hair. Like a prince out of a fairytale." Her pleading
turned wicked. "And good in bed? He was a devil when it came to loving
me."
"And how many other women at the same time?" Gabriella bumped
open the swinging kitchen door. "Would I say no to a man like Roger?
Hell, no, I wouldn't. But..."
Lucia rolled her eyes.
"But," Gabriella went on, not letting Lucia's scorn stop her,
"I'd say yes long enough to enjoy his body. If he's as good as you say,
I'd have fun with him for a few days then send him packing. No harm, no
foul, and no broken heart that needs someone to sweep up the
pieces."
Lucia scoffed. "You wouldn't know how to let your hair down if someone
gave you a hands-on demonstration."
Gabriella's pride was stung. "Says you!"
"You're right, says I. You want to make a bet on this? Friday night's
tip jar says you don't have the guts to take the next handsome guy who walks
into Gatos for a test run."
Ay, Lucia had her there. Gabriella could never back down from a challenge.
"I'm listening. What are the terms?"
Lucia stretched her muscles out before unlocking the cooler. "So we
have a deal?"
"Not yet." Gabriella pulled the dolly close enough to the cooler
to unload it. "Let me hear the details before I say yes or
no."
"Like you would," Lucia smirked. "All right, here's the
deal. When we open tonight, you and I man the bar. When the first hot guy
walks in, one I decide is enough of a handful for even you, I point him out
and that's when the game begins. You come on to him, you do whatever you
have to do, and if he's safe you get him into bed."
"I'm not a slut," Gabriella objected, all the while hoisting
crates and holding them for Lucia to unpack and stow in the cooler.
"And how am I supposed to know if he's 'safe'?" She dusted off her
hands after the last bottle was stashed away. "You have to give me more
than that to go on. I'm supposed to proposition a customer? That'll give me
a great reputation."
Lucia shrugged smugly. "So you're saying no? You're backing down
already?"
About the Author
Lia Connor lives in the South, but her job takes her almost everywhere but.
Her laptop is her best friend. Lia loves stories about BBW’s, hot,
hot, hot threesomes and wily shifters who get into (and out of) all kinds of
trouble...
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@changelingpress
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