Spotlight & Giveaway: The Virgin Hunt Games, volume 4 by Mel Teshco

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Mel Teshco to HJ!

Hi Mel and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Virgin Hunt Games, volume 4!

 
Hi there, thank you so much for having me.
 

Please summarize the book a la Twitter style for the readers here:

With ten women being the hunters and ten men the hunted, this four-yearly Games has been turned on its head.
Alita might already be a warrior on her planet, but if she is to step up in rank and not become an outcast, or worse, then she’ll need every one of her skills to survive these Games, and to win.
Stetson only ever had one love in life, and that was his horse-whispering. Until Alita took that away from him after she left him for dead. Now he has the chance to rehabilitate his broken body and his spirit by defeating Alita and being victor at the end of the seven days, and nothing will stop him. Not even Alita’s supposed innocence.
 

Please share the opening lines of this book:

Alita Silver ignored the nine female hunters standing with her in the central tower’s holding room; she’d worry about their intentions once the Games began. For now, though, she was too busy peering through the bamboo shutters, which shielded them from the audience outside.
All her focus stayed on the commentator, Jackson, as he strode across one of two platforms jutting out from the side of the tower as if it was a stage and he was the star.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I had to tone down the hero’s need for revenge. He was a bit too much of an anti-hero.
• I loved making up the rules for the heroine’s world, where men are illegal, and women can only have babies by artificial means.
• I’ve really enjoyed giving my “defective” characters their own unique powers. Another difference with the heroine’s planet is that their defectives are considered powerful, they’re not outcasts.

What first attracts your main characters to each other?

Stetson and Alita first meet before the Games, when he arrives on Alita’s planet with a herd of horses for her Regnant’s breeding program.
Alita was immediately attracted to how gentle Stetson was with the horses he worked with. That she’d been brainwashed into believing all men were monsters really made her question everything about males in general.
Stetson was impressed by Alita’s loyalty and commitment in protecting him. He had to hide that he was attracted to her as it was considered a crime on her planet, with it being illegal for women to be with men.
 

Using just 5 words, how would you describe your main characters”love affair?

Volatile. Hot. Furious. Undeniable chemistry.
 

The First Kiss…

These characters don’t properly kiss until the very end of the story. Kissing means caring as far as they’re concerned. Whereas sx is just lust, a physical release.

He shook his head. “The more I find out about you, the less I know.” He reached for her hands, then gently clasped them. “Amazing.” He kissed each of the knuckles in a chaste, yet sizzling kiss that burned through her body and made her want so much more. But his gaze was gentle when he said, “My little healer. No wonder we’re so attuned to one another.”

Without revealing too much, what is your favorite scene in the book?

I love where my heroine has hidden her healing ability until the moment the hero feels he has no choice but to end the suffering of a horse that was released inside the Games tower. Only then does she stop him from doing the one thing she knows he will regret, and she uses her powers.

He squatted beside the mare and wrapped his belt around her throat, pulling the end through the buckle. And with a defeated sigh, he slowly tightened the belt. Alita was frozen in place, unwilling to accept what he had to do, yet unable to intercede.
This wasn’t just her future career at stake. She had her mother and grandmother to consider, and her own life with the threat of execution a real possibility if she lost thanks to revealing her true defective ability. The mare’s nostrils flared, her sides heaving once as she kicked her legs out. Then just like that she visibly gave up the struggle, accepting her death.
“Stop!”
The voice that came out hoarse and fearful was her own, and Stetson unwittingly released his grip on the belt as he twisted around to face her, his eyes empty yet somehow alert.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he croaked. “You’re prolonging her death.”
“No, I’m not.”
She knelt beside him, her hands gripping his and forcibly removing his hold on the belt. “You don’t need to do this.”
His face flitted with a myriad of emotions. Rage. Mistrust. Disbelief. Then finally, wary acceptance. “What do you plan to do?”
She sighed softly, sending a silent apology out into the universe. “Just…trust me.”
She placed her hands on the mare’s withers, where a big chunk of flesh had been blown away, leaving behind exposed bloodied flesh, sinew, and bone. She closed her eyes and imagined the healing process. Warm energy gathered within, then slowly siphoned out of her and into the horse as the flesh knit back together and the vessels regrew, blood beginning to pump through without leaking out.

If your book was optioned for a movie, what scene would be absolutely crucial to include?

It would have to be the actual beginning of the Games themselves, where the rules are explained and the commentators draw in the huge crowd of the amphitheater.

The midmorning sun glinted on Jackson’s silver hair as he lifted his arm like a cult leader of old and began his spiel. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, humans and aliens, to the 2336 Virgin Hunt Games!”
A bigger roar filled the stadium and reverberated off the six-storied tower walls. Alita fisted her hands at her sides, anything to keep from pinching herself knowing she was part of this radical, game-changing idea where the women were the hunters and the men the hunted. That her name would be forever in the history books sent an illicit, thrilling dart straight to her core.

Readers should read this book …

Who enjoy action, loads of sex, an emotionally charged journey, with sacrifice and some violence.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

The next two Virgin Hunt Games books – volumes 5 and 6 are also written and will be up for pre-order. These will be released in quick succession. I write both science fiction and contemporary stories, and at the moment I have a sheikh series (Desert Kings Alliance) that I’m also working on finishing. Book six releases at the end of March along with another contemporary story I have written. (it’s been a super busy year lol!)

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: A print (or ebook – your choice) of any one of the first four Virgin Hunt Games books.

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Excerpt from The Virgin Hunt Games, volume 4:

Stetson woke with a raging hard-on and a raging thirst, and it was instinctive to tug Alita against him when the lights suddenly blazed into life and the commentators filled his ear with their conversation.
“Well, folks, it’s day three of the Virgin Hunt Games—can you believe it!—and last night we lost four contestants to the ferocious dakkas.”
Stetson froze. Four?
“That’s right, Jackson. Three hunters expired on level two and a hunted on level five. And let’s not forget the hunted we lost on day one. Which means five contestants so far are deceased.”
“Such a sad day for the families of our victims, Rebecca.”
“No doubt they’ll be in mourning, but the show must go on.”
“Hm. That it does. Let’s hope some more of our contestants figure out how to eliminate the dakka on their level, because the Universal Olympic Committee is against removing them.”
“Oh, I’m sure our viewers would be against removing them, too, Jackson. The dakkas have really ramped up the intensity of these Games, and we’ve witnessed some remarkable survival strategies already on one of the tower’s levels.”
“The dakkas aren’t the flesh-and-blood creatures our contestants probably imagined they’d be taking out. Nevertheless, the dakkas can be defeated, as we’ve already seen.”
“They can be, and I’ve got to say, I’m impressed by our contestants’ ingenuity. I’ll be on the edge of my seat to see what happens next. I mean with food and water now in short supply, some of our contestants need to act quickly.”
Stetson didn’t know what was worse—the growing fury that had nowhere to go thanks to the commentators, or the hopelessness bubbling up inside thanks to his twisted nightmare. It had brought back all the familiar feelings of self-disgust and shame he’d gone through after the Regnant had finished using his body.
Breathing in Alita’s citrus-scented hair and her skin’s unique cinnamon-sweet smell—better than donuts—antagonized him more. Her butt pressed against his dick was torturous, his needs surging.
He undid his belt and unzipped his jeans. He’d been too cold to undress and too exhausted to care. Thank God he’d chosen to go commando. That the other four in the group were still sleeping, despite the heat and brightness, not to mention the blaring earpiece, was obvious with their deep, even breaths and snuffling snores.
He brushed a hand down Alita’s oversize jacket. The damn thing swathed too much of her flesh. Finding the hem, he pushed the jacket up along with the vest underneath until the prize he sought was exposed.
He touched her soaked pussy, and though she moaned and squirmed against him, she didn’t wake. He narrowed his eyes, tempted to slap her bared ass, punish her even a little for the hell she’d put him through.
Instead, he fisted his dick and pressed the head past her cheeks to the opening of her sweet pussy. He’d give the little witch exactly what she wanted…what they both wanted. She snuffled and moaned again, her subconscious clearly responsive. His other hand clamping hold of her hip, he drove inside her tight sheaf, right to the hilt. She jerked awake, his grunt of pleasure mingling with her surprised, pained breath.
While his mind screamed to fuck her into submission, to go hard and fast and without mercy, his heart told him to give her body a moment to adjust. Fool that he was he waited, drawing aside her hair to kiss the silky-soft skin on her nape.
Her tension eased and goose bumps pricked her skin. He kissed her neck a little harder, then sucked on the side as his hips automatically began to move, his shaft sliding in and out of her.
Fucking glorious.
His dick was soon slicked with her lubrication, sending him half-wild with need. But her tightness held him in check, reminded him she was recently a virgin.
His balls twitched and he groaned, increasing speed. How could a woman he hated so much feel so damn good? Her pussy squeezed his length, gripping him, the friction generating a heat that lit up every nerve ending along his shaft and setting his seed to boiling point. Sweet mother. His balls were heavier than gongs.
She began to counter-thrust, greedy for more. He was going to explode, but he refused to give in. He wanted her to come first. Since when? When had her needs mattered? She was his enemy, in these Games and outside them.
He clamped his jaw together, and a pulse flickered into life on one side. She didn’t deserve sexual gratification or joy. She might pretend to care about others, but a leopard didn’t change its spots.
It still didn’t change the fact that although his willpower was almost non-existent, he wanted her to orgasm first. Her quivering body and little cries told him she was close, too. With a savage curse he slid his hand between her thighs and thumbed her clit, pressing hard.
It set her off like a firecracker. She slapped her butt against his groin and fell apart with a feral-sounding moan that launched his own orgasm. He slammed into her once, twice…and shouted a profanity at the unstoppable tsunami of his release that streaked euphoria through his blood.
It took some minutes to realize he was holding her like a considerate and attentive lover. They were also both slicked with sweat now the chilled tower had become humid and stifling.
He jerked back, immediately withdrawing. Then re-zippering his jeans and doing up his belt, he pushed off from the bed of jackets on the floor, leaving Alita tousled, sated, and confused. He smiled grimly. He refused to feel like a jerk. Even subconsciously she’d wanted sex. He’d damn well given it to the witch.
A slow clapping of hands dragged his eyes away from her and to the crossdresser whose wig was still balanced on his head after his sleep, his gold dress wrapped around his neck like a scarf.
“Darling, I couldn’t have enjoyed that more if you’d been fucking me. That was simply delicious.”

Excerpts. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Warrior Alita Silver has one chance to prove herself, and competing in the Virgin Hunt Games will show everyone on her planet she deserves the promotion that’s been held just out of reach. But this time, the rules of the games have changed. The virginal women have gone from being the hunted to being the hunters. And then she meets her competitors…

Stetson Jamb remembers Alita from their last encounter—a little too well. Mostly, he remembers that she left him for dead and destroyed his life. Winning the games would not only earn him the credits he needs to rebuild his life, but would also satisfy his need for revenge. If only he didn’t want her so damn badly. Apparently, revenge isn’t the only dish tempting him…

All’s fair in war and sex, and with the rules turned upside down, the lines between the pursued and the pursuer are quickly blurring. It’s not just a question of winning anymore. It’s a question of who lives, who dies, and who comes…last.
Book Links: Amazon | Goodreads |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Mel Teshco loves to write scorching paranormal, sci-fi and contemporary stories. Not easy with five cats, two dogs and a fat black thoroughbred vying for attention, especially when Mel’s also busily stuffing around on Facebook. With only one daughter now living at home to feed two minute noodles, she still shakes her head at how she managed to write with three daughters and three stepchildren living under the same roof. Not to mention Mr. Semi-Patient (the one and same husband hoping for early retirement…he’s been waiting a few years now…) Clearly anything is possible, even in the real world.
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