"...Kate Douglas tells a futuristic tale which deals with revenge and the repercussions of one's actions...Barbarian is a powerful story that will pull at a range of your emotions. The story will remain with you long after you've finished reading it. "

"...Barbarian is an A+ story with a futuristic flare...The sex is beyond hot and will keep even the most jaded readers turning the pages. Kate Douglas has done it again with her fantastic plot and intriguing characters."

"...Emotions run deep in this tale. <Barbarian> The opening is horrifically erotic...You won't forget this eloquent story any time soon...All in all, this anthology is well worth the price. There's lots of variety with 3 real winners, two ties for Miss Congeniality and one that didn't make it to the finals."

"This collection of short stories has been written by some of Ellora Cave's best and brightest authors...No dragging, no slow spots, and not one story that does not live up to the others!...A wonderful book and perfect for anyone! A must buy and a must read!"

"...if you want a quick glimpse of what Ellora’s Cave is all about, this is a wonderful introduction to their deliciously hot brand of romance."

"...WOW! Barbarian is blazing HOT and Ms. Douglas can pen an intense, passionate tale in very little time...These characters sizzle together and the culmination of their journey is powerful and compelling. Barbarian is magnificent! This is my first story by Ms. Douglas and it won't be my last."

"...This story <Barbarian> is the most emotionally intense of the collection. With elements of BDSM, it may not appeal to everyone; however, I found it extremely erotic and well rounded."

“You gave drugs to young women, some of them barely out of childhood. Drugs that brought them to a sexual peak and left them there...screaming, begging for release. Then you sold those poor girls, profited off their innocence and pain. How does it feel, Barbarian? How does it feel to hang there, your body screaming? Do you enjoy the ultimate pleasure? Does this please you?”

He groaned, fighting the drug that had kept him hard for more hours than he could remember. Drugs alone that would have been bad enough, but she'd touched him, stroked his hard shaft, wrapped her small hands gently around his balls in a parody of lovemaking. Brought him to the edge of orgasm over and over again-to the edge but not beyond.

His balls had quit aching hours ago. Now completely numb, they merely pressed against his body in a futile attempt to escape the pain and pleasure of her touch. Goddess...he'd hated her just hours ago. Now he craved her. Craved her touch, her voice. Why?

Barbarian? She called him Barbarian. His name? An epithet? It didn't matter any more. All that mattered was release, the end of this sensual, tactile torture.

He opened his eyes, blinded by the light focused narrowly on his immobile body. His hair hung wet and matted against his shoulders and he could smell the stink of pain and fear on his own carcass. His arms ached, tied over his head with soft leather straps anchored to an iron ring in the ceiling. The bindings cut into his wrists, though he held tightly with both fists to relieve some of the pressure. His ankles burned from the shackles holding his feet apart.

His cock...hell, his cock had become his entire being. All sensation focused on that damned organ, swollen now well beyond a normal erection. Hard as stone, hot as a furnace, throbbing with each gentle caress his jailer bestowed.

He couldn't really see her, not the way she remained in the shadows, but he'd learned to beg for her touch, learned to thrust his hips forward each time she stroked him. Her lips had caressed him, once only and for much too brief a time, but the feel of that soft mouth encircling the tip of his cock had been fire added to an already burning pyre. If only she would give him release!

She stroked his hips, his belly, touching him gently as a lover might. His cock responded, damned traitor that it was. Suddenly she ran her fingers around his ass and penetrated him quickly, roughly. He jerked, clamping his lips together, fighting the need to beg. He would not beg. Never.

“My sister was a sex slave. Was she one of yours?” Something else entered his ass, something big and hard and cold. “She didn't survive. She died under the gentle tutelage of her first patron.”

She thrust savagely but he welcomed the exquisite combination of pleasure and pain, his mind wrapping itself around her words. Sex slave. He knew about sex slaves. He let his mind go blank, unable to think beyond the rhythmic thrusts to his ass, the throbbing erection that had become an integral part of his existence.

Eighteen. So young. So many young women. He opened his eyes, squinting against the glaring light. “Sorry,” he mumbled, wondering what part, if any, he had played in a young girl's death. He barely recognized his own voice. “So sorry.”

Whatever his captor thrust inside him was suddenly withdrawn. She moved into his field of vision, stepped within the circle of light, and stared at him.

She was a tiny thing, barely over five feet tall, her hair a mass of honey brown curls spilling over her shoulders, her eyes wide and green as the sea. Her mouth was wide, her lips compressed in anger. Breasts small and round and so perfect. So very, very perfect.

She clasped a wooden baton in her hand, the same one she'd violated him with only moments ago. “Sorry won't cut it, you bastard! Not until you suffer like she did. Not until you pay.”

She stepped closer, tossing the baton aside and grabbing his cock. He groaned as she stroked him, her fingers gentle now in a parody of lovemaking, teasing him closer and closer to climax. He moaned and thrust his hips forward, praying for the long awaited release, the release he knew she would deny him once again.

A door slammed. Her fingers tightened, squeezing down on the base of his cock, then turned him loose. He sagged against his restraints.

“Yes, dammit! He's the Barbarian. The most notorious sex slaver in this quadrant. I've been after him for almost two years. I've got him now and he's mine.”

“No, Captain. He's ours. He's one of our operatives. Good Goddess, woman. You've captured one of the World Federation's top agents. If you've harmed him, if you've blown his cover...shit. I can't believe this. Turn him loose. Now.”