And thank you so much for joining us. Once again, I am your host, The Grey Knight, and this is

the Nightly Pleasures podcast episode number 35. Tonight, we start with a special treat, a piece

that's a bit racy, so viewer discretion is advised, as it were.

It's from Anzaris and her upcoming work, the Krinar captive.

It's a sneak peek, and her work is out soon, so I do hope you enjoy.

Let's listen to it now.

Running through the forest, Emily felt her breathing settling into a steady rhythm,

one that she knew would enable her to keep the pace for the next few miles.

To her relief, the strappy sandals Xereron had given her, sat snugly on her feet,

without even a hint of the rubbing discomfort one would normally expect with such footwear.

Though the last two years had been tough with her job-consuming nearly all her waking hours,

Emily had usually managed to sneak a five-mile run in

every couple of days. It didn't compare to the rigorous fitness regimen she had in college,

but it was still better than turning into a complete couch potato, and she was extremely grateful

for those runs now. She could feel her muscles warming up and

stretching, her lungs working easily, and she knew she would be able to keep this for at least

an hour. By then, Zerran should be far behind her, assuming he even bothered to come after her once he reached the shore. If all went

well, she would not see him again. The thought was strangely upsetting, so she pushed it out of her

mind. There was no going back now, for better or for worse, she had escaped, and now she needed to make sure she found civilization quickly. Just one foot in front of the other, Emily, one foot in front of the other.

Focusing on the familiar runner's refrain, she leapt over a fallen log and ran smack into an

impossibly hard body. The impact, knocked the breath out of her. Reeling back, she tripped over the

log and would have fallen if strong hands hadn't have caught her at the moment. In a flash,

...