One of the most enduring tropes in romance is when an Alpha male is brought to his knees (often literally!) by a sexy female. And when the Alpha male is a member, either past or present, of a military group, that dynamic is even more alluring.
Lora Leigh is set to rerelease four of her previously-released short stories, and in three of them, the Alpha male must rescue his female of choice from some danger. In all four, however, the men are in turn sexually felled by their very capable heroines.
In “Cooper's Fall,” Ethan Cooper sees his next-door neighbor, Sarah Fox, sunbathing in the nude. And he cannot stop watching, even though he knows it's wrong:
He was transfixed. His cock was in hell. He was practically drooling on his dusty attic floor as he watched shy little priss, Miss Sarah Fox, naked as God created her.
(And, as an aside, Ethan has a piercing).
In “Sheila's Passion,” Nick Casey has to save his friend with benefits Sheila from a psychotic bent on vengeance. But he's over his head when it comes to saving himself from Sheila; despite what both have agreed to, in terms of their relationship, he (and, it turns out, she) want more:
Sheila did more than drain the sexual tension from his body. There were times he swore she replaced that tension with something far more dangerous to his soul. And he was damned if he wanted to delve into what that “something” was. Hell, it was such an unfamiliar feeling he didn’t even know how to describe it.
In “Atlanta Heat,” Mason “Macey” March can't keep himself from touching Emerson Delaney, even though she's his commanding officer's goddaughter:
He’d have thought he could hold on at that point. He’d have thought that the sheer pleasure of finally tasting Emerson’s tits would be enough to give him the control needed to hang on and enjoy it. And in doing that, he could find at least a single thought to remind him that he wasn’t just playing with fire, he was playing with his own career.
It does derail his career, but when Emerson is kidnapped, her godfather picks Macey as the guy to rescue her. Nice coincidence!
“Reno's Chance” doesn't have a female in danger, unless it's Raven's dangerous need for the Reno of the title. Reno is a former Navy SEAL who Raven has had a crush on forever. And, it seems, Reno has returned her feelings:
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for you, Raven? Since you were seventeen, tempting me, teasing me to take what I couldn’t have. You’re not a kid anymore. You’re a woman.”
All of Leigh's men are so Alpha they got their own post here at Heroes and Heartbreakers (“A” is for “Alpha”: Would You Date One of Lora Leigh's Heroes?). But the women of the stories give as good as they get, and that distinction makes these different from the 'save me!' heroines of yore.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy H&H's Lora Leigh Collection, including an exclusive excerpt of Secret Sins, her next release, available November 27.
Megan Frampton is the Community Manager for the HeroesandHeartbreakers site. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and son.
