Playing for Keeps (Tales from the Arena)

Award-winning author Elizabeth Schechter takes us to a faraway world where dominance and submission are far more than a bedroom game.

Rakesh is one of the most skilled of the Collared, the men and women who serve in the Arena to fulfill the unique needs of the super-soldiers known as Swords.

The Swords were genetically altered to be strong, fast, tough, and deadly. But if they don't exercise their aggression regularly, they become a danger to those around them. At the Arena, the Collareds accept what the Swords dish out, whether pleasure or pain.

Virin, a mid-ranking sword, takes Rakesh as his lover and hopes to rise high enough in rank that they may marry. But a storm is brewing. Former Collareds are disappearing, victims of a dark conspiracy of renegade soldiers that conspires to utterly control the nation of Tyrese and destroy all who oppose them. And they have their eyes on Rakesh.

"Elizabeth Schechter fuses diverse genres with such artful subtlety that we barely notice the genius at work before our eyes. Schechter is not only an engaging storyteller, but a perceptive and intelligent observer of the human condition. (Can we say icing on an already tasty cake?)" -- Erotica for the Big Brain