QSFer Wendy Rathbone has a new MM fantasy holiday tale out: Solstice Gift.
When Remi’s turn comes to be presented to His Majesty, everything goes wrong from a costume malfunction to breaking protocol.
Remi has prepared for over a year to be the king’s gift at the annual winter celebration of the Eve of the Great Frost on the planet Niobe. One of twelve male pleasure slaves trained to bring ecstasy to others, he hopes to be The One chosen to spend an erotic night with the mysterious alien king who always wears a mask.
What happens next is a shock, and a night he will never forget.
Winter holiday, instalove, slave, alien backdrop, a night to remember, HEA.
This story originally appeared in the “This Wish Tonight” anthology from Mischief Corner Books.
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Excerpt
Some said the new young king wanted to do away with slavery for good. I did not know. If it were true, why were we here tonight, clad in the Cloaks of Erotic Promise? Was it for the ritual and nothing more?
My stomach lurched at the thought. I wanted more than ritual. I wanted this night to prove to myself I had something to give. I’d trained hard and with great dedication. I longed to belong to another in pleasure, in surrender. Decadence, sensual ardor, red passion’s heat—these were things I craved. To be worthy. To be wanted. I would not have sold myself otherwise. I knew my family would be taken care of if I were chosen, but honestly, I was doing this for myself.
I stood on that gold stage, worried, nervous, excited. My fingers clenched to fists, something we were told not to do. The sounds of revelry began to diminish, the volume softening across the ocean of dancing, moving bodies until only the voices from the guests outside could be heard wafting on the cool breeze.
Heads turned. The celebrants looked in the direction behind me. I was not allowed to move. I could not see what was happening, but I could feel it: the electricity of his approach; the change in air pressure.
The king had made his entrance.
The air seemed to flutter about me. Light and flame, gilt and tinsel—everything glowed. The great hall seemed too small to contain it all.
I could feel his presence looming closer, a psychic weight, a change in the dimensions of reality both subtle and dramatic. Everything blurred, all heat and distant ringing of stemware and held breaths mixing with raised pulse rates, the inner hum of awe, the rustle of silks as people realized they now occupied the same space as a legend.
Every part of my being wished to break formation, to turn and look upon the origin of this catalyst of change and upheaval, this man who’d brought an end to our suffering ways. Only my vow of discipline kept me in my place.
Author Bio
Read Wendy Rathbone… where imposters and outcasts, princes and lost boys always find their happily every after.
I have written in all genres: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, paranormal, contemporary, erotica, romance. But I keep coming back to romance as the main focus. Gay romance. Male/male romance. The idea of two men falling in love is irresistible to me. It’s all I write now.
All my books are available on Amazon and most are in Kindle Unlimited. So if you have the urge, go take a look. See what’s on the shelf.