QSFer Wendy Rathbone has a new MM sci fi book out:
When the rescued slaves were first brought on board my ship, I saw only the one. The one they called Arcana. And though I realized the others had all suffered similar fates – fearsome torture and erotic conditioning that had estranged them from whoever they had once been – I focused on the one who met my eyes with what could only be interpreted as a defiantly seductive lure, while the others held their gazes downward, at their feet, at the floor, at the past which had shaped them and undoubtedly doomed them to any sort of normal life.
Not so with Arcana. That one had no shame in whatever had happened to him. In that one blinding moment when we saw one another for the first time, I knew he was as brash as he was beautiful, and I knew without any doubt that he had chosen me – though for what dark agenda, I could not have said.
My heart went cold and silent in my chest. My throat was dry. My breathing faltered and I was forever changed.
***
We danced. Captain Mordecai and I. Not any traditional dance, but a dance of power. A battle of yin and yang, light and dark, pleasure and torment.
A dangerous dance of right and wrong in a single moment caught outside the tendrils of Time.
It was easy to see the raw and sensual power in that man’s gaze. But also the fear. Fear of being seen for who he was behind his carefully-constructed masks. Fear of finally surrendering to the dangerous desires he clearly felt when he looked at me, knowing my past, knowing I had been enslaved by sadistic aliens. Knowing I had not only enjoyed it, but had come to love my master. All the wrong things. So very wrong.
That was when I knew he wanted me. That was when I knew I needed him.
That was when I knew I had him exactly where we both needed him to be.
An erotic m/m, scifi love story that delves into illicit pleasures that will leave you wanting more.
Mature content including non-con.
Giveaway
Wendy is giving away an e-copy of her Dec. 2017 release “Ganymede: Abducted by the Gods”. Comment on this post below for a chance to win.
Excerpt
(note: at this point in the story, Arcana is mute and must use other devices than his own voice to communicate)
“How old were you when you were taken? What colony were you on?” Mordecai began to pace, his nervous habit. He shoved his hands into his uniform pockets. A dozen questions began to form in his thoughts. He could not hold back. “How cruel were the Arlai to you all? Did they teach you to type, or did you learn it before you were taken? Did they kill your family?” He stopped for a second, glancing at Arcana who sat very still, eyes staring straight ahead. “Are there others you know from your colony still alive on Arla?” He stopped when he saw the tears begin to line the young man’s cheeks again. Arcana bowed his head, closed his eyes. His fingers lay unmoving against the tablet. When he breathed in, his nostrils widened, his lips quivered. Overcome, Mordecai was about to tell him to relax, to rest a day, but then Arcana’s fingers moved. Mordecai bent to read the words as they slowly filled the screen.
I will answer all your questions. I will tell you my story. Can the tablet make a voice for me?
Mordecai reached out and adjusted a setting.
Arcana’s eyes opened and his fingers moved swiftly. A soft, slightly high tenor male voice sounded throughout the room, tone artificially flat as it spoke Arcana’s words.
“The Arlai are devourers.”
For a moment, Mordecai did not want to hear. He wanted to shut it all out, close his eyes, see only blackness upon blackness where not even the stars could rupture his singular denial. He had been an almost-victim. He had come so close on Tri-Gate to being taken. Everything being equal, this man could have been him, their roles reversed, waiting years to be rescued, never to feel safe again.
Even having averted kidnapping, Mordecai never felt safe. Was he ready to hear this man’s story?
As captain, he had no choice.
Slowly, he lowered himself to the couch by the wall. He forced himself to listen. The story was not quite what he expected.
“The Arlai are devourers,” the synth-voice repeated. “They are all. They are the soul, somber, surreal, bringers of pain, bringers of rapture. They do not kill; their love is pure but different, not human.”
He frowned at the statements. Maybe Arcana had gone insane. Under the circumstances, that would be understandable. He wanted to pepper questions at him again, but refrained and let him continue.
As if reading his mind—or perhaps Arcana had seen his frown out the corner of his eye—the tone seemed to change as the fingers typed slower and the story digressed.
“Honorable Captain of the Stars, if I am to answer your curiosity, I should write to you all I remember from the beginning of my remembrances. If this is your command, shall I begin now? Will you be able to hear me? Will you be offended at the nakedness of my truth? I do not believe I can censor my own life, but I also would not presume to compromise you or offer you any discomfort. I sense unease and would never wish to disrupt your command.”
Mordecai opened his mouth to respond but the computer voice continued without pause.
“Please excuse my awkwardness; the language is old for me, from another life. I await your demands.”
Arcana took his hands from the board’s surface. They lay clenched in his lap now. His head lowered again. It seemed he was nearly cringing.
Author Bio
I love to write. I have this thing about words and how they are used to describe beauty, love, and all the things that open us up inside to our true self, our power. Words do that for me. They make me happy. The new moon smiling, the sadness of a fallen feather at dusk, predatory eyes gazing through smoke.
The reason I write romance these days is because the overwhelming power of falling in love (which has been proven to heal even cancer) is a game-changer. It makes sad people instantly happy. It makes bleak reality look sun-warmed and friendly again. But it can also be a feeling of total agony, which is why I always give my characters a happy ending.
I have written in all genres: scifi, fantasy, horror, paranormal, contemporary, erotica, romance. Also, my poetry has won awards, publishing contracts, and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A fiction story of mine won Writers of the Future. My fantasy/horror fiction and poetry has received honorable mentions from esteemed editor Ellen Datlow in “Years Best Fantasy and Horror”. I am a hybrid writer, publishing both indie (under my press name Eye Scry Designs) and with publishers including “The Android and the Thief” with Dreamspinner Press in 2017.
My two most recent books are: “Ganymede: Abducted by the Gods” (Dec. 2017) and “Prey” Jan. 2018).
All my books are available on Kindle and CreateSpace.