Sol Crafter's Blog, page 14
April 21, 2013
Heroes & Villains, by Harper Kingsley
In case you haven’t seen it yet, this is the new cover for Heroes & Villains, which will be coming out August 14th from Less Than Three Press. I’m super excited about this (and you know you are too, nanu nanu.)
134,000+ words of superhero/supervillain interaction and eventual romance. Set in a world where metahaumans are accepted and there’s more than just a job in superscience to fall back on, Vereint dreams of using his metabilities to become someone great. Even if that means being the bad guy.
Here’s the Goodreads page. (I have no idea how to update the cover art. That’s a bit beyond me at the moment 
)
VEREINT GEORGES — starts out as the superhero Starburst, but becomes the legendary supervillain Darkstar. All he wants is to be respected and admired as he makes a splash in Megacity.
WARRICK REIDENGER TOBIAS — billionaire playboy and superhero Blue Ice. Member of the League of Superheroes. Kind of a douche at first; he gets better as the story goes along and he lets himself accept what he really wants out of life.
CASPIAN DUKES — this half-Atlantean superhero and member of the League of Superheroes doesn’t even bother with a secret identity. He is Warrick’s best friend and partner in crime.
Here, because I love you, have an excerpt from Allies & Enemies:
[Warrick and Caspian are superbro'ing it up.]
Aliens. It was aliens again.
He remembered a time when the thought of aliens brought to mind awkwardly waddling glob-monsters that just wanted to go home. Now he had to deal with aliens that wanted to suck out peoples’ brains before absorbing their organic tissue into its heaving mass of pink and red ick.
“E.T., go the fuck home!” he yelled, dodging out of the way of a writhing tentacle that burned the asphalt like acid where it hit.
“Why do all aliens have to look like fucking Jell-o monsters?” Caspian asked. He’d been given a dart gun loaded with some kind of chemical that was supposed to render the blob monster helpless, crystallizing its insides or something. Only the darts he’d fired so far had all bounced. Neither one of them was having a good time.
Warrick blasted an oncoming tentacle, freezing it in mid-air. “Not all aliens are blob things,” he puffed. “Some of them are hot alien babes sent to seduce strong virile superheroes. Remember Blandromeda? She kept trying to get into my pants. I had to have Lady Arcana give her the girl-talk about why I wasn’t into her generous offer.”
Caspian snorted. “She was sent to destroy Earth’s mightiest heroes by infecting them with space herpesyphilaids. You dodged a bullet, man. Charismo’s wiener had to be surgically amputated after it started smoking and melting. Dude’s still bitter about it.”
“Didn’t the Mechanic give him a robo-dick though? Wasn’t that good enough?” Warrick froze the tentacles heading toward Caspian, giving him a chance to fire another shot.
The dart bounced.
“Dammit.” Caspian tumbled out of the way of a finger-thin tendril. Seemed like the space blob was trying to teach itself to be stealthy. “I don’t know about you, man, but I like my original parts. And if I ever decide to get anything replaced, I don’t want it to happen because I caught an STD from some space hooker.”
Warrick cackled. “Space hooker. That shit’s going in my diary.”
They had been maneuvering the blob away from the civilians trapped in the overturned bus and hazmat suit wearing police rushed in to hustle them out of the way. It was the best they could manage until their League backup arrived with better weapons.
The blob quivered with frustrated rage and a shudder went through the whole thing. There was a disgusting sucking-gurgling sound and an oozing maw lined with human-bone pseudo-teeth opened up.
“Have you ever seen the movie ‘Teeth?’” Caspian’s voice had gone up hysterically. “That shit gave me nightmares that went something like this.”
Warrick leapt up into the air and swooped down to snatch Caspian up under the arms just as the blob jumped into the spot Caspian had been standing. Angry tentacles reached for them, trying to grab a trailing foot, but Warrick carried them up high enough it couldn’t reach. He blinked sweat from his eye.
“Whoo, that almost got ugly,” he said.
Caspian gave a wordless whimper and his grip on Warrick’s shoulders was almost painful.
“You guys all right?” a brassy voice asked.
Warrick turned to find Witch Fire hovering on her broom. “We’re fine, but you better have brought something to handle that thing. If it eats one more person, it might get too strong to be stopped.”
Witch Fire made a face at him, but reached into a velvet satchel at her waist and pulled out a glass vial filled with a glowing blue liquid. “It took a while, but the lab boys whipped this up for you. You freeze it and I’ll pour?”
Warrick shifted Caspian around until the guy could clamber onto his back. “I got this.”
There was something about using his abilities that made all of the problems he faced seem tiny and far away. It was as though his metability froze his emotions too. It was one of the things that made him great in a fight–he always kept a cool head.
Focusing down on the pool of liquid ice that always seemed to lap away in the deeper corners of his mind, Warrick called it out of him and down his arms. It was distilled winter blasting out of his hands, the kind of deadly cold that nothing living on Earth could hope to survive.
To him, it felt warm. Like a shot of straight whiskey burning in his belly, only it went through his whole body.
The alien blob was frozen solid, though it only held a few minutes. Whatever was at the heart of that thing had a molten core and a hunger for living flesh.
It was frozen long enough.
Witch Fire unstoppered the vial, releasing a puff of noxious black smoke she kept well away from her face, and she zipped down to pour the thick, viscous blue straight down the creature’s maw. Making a mouth had been a mistake.
“We need to get back!” Witch Fire yelled, zooming past him.
Warrick didn’t hesitate to follow, ducking behind the safety of a skyscraper. “What’s going to happen?”
“Oh…” There was a thunderous BOOM! and the wet splatter of regurgitated organic matter slapping against buildings and the ground.
“Just that.” Witch Fire’s grin was positively demonic. “Enjoy the clean up, boys.” She zipped away in a flash of trailing red hair.
Warrick came back around the building to see the result of their actions. “I feel like we just got F’d in the A.”
“Word.”
Gobs of red and pink stuck everywhere like half-digested steak tartar. There was already a rancid smell happening and Warrick’s mouth watered in the way that warned he was about to vomit.
Caspian made a heaving noise behind him and Warrick twisted so Caspian fell loose, then caught him around the waist from behind. He gripped Caspian by the hips as Caspian bent forward and began to throw up, the vomit hitting the ground below with a sickening splash.
Warrick squeezed his eyes tight shut and tried to hold his breath and picture kittens. Cute, cuddly, furry, non-vomiting kittens.
“Sexy alien babes would be so much better,” he said.
“Yeah,” Caspian garbled agreement.
The post Heroes & Villains, by Harper Kingsley appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
April 4, 2013
My dog was so sick
Sorry, I didn’t mean to disappear off the face of the Earth, it’s just that my dog has been really sick. Like to the point where there was talk of putting him to sleep.
I’ve been nursing him along and it seems like he might be getting better, but he’s still at a very dangerous point in his care. He’s been getting frisky the last two days — he turns his face away when I’m squirting food in him and he saw me coming earlier with the q-tips for his nose and made a break for it — so I’m really hopeful that he’s going to pull through.
If your dog ever comes into contact with rat poison, vitamin K1 is your friend (not K2, that’s different stuff) and you can buy it online without a prescription. Even if you’re not sure, you don’t have to worry too much because K1 won’t hurt your dog; it just won’t do anything. So if you take your dog to the vet thinking it might have gotten into rat poison, they’ll just shoot him up (the regimen for rat poisoning seems to be K1 injection and a cleanse, then K1 pills for the next month, and Densoyl pills.)
Oh, and Denosyl antioxidants, which are supposed to save your dog’s liver from being damaged, costs from $80-190 a lot of places. Which is why I was over the moon to find out the dietary supplement SAMe is the same stuff and only cost $30 for 60 tablets of 200 mg (for the size of my dog, I give him two.)
From lying on the floor, unable to lift his head, to walking around and giving me a sassy attitude, I’m so amazed by how much better he already is. I can’t say that he’s better yet and there’s still a chance that he could take a downturn in the next few days, but from being completely hopeless to thinking that he might be all right… It feels like my heart is too big for my chest.
(BTW, he didn’t get into rat poison at our house. I’m giving my neighbors the serious side-eye, though I won’t say anything because there’s no proof. And the way rat poison works, he could have been exposed up to two weeks before he started getting super sick. It looks like he only got a small dose, otherwise he would have already been dead.)
The post My dog was so sick appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
NOVEL: The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley [mm suspense] – Chapter Thirteen
Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature
Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
All day long he had felt nervous flutterings in his stomach, but now that the moment was finally here… Danny felt completely calm. It was as though a veil of serenity had draped itself over him and nothing bad could touch him.
Marshal had shown up earlier than usual tonight so there would still be some time before dinner. They were sitting out on the back patio with a bowl of dark purple grapes between them. Olivia would have one of the maids call them in when it was time to eat.
“That sunset is amazing,” Marshal said, popping a grape in his mouth. “You have a truly great view here of the mountains and the pond. It looks like something out of a painting. Picturesque.”
“Yeah,” Danny said. “Artie helped me pick out the land. He was really choosy too. I think there were several realtors that he just completely managed to destroy.” Danny had been mildly horrified at the monster he had unleashed, but the results were magnificent enough that he’d swallowed any complaints.
“Well, he helped you make a good choice.” Danny didn’t know whether to be amused or disgusted by Marshal’s habit of talking while eating. On one hand it was gross, but on the other it was Marshal doing it.
Being able to ignore even the disgusting parts of Marshal told Danny that it must have been some kind of love. He wanted to see how far they could take it.
“Would you like to be able to see the view every day or even whenever you want?” he asked.
Marshal gave him a raised brow look. “What do you mean?” he asked.
Danny jerked his chin up and looked directly into Marshal’s eyes. He fought off his every instinct. “I’m asking if you would please move in with me?”
There was a long moment where Marshal didn’t do anything and Danny started to feel nervous, then Marshal flashed him the brightest grin he’d ever gotten. “Yes!”
He blinked at his own vehemence, but never lost his grin. “I would be glad to move in with you,” he said more normally.
Danny felt his cheeks getting hot and finally had to glance down and away from Marshal’s eyes. He was just glad he’d held out that long. He’d proved how much Marshal meant to him. “Good. I can have some movers over to your place whenever you’re ready.”
“Whoa, wait.” Marshal held up his hand. “Like actual ‘movers’ movers?”
Danny nodded. “Of course.”
“So I’m not going to have to drive my raggedy boxes over myself in the backseat of my car? Other people will come and do it all for me?” Marshal sounded delighted.
“That’s wonderful.”
He was so goofy in his giddiness that Danny couldn’t resist chuckling. Marshal had managed to bring laughter and joy back into his life. He hadn’t felt this generally pleased with the world since before his parents had died.
“I’m glad you’re so appreciative of the idea of movers doing all the work for you,” Danny said.
“I don’t think I’ll have them pack my things for me,” Marshal said musingly. “There might be classified documents stashed around my apartment. I’ll just have them be the ones to to do all the heavy lifting while I sip lemonade and read a fashion magazine.”
“You sound like you’ve planned this all out,” Danny said. “Should I warn them in advance?”
Marshal snorted. “Don’t do that. You’ll suck all the fun out of my first opportunity to pretend that I’m Richie Rich.” He picked up a grape in each hand and made like they were kissing or something; Danny wasn’t sure what he was enacting and didn’t want to ask. “I should borrow a dog and spray paint a dollar sign on his side.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “And who am I supposed to be in your little psychodrama?”
“You’re my Gloria Glad.” Marshal smiled, pleased with himself.
“Yeah, no.” Danny snorted. “I’ll be Richie Rich and you can be Gloria who I’ve generously moved out of the orphanage and into my mansion.”
“Ooh, are you going to come up with outfits for us so we can cosplay?” Marshal teased.
“I think I have a red sweater somewhere.” Danny tried to sound smooth, though all the flirting was making him blush all the way down the front of his chest. Even the tips of his ears throbbed with heat.
He felt giddy and his lips quirked up at the corners all on their own.
* * *
With Danny all flushed and flirty in front of him, Marshal had to fight back the impulse to lean forward and taste those laughing lips.
His mind was caught on the idea that he was going to be living with Danny. It was sudden, but he hadn’t hesitated to say yes.
The thought that he was going to be able to see Danny every day made him want to sing stupid songs and dance around like someone trapped in a musical. It felt like things were moving forward and in a good direction.
He followed Danny inside with a deep chuckle as they went into the game room to play with Legos.
Some people might have thought their dates were too tame, but Marshal was happy. It was amazing to know that Danny had invited him into his world. There was a quiet contentment growing inside him.
He hadn’t been so happy since he was a kid staying with his grandparents. Before the outside world became something real and terrifying. Because there are just some things he wouldn’t be allowed to have.
“Are you not happy?” Danny asked. “If I pressured you too much, you can just tell me and I won’t be upset.”
Marshal looked at him in surprise and saw the way he was nervously sticking bricks together, pretending that his hands weren’t shaking.
Marshal felt such a wave of tenderness that he reached out and caught Danny’s hand in his own, squeezing gently. “I’m happy being here with you,” he said firmly.
“There’s nowhere else in the world I would rather be. The idea of living with you–seeing you every single day–it’s something I want more than anything.”
Danny shot him a glance from beneath his lashes, just a quick flash of blue eyes. His cheeks went pink and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “Okay,” he said.
Marshal scooped a handful of Lego bricks out of the nearest bin and began snapping them together. It was soothing to create something with his own hands.
“Joanna and I got a new case at work,” he said. “Another disappearance. It made me worry about you.”
“About me? Why?”
“Because the thought of losing you somehow makes me afraid.” Marshal raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what I would do if you disappeared someday with no warning and no clue about where you went.”
He glanced at Danny with a depreciating smile. “I’ve fallen in love with you, you know.”
For a second he was actually afraid that he had made Danny cry. Then there were arms wrapped around him and he was pulled into a gloriously tight hug. He could feel the sharp point of Danny’s chin dig into the top of his shoulder and more than anything he never wanted to let go.
He forced himself to drop his arms when Danny pulled away. Being all clingy would win him nothing and possibly lose him everything.
“You give good hugs,” Marshal said.
Danny smiled and lowered his eyes to his lap. “I try.”
There was just something so remarkable about Danny. Remarkable and stronger than anyone would expect.
“It will be nice being able to see you all the time,” Marshal said. He could tell by the tilt of Danny’s lips that Marshal’s words had made him happy.
“Why don’t you break out the schematic and I’ll help you put this thing together,” Marshal said. “You know, if you want my help.”
Danny smiled at him. “Of course you can help. And maybe the next city can be one that we build together.”
“I would like that,” Marshal said.
Life was good. He didn’t think that anything could take this feeling away.
* * *
For such a large mansion, the security was ridiculously slack. There wasn’t even a large fence for him to jump, just a vast expanse of neatly cut grass leading up to the house.
He was almost disappointed.
There was roving security, but they walked in clumps of two and three and their voices were loud enough to warn him through safely. Even the camera placements were ridiculously obvious.
It made him wonder who wanted to see dear Daniel Worth dead. It had to be someone in his personal security, maybe even the head. There was no way he should have been able to get onto the property, much less walk right up to the house in the middle of the night. Someone should have tried to stop him, but it didn’t happen.
There was something delightful about being able to drift around inside the house, peering into rooms and touching things with his gloved fingers. He could do anything he wanted and there was no one around to stop him.
He could do anything he wanted, and the fact that he didn’t do anything on this visit… that was his power. His control.
And to peek in on Daniel Worth and see him curled up on the king-sized bed with FBI Agent Marshal Newman… it made his palms itch. He could practically feel the blade slipping through tender flesh. There was the ghostly feeling of hot blood splashing against his face.
He stood there for a long moment, holding his own breath so that the only sound he could hear was the two men on the bed breathing in sync. Marshal took deeper breaths while Daniel made an occasional murmuring-hum deep in his throat. They were peaceful together, their hands tangled together on top of the coverlet in the slight space between them.
He watched them for a long moment, then he turned away and walked down the hallway back the way he had come.
Soon, he thought. I’ll come back for you soon.
* * *
Having professional movers pack up his apartment and haul everything across town was the kind of luxury Marshal had never thought about. He’d always handled things himself, so he’d never quite realized how easy it could all be.
Men showed up, his things disappeared into boxes, and that was it. He met the moving truck at Danny’s house and watched as his possessions were unloaded onto the lawn into organized groups of boxes before being carried inside.
“Come on, I want to show you something,” Danny said, taking Marshal’s hand.
Marshal let himself be tugged up the stairs to a bedroom down the hall from Danny’s own. It looked as though the decorator had just finished setting it up and now it was just waiting for the personal touches of its new occupant.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“This is your room,” Danny said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“What? Wait. I thought we were going to…” Marshal pressed his lips together and looked at Danny. He didn’t want to bring pressure on Danny, but he’d really thought they were going to be living together, not just sharing space in this monstrous house.
Danny smiled and shook his head. “I should have said something earlier, I’m sorry.” He patted the bed with his hand. “This is your room, but you don’t have to stay in here.”
“What do you mean?” Marshal asked.
Danny shrugged. “Everyone needs their own space, and this is yours. This way you have somewhere to go in case you ever want to get away from me.”
Marshal smiled and took Danny’s hand in his own. “I can’t see a time when I wouldn’t want to keep you close.”
“I can’t believe you just said that,” Danny said with a chuckling huff. “You’re like a greeting card.”
“I’m you’re greeting card,” Marshal said with a nod. He dropped his eyelids sleepily and put on his most over the top ingratiating smile. “You can read me any time you like, baby.”
Danny blinked at him twice, his lips tugging down at the corners enough that Marshal was starting to get worried, then he burst into loud, delighted laughter. His mouth spread wide and a little open, showing off his white teeth when he tipped his head back. His eyes squeezed tight closed and his shoulders shook with delight.
He was suddenly vividly alive.
Marshal stared at him. He had never heard that laugh before or seen that open expression. He wanted to wrap Danny’s happiness around himself and soak it in through his skin, his whole body. He wanted to always feel like this when he looked at Danny.
“I’m going to have to make you laugh more,” he said when Danny had quieted, but was still smiling.
“What?” Danny asked. The red tinge across his cheeks and on the tips of his ears meant he’d heard perfectly fine.
“Nothing,” Marshal said. “I was just basking in your presence, that’s all.”
Danny blushed and Marshal tried to hide his delight.
“You’re ridiculous,” Danny said. He hopped to his feet and pulled Marshal’s hand. “Come on, let’s go spread your things around the house. I want you to feel completely comfortable.”
Marshal thought about the largeness of the house and the expensive furnishings, and huffed through his nose. But Danny was looking at him expectantly and there wasn’t a single trace of irony or meanness anywhere. Danny really was that impossibly straightforward.
“Yeah, let’s spread my stuff around,” Marshal said, “then we can eat.”
“You’re always hungry,” Danny said.
Marshal squeezed Danny’s hand. “I told you, I’m in love with your cook. If you ever dump me, I’m going to ask her to run away with me.”
Danny slanted him an amused glance, the corners of his lips curling up. “I don’t know who you think you are, but Olivia loves me dearly. She’d be more likely to run away with me than with you.”
Marshal clasped his free hand to his chest with a gasp. “Then I would have two broken hearts. I would have to buy a small cottage in the country and fill it with cats to keep from wasting away with the loneliness.”
“I don’t even know where you get any of this,” Danny said, rolling his eyes. He released Marshal’s hand when they reached the boxes neatly stacked in the hallway. He didn’t hesitate to rip the tape off a large box.
Marshal started opening another box, but he was mostly gazing at Danny, watching his every move.
I would spend the rest of my life acting silly and making you laugh, Marshal thought. Then he chuckled to himself. I am so far gone on him. Danny.
People had fallen in love with him before and there had been several times when he’d thought he’d felt the same, but what he felt for Danny… Marshal had never been in love before.
But he was in love now.
/CHAPTER
The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley
Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature
Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However, neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.
Prologue -- 2723 words (11 ms pages) Chapter One -- 3533 words (15 ms pages) Chapter Two -- 7868 words (32 ms pages) Chapter Three -- 7913 words (32 ms pages)
Chapter Four -- 6303 words (26 ms pages) Chapter Five -- 4309 words (18 ms pages) Chapter Six -- 4144 words (17 ms pages) Chapter Seven -- 6350 words (26 ms pages)
Chapter Eight -- 2354 words (10 ms pages) Chapter Nine -- 5240 words (21 ms pages) Chapter Ten - 2713 words (11 ms pages) Chapter Eleven -- 3366 words (14 ms pages)
Chapter Twelve -- 2560 words (11 ms pages) Chapter Thirteen -- 2539 words (11 ms pages)Chapter FourteenChapter Fifteen
Entries can easily be read at Kimichee.com.
The post NOVEL: The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley [mm suspense] – Chapter Thirteen appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
March 20, 2013
Marshal: The Panic Pure
I’m wrapping up The Panic Pure and I’ve been going back through and rereading some stuff. Which means I get to see my characters from a bit of a distance. Here’s my thoughts on Marshal:
Marshal is almost sickeningly romantic, and I like that he realizes it. He has these sweeping thoughts and a stylized image of Danny, but he’s just a guy when he talks out loud. He thinks all kinds of sappy stuff. Writing him feels a bit like letting go.
I’m a closet romantic. Meeting me in real life, you’d be shocked by how nougaty my inner core is. My personal idea of romance is pizza and a movie, though I guess somewhere in me I dream of white lace and flowers.
Because otherwise, I have no idea where Marshal came from.
He’s a terrible FBI agent, by the way. A beautiful lover of Danny, but I don’t think he could solve his way out of a paper bag.
Read The Panic Pure at Kimichee.
Here’s Marshal and Joanna being paperwork ninja:
EXCERPT:
Marshal could feel Joanna burning a hole in the side of his head with her eyes and more than anything he wanted to yell at her to cut it out. Instead, he gave her a steady glance and calmly asked, “What?”
She smirked. “So, word on the street is that a guy in a suit dropped off that fancy lunch for you. Dare I ask who the sender was?”
Marshal shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He double-dipped a gyoza half in sauce and popped it in his mouth.
“That’s a very fancy box that your lunch came in,” she fished, raising her eyebrows.
“Why don’t you just eat your sandwich and apple and let me enjoy my meal?” he asked.
“Because I’m super curious about how you managed to get your hands on such gourmet goods,” she said, while obligingly picking up her sandwich half–he saw that it was peanut butter and grape jelly, which only made him appreciate his food more.
“Hey, is it my fault that you have an elementary school lunch? I wasn’t the one that packed it for you this morning,” he said.
Joanna made a face, though her eyes danced. “We both know that I have about zero cooking skills. Peanut butter and jelly is just my speed, you know, unless I want to take up vending machine bingeing again. And we really don’t want to go there.”
“What you need to do is find yourself a man that knows how to cook,” he said.
“Like you did?”
Marshal couldn’t help looking around to make sure no one else was close enough to hear. Sure, the Bureau was supposed to be all about non-discrimination, but he’d lived long enough to realize that most policies were entirely dependent on the people you worked with.
“Don’t worry,” Joanna said. She took a sip of her coffee. “Even if I yelled it from the rooftops I’m pretty sure that no one here would honestly give a damn.”
“Better safe than sorry,” he said. “And shouldn’t you be drinking a juice box with your kid lunch? Coffee seems way too grown up for you.”
She snorted. “If I could have my drink of choice here at work, this coffee would have a couple of shots of Irish love in it. Especially since I’ve still gotta go through all of these reports.” She lifted a stack of files a couple of inches before dropping them with a grimace. “Why can’t we be out on the streets catching the bad guys?”
“Because we’re paperwork ninja,” he said. It was one of the sad facts of his career that he had never been shot at, threatened by anyone other than Joanna, or been able to violently take down a bad guy. For the most part, he went to work in the morning and made it home at the same time every night. “We live the life that other agents’ wives only dream of. Too bad neither one of us has any kids or anything because we’d be able to spend plenty of time with them.”
Joanna chuckled. “But at least one of us has a warm body to go home to, right?”
“Yes, I keep my body temperature to a toasty ninety-eight degrees,” he dead-panned, then ducked the pen she threw at his head. “Watch it, you could have put my eye out.”
“At least then you’d have a story of danger to tell your sweetie. It might get you some freaky death-risk smoochies.”
“Are you two discussing job related topics again?” a cool voice interrupted.
Marshal jumped a little, then turned to see that Agent Barry Landau had somehow managed to come right up to his shoulder. “Whoa, I didn’t see you there.”
“Duh,” Landau said, rolling his eyes. “You and Starkweather were too busy gossiping like girls. Shouldn’t you be working?”
“It’s our lunch break,” Joanna said, not-quite glaring at him.
Landau scoffed. “Is that all you do, come in and eat lunch and talk all day? ‘Cause you know, the rest of us are out there actually getting the job done.”
“You know what, I’m pretty sure that we’ve cleared more cases than you ever will,” Marshal said.
“Yeah, by doing all the desk work that no one else wants. You spend all day reading reports and filing paperwork. I’m pretty sure the Bureau could replace you two with a couple of secretaries,” Landau said. “Two pretty ladies instead of you two… might be nice.”
“Why don’t you crawl back under your rock or something?” Joanna growled menacingly. Marshal didn’t like how she was squishing the remnants of her sandwich in her fist.
Landau laughed. “Smooth comeback, Starkweather.” He walked off, back toward the corner where his cronies hung out.
“That guy is a real dick,” Joanna said, glaring after him.
Marshal looked at her, his eyebrows feeling like they were touching his hairline. “That’s really all you’ve got to say about him?”
She shook her head, the corner of her mouth twisting. “That’s all I can say about him at work. I’ll write up a list of his attributes and email it to you later. Off the clock.”
“You’re a real piece of work, Starkweather, you know that?” he laughed.
“Finish your food, Newman,” she said.
It was their personal joke. They had called each other by their first names from the very first moment they’d met. It was as though they had been born to be partners, there was just this instant sense of camaraderie and comfort.
/EXCERPT
The post Marshal: The Panic Pure appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
March 11, 2013
NOVEL: The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley [mm suspense] – Chapter Twelve
Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature
Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.
CHAPTER TWELVE
They continued their dinners together and weeks passed. Enough that Danny didn’t feel so much like spinning apart whenever he asked Marshal to sleep over. And all they ever did was sleep.
It got to be something Danny looked forward to. There was something about listening to another person breathe in the darkness that soothed Danny instead of completely terrifying him as he would have thought.
He was happy and that had everything to do with Marshal. It felt as though he had finally learned how to live.
“You’re smiling. A lot.”
Danny turned his head to give Arthur a grin. “I think I am. Do you think we should be concerned?” He widened his eyes humorously. “Maybe it’s fatal!”
Arthur nudged his shoulder gently. “I’ll take you to the doctor for a checkup later.”
They were in the study. Danny had been reading “Kirith Kirin” when Arthur decided to make his presence known by snatching the book out of his hands and flipping through it.
“Were you missing me? Is that what it is, you were pining for my company?” Danny waggled his eyebrows. “Just because I’m in a relationship now doesn’t mean I don’t have time for you, Artie. We’re best friends forever.”
“Oh, one look at you and anyone could tell you’re either in the midst of a relationship or a midlife crisis, and you’re a bit young for the latter.” Arthur paused his book flipping to raise his eyebrows. “What exactly are you reading here? Wasn’t this kid just like fourteen or something?”
Danny ran his finger across the waxed table, drawing lines and circles. “You should read it before you make a big judgment. It’s a beautiful story.”
Arthur read a few more pages before handing the book back. “Sorry, friend, not my bag.”
Danny groaned. “I know you think it’s funny, but whatever accent you’re trying to do is simply awful.”
“How do you know that’s not the response I want to get?” Arthur stuck out his tongue childishly.
Danny snorted a laugh. “Well, if that was the plan, then you succeeded beautifully.”
Arthur stood up from the couch he’d gracelessly flopped down onto and paced in front of the shelves of books. “I worry about you,” his voice dropped seriously. “I try not to, but I can’t help myself.” He turned to look at Danny. “I’m glad you’re doing as well as you are. I’m glad you found someone that cares about you and who you actually care about.”
Danny smiled. “Me too.”
Marshal had been wonderful, more so than Danny would have thought he deserved. He still couldn’t figure out how he had gotten so lucky to end up with someone like Marshal in his life, but he wasn’t going to waste it.
“I’m happy,” he admitted.
“Good,” Arthur said. “You deserve to be.”
“Now we just have to find someone for you,” Danny teased.
“Hey!” Arthur wagged his finger. “That right there is subject closed. You know I’m not ready to settle down. I’ve got another four years before I want to even think about settling down and raising babies or any of that stuff.”
Danny laughed before suddenly falling serious. “I really like Marshal. What would you say if I decided to keep him?”
“‘Congratulations, when’s he moving in?’” Arthur raised his eyebrows.
“Exactly.”
* * *
Being an FBI desk jockey meant dealing with the reality that sometimes things didn’t work out and there were some cases that resulted in dead ends. Janeane’s case was one such.
They’d tracked down the boyfriend–a young black man named James Southerfed–but he’d had a pretty solid alibi after Janeane left his apartment. They’d climbed into cabs side-by-side after a romantic goodbye and he’d gone straight to the airport. Two weeks in Florida for his job, and he came home to a missing girlfriend.
Marshal hated to admit it, but after awhile it didn’t even feel like his cases represented people anymore. Janeane had just been a name and a photograph.
Right up until he imagined what it would be like going away for work only to come back and find Danny missing, possibly forever. Murder would have broken something in Marshal, but to always be left wondering… the not knowing would have killed him.
Talking to James left him feeling disturbed enough to go up three floors and bother his old friend Hamilton Assanti.
“I’m telling you, Hammy, loving someone means seeing their face in every missing person’s case. I think it’s fucked up my brain.” Marshal slumped across Hamilton’s desk.
Hamilton had been doing something busy with sensitive information and looked a bit as though he wanted to tell Marshal to get lost. He refrained.
“How long have you been in love for?” Hamilton asked curiously. He’d loosened his tie in the privacy of his office and he was in his shirt sleeves, though it would take a lot more for him to seem slack. He just had one of those faces that seemed perpetually on the job.
“I don’t know,” Marshal said, “forever? We’ve only been dating a little while, but I had a complete case of the instants the first time I saw him. I think I’m losing my mind.”
“It sounds like it.” Hamilton steepled his hands in front of his chin. “How does he feel about you?”
“It’s not one sided,” Marshal said. He didn’t know if Danny loved him, but he knew there was something there. “He’s got issues.”
Hamilton made a murmuring hum in his throat. “I’m really not that surprised. You’re someone that thrives on the kind of drama that would send me up the wall. He at least knows you’re dating, right? Each other?”
They’d known each other since college, so Hamilton had seen Marshal in his most stupid of moments. Still, Marshal wasn’t thrilled about being treated as though his being in love meant he’d lost all touch with reality.
“Yes, he knows we’re dating. Each other,” he added off Hamilton’s raised eyebrow. He flopped into one of the chairs in front of the large desk. “I’m telling you Hammy, he’s complete damaged goods, but he’s sweet and maybe a bit naive. I feel like he needs me, and I need to be needed, but it scares me too.”
“Why would you be scared?” Hamilton asked. He looked like he was trying to maintain his disinterest, but he had always been the go to guy and it was a role he’d reveled in as long as Marshal had known him. Whenever someone needed a keg, or a ride or anything, Hamilton had been the man to turn to.
“He’s been hurt.” Marshal clasped his hands together on his knees. “You just gotta look into his eyes and you can see he was hurt and not put back together right. I don’t want to be another chink in his armor.”
“You’re scared you’re going to break his heart. Good.”
Marshal blinked in surprise. “It’s good that I might end up hurting him?”
Hamilton shook his head. “That part’s not good, but the fact that you care is. It’ll make you more careful with him, which is good if he’s as damaged as you seem to think.” He raked a hand through his dark brown hair with a sigh. “Look man, no one wants to spend their whole life alone, so if he’s letting you in that’s a really big honor, one you shouldn’t waste by being stupid and careless. Treat him like precious goods and never forget that you don’t want to hurt him.”
“I really don’t want to see him hurt,” Marshal said. “He’s been through too much and I don’t want to add to everything that’s been bad in his life.”
“Then don’t.” Hamilton sighed heavily. He’d never been very fond of giving romance advice, but he was good at it. “The fact that he’s let you into his world at all is a sign that he wants more in his life than what he has now. If he lives as strictly regimented as you suggest, then maybe he’s searching for some way to break out.
“He wants to live and enjoy his life. And it looks like he’s open to letting you be part of it.” Hamilton gave Marshal a piercing look. “Don’t screw him up more. This might not work out between the two of you, but don’t let yourself become another scar on his psyche.”
Marshal shook his head. “I don’t want that either.” He wasn’t going to insist that he and Danny were going to be together forever all roses and ponies. He knew that every relationship came with the risk that it wasn’t going to work out.
But he knew that he wanted to have something with Danny. Something real.
* * *
-THE SPACES IN BETWEEN-
Tracking Lauren Green felt a bit stalkerish, but there was no way Arthur was going to let her show up and surprise them. That way lay madness and giving the enemy the upper hand.
She’d left the airport for a five-star hotel far enough away from anything Worth related that Arthur could almost hope she wasn’t going to cause trouble. But he’d met her and he’d seen her pull off frightening levels of deviousness and what could only be taken for outright EVIL.
So he felt no qualms about calling Vanessa and having her send someone to follow Lauren Green wherever she went. He wanted to know her every move until she returned to whatever rock she’d crawled out from under.
“Why don’t you ever call her ‘doctor’?” Sophia asked. She was sitting in the guest chair in front of his desk and had been listening to him give commands over the phone.
“Because a doctor is someone trained to help people. I don’t see her helping anyone else but herself.” He didn’t mention all of the terrible things he’d seen her do to Danny; Sophia suspected enough, she didn’t need the confirmation.
“Hm.” Sophia stood, smoothing out her skirt. “My break is over. Would you like to have lunch tomorrow?”
Arthur glanced at the calendar on his desk. “Looks like I’m free. Call me before you come down?”
She nodded and strode briskly from the room, her back straight. The door clicked shut behind her.
Left alone in his office, Arthur seriously had to wonder what was going on. He almost would have thought she was interested in him, but she was Sophia Hawthorne. She was probably voted “most likely to eat her mate” in high school.
He took the small yellow pencil out of his desk drawer and wrote “Lunch” on his calendar. His secretary would know not to schedule anything else for him.
Sometimes being both Danny’s personal lawyer and chauffeur felt like too much, but he enjoyed his job. Besides, it allowed him to watch after Danny and make sure he was kept safe.
Danny had his demons from childhood, and Arthur had his own. Watching from the sidelines as terrible things were done to his friend… that was the kind of guilt and regret that would last him the rest of his life.
* * *
“There’s been another one.”
Marshal froze with a handful of files in his hand. “Sir?”
Director Kevin Crane’s expression was pinched tight. “There’s been another missing woman. You’ve already got the Brooke’s case. I want you and Starkweather to take this one too.”
Marshal set down his files and leaned his hip against the side of the desk. “Any reason to think it ties with the Brooke’s case?”
“Nothing hard. I just have a feeling in my gut.” Crane shook his head. “Maybe I’m getting old and seeing ghosts where there isn’t anything, but we’ve had a big jump in missing person cases lately. It puts me on edge. There’s something going on.”
Marshal kept his expression bland. “We’ll handle it, sir.”
Crane gave him a long look, then nodded decisively. He held out a file to Marshal. “Figure out what happened to her,” he ordered.
The folder was pathetically thin, which Marshal knew meant he and Joanna were supposed to fill it. All the mysteries of — he glanced at the name — Starla Jane Danville were his to unravel.
And God did he hope they weren’t really dealing with a serial killer.
Marshal knew he wasn’t quite the FBI agent that appeared in TV and movies, but he didn’t care either.
He hadn’t chosen his profession for the adventure factor or so he’d have book fodder to feed his retirement. No, all he’d ever wanted to do was help catch the bad guys and make the world better for good people given a raw deal. People like Danny.
He couldn’t help being amused when he realized how much of his life revolved around Danny. All unknowing, he’d let Daniel Worth crawl under his skin.
He hadn’t been happier in a long time.
“Hey, put on a sober face,” Joanna suddenly ordered. “Considering the kind of case we’re supposed to be cracking, you shouldn’t look so completely contented with yourself. It’s creepy.”
She sounded amused. So Marshal didn’t hesitate to snort rudely. “There’s nothing wrong with being happy with my life. It’s a sign that I’m a supremely awesome individual.”
It was Joanna’s turn to snort. She hadn’t even looked away from her computer screen; she was in “job mode.” The staccato clack of her keyboard came at such speeds that the sound of individual keystrokes was actually several keys hit too fast to differentiate.
Joanna really was a paperwork ninja, which is why he’d decided on first meeting her that she was the perfect partner for him. They were the agents that stayed in the office and didn’t get murdered in some guy’s butterfly hut with birds shrieking all around and rose petals falling like cinematic snowflakes. He’d never even fired his gun outside of training.
“Stop daydreaming,” Joanna ordered, her fingers still typing away. “I want to be able to go home tonight. Get your work done.”
Marshal sighed. “You’re a cruel task master. I think I’m feeling abused.”
“Keep wasting time and I’ll abuse you,” she threatened.
“All right, all right.” Marshal uncapped his favorite highlighter, which came in a truly obnoxious hue of green. He wasn’t allowed to use it on official documents, but he liked to see Joanna’s horrified face when the marked up files crossed her desk.
He caught a glimpse of her eyes glaring for a second at his pen, but she refrained from starting a fight. She had other means of making him rue his actions.
It was one of the amusing little games they played.
* * *
The FBI should have probably made him worried, and following a pair of them around should have been inconceivable. It was taunting danger, risking being caught for nothing more than simple amusement.
Except these Agents were completely pathetic and blind too. He actually felt a bit insulted that they had been put on his case — he deserved the best the FBI had to offer and instead he got these two. It was a bit insulting.
He was very pleased to discover Daniel Worth though. It almost made him feel grateful to his bumbling pursuers.
Daniel Worth was a diamond in the rough. And there was no doubt that until he was broken he would scream so pretty.
/CHAPTER
The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley
Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature
Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However, neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.
Prologue -- 2723 words (11 ms pages) Chapter One -- 3533 words (15 ms pages) Chapter Two -- 7868 words (32 ms pages) Chapter Three -- 7913 words (32 ms pages)
Chapter Four -- 6303 words (26 ms pages) Chapter Five -- 4309 words (18 ms pages) Chapter Six -- 4144 words (17 ms pages) Chapter Seven -- 6350 words (26 ms pages)
Chapter Eight -- 2354 words (10 ms pages) Chapter Nine -- 5240 words (21 ms pages) Chapter Ten - 2713 words (11 ms pages) Chapter Eleven -- 3366 words (14 ms pages)
Chapter Twelve -- 2560 words (11 ms pages)Chapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter Fifteen
Entries can easily be read at Kimichee.com.
The post NOVEL: The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley [mm suspense] – Chapter Twelve appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
February 23, 2013
“Centrifical,” by Sol Crafter #mm
Currently being serialized at Less Than Three Press as part of the Rocking Hard Anthology. First chapter is free.
Title: Centrifical
Author: Sol Crafter
Genre: mm romance
Summary: Marty is the star of a B-rated sci-fi show. Jim is a rock god. They grew up as nerds together. Now Jim is coming home.
You remember when I was squeeing about this, right? Well, it’s started its run and I am very excited.
Go check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
The post “Centrifical,” by Sol Crafter #mm appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
February 22, 2013
Diary entry
Sometimes I like to go on Amazon and take a peek through the free apps. I’ve found a few winners — ColorNote is definitely one — and of course there’s been a few losers.
Well last night I found Icon Diary — which has the icon of a teddy bear — and I’m actually really enjoying it. Especially since it lets me update my little png diary entries to Twitter or Facebook or whatever. It’s very cute and easy.
I guess I’m just one of those people that believes people should have a little fun in their life. Add a bit of cute nonsense to counteract all the grim reality.
Plus this app seems like something a kid would really enjoy.
The post Diary entry appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
February 6, 2013
Where did Heroes & Villains go?
In case anyone has been wondering where my novel “Heroes & Villains” has gone — it’s off Amazon and everywhere else — it’s very simple: I’ve signed a contract with Less Than Three Press and they will be re-issuing “Heroes & Villains” in the coming months.
I’ll let you all know when it’s available again. I’m very excited and I know LT3 will make my book baby beautiful.
Spread the Love:
The post Where did Heroes & Villains go? appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
January 4, 2013
“From Diamond to Coal: Arc One,” by Sol Crafter
Title: From Diamond to Coal: Arc One
Author: Sol Crafter
Genre: mm science fiction
Word count: 44,704 words (179 ms pages)
Rating: teen+
Summary: William and Alan come from two different worlds, but from their first meeting their lives have been entwined and their feelings for each other grows. Meanwhile, a sinister remnant of William’s past is threatening their future and happiness, bringing up memories best forgotten.
Arc One is currently available for the price of US $0.99 at Amazon and Smashwords. If you’ve been enjoying the free version, think about showing your support for an author and purchase a copy to enjoy on your ereader.
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The post “From Diamond to Coal: Arc One,” by Sol Crafter appeared first on Harper Kingsley.
All content copyright HarperKingsley.net unless otherwise stated.
Please do not steal my words. In a hundred years they are all that will be left of me.
January 1, 2013
NOVEL: The Panic Pure, by Harper Kingsley [mm suspense] – Chapter Eleven
Title: The Panic Pure
Author: Harper Kingsley
Genre: mm suspense thriller
Rating: mature
Summary: Daniel Worth, billionaire and CEO of Worth Enterprises is questioned by FBI agent Marshal Newman about the disappearance of one of his employees. They strike up a conversation and soon are regularly meeting and begin dating. However neither realizes just how close danger is lurking.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Super awkward morning after–averted. Super awkward evening after–currently in progress.
Marshal wouldn’t have thought he would be so willing to go forward with it, but there was honestly nowhere else he wanted to be. Sitting at the dining room table in Danny’s mansion carefully slurping some kind of noodle-laden tomato and vegetable soup. His biggest worry was dripping it down his shirt or making obscene sounds with his mouth.
Everything else would figure itself out on its own and he refused to be worried.
He was happy being in Danny’s company.
“This soup is delicious,” he said, gesturing with his spoon. Then he coughed as some pepper tickled his throat and hurriedly drank some water. He felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“It’s one of Olivia’s specialties. She used to make it for me when I was sick.” Danny held his spoon in his left hand while he ate nibbling bites of bread with his right. It was strangely adorable.
Marshal wondered how many other people got to see Danny like this. He didn’t think very many, but he still couldn’t help being jealous of all those fictional people his imagination insisted on projecting. He wanted to keep this time with Danny for himself alone.
Seeming to sense his gaze, Danny met his eyes. Then his fair skin flushed red and he looked away. He fumbled with his spoon. It was endearing.
Marshal had to admit, things hadn’t turned out as completely awkward as he’d worried. Danny was Danny, and that was a guy that Marshal really liked.
He was able to show up for dinner and it felt perfectly right. He liked Danny more than a lot and that was amazing to him.
He’d always lacked commitment before, but Danny brought it out in him. And he liked that. He liked the man Danny was making him become.
* * *
-THE SPACES IN-BETWEEN-
Arthur didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He’d been avoiding Danny for the last few days, quietly driving him around before escaping. He was worried Danny would be able to read the truth on his face.
He lived in the guest house, which was beautiful and lavish and the kind of place he’d never thought he’d see the inside of when he was a kid. It was like living in a mansion of his own, but Danny liked to keep him close.
Right now he wished he was a hundred miles away because some completely paranoid part of his brain insisted that Danny would be able to read his thoughts through the walls or something.
Arthur curled up in his favorite chair with his phone. It only rang twice before Sophia answered.
“Arthur, this is a surprise,” she said. “Is something happening?”
He blew out his cheeks. “It’s a Code Black,” he said.
She gasped. “Are you sure?”
“More than sure,” Arthur said. “Vanessa called me the moment the alert hit her desk. Lauren is back in the States and she’s heading this way.”
“That bitch,” Sophia cursed. “What are we going to do?”
“We keep her the hell away from Danny at all cost,” he growled. “She is not to come near him. I don’t want him to know she’s even here.”
“You don’t think that might make him angry with us later?” she asked. There was no reluctance in her voice, just honest curiosity.
“I’ll take the blame if it comes to that,” he said. “I’ve got no problem playing the best friend card, but there’s no way I’m letting her crawl back into his head again.”
“Do you really think she’s going to come for Mr. Worth?” Sophia asked.
“I don’t have a single doubt in my mind. She gets her rocks off by torturing him.” He sighed. “She couldn’t have picked a worse time, right when he’s just coming out of his shell.”
“Well, it’s good we’ve got a bit of an advance warning,” Sophia said. “It would have been a disaster if she’d shown up unexpectedly. It could have caused a real setback.”
Arthur stood up, his bare toes curling against the heated wood floor, before walking into the kitchenette. There was half an apple pie in the fridge that he was making no attempt at resisting. He needed something to wipe some of the stress away.
“We’ll have a lot to do tomorrow,” he said, opening the fridge. He wasn’t even going to bother with a plate, it was just him, a fork and the metal pan. “I’ll let you go.”
“Goodnight,” her warm voice said. Then she laughed and added, “Enjoy your pie!” before hanging up.
Even with the horror descending on them, Sophia still made him huff a laugh and shake his head. He appreciated that, though he did wonder how she knew he was eating pie. But then again, there was very little that Sophia didn’t seem to know. She was moderately awesome.
* * *
There was something going on. He wasn’t completely oblivious.
Danny thought about making demands, but he really wasn’t in the mood. Arthur seemed to have a handle on things, so Danny decided to just let it be. It would be nice to leave all the stress for someone else.
Instead, Danny enjoyed the relationship developing between him and Marshal. It was nice just to be happy for once.
They had eaten their usual quiet dinner together, then Danny had taken Marshal to his private indoor swimming pool.
“I used to love swimming as a kid,” he said, staring at the far wall. “Then I didn’t like it for a long time because of something that happened. I had to work hard to get back my love of swimming, but it was something I thought was worth it.” He swiped his hand across his face. “Because it was something my mother really enjoyed.”
“Thank you for telling me,” Marshal said after a quiet moment.
Danny nodded. “It needed to be said.” He threw himself into swimming to the far end of the pool. Opening his mouth and letting any of his true self out was hard, but he knew it had to be done. If he locked himself up too tight, it would all fester and rot within him. And he was tired of just letting himself fade away.
He wanted to be real just one time in his life.
Danny swam with a strong stroke he’d learned from his mother. It was one of the few things he had left of her other than the blue eyes he’d inherited. There were some times when he didn’t think he even remembered the look of her face anymore.
His hand touched the broad tile of the pool wall and he gripped it with his fingers as he turned around so he could face Marshal. He kicked his feet lazily to keep from sinking.
Marshal had pulled himself up out of the pool and was sitting on the edge, his feet dangling. The black swim trunks Danny had loaned him clung to his thighs and Danny carefully didn’t focus on Marshal’s crotch though his eyes wanted to linger.
Marshal had broad shoulders and a trim waist that Danny couldn’t resist admiring. His chest was smooth and tanned, marred by a jagged scar that cut beneath his right pec. Danny kept glancing at the scar and away, not wanting to believe that it might have been caused by the blade of a serrated knife, but fearing that it was so.
Danny blushed when Marshal caught him staring and hurriedly looked away. He’d been ogling him like a piece of meat.
There was a splash and he looked to see that Marshal had dropped back into the water and was swimming toward him. He was tempted to escape, but he kept himself in place, waiting for Marshal to come to a splashing halt in front of him, bobbing slightly.
“Why are you blushing?” Marshal reached out with his right hand to touch his fingers to Danny’s chin.
Danny shook his head, unable to meet Marshal’s gaze. “Nothing,” he said, which didn’t make any sense and resulted in him blushing more. “You’re kind of splashy when you swim.”
Marshal laughed. “Yeah. I nearly washed out of FBI training because of my terrible swimming skills. There was talk of relegating me to the kiddie pool.”
“Come on,” Danny said. “I’ll show you how it’s done.”
“All right,” Marshal said agreeably.
* * *
Swimming with Danny followed by slices of Black Forest cake. It was the perfect kind of evening he’d thought only happened in movies. The fact that he’d caught Danny sneaking peeks at his body only made it better, though he kept a tight rein on his libido to keep from scaring Danny away.
After they finished their cake, they spent half an hour with Danny’s Legos. Marshal felt proud of his ability to follow directions and earned himself one of Danny’s quietly pleased smiles.
Clicking blocks together, Marshal tried not to think about how good Danny had looked in his swimsuit earlier. He had a whole reel of mental film to go over later when he wouldn’t end up embarrassing himself.
He’d been surprised by the whole swimming thing, but he’d definitely been pleased with the result. He’d gotten some great swim lessons from Danny, and he’d been allowed to see Danny in fitted blue trunks that showed off the long, lean lines of his body. He only wished he’d gotten some pictures to save, because he never wanted to forget the way Danny had looked, wet and bare chested, his dark hair slicked back from his face.
“I had a lot of fun tonight,” he said.
Danny had his legs crossed and was hunched forward over the map he’d unrolled on the floor. He looked at Marshal through the fringe of his hair. “Me too.” He smiled sweetly. “I like hanging out with you.”
Marshal was going to have to turn in his man-card, because that warm burst of feeling that spread through his chest was definitely making him think of hearts and romance. There was some arousal there–he was only human–but he could have happily spent the rest of his life having nights like this one and being on the receiving end of Danny’s smile.
He ducked his chin to hide the big grin taking over his face. “I love you too,” he said, then froze.
There was a horrible moment of silence and he actually squeezed his eyes tight shut to try and block out the rejection to come.
He’d been the first one to say the words. He’d opened his mouth and blurted out the three most loaded words in the English language: “I love you.” He’d upped their relationship without testing the waters, and there was a chance Danny was about to bring down the ban hammer.
“Wow.” There was genuine awe in Danny’s voice. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”
That wasn’t exactly a reciprocation. Marshal was still bracing himself for rejection.
“I’m not going to say I love you,” Danny said, and Marshal winced. “Not until I’m sure. I… I do really like you though, and I would like to have a lasting relationship with you.”
Marshal opened his eyes and sat up straight. He tried to pretend that his heart wasn’t trying to beat it’s way out of his chest. “So you wouldn’t mind if I called you my boyfriend?”
Danny wrinkled his nose. “‘Boyfriend’ sounds strange for people our age, and ‘manfriend’ sounds kind of perverted, and ‘partner’ seems oddly impersonal. I don’t know what we should call our relationship, but I know I want to have one with you.” There was white showing all around his eyes, but he was trying.
“I’m just gonna say it, you melted me with your words.” It was true, and Marshal couldn’t help laughing joyously. He felt giddy and stupid and he was tempted to grab Danny and kiss him if it wouldn’t result in an episode of freaking out.
Staying seated was the hardest thing ever, but being able to watch Danny’s every emotion slip across his face made it worth the effort.
Danny tossed a spacesuit wearing Legoman at him.
Marshal snatched it out of the air. “Careful! I might not want to stay in this relationship with you if you poke out my eye.”
Danny gave him a wide-eyed look that relaxed into a shy smile and his eyes looking down and away. “You could wear an eye-patch and I’d call you Nick Fury.” There was a hint of pink on his cheeks.
“I could do that.” Marshal held his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I think I could pull off being Samuel L. Jackson. Because he is totally the only Nick Fury I believe in,” he hastened to say off Danny’s look. “It’s like how there’s only one Hannibal Lecter and that’s Anthony Hopkins. The remakes just don’t cut it.”
“I have no idea how to respond right now.” Danny’s lips were twitching. “You’re… you’re a giant dork,” he said fondly.
Marshal purposely scuffed his hand through his hair and put on his best set of smoldering eyes. “The sexy kind of giant dork, right?” He pouted.
Danny burst out laughing. The moment was good.
When Danny asked him to stay the night, Marshal had to fight to keep from giving a fist of victory. Following him up the stairs was the best thing ever. He felt as though he should be floating up the stairs like someone out of a cartoon, a big smile on his face.
They moved around each other in the quietness of the bedroom. Danny took the first shower, emerging in his cotton pajamas with the buttons all done up the front. Marshal tried not to stare at the adorable pink piggies that were his toes, though he did take a mental picture as he walked into the bathroom.
He showered quickly and put on the set of pajamas he’d been given, raising his eyebrows when he realized they were exactly his size. It looked like Danny had sent someone shopping for him.
It made him grin at his reflection in the mirror, a delighted and somewhat crazed expression he tried to wipe away before going out to face Danny. The last thing he wanted to do was freak the guy out.
He was surprised to find the blankets rolled down and Danny sitting on his knees in the middle of the bed, a mildly terrified look on his face.
“Are you all right?” Marshal asked.
Danny licked his lips, which were quivering slightly. “Y-yes.” He nodded firmly. “I… I really like you and I would like to have a lasting relationship with you.” His fingers fumbled at the buttons of his pajama shirt as he began to undo them. “I know there are some things we need to do to make this a real relationship.”
Marshal had no idea what was happening, but he knew it wasn’t anything that Danny wanted. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He hurried forward to grab Danny’s hand, stopping him from unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“But I do want to. It’s just…” Danny’s eyes glistened terrified blue. “I lived with my Aunt Lauren for most of my childhood and… She was not a nice woman. Things happened that I’ve spent years trying to get over.”
Danny shook his head and drew in a wavering breath. “I want to have a real relationship with you. I want… I want what everyone else has. It’s just that there’s some things I can’t do, won’t do. Maybe someday, but I know I’m not ready now.”
Marshal had no idea what had gone on in Danny’s head while he was in the shower, but there was no way he was going to let Danny feel pressured into doing something he didn’t want to. “Look, I love you, like really love you. So if you’re never ready for anything more than a few kisses, I’m a big boy and I can deal with it.” He squeezed Danny’s hands before letting go. “You don’t have to rush into anything we both know you’re not ready for.”
Danny blinked his big blue eyes and Marshal could feel himself melting into emotional goo. “You really don’t mind?”
“Of course not.” Marshal shook his head. He drew in a deep breath and climbed up on the bed to sit facing Danny. “I’m gonna be honest with you. I knew from the first moment I met you that you had some serious issues. It’s not like I’m heading into this blind.”
He lay his hand gently on the knob of Danny’s knee. “One of the things about being in a relationship is that you don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. There’s two of us here, and we both have to agree before we do anything.”
“But…” Danny tipped his head. “I know there’s things you want to do and I honestly don’t mind. If you promise not to hurt me, I’m willing.”
Marshal huffed and scrubbed his palm across his face. “That’s not the way it works,” he said. “We are both in this together. And together we will decide what we’re going to do and what our boundaries are and all that stuff. But we’re not going to do anything like that tonight.
“You’re not ready.”
“I really don’t mind,” Danny said again, almost pleading.
“I mind,” Marshal said firmly. He slowly reached out his hands and pressed against Danny’s shoulders, pushing him back to rest against the pillows. He shifted himself around and pulled the sheets and blankets up as he settled his head on the pillow beside Danny.
He looked straight into Danny’s eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you and I’m not going to let you allow me to hurt you.” He brushed the hair back from Danny’s face with his hand. “Now go to sleep. This, right here, is everything that I want.”
“But…”
Marshal touched Danny’s lip with his finger, silencing him. Then he leaned up long enough to switch off the light before settling back down. “Go to sleep. I love you.”
There was a long stretch of silence, then out of the darkness came a shy whisper, “Me too.”
Marshal smiled until sleep finally claimed him.
The next morning, Marshal was surprised by Danny smiling down at him from the side of the bed, fully dressed in suit and tie and ready to face the day.
Marshal yawned and stretched hugely. “You’re up early,” he said.
Danny shook his head. “No, you’re up late.” He glanced down at his watch. “I’ve gotta go, but I thought I should wake you up first.”
“Well, thank you.” Marshal sat up and ran his hands through his hair, trying to straighten the mess out. “Do I get a kiss?” He tried on a charming smile.
Danny laughed and leaned forward, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “I got you something.” He turned to point at what had become Marshal’s chair, where he’d leave his folded clothes at night.
Marshal didn’t hesitate to climb out of bed and walk over to investigate. “These aren’t mine,” he said, fingering the high quality fabric.
“I had Beatrice pick it up for you,” Danny said. “I’ve been dying to get you into a nicer suit since the first day I met you.”
“It’s nice,” Marshal said. Nicer than anything he’d ever had before. He wondered if he was going to receive a waggle of Joanna’s eyebrows and have to listen to her go on about how he was now a kept man. He found that he didn’t mind. “Thank you.”
He opened up his arms and waited hopefully, his patience rewarded by Danny shyly stepping forward into his embrace.
The hug was brief, but it tided him over all day. He ignored Joanna’s teasing as best he could, his hand caressing the lapel of his new suit.
He didn’t know where his relationship with Danny was going, but he was happy to make the journey.
/CHAPTER
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