Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 11

Rainbow Snippets: No apology needed.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

Eventually, there was no sound save for the occasional sniff from the spellster and the scrape of Tracker’s hand across the man’s robe.

“This person she reminds you of,” Tracker said, mindful how Dylan’s back stiffened beneath his fingers. “You were close, yes?”

Dylan nodded. “Since we were children. A lot of us were. We…” His voice cracked. He scrubbed at his face with his sleeve. “Sorry, I—”

“No.” Tracker shuffled on the spot to fully face the man. “Do not apologise for your grief.” It hadn’t even been a full day since they had left the tower behind. “No one expects you to put aside your mourning.” For someone who had lost his home only yesterday, the man was holding himself together remarkably well.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: The same temper…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

“I know,” Dylan said. “But she has the same temper as—” The man drifted into silence, staring into the fire. He stayed there for a time, his breathing growing increasingly laboured. The swell of his magic wavered with the same intensity, like a droplet not quite caught by the tide. “What I meant to say is she reminds me of…” His voice dissolved into a crackling sob.

Tracker laid a hand on Dylan’s back, barely making contact at first, then rubbing in gentle circles as the touch wasn’t rejected. Unbidden whispers of reassurance slipped out his lips. How much the man heard over his sobs was debateable, but it definitely helped still the erratic flares of magic.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Twisted logic.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

By the way Dylan’s brow creased with concerned bewilderment, the man had caught the thread of hostility in Tracker’s voice.

Gritting his teeth, he breathed slowly until the urge to shed the woman’s blood had waned. “Why? You are not beholden to her. To anyone.” The warrior had outright said she didn’t consider Dylan as a lover, that she harboured some twisted logic where having sex with the spellster supposedly kept him under her control.

And worse, it seemed to work. Not for the reason she believed, but because of Dylan’s nature, that deep-rooted need to please those the man considered close to him.

Seeing her exploitation bearing fruit had him itching for his knives.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Mutual feelings.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

Only when no one emerged from the tent did Dylan finally relax and seem to remember Tracker sat at his side. “Sorry. My nerves are a little…” He trailed off, grinning sheepishly as he rocked his hand.

“A little unsteady is quite the understatement, yes?” He shuffled closer, keeping his voice low and light. “I do not believe their opinion of you would change if they knew we had been intimate.”

“Authril’s would. She doesn’t like how close you’ve been prior to… then, and you didn’t exactly endear yourself to her at The Gilded Lily.”

Tracker grunted. The feeling was very much mutual. Not that her abrasive manner wasn’t anything he hadn’t encountered before, especially amongst those who had seen battle, but her treatment of Dylan was inexcusable. “And the thought of her ill judgment bothers you.” No matter how he tried to keep his true feelings contained, they hissed alongside the words.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Bogeymen and monsters…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

The only logical conclusion Tracker could make of the truth behind the man’s panic was linked to his own hound status. Whereas Authril was a mere mercenary, no matter how much she seemed to enjoy playing the role of Dylan’s warden.

Looking at it from that point of view, he could admit that not wanting to divulge lying with a hound was understandable. They’d been used as bogeymen throughout the tower for far longer than either of them had been alive, a fact which often worked against their usual task of escorting new-found spellsters just as much as it aided in hunting down the rogue ones.

When it came down to it, Tracker supposed he would also baulk at confessing to anyone about being pleasured by the monsters of his nightmares.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Perfectly normal…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

Tracker didn’t understand the panic widening the spellster’s eyes. The others had to know the man was an actively sexual being. Or maybe they didn’t hear him with the warrior as clearly as Tracker. But the woman wasn’t shy about making it known and Dylan was nowhere near as jittery when it came to her advances.

Was the man embarrassed to have engaged in such an act? He recalled Dylan admitting the tower did explain sex to them—a topic they clearly couldn’t ignore, when they’d all manner of people within their walls—whilst the overseers also stressed that it was discouraged. Surely, the tower had also taught them that any feelings they had regarding their attraction, or lack of, to another was a perfectly normal thing to occur.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Like a rabbit…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

Tracker doubted any one of the trio was awake at this hour, much less listening to their conversation. Marin had finished her portion of the watch some time ago and the hedgewitch had been before her. Whereas Authril would be getting what sleep she could until her turn near the end of the night.

“You still fear they will find out, yes?” Although Dylan hadn’t voiced it, the man had expressed a clear discomfort towards the idea of others knowing about the night they’d shared in the tower.

Dylan didn’t answer. His attention remained on the tent like a rabbit frozen in the middle of a clearing.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: A single comfort…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

“It is a saying amongst the hounds. To put it simply, is your preference to be comforted or do you seek for me to provide a solution?” The latter often came via violent means, but he needn’t be so literal when it came to what plagued the spellster.

The lines of confusion deepened upon the man’s face. “I don’t see how either one could help me. The only thing that really stopped my nightmares was when we…” His voice trailed off as he ducked his head, all expression vanishing behind a curtain of dark hair. “You know,” he mumbled.

“Had sex?”

Dylan’s head jerked towards the tent housing the three women. The gossamer sheen of a shield cloaked the man for an instant before fading back into his body.

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Blanket or blade?

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

Tracker nodded solemnly. The man had been through a lot long before returning to find his home had become the site of a massacre. He would’ve been worried about any spellster who didn’t struggle to sleep so soon after witnessing such an aftermath. That Dylan was clearly a man who longed to help people, and blamed himself when he couldn’t, only made it worse.

He settled next to the man, casually propping his arms on his upraised knees. He was certain the night would remain quiet, but it didn’t hurt to keep a weapon or two close at hand. “Blanket or blade?”

Dylan’s brow furrowed. “What?”

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Restless company…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following last week’s snippet…

He slipped through the undergrowth edging the copse they had stumbled across in the fading daylight, halting as he spied another outside of the tents. It appeared he wasn’t the only one still awake at this hour.

They sat by the fire, slowly poking the embers and feeding twigs into the meagre flames that stirred up.

“You should be asleep.”

Their head turned Tracker’s way. Dark eyes regarded him from a pale face framed by black, unkempt hair. The thrum of magic vibrated the air around him. Little more than formless whispers, there in a breath, then gone.

“Tried,” Dylan murmured. “Can’t.”

I’ll see you all with more from In Love and Death next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!