Clan Beginnings: Clan and Crave - Chapter One, Scene Three

 

Releasing May 31.  Pre-order now: Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, print

 

 Sletran is certain he's screwed up. He has agreed to meet up with a certain Imdiko he once rejected, a young man he has no interest in. Conyod might have a big surprise for him...he isn't the kid Sletran remembers.

* * * *

Nobek Sletran sat in a bar in Kalquor’s capital city, convincedhe’d made a mistake. It wouldn’t be the first time, but since this potentialerror involved a sensitive Imdiko, he winced in anticipation of committing it.

Not just any Imdiko. A psychologically damaged Imdiko with arocky history. It was dumb to have agreed to meet him, Sletran. Dumb.

He sipped his bohut and watched for the scrawny runaway kidhe’d rescued from a group of bullies nine years earlier. Sletran could handlehis liquor, but he wished he’d started by drinking kloq instead. The last thinghe needed was to get tipsy when dealing with a hero-worshipping boy.

He’s an adult now. You heard his voice, how deep it’s become.Conyod was what, twenty-four? Twenty-five? Still a kid, really. Sletran thoughtof the lost, hurt teen who’d made no secret of his crush on the Nobek for the pastdecade. They’d kept in touch because Conyod had desperately needed a friend, thoughSletran had maintained their communications text-only during the past few years.The baritone that had spoken to him on the com three days prior had been ashock. Sletran had barely been able to credit his ears when the calleridentified himself as Conyod.

“I’m working in the capital. Since you’re stationed nearby,I thought we could meet for a few drinks and catch up.”

Sletran had been so caught off guard by the mature voice,he’d agreed. Afterward, he’d regretted it. Conyod was a great kid…young man,he amended…but it was time he stopped seeing Sletran as a bigger deal than theNobek was. He was merely a soldier who’d given a skinny, defenseless runawayImdiko a little help and encouragement. Nothing special.

It was embarrassing to be worshipped like a hero.

His dour ruminations were interrupted by a few whistles.Heads turned, and Sletran glanced to see what the fuss was about.

A gorgeous young man had stepped in the bar. It shouldn’thave been a big deal, but his gentle expression shouted Imdiko. The caregiverbreed was the rarest of the males. A single Imdiko walking in without clanmateswas rarer still. The Nobeks and Dramoks in the room, many unattached, weretaking notice.

For good reason, beyond the handsome fellow’s designation. Sletran,who’d made the decision years before to commit to the empire’s military groundforces rather than to any long-term relationships, couldn’t help but admire thenew arrival too.

The focus of almost every man’s attention was around the Kalquorianmale’s average height of six-foot-five. Wavy black hair spilled to the middleof his back. It framed beefy shoulders and a devastatingly handsome face.

The Imdiko grinned at his admirers. He kept them from convergingon him by shaking his head, pointedly searching for someone in the crowded bar.

He looks vaguely familiar. It suddenly hit Sletran, and henearly dropped his glass of bohut.

He had to be wrong. There was no way the stunner with theknockout body was Conyod.

The young man caught sight of him, and his smile stretchedwider. “Sletran!”

Fighting to keep from gaping in astonishment, the Nobekstood. He managed a clumsy bow, which Conyod laughingly copied.

“Conyod. You, uh, you grew up.” And wider. The Imdiko he’davoided seeing for years wasn’t as tall and brawny as Sletran, but he wasn’t alightweight by any means. He filled his white shirt impressively, its fabricstretching across a chiseled chest. His thighs did the same for his trousers.

“I still wouldn’t arm wrestle you for drinks.” Conyod lookedhim over, his grin brighter by the second. “When were we last face to face? Sixyears ago? You haven’t changed a bit. Yeah, a glass of bohut, thanks,” he toldthe Dramok waiter who’d arrived and openly ogled Conyod.

The Imdiko ignored the lustful gaze from the server and droppedto the seat across from Sletran’s. Sletran drifted to his floor cushion, hisgaze locked on his companion.

Mother of All, this was no kid. Conyod was a man. A lot ofgorgeous man.

* * * *

Heneeded a hero and found two. Can love rescue him again?

NobekSletran never took Imdiko Conyod’s infatuation seriously when he rescued himyears before. When Conyod shows up in his life again as a strong and successfulman instead of a traumatized victim, Sletran has to reconsider the one he oncerejected and now can’t imagine life without.

Conyod hasnever given up on the man he considers his hero. Sletran is all he’s everwanted for a clanmate, and he’s determined to win him at last. But the past refusesto be laid to rest. When Conyod convinces Sletran to see him for who he’sbecome, will who he was resurface and destroy the love they’re building?

Sletran’scommanding officer Dramok Erybet is instantly fascinated by Conyod when thesoldier brings his love on base for a visit. However, Sletran isn’t the NobekErybet feels is right for him. When he rejects the Nobek, he risks losingConyod too.

Againstthe backdrop of heartbreaking childhood tragedy, a ghost who haunts Conyod andhis grief-stricken family, and military brass determined to oust Erybet fromthe rank he’s worked so hard to reach, three men must come to terms with whothey are. When tragedy strikes, the nightmares of the past must be faced andburied once and for all. Conyod, Sletran, and Erybet must dare everything tofind redemption and hold on to each other.

 

Releasing May 31.  Pre-order now: Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, print