Here is a list of all the authors flashing this week, along with a brief snippet from their latest free work. Click the link after the snippet to be taken to the complete story on the author’s home page.
Jordan’s Second Chance 2.3; by T.C. Collins:
Wynter found himself wandering through the park where he’d first met Jordan and Lucas. Walking over to the large oak tree that had always soothed him, Wynter sat with his back to the tree and his legs drawn up. He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head on his arms. Wynter closed his eyes and inhaled, his breathing ragged. He’d wanted the truth of who he was his entire life—but not like this. To learn he was responsible for the deaths of his parents, what type of person did that make him?
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Sunrise: by Victoria Adams:
J’dol settled back onto his chair and waited for Sian to continue her explanation.
Sian inhaled and released a deep breath. “As I was saying. When she spoke, she didn’t use words. I understood her…in my head is the only way I can explain it. She told me her name was Cathur.”
Purple gasped and looked between Sian and J’dol. “T…that’s the name J’dol told me. He said her name is Empress Cathur and she is the queen of the Tairi.”
“Who we call the Miz-hapen.” J’dol’s voice was a deep growl.
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Second Shot – The Senior Year, Chapter 30: by Andrew Q. Gordon:
“Congrats again.” The footballer player whose name escaped Jason held out his hand to Peter. The two shook, but the guy never let go of his girlfriend. “See you two later.”
“Bye.” Jason gave him a half-hearted wave and watched them walk off. They’d had random people come up several times since the verdict and it still felt awkward. He felt Peter hand’s brush up against his and he grabbed it. “What was his name?”
Peter snickered. “I was hoping you’d know. He seemed to know you.”
“He acted like he knew us.” They started walking toward the Java Shack again.
“So what did you think about your brother’s girlfriend.”
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Trouble Comes in Threes – #7: by; M.A. Church
If I was to believe what they said, then their goddess had paired us together. We were perfect for each other. A balance, Dolf had said. Soul mates. I didn’t know if I believed that, but then again, why not? After all, there were two shifters standing in my house. I believed that. So if that was possible, then maybe the mate thing was possible too.
I wanted to be wanted. So why the hell not? “Yes,” I whispered.
“Really?” Tal bounced again. “Really?”
I wanted that, wanted to be a part of something. All I ever desired was someone to cared for me.
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The Midnight Swimmer; by L.M. Brown:
The first time he had seen the pool boy, as he had come to think of him, had been late one night when he’d be unable to sleep and had wandered downstairs to get a drink. From the corner of his eye he’d caught a movement outside window and had gone to investigate.
The moment he switched on the patio lights the swimmer had changed direction and darted to the other side of the pool. He had climbed out, grabbed his things and vaulted over the gate before Kev had even managed to unlock the door.
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The Hollow: Soul Seekers; by JC Wallace:
“Hey,” Logan said, finally breaking the silence. “Over?”
Unable to stall any longer, Ash slowly rose until he was almost sitting erect and nodded. Wisps of dizziness still spun in his brain. The heavy weight of the upper half of his body almost knocked him back over. He rested his elbows on his knees and nestled his head in his hands.
His legs shook under the weight.
Logan’s gently touched Ash’s shoulder and the shock waves reverberated into the core of his chest. Damned over-developed startle response.
“Ash.” A noiseless pause. “Say something.”
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Grothw, Part 20: by Grace R. Duncan:
Adel didn’t like the smirk on his friend’s face. “You know how to stop that, don’t you?” he asked, and Adel tried, he really did, to keep the glare contained. He guessed by the grin that he failed.
“I do not take slaves.”
“So, you have said.” Bathasar raised his eyebrows. “And, even to save Ghalib from “those men,” you wouldn’t consider it?”
Adel frowned. “I…that’s not fair.” He shook his head. “This… I don’t understand. Perhaps I should talk to him, instead. Maybe he can see reason. He is, as you say, intelligent. There must be a better way to handle this.”
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Dallas in Wonderland II: Chapter Sixteen: by Julie Lynn Hayes:
Leaving the cottage behind, Dallas and Campbell continued to make their way through the dark woods. They strictly adhered to the path, which was just wide enough to allow them to walk abreast of one another. Since it was hard to see, Dallas circled Campbell’s waist with his arm, and Campbell followed suit, to ensure that neither strayed. The warmth of Campbell’s body was comforting to Dallas, and helped to keep his unease at being back here at bay.
Nothing looked familiar and yet everything looked familiar. Sometimes it seemed as if Wonderland rearranged itself to suit each visitor. But that didn’t really make sense, did it? Then again, did anything in this odd place truly make sense?
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Coffee To Stay: by E.S.Skipper:
Chapter 1
Racing to work, I opened the coffee shop door without watching what I was doing, my focus on the hot cup in my hand. The thought of my first taste of caffeine in twelve hours was just too much to bear. I’m Mike Tennant and I am a coffee addict. Not any type of coffee but a short black, full of sweet goodness. Having spent a year in Brazil as an exchange student in my youth I’d been exposed to the wonders of coffee.
“Oi, watch where you’re going,” someone yelled as I crashed into them.
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Hope – Chapter 30: by Chris T. Kat:
I lost all track of time as I followed Silvion through sometimes knee-high grass. After a while we rested at a lazily swirling small creek. Birds chirped close by in a strip of thick bushes and small trees. Everything seemed so cozy and filled with life.
“It’s beautiful here,” I said.
Silvion looked up from his crouched position, water running through his cupped hands. He splashed water into his face, then rose to his feet, taxing me with a long, scrutinizing look. Shane rested next to me, his small chest heaving in a regular pattern. It was soothing just to watch him.
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Surprises: by Lily Sawyer:
“I’m going to ask one last time. Are you going to tell me what the surprise is, or am I just going to sit here on the couch until you do. ‘Cause we’re not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on. Why the mystery?” Bencould be the most amazing man that Tom had ever met. But he hated surprises; Tom knew that when they first started dating. The only surprise he didn’t get into a huff about was the day he proposed to him.
“Honey, I just wanted to do something special for you. I know how stressed you’ve been since you lost that big real estate deal.” Tom sat next to him, wrapping his man up in his big firefighter arms.
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Sealed in Stone #35: by Tali Spencer:
Cyrrhi rose. Death did not yet sit upon her so strongly she must bow before it. She held her hand out to one of the warriors and signaled for its spear. It knelt before its Queen and presented the weapon. As her hand closed around it, Torrey’s heart beat cold around his blood.
Her gaze slid to him. “I can do no more for you.”
Torrey knelt and bent his head to the foot of her throne, to her feet, a bow of honor and obeisance. “What can I do for you?”
“What your kind do best. Remember.”
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The Dinner Party – Part 1; by Johayan:
“Danny, are you just going to stand there drinking cocktails and giggling at me or are you going to help?” Jackie said as she let out an exasperated gasp.
“Do you need help darlin’?” Danny asked with a smirk on his face.
Jackie picked up her glass of wine and downed it in one large gulp. As she sat down the glass, she sighed again.
“Danny, I can cook day-to-day meals pretty well most of the time. Why on earth did I agree to make a formal dinner for the four of us?”
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Love Across Time – Chapter 7; by Jim Dunaway:
As an afterthought Duncan asked, “Did you at least use protection?”
“No. I didn’t even think of it.”
“You realize that while we have eradicated STDs in our time, in this Ethan’s time, they were still rampant.”
“Yeah, I know.” In a whisper he added, “Ethan is HIV positive.”
Duncan’s face turned white. “I assume you’ve had all of the inoculations?”
“Yes, so I’m not worried about getting infected.”
“Okay, back to the original topic. You have to go back to just before you met him and retrieve the object.
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Lost Inside: Chapter 20; by Cia Nordwell:
The Tiger roared in challenge. He was big, bigger than Benny. It didn’t matter. He crouched with his truck at his back. Under his arms and in close was Benny’s best bet. It put him in danger, but it would also put the Tiger’s chest and neck in reach.
He’d have to risk getting his back sliced up. He focused his gaze on the neck, knowing he could take the other Tiger. He couldn’t think any other way and hope to win.
“No!” Yuri streaked passed and slammed into the Tiger just before he hit Benny. They grappled, falling sideways.
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Icky Skin; by Larry Benjamin:
“Here. Try mine,” Alex said offering her the ice cream cone.
She leaned in and reached to steady his hand which held the cone, noticed his thumb. “Ick,” she said and pulled back her hand.
“What?” he asked.
She pointed to his thumb and then he remembered: he’d scratched a patch of dry skin on his knuckle in his sleep so relentlessly, it was now raw and angry looking. Icky.
She turned away and addressed his brother who glanced at him and said something he didn’t hear. She leaned in and licked his brother’s ice cream. Hurt and embarrassed, Alex dropped his ice cream cone into the trash and walked away.
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Lavender: by MC Houle:
One step inside the church and the bittersweet memories of the crisp smell
of lavender woke Jared from his state of apathy. He found his stepmother
on the front row, holding her immaculate white handkerchief to her mouth
in a vain attempt to silence the cries. Uncle James held onto her, his
tear-reddened eyes the only sign of emotion in his features. When he
averted his eyes, Jared swallowed the sting of it and took seat at the
back of the church. Jared hadn’t meant to come back to town before a
longer time had passed. Hadn’t meant to come back at all.
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Controller – Chapter 29 : by Jon Keys:
Eli glared at Jamie as he stood in front of the door. He’d never forgiven Jamie for the stunt he and Michael pulled when I almost screwed up and had sex with them. Eli’s face twisted as he pulled the robe he’d grabbed tight around him and glared at Jamie.
“What do you want?”
As I laid my hand on Eli’s shoulder, Jamie burst into tears. “It’s Michael. I don’t know what to do.”
I could feel Eli tense under my hand. He hated Michael even more than Jamie. Jamie had been relegated to the list of people Eli thought were stupid. Michael…Eli had no use for him.
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Noah’s New Plan – Chapter 28 : by Rob Colton:
Eli checked the time on his phone yet again.
It was a fairly slow night at the Buckle, which only made things worse. He wasn’t checking IDs and he wasn’t tossing assholes out onto the street, so it gave home time to let his mind wander. Naturally, that meant thinking of his boyfriend. He couldn’t wait for this never ending shift to come to a close so he could go be with Noah.
The two men had received their test results from the clinic today and Eli was ready to celebrate.
Thwarted – Part XXXII: by Renee Stevens:
“Hey, where you taking off to?” Trey joined him and Mark led the way up the stairs.
“Nowhere. Just figured I’d double check that I didn’t forget anything.” Mark stepped into the room they’d been sharing, his eyes immediately going to the bags sitting on the foot of the bed.
“I thought we both did that before we went down to dinner.” Trey moved over to sit on the side of the bed and looked at Mark. “You want to tell me what’s really going on here?”
Mark leaned against the wall and studied Trey. He needed to keep his distance, otherwise he was going to let Trey talk him into going back down and he felt, down in his bones, that Trey needed the time alone with his parents.
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Cyan -Ch 6; by Nephylim:
“You’re touching me,” Cyan said calmly as they left the common-room. “I don’t like it. Can you stop please?”
Robin paused, dropping Cyan’s hand instantly. “I’m sorry, I forgot. Why didn’t you stop me?”
“That would have been rude, but we shouldn’t go out there holding hands, Robin. People would get the wrong idea. It’s too late for me now, but it would be awful if I made you gay too?” Robin turned a choke into a cough. “I mean, make people think you are.”
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