Free Stories

Title: Caspian Dukes and His Best Friend’s Husband
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Heroes & Villains
Frame set: Allies & Enemies, “Good Times”
Characters: Caspian Dukes, Vereint Georges, Warrick Tobias, Melissa Kim
Pairings: Vereint Georges/Warrick Tobias
Genre: friendship, superhero, meta
Summary: Vereint and Caspian go see a movie together.

I don’t know why Caspian is so broody here. Maybe it’s because his mother was a jerk.
—-

The elevator door dinged open and Caspian walked across the lobby with Vereint.

“There’s that new sci-fi thriller about the brain bugs,” Caspian said without much enthusiasm. The poster was glossy and exciting, but the premise was a little too close to his real life.

“I saw that last week,” Vereint said. “The best scenes in the whole movie were all in the trailer. I hate when they do that.”

“Ugh,” Caspian agreed. He kept pace with Vereint while staring at the screen of his phone. “There’s a new Adam Sandler movie.”

Vereint’s grimace was louder than words. Caspian continued the search. Megacity had many cinemas, most were modern movie theaters, but others were small corner theaters that were nearly hidden away from the public.

“Ooh, there’s a showing of Lawrence of Arabia at the Chinese Theater,” Caspian said. “But it starts at ten.”

Vereint glanced at his watch before pushing open one of the double doors and stepping outside. He politely held the door open for Caspian. “That gives us nearly three hours to kill. We could get something to eat before the movie. Plus Melissa’s birthday is coming up and there’s always cool stuff in the Asian Village.”

“Is that where the giant Hello Kitty came from?” Caspian had been stunned at the size of the monstrosity, which took up one whole corner of Melissa’s large bedroom. The white puffy marshmallow of a doll was so massive that Melissa had let one of her friends use it as a mattress during a sleepover.

“How do you know about that?” Vereint asked. He stepped close to the curb and waved his hand. A taxi obediently pulled up in front of him. He opened the door and gestured Caspian in first.

Caspian talked even as he got himself settled. “She showed it to me. I’ve never seen such a big stuffed animal before. I didn’t even know they really made them like that.”

Vereint directed the driver to take them to a pho restaurant in the Asian Village. “I had no idea either,” he told Caspian, picking up the thread of conversation. “My mom showed up with it and expected us to know where to put it. That thing’s way too gigantic, and even though Hello Kitty is cute, that doll is creepy. I’d give it away, but Melissa loves it, the spooky thing.”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of cool,” Caspian said. “Hello Kitty is so cheery I can’t even imagine what could bother you about it.”

“That’s because you’ve only seen it with the lights on,” Vereint said. “Trust me, it’s a whole different story coming across that thing in the dark. It’s positively malevolent. It just seems threatening.”

Caspian rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Next time I face Mindscape, this conversation is going to come back and haunt me, I just know it.”

“Warrick would never give you any peace if he heard you were terrorized by a giant Hello Kitty,” Vereint said. “You might even stop being his favorite superhero.”

“I’m everyone’s favorite superhero.” Caspian met the taxi driver’s eye in the mirror and gave her a polite nod. As an open superhero–especially one with physically inhuman features–he was used to being recognized. At least the citizens of Megacity didn’t come after him for autographs all the time–they were too cool for that.

Being famous was never something Caspian had ever stopped to think about. He’d gone from his birth place in Atlantis to the Above World, and he’d never known anything other than fame. Or maybe it was infamy in Atlantis, where his human blood made him his mother’s greatest shame.

He hadn’t hesitated to leave Atlantis for the Above. There were always people staring at him, examining him from head to foot as though silently wondering what he was made of. It should have made him self-conscious, but he’d never cared. He’d never let himself care, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing his vulnerability.

He was Caspian Dukes and he didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought. He was a warrior, brave and true. The blood of Atlantean royalty flowed through his veins. Who cared that it was diluted by the humanity of his father? He was what he was: a hero.

TBC…

EDIT: “head to food” lol.

* * *

Check out “Allies & Enemies” at: All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookStrand, Goodreads, iTunes, Kobo, Less Than Three Press, Smashwords. — superhero, urban fantasy, mm, drama. Darkstar x Blue Ice.

Panoply at Amazon

Title: Caspian Dukes and His Best Friend’s Husband
Author: Harper Kingsley
World: Heroes & Villains
Frame set: Allies & Enemies, “Good Times”
Characters: Caspian Dukes, Vereint Georges, Warrick Tobias, Melissa Kim
Pairings: Vereint Georges/Warrick Tobias
Genre: friendship, superhero, meta
Summary: Vereint and Caspian go see a movie together.

“I’m back! The meeting was cut short and…” Vereint stopped, looking around the room. “What the…”

Caspian was cradled sideways in his usual armchair, his legs dangling over the arm. He slept with his mouth open, his head tipped back to expose the long line of his throat.

Warrick and Melissa shared the couch, Vereint’s The Nightmare Before Christmas blanket spread across their laps. There were used tissues piled on the coffee table amongst the remnants of earlier snacks. Both of them had red eyes and streaming noses.

The twin expressions of shocked surprise Vereint received made him laugh. The sudden bright sound startled Caspian into jerking upright in his chair. “What?”

“It’s okay, go back to sleep,” Vereint said. He smiled at the way Warrick embarrassedly swept tissues off the couch into an empty chip bag. “What are you watching that has the two of you so emotional?”

Helpless tears streamed down Melissa’s face. She blew her nose into the handful of tissues she held. “It’s a Taiwanese drama, ‘Autumn Concerto.’ I wasn’t expecting it to be like this–he’s such a jerk!–but it’s so sad. It’s full of feelings.”

Caspian groaned and sat up in his chair with a spine popping stretch. “I was lured here under false pretenses. Instead of the promised action movie marathon, I got to watch Warrick pretend that he wasn’t crying. I feel cheated.”

“This is a great show! It’s not my fault that you lack all semblance of good taste.” Warrick was trying to sound aggrieved, but his eyes kept cutting toward the TV. He came across as distracted.

“How many episodes does this show have, and what episode are you on now?” Vereint asked. He didn’t want a repeat of the Dong-yi debacle where Warrick mainlined the show without saying there were 60 episodes.

“There’s 34 episodes,” Warrick said. “I think this is episode 20, but I’m not sure.”

“Hm.” Vereint turned toward Caspian. “Since my plans for the evening are shot, do you want to go see a movie with me? These guys can finish watching their show and neither one of us has to cry.”

Caspian looked from Warrick and Melissa huddled on the couch with teary eyes to Vereint. “This is not a hard choice at all. Let’s go.” He nearly leapt out of the chair to reach his shoes where they’d been kicked under the coffee table.

Vereint waited for him patiently, then gave Warrick and Melissa a little finger wave as they left. “Laters. Me and Caspian are off to actually live life, rather than watch it on TV.”

“This story is beautiful. You have no idea what you’re missing,” Melissa said.

“I’m good,” Vereint said. And they left.

* * *

“So, what movie do you want to see?” Caspian asked. He leaned against the elevator wall as he scrolled through movie show times on his phone.

“Whatever you want,” Vereint said. “The world is our oyster.”

Caspian felt a little strange, since he’d never hung out with Vereint alone, but figured it would be a fun experience. It would be good to get along with his best friend’s husband.

Vereint Georges-Tobias was a quiet kind of guy. He lurked in the background of most situations, letting Warrick handle things. When he did put himself forward, he easily dominated any conversation and quickly became the center of things. He was the most unassuming and effortlessly popular person Caspian had ever met, and he truly and deeply loved Warrick.

On first meeting Vereint, Caspian had seen the handsome face and the doting expression Warrick wore when he looked at him, and he’d figured there was going to be trouble. Vereint was yet another greedy pretty boy out to take Warrick’s money and break his heart. The fact that Warrick actually had feelings for Vereint only made things worse.

Vereint had surprised him in a good way. Witty and charming and surprisingly sweet-natured, the feelings he had for Warrick couldn’t be anything less than sincere. It was a relief for Caspian, who had genuinely worried.

A heart-broken Warrick was not something he ever wanted to see.

TBC…

—-

Check out “Allies & Enemies” at: All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BookStrand, Goodreads, iTunes, Less Than Three Press, Smashwords. — superhero, urban fantasy, mm, drama. Darkstar x Blue Ice.

All Systems Red at Amazon

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.

Read earlier chapters: http://www.harperkingsley.net/blog/free-reads/the-panic-pure/

WARNING: This chapter contains disturbing, possibly triggery events.

*

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 His mouth was horribly dry and he moaned as he tried to move his stiff limbs. He felt confused when he realized he couldn’t bring his arms down from where they were positioned above his head. Danny shivered, his skin prickling from the surrounding cold. His eyes fluttered open with another moan. His brain felt slow and it took a moment for him to put together what he was seeing.

All Systems Red at Amazon

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.

Read earlier chapters: http://www.harperkingsley.net/blog/free-reads/the-panic-pure/

*

 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 The hospital would never be one of Marshal’s favorite places. The smell stung his nose and there was a creepy vibe that never completely went away. Plus there were all the sick people.

He’d waited for several hours before the surgeon came out to say Joanna was in stable condition. She was going to live.

Merina, Joanna’s mom, burst into tears and soaked the side of Marshal’s shirt. “My baby, thank God, my baby.”

He awkwardly patted her on the back. Her bones felt fragile beneath her skin, like those of a bird. It scared him that he might hurt her.