0 comments on "Heroes & Villains: “Dinner For Two” by Harper Kingsley"

Title: Dinner For Two
Author: Harper Kingsley
Series: Heroes & Villains
Setting: post-The Wedding, pre-Allies & Enemies
Characters: Vereint Georges, Warrick Reidenger Tobias

Inspiration:

Walking into the penthouse, Warrick was greeted by bags of groceries on the counter and Vereint wearing an apron and nothing else. The sight of that devilish smile and those bare arms and legs made Warrick hitch his step on the way to the hall closet to hang up his jacket.

“What’s going on?” he asked slowly. He couldn’t help tracing his gaze over Vereint, seeing where the brightly colored fabric curved, bent, cupped, and what it did and didn’t cover. It took him an extra few seconds to get his jacket on the hanger and the closet door closed.

“I thought we’d cook dinner together,” Vereint said. “I saw this recipe for garlic butter steak.”

“Steak?” Warrick’s mouth salivated at the thought. “Butter… That’s going to be a calorie bomb though.”

“Tonight’s special,” Vereint said.

“Oh?” Warrick crossed the intervening space and wrapped his arms around Vereint. He peeked over Vereint’s shoulder and couldn’t help grinning at the sight of a bare back and buttocks. He let the fingers of his right hand drift off the apron and lightly brush against Vereint’s skin. He was always so warm.

Vereint obligingly pressed closer to him, one hand going into Warrick’s hair. “Mm.”

“Why’s tonight special?” Warrick asked. He tried to walk Vereint toward their bedroom, but Vereint didn’t move. Warrick stopped pulling at him, resting his whole weight against him instead. If Vereint didn’t want to be moved, there would be no moving him.

“It’s our anniversary,” Vereint said. He must have felt Warrick’s body stiffen with sudden panic because he laughed. “Don’t worry; it’s not our wedding anniversary. It’s the anniversary of the first time I took you hostage.”

“What?”

“You know, when we were in that bank–”

“And you were wearing that horrible shirt!” Warrick laughed and squeezed Vereint.

“That’s when you fell in love with me,” Vereint said.

“No way,” Warrick said. “You terrorized a bank full of people and took me hostage. I thought you were a brat.”

“A brat that you immediately fell in love with because that’s the kind of person you are. You thrive on adversity.”

“And you being a brat is what you consider adversity?”

“No. I call that ‘charm.’ The adversity part comes in when you try to resist jumping my bones as we sear the rib-eye I’ve got on the counter.” Vereint tugged himself out of Warrick’s arms and headed toward the kitchen. The flirty wink he tossed over his shoulder and the way he flexed the globes of his ass were a dare.

Watching him go, Warrick shook his head with a rueful grin. He could definitely feel the adversity now.

Witch King at Amazon
0 comments on "Prompt: 098. dirty computer keyboard"

Prompt: 098. dirty computer keyboard

1. The worst thing about the IT job was fixing the office computers. It was hard to believe that so many people could happily use such dirty computer keyboards.

A. The worst thing about the IT job was fixing the office computers. It was hard to believe that so many people could happily use such dirty computer keyboards. It made her skin creep to see the crumbs and smears of grease on the keys.

The office was a breeding ground for germs. It was like a trip through a sewer every time she had to make an office visit. On leaving she would practically bathe in hand sanitizer and would wash her hands, arms, and face thoroughly once she was back in the IT department.

It reached the point where she finally had to face the facts: 1. She couldn’t do this job anymore. 2. She was going to need a new job.

2. The soda can hit the desk and tipped sideways. A flood of sugary soda covered the computer keyboard, slipping into the nooks and crannies.

A. The soda can hit the desk and tipped sideways. A flood of sugary soda covered the computer keyboard, slipping into the nooks and crannies. By the time he’d lunged across the room and begun mopping up the mess, it was already too late.

His keyboard was dead.

As the office had a no open beverages around the computers policy, he was going to have to buy a replacement keyboard out of his own pocket. And considering how close he’d been cutting his finances, he would be living on ramen, Spam, and rice until his next paycheck.

“Dammit.”

3. There was a dirty old computer keyboard poking out of the ground. Someone had gotten creative to mark the grave.

A. There was a dirty old computer keyboard poking out of the ground. Someone had gotten creative to mark the grave, using a remnant of the old world to help shape the new.

Julienne leaned down to read the name scratched into the plastic of the keyboard:

CRAIG DANSEN
14 YEARS OLD.
HE WAS BRAVE.
HE DIDN’T CRY.

Just another dead kid. One amongst the billions that had died since the end of the world.

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.amazon.com/Harper-Kingsley/e/B0054ICGF0/?tag=harperkingsley-20.

Fortress in the Eye of Time at Amazon
0 comments on "Sneak peek: Complicit"

I was working on a drawing project and this idea popped in my head. It’s called “Complicit” and it’s a short story that will be on KDP Select. As such, expect a download link that will allow you to grab a free copy before it’s released to the public.

“When Hannah was young, she knew her father was a good man. He’d always told her so, and all she’d ever seen were the golden moments.”

ink drawing featuring the word 'Complicit'

* * *

Sent the original post via email from my phone. Several corrections were made and it was kind of a mess. So apologies for that.

Excerpt —

When Hannah was young, she knew that her father was good man. He’d always told her so, and all she ever witnessed were the golden moments: The hotel openings. The resplendent parties. The employees all perfectly pressed to corporate code.

It took years for her to notice that the smiles were forced. Her father couldn’t see it—his smile was always real, a fierce baring of self-satisfaction in a job well done—but she could.

By then, her own smiles were forced too.

People didn’t like her family.

Even though he told her “Don’t read that trash”—she couldn’t resist taking a peek. She worked for the company now. If there was a PR problem happening, then it was her job to fix it. All neat and legal to keep any backlash from happening.

Still, she helped change the narrative. That’s how she explained it to her father later. She was adjusting the media focus with a few philanthropic gestures.

And honestly, it felt good to help mothers and children. It made her think of her own mother—(beautiful face a mess of bruises. The split of her lower lip raw in a way Hannah had never seen before)—who she hadn’t seen in years.

Sometimes she missed the court-mandated visits of her childhood. At least then she’d had an excuse to give in the face of her father’s jealousy. Now if she visited her mother, he would view it as a personal betrayal and she didn’t want him to know that she’d been lying to him for years.

She missed her mother. Helping women and children in need eased the ache.

Even if she never stepped foot at any site, she was the one that authorized the release of funds. She was the one her father smiled at so proudly when she pointed out she’d cleaned up their PR problem and given them a good tax write-off at the same time.

He loved sticking it to the IRS. And sure, they’d caught him a few times before, but he’d always bounced back. “It’s all part of the game, honey,” he’d said after the third bankruptcy. And his laugh had been so loud it made her ears ache.

Sometimes she had to explain things to him carefully. Pointing out the pros and cons of every given situation with her chosen path clearly highlighted. And maybe it helped to dress in rich colors and low-cuts, but that was just business. She knew how the world worked.

Hannah enjoyed the philanthropic side of things. And after her father caused that little mess, she was finally able to start the charity she’d always dreamed of.

She wanted her family name to be remembered for both great and good things.

/EXCERPT

An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good at Amazon
0 comments on "Prompt: 097. gold hoop earrings"

Prompt: 097. gold hoop earrings

1. She clutched the box with the gold hoop earrings to her chest. “Thank you!”

A. She clutched the box with the gold hoop earrings to her chest. “Thank you!”

Though it felt a bit strange to be accepting expensive gifts from him, she’d admired the earrings in the store and wanted them with a desperate longing. To have them in her hands now… there was no way she was giving them back.

They belonged to her now.

2. Steve raised his eyebrows at Linda and nodded his head toward the baby in the stroller. She glanced down, and he saw her eyes widen when she saw the baby had gold hoop earrings in its earlobes.

A. Steve raised his eyebrows at Linda and nodded his head toward the baby in the stroller. She glanced down, and he saw her eyes widen when she saw the baby had gold hoop earrings in its earlobes. Then she looked back at him, her eyebrows drawing together as she gave him a sharp glare. “NO!” she mouthed forcefully.

He shrugged his shoulders with an innocent expression on his face. He’d learned some form of tact. He wasn’t planning on saying a word. Not now anyway. Later he would bend her ear off.

“What are you looking at?” a strident female voice demanded.

Flinching, Steve met the eyes of the baby’s mother. “Nothing,” he said.

“You were staring at my baby,” she said. “Are you a creep?”

“What? No. I’m not a creep.”

She snorted. “You seem like a creep.”

3. The gold hoop earrings had once belonged to his mother, which gave them a sentimental value he couldn’t ignore. Which is why he had his nipples pierced and the earrings became nipple rings that he never took out.

A. The gold hoop earrings had once belonged to his mother, which gave them a sentimental value he couldn’t ignore. Which is why he had his nipples pierced and the earrings became nipple rings that he never took out. It gave him comfort to think that he would never lose the earrings, not even if he had to run again.

They were a comforting weight against his chest as he went about his day-to-day life. He would finger them sometimes when he was alone, feeling out the shapes with his fingertips.

.paypal.me/HarperKingsley.
.patreon.com/HarperKingsley.
.amazon.com/Harper-Kingsley/e/B0054ICGF0/?tag=harperkingsley-20.