Cover art by Reneé George
ISBN: 978-1-60521-217-3
Genre(s): Futuristic, Sci-Fi
Theme(s): Ménage, Bisexual and More, Spaceport
Series: Spaceport Multi-Author
Length: Novella
ISBN: 978-1-60521-217-3
Genre(s): Futuristic, Sci-Fi
Theme(s): Ménage, Bisexual and More, Spaceport
Series: Spaceport Multi-Author
Length: Novella
Blurb:
With the worst of his rehabilitation behind him, TriZ star Tomak, along with his lovers Zaiden and Ioanne, have some hard decisions to make. In bed, their chemistry is perfect. Out of it, Tomak's tired of being treated like an invalid. Zaiden struggles to resist the lure of the TriZ league, and Ioanne knows that in order to keep her lovers exactly where they belong -- with her -- teaching them to come together may be the only chance they have.
Excerpt:
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The weight clanked back into place. Tomak Trucco wiped beads of sweat from his brow, his spiky hair damp. He looked up into the face of his lover, Zaiden Riccie. Zaiden’s dark brown curls fell over his forehead and concern filled his brown eyes. Tomak frowned.
“You okay?” Zaiden asked. He handed Tomak a white towel.
Tomak mopped his forehead, battling down the frustration raging inside him. “I’m fine. I’m not an invalid.” He ignored the pains in his thighs, muscles worked to exhaustion on the leg press machine. Just a few months ago, he’d pressed at least fifty pounds more. Damn Styng addiction. Getting through withdrawal had left him weak, and with a hovering lover.
“You sure.” Zaiden leaned against the machine, eyeing the door. “We could head back --”
“I said I’m fine,” Tomak ground past clenched teeth. He rose, hating the slight bobble in his step as he moved to the free weights. He grabbed two twenty-pound weights from the rack, ignoring Zaiden’s look of concern. Lying down, he started to work his chest muscles.
“You don’t look fine.” Zaiden sat on the ab bench next to him and offered a bottle of water. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”
The weights clanked to the ground. The sound echoed in the empty gym. Tomak sat up so fast his head spun. “Will you leave me the hell alone?” he bellowed. “I’m trying to get back up to strength here.” Only a week ago he’d been curled into the fetal position, sweating and yelling his way through the last of the detox process. Styng bit hard and kept on biting well after the last hit. “I can do this. I don’t need you hovering around, offering me a towel or a water bottle like a fucking first year recruit.”
Zaiden recoiled from the words. “I just…” He sighed and stared at the bottle he held. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Tomak barked mocking laughter. “Hurt myself? Like dosing myself with illegal performance enhancing drugs wasn’t hurting myself?” He sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair. Truth was, he needed Zaiden. Right now his lovers, Zaiden and Ioanne, were the only people keeping him sane. If he hadn’t had them… he refused to think about what would have happened if he’d been in some sort of clinic and left to his own devices.
I probably wouldn’t have detoxed at all. Deke’s ultimatum be damned.
Zaiden stared at him like a hurt puppy dog. He stood and shrugged his shoulders. “Fine. I’ll go. But if you get sick again and have to clean up your own puke, or better yet lay in it, just remember you’re the one who sent me away.”
Tomak reached for Zaiden, cursing his shaking hand. His stomach rolled traitorously at the mention of getting sick. “Shit. Don’t go.” He cupped his face in his hands and sighed, willing the nausea to subside. “I just…” He balled his hands into fists and pounded them on the bench. “Do you know how frustrating this is? I used to work with weights twice, even three times these. I get winded running for twenty minutes. That’s barely a single quarter in a game. I haven’t been in a zero-G room for weeks. And I bet when I do get back there, I’ll flop around like a first year recruit.”
Zaiden rested his hand on Tomak’s shoulder. “Do you know what it’s like for Ioanne and I to watch you? I want to pick up those weights for you so bad. I can’t. You have to do this yourself, and all I can do is be here for you, because it’s what I can do.” He set the bottle on the bench. “Drink.”
With a sigh, Tomak uncapped the bottle and took a long drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thank you. I’m being an ass. You should have walked out half an hour ago.”
“I should have, but if you’re an ass then I’m a stubborn ass, because I’m not leaving.” He pressed a quick kiss to Tomak’s sweaty cheek. “Why don’t you give me three reps of fifteen with those and we’ll call it a day?”
Tomak picked up the weights, then lay back down. He started the first rep, noticing Zaiden hovering nearby. He wished for privacy he wouldn’t receive. His arms shook. His muscles ached with exertion. Last season he’d been the league MVP -- now he wouldn’t even make the cut at rookie try-outs. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
He grunted his way through the first fifteen, taking only a very short break before the next. Deke had called again last night. His old manager was still hounding him for a chance to return to the team. Apparently each ultimatum of “last time I’ll ever talk to you” faded away with each losing game. He couldn’t play TriZ the way he was now. A combination between Earth basketball and volleyball in zero gravity, with four teams on the field at any given time, TriZ demanded the utmost physical and mental stamina. Players frequently received injuries, some of them life threatening. The fast pace and rough playing style entertained fans. On the field, he’d be pitied at best and seriously wounded at worst.
The last rep threatened to kill him. His pectoral muscles pulled, tiny sparks where neurons fired haphazardly. Braced against the floor, his legs wobbled. Sweat poured from him.
Zaiden remained silent.
Tomak dropped the weights to the floor next to the bench and closed his eyes, sucking in great gulps of air. The doors to the workout area swooshed open, announcing the arrival of someone else. “Let’s get out of here,” he croaked, half-afraid he wouldn’t have the energy to get back to Ioanne’s living quarters. He should have taken her up on the offer to bring workout equipment into the meditation area, but no, he had to be stubborn and insist on walking to the gym. Too late now to change that decision, though Ioanne probably would still gladly make the changes.
He sat, waiting a moment before standing. While he’d been recovering, Zaiden had put the weights away. Together, the two men walked, though Tomak shuffled, from the workout area. And although Tomak didn’t lean on Zaiden, he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to.
Zaiden stayed just long enough to make sure Tomak wouldn’t drown himself in the shower, then left, saying he had business.
Tomak stepped into the meditation room and stared at the pillows and cushions on the floor. Ioanne sat nude in a meditative pose. In spite of the punishment he’d given himself in the gym, seeing her renewed his energy. His cock hardened. His breath quickened, and thinking about her strong, slender fingers all over his body propelled him forward. He knelt by the cushions.
“Ready for me?” Tomak picked up a blue bottle and removed the stopper. He sniffed the oil, redolent with the scent of dark woods and spices. “Very nice.”
“Thank you.” Ioanne opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head. The motion lifted her breasts, her hard nipples pointing right at him. “Why don’t you get comfortable? You’re probably sore after your workout.”
“Sore doesn’t begin to describe it.” Tomak settled himself with a sigh, determined to put Zaiden’s hovering behavior out of his mind, at least for a moment. His lover meant well. The caring nature that made him an excellent physical therapist translated into their relationship. Tomak could no more fault Zaiden than he could himself. Zaiden wouldn’t act like this if I hadn’t gotten hooked on Styng.
Ioanne knelt beside the cushions, sitting on her feet. She picked up the bottle and poured some of the massage oil into her palm. “This has herbs and oils in it to soothe your muscles.” She flattened her palms on his shoulders and stroked the length of his back.
“Mmm. That feels heavenly.” Tomak closed his eyes. He sighed, relaxing his muscles with each long, sweeping stroke of Ioanne’s hands. Beneath her ministrations, his worry about Zaiden faded. With time, Tomak knew he’d grow stronger, and hopefully within that same time Zaiden would relax. At least, Tomak hoped.
“Relax,” Ioanne said. “Your muscles are like rocks.”
A witty comeback tumbled to his lips, held back by the truth in Ioanne’s words. Sure, some parts of his body were supposed to be hard, and they were. His shoulder and neck muscles, however, needed to loosen up.
“It’s Zaiden, isn’t it?” Ioanne continued as if Tomak had spoken. “I know. Trust me, I know how he can be. Give him time. Let him see that you’re coming back.” She kneaded the taut globes of his buttocks before straddling him to work on his shoulders.
Her supple thighs framed his hips, her pussy pressed against his lower back. If he turned over… Tomak grinned. Not yet. The heel of her hand found a particularly tight muscle beneath his shoulder blade. He groaned as she worked her fingertips against it.
“Feel good?”
“Yeah, real good,” Tomak agreed. He closed his eyes on a blissful sigh, the spicy scent surrounding him. Ioanne’s slight weight on his back only added to the massage.
Ioanne moved her attention to the back of his neck. “Good.” Bending forward, she pressed a kiss to the base of his neck. “Because I want you to feel good.”
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