Shifting Sands (Anthology) PDF
Preview Shifting Sands (Anthology)
S S hifting andS K g imberly ardner a b lly lue W O illa Kati b b renda ryce J.l. l angley J m et yKleS mlrpress www.mlrpress.com mlr P a reSS uthOrS Featuring a roll call of some of the best writers of gay erotica and mysteries today! M. Jules Aedin Maura Anderson Victor J. Banis Jeanne Barrack Laura Baumbach Alex Beecroft Sarah Black Ally Blue J.P. Bowie Michael Breyette P.A. Brown Brenda Bryce Jade Buchanan James Buchanan Charlie Cochrane Jamie Craig Kirby Crow Dick D. Ethan Day Jason Edding Angela Fiddler Dakota Flint S.J. Frost Kimberly Gardner Roland Graeme Storm Grant Amber Green LB Gregg Drewey Wayne Gunn David Juhren Samantha Kane Kiernan Kelly J.L. Langley Josh Lanyon Clare London William Maltese Gary Martine Z.A. Maxfield Patric Michael AKM Miles Jet Mykles William Neale Willa Okati L. Picaro Neil S. Plakcy Jordan Castillo Price Luisa Prieto Rick R. Reed A.M. Riley George Seaton Jardonn Smith Caro Soles JoAnne Soper-Cook Richard Stevenson Clare Thompson Lex Valentine Stevie Woods Check out titles, both available and forthcoming, at www.mlrpress.com S S hifting andS K g imberly ardner a b lly lue W O illa Kati b b renda ryce J.l. l angley J m et yKleS mlrpress www.mlrpress.com This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright 2010 by Jet Mykles Copyright 2010 by Brenda Bryce Copyright 2010 by Willa Okati Copyright 2010 by J.L. Langley Copyright 2010 by Kimberly Gardner Copyright 2010 by Ally Blue All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Published by MLR Press, LLC 3052 Gaines Waterport Rd. Albion, NY 14411 Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet: www.mlrpress.com Cover Art by Anne Cain Editing by Maura Anderson ISBN# 978-1-60820-025-2 Issued 2010 Prologue ................................................................................................1 Snake Charmer by Kimberly Gardner .................................................. 9 All the Moon Long by Ally Blue ........................................................63 Cock of the Walk by Willa Okati ...................................................109 Hare of the Bull by Brenda Bryce ....................................................153 Lost and Found by J.L. Langley .......................................................211 Pulling the Dragon’s Tail by Jet Mykles ............................................277 Epilogue ...........................................................................................335 Shifting SandS 1 The clack of insanely high-heeled—and insanely expensive— shoes bounced off the varnished wood slats of the walls in the upstairs hall. “You’ll be sorry!” Yi’s grasp of English had grown in the past year, but when she was angry, the Chinese accent kicked back in. Add in a flurry of pure Chinese and Daniel had reason to be wary of the little spitfire he’d married. Stupidest thing he’d ever done. He still didn’t know what had ever come over him. “Yi, damn it, get back here!” Her heels smacked on the wood staircase. Damn, how could such a little woman move so damn fast? His legs were twice as long as hers and he couldn’t catch up. “You fucktard,” she screeched back, filling the house with the sound of her fury. When the hell had she started using that word? He’d only ever heard Russell and Jud use it before. “I’ve had enough of you!” “Yi!” he bellowed, certain the cows in the lower forty could hear her. Did the little drama queen have to involve everyone in their fight? The answer, he knew, was yes. He reached the arch leading from hall to dining room to find Yi standing at the end of the long, heavy table, hands clawed, pretty face twisted into the ugliest sneer he’d ever seen her wear. He cursed when he saw Judson, Mike and Cy sitting at the table, staring at her in shock. Half-eaten dinners sat before Mike and Cy, hat-hair telling him they’d only recently come in. Jud stood just inside the kitchen door, apron slung around his waist, a full bowl of mashed potatoes held before him. “All of you! Gay, country faggots!” She screeched, whipping a red-taloned finger out to gesture at them. “You’re not real men at all! I’ve had enough of you. You don’t want me? I don’t want you! I show you!” “Yi, calm down. Let’s go back upstairs and talk…” A wordless shriek burst from Yi, a far louder sound than it 2 Prologue seemed a small, slender throat should make, then she spun and sped through the far door. As always, Daniel had to pause a moment, completely dumbfounded by the actions of the stranger he’d married just six months ago. The three men in the dining room shared his moment of shock, then turned as one to gape at him. The sound of the front door opening and the screen door slamming against the outside wall got him going again. Cursing, he stormed around the far end of the table and headed out after her. “Yi! You get back here!” “No! I leaving you pansy-asses behind.” The sound of that sentence in her broken accent nearly stopped him. But it wouldn’t do to laugh at her now. It’d just piss her off more. He burst through the screen door and onto the porch that circled the entire house, stomping to the corner toward the carport. “Where do you think you’re going?” Yi was just flitting down the steps toward her shiny white BMW. It had been the sight of the expensive little tin can he’d bought her, packed to the gills with the designer luggage she’d insisted on for the shopping trip that passed for their honeymoon, that had sent him upstairs after her in the first place. “I’m leaving.” She glanced at him, stuck out her tongue and flipped him off for good measure. Again, if he wasn’t so pissed, he’d have died laughing. “You can’t leave.” “Oh no?” Having reached the door of her car, she spun, long black hair spilling down her shoulders. “You watch me. You bastard!” She’d become entirely too fond of that word. “Yi, come back here and…” Ignoring him, she turned toward the back of the house, opening that brightly painted little mouth. “Russell!” Russell? Whatever words he might have been about to say Shifting SandS 3 rushed out of his head as his brain tried to fathom what she was up to now. She thought too damn fast for him, no doubt about that, and he couldn’t figure out what Russell had to do with her leaving. The boy rounded the back of the house wearing his best jeans, his fancy boots and a brand-spanking new shirt and hat. Neither the black shirt nor the black hat went with the boy’s freckled skin, in Daniel’s opinion, but they did set off his flaming orange curls like they were fire spilling from behind his ears. Daniel gripped the railing of the porch, watching the boy scuttle to the driver’s side of Yi’s car. Behind Daniel, the screen door opened and took long enough to shut that he knew all three men from inside had followed him out. But he couldn’t bother looking behind him. Cold rage or icy fear—didn’t really matter which—froze him on the spot. “Boy, what do you think you’re doing?” Yi planted her feet on the pavement beside the BMW’s passenger door. “He’s not a boy. He’s a man. He’s the only man here!” Some of her anger must be cooling because her English was clearer. Suspicion wound a hard knot in Daniel’s gut. “Russell.” Yes, the boy was well into his twenties but Daniel had known him since he was a pup. There was no way he was leaving without an explanation. “Look at me.” Russell hesitated, head still down, fingers almost touching the handle of the driver’s side door. “Don’t listen to him.” Yi snapped her fingers. “Get in the car.” Wincing, Russell gripped the door handle. “Russell, boy! You look at me and tell me what you think you’re doing!” “He’s going with me, you barren old man!” Yi stated triumphantly, opening the passenger’s door as Russell opened the driver’s door.
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