Because Quickshot released just last week, I've decided to share a teaser of my own today. Warning: contains explicit language and some grim desciptions. This is taken from fairly early on in the story as Sal is stuck on Denga station waiting for something to occupy her...
Three lunar
rotations later...
This sucks
Kyvellian dick. Sal stalked the narrow walkways of Denga station,
silently daring anyone to get in her way. They didn’t. Her reputation swept a
clear path ahead of her, which only infuriated her more. A good fight right now
would at least break the monotony of being stuck on the station waiting for a
job. A good fuck would work better, but her bed remained as empty as the Barony Bitch’s cargo hold. She needed
one or the other filling, and soon.
In the meantime, she had to eat, and a drink
might take the edge off her temper, so she headed for her favorite eatery. The
Big Bang was a rough dive, but the alcohol was cheap, the clientele were
varied, and no one went there looking for trouble. Sal’s trigger-happy status
meant only the terminally drunk were stupid enough to bother her. Usually by
the time anyone was that drunk she
didn’t even need her weapons. Intent on drowning her sorrows and then some, Sal
wasn’t worried about someone harassing her. Not here.
“Hey, Sal.” Cheery, the bartender, greeted her,
and indicated an empty booth with a nod of his head. Cheery had got his name
from someone slitting his cheeks open, giving him an artificial grin from ear
to ear. He liked the nickname so much he hadn’t bothered having corrective
surgery. He wore the scars as a badge of honor—and possibly to remind the
clientele that, despite the injury, he’d gutted both assailants attempting to
rob him, then pinned their preserved hides over the bar until the health and
hygiene board demanded their removal. The message had got around.
“Hey.” She flashed him a bright grin, and took
her seat in the booth. It left her facing away from the door, but a specially
angled mirror meant she could watch who was coming in if she felt the need.
“Hey, Sal. Cheery sent over your usual. Triple
shot rocket fuel.” The skinny young barmaid slid her a tall glass full of
golden liquid and crushed ice. Sal swallowed quickly to stop herself from
dribbling. She hadn’t had a drink in months, and this was Cheery’s smoothest
stuff. If she didn’t go too overboard on it, she wouldn’t even have much of a
hangover tomorrow.
“Thanks. Any chance of some food?” Her stomach
growled in agreement.
“Sure. Special is Millennium Shrimp.”
“Seafood? Wow, Cheery’s really going upmarket.”
The barmaid snorted. “Freeze dried imports. Cargo
ship got stranded here when trouble broke out on the edge of the system and the
jump-gate got hijacked. Then the captain drank his docking fees so they seized
the ship.”
“Hmm.” One person’s misfortune was another’s
promise of a decent meal. “I’ll take it. And a side order of Cheery’s hot
sauce.”
The barmaid raised her eyebrows. “You want that and the rocket fuel? Your stomach must
be titanium lined.”
Sal grinned and gave her a wink. “Yeah, but my
taste buds aren’t.”
Dinner was the best she’d had in forever. She
hadn’t eaten seafood since leaving her home planet. True, it wasn’t as good as
the fish gumbo her adoptive parents had made, but the shrimp still tasted of
the sea, and Cheery’s hot sauce hid the aftertaste typical of space-shipped
food. And with her second triple shot already half consumed, it was looking
like a good evening.
Then a man slid into her booth, put one arm
around her shoulder and ran his other hand up her thigh while whispering
desperately in her ear. “Please. Pretend you know me for the next five
minutes.”
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| A Space Opera Short Story Goodreads | Webpage Amazon | ARe | Smashwords iTunes | Kobo | B&N |
Sal, a legal carrier (just about) of whatever comes her way, puts her trust in just two things: her guns.
Keeping out from under Imperium eyes—especially those belonging to a certain Ehi Wahu—while making a living, and trying to keep a lover who can tolerate her twitchy trigger fingers, are the extent of her ambitions.
Then a kiss from a passing stranger, and a promise of the biggest score in a long time, tempt her. Devin fulfils more than one need, but he comes with more trouble than one woman can handle. And this time it'll take more than her guns to save her. She'll have to trust a man again.
WARNING: for over 18s only. Adult content including sex, bad language, & implied extreme violence.
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