In my ongoing efforts to remain a starving artist, I’ve decided that The Rising Son will be free. 😀 Actually, I think I was leaning in that direction for a while, but now that it’s finished, it’s official. The story is being edited right now and the cover art is being done (thanks, G! ❤ ) so now I’ve got some free time to do other things that may or may not include more Diablo 3. I’ll also be wrapping up Last Summer over the next couple of weeks.

I wanted to share a little bit of the story for anyone interested. Timeline-wise, The Rising Son takes place a month after the end of Family Matters and a week after A Halloween Interlude. This was taken from the opening scene. Xan and Michael are in the shower being naked and nerdy because that’s what they do, and they’re adorable doing it:

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There was a momentary rush of cool air as Michael entered the bathroom. Shortly after, he joined Xan in the shower. Xan stared at him, lips curving into a smile. Naked Michael was always a sure-fire way to forget his troubles.

“I’m well aware of your attempts at deflection,” the vampire stated, his tone accusatory yet amused. “You did the same thing the other night when we were arguing over which Diablo II class was the best. One minute I was making my point and the next, I had a head between my legs.”

“Are you complaining about that?”

There was a devious gleam in Michael’s eyes. “Not at all.”

“You and your fucking Paladin,” Xan scoffed.

“My fucking Paladin beats your Necromancer any day.”

“In your dreams.”

“Speaking of dreams…”

Xan groaned when he realized that he inadvertently brought the conversation right back to the topic he had hoped to avoid. He grabbed a bar of soap and lathered Michael’s chest. “They’re just dreams. They can’t hurt me.”

“Are you going to tell Dominic and Jacob about them?”

“Hell no. Even if I wanted to, there’s nothing they can do about it. I’m just going to have to deal with them until they’re done. Wasn’t it the same for you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean how did you deal with all the shit Steven did to you?”

Michael traced a line of black ink down Xan’s left arm, his expression thoughtful. “I met you.”

He pulled Xan down for a kiss under the steady stream of the shower. Though the water was warm, Xan trembled all over. Michael’s tongue usually had that effect on him.

“Turn around,” Michael said after they parted.

Xan perked up at the command. “Now we’re talking.”

“Settle down, horndog.” Michael snatched the soap from him. “I’m just washing your back.”

“Oh come on!”

“We have to be at your parents’ house in an hour. It’s bad enough that we were late last week. And then… that other stuff.”

Xan grinned as he recalled that other stuff. After everyone else left, he and Michael had packed up the rest of his Transformers to take home and then fucked their brains out on his old bed. They had barely finished when Jacob suddenly came back. It was awkward.

“Fine,” he said. “But you’re going to make it up to me after work.”

“How would that be different from any other morning?”

Xan ducked his head under the water to hide the goofy smile on his face. Goofy smiles made embarrassingly frequent appearances as of late thanks to the vampire currently rubbing and scrubbing his back. They had been together for a month now, which was a lifetime for someone who had never wanted a relationship until recently. Before Michael came along, the closest Xan had come to anything resembling a commitment was fucking the same guy more than once. Now? This. And this was good.

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The full story will be available next month. Hope you guys enjoy it!

E*