by C. W. Gray
The Alpha’s Christmas Wish
Convincing the Alpha
Title TBA – Sheriff McKenzie’s Book – Coming Soon
Hobson Hills Shorts – short stories from the world of Hobson Hills Omegas
The Beta’s Love Song – http://mybook.to/BetaLoveSong
Bennett’s Dream – http://mybook.to/BennettsDream
Justin’s Journey – http://mybook.to/JustinJourney
Grey’s Gift – http://mybook.to/GreyGift
Hobson Hills Shorts: Volume One – http://mybook.to/HHOShortsVolumeOne
Holiday Omegas Shorts – holiday short stories from the world of The Silver Isles – paranormal, mpreg
http://mybook.to/HolidayOmegaSeries
Cauldron Cake Pops and a Witch’s Kiss
Sugar Cookies and a Witch’s Love
Candy Hearts and a Witch’s Ring
Carrot Cake and a Witch’s Surprise – Coming in June, 2020
The Silver Isles – paranormal, mermen, mpreg
http://mybook.to/TheSilverIsles
The Guppy Prince
The Not so Little Merman
The Sea Witch – Coming Soon
If you would like to keep up with releases, please like and follow me on Instagram (@c.w._gray) or Facebook (@cwgrayauthor), join C.W. Gray’s Reading Nook on Facebook, or visit my website at https://cwgray-author.com.
Excerpt
Unedited excerpt from The Mercenary’s Mate – Book One in the Blue Solace Series
Silverlight System, Planet Vextonar
“Next up is a real gem, gentle folks!” The auctioneer leered toward the large crowd at the bottom of the stage. He was a Betonize-human hybrid, sharp teeth a glaring white. “This little girl’s part Prime and part Lower. Don’t see that on Vextonar too often.”
The crowd’s boisterous laughter and cheering filled the room. Eight people had already been auctioned off, and the day was still young. Leti Ando gritted his teeth and awkwardly shuffled his feet. The bulky cast on his lower leg made him slower than normal, and there were too many strangers here, too much movement. He wanted to be in his rooms, reading the new Old-Earth journal he’d gotten his hands on.
Draif shot him a sympathetic look. Leti’s best friend was no less uncomfortable in the auction house but had insisted on coming with him. “You knew it’d be like this, Master,” Draif whispered.
Leti glared at his friend, his black eye and busted lip protesting the expression. “I hate it when you call me that.”
Draif gave him a small smile, dark eyes on the stage. “I know. Why do you think I do it?” His smile faded. “It’s her, Leti.”
Leti startled, stumbling and knocking into some of the men around him. He did his best to ignore the grumbles, his heart beating fast in his chest. Monty slipped from his head to his shoulder, and Draif grabbed his arm to steady him. For such a small, slender man, Draif had a strong and sure grip that came in handy when Leti’s clumsiness attacked.
Leti ignored the grumbles around him, eyes locked on the stage. A modestly dressed woman stood tall. She held a whimpering, blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms.
“This little lady is up for sale,” the Auctioneer said. “She comes from a Prime daddy and his mistress, a Lower woman. Unnamed infant, but good potential. Mommy’s dead and Daddy don’t want a Lower brat, so there won’t be no contest of ownership once she’s bought. We’ll start bidding at 250? Can I get 250?”
Leti sighed and closed his eyes. “I can’t believe Father is selling his own child. I hate that he deals in slavery at all, but his own daughter?”
“Yeah, well, he didn’t seem to like your opinion too much last night when you brought it up.” Draif grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Not that he needs much excuse to beat the shit out of you. It was the threat to sell you too that worries me the most.”
It wasn’t appropriate for a bed-slave to hold his master’s hand, but the two of them had never been appropriate. Nothing was normal about a Prime citizen who didn’t have sex with his bed-slave, little less treat him like a slave, and nothing was normal about a bed-slave who was demisexual and had a scarred face and damn good fighting skills.
Draif had been Leti’s best friend since they were both fifteen. Leti’s father gave him to his son and told him to dominate the “broken” slave and prove himself a man. The arrogant Prime often told his son that he was so fat and awkward that no one would ever want him, especially with his attention always on his studies and research.
Leti might be a breeder male, able to have children, but his father assured him no one would ever offer for him like they would a daughter. And love? According to his father, no one could ever love him, not even some mixed breed alien. Being a breeder male showed his blood was too diluted to be human enough. There was too much Wello blood in his ancestry. Father always blamed Leti’s mother for it, but never to her face. He was an arrogant bully, not stupid.
In his father’s mind, a bed-slave would guarantee that Leti would at least be a man in the bedroom. Leti tried not to complain too much, though. Draif had proven to be the best thing that ever happened to him. He was his loyal confidant and best friend from the start and soon became his assistant, body guard, and overall jack-of-all-trades.
Where Leti struggled in anything outside of his books and pets, Draif could seemingly master any skill if he set his mind to it. More importantly, though, Leti loved Draif more than anything in all the galaxies. He was his brother in all but blood. His family.
“620 to the Drall in the corner. Can I get 630, anyone? 630?”
“Is your lawyer bidding?” Draif whispered.
Leti looked at his communicator. “Yes. He’ll keep topping whatever’s offered. She’ll be ours in a few minutes.”
“You father won’t like that, Leti. What are we going to do? We can’t hide her in your rooms until she’s eighteen. I guess we could put her in Wobble’s stable, but who wants to live with an Old-Earth Llama?” Draif paused and eyed his friend. “Well, except for you.”
Leti grinned. “When I get her, you are going to take her to the spaceport. Talk with Dottie. She’s going to sneak all of us on a random ship going out of the system. Father would be alerted if we used our passports, so we have to sneak, at least at first. Once we’re out of the Silverlight system, I can tear up your contract as well as hers. You’ll both be free.”
Draif squeezed his hand tight. His eyes left the stage, widened in disbelief. “We’re leaving the system?”
Leti snorted. “I’ve given you several chances to leave over the last ten years, but you wouldn’t go.”
“I couldn’t possibly leave you behind. I love you,” he said with no hesitancy. “What about your menagerie?” Draif looked at the vexal newt happily perched on Leti’s shoulder. “Monty here wouldn’t be a problem, but you can’t possibly expect to sneak all of them onboard a ship and I know you won’t leave them.” Draif shook his head, dumbfounded. “What about money? How will you survive? I can easily get work, but you’re a trained historian. They aren’t exactly rolling in credits.” He paused, already forming a plan. “I could work and you could stay home and take care of the baby. You’d be good at that. You love. It’s your thing, and in the end, that’s all it really takes. We can figure out how to feed her and change a diaper.”
“1050! Can I get 1100? Anyone? 1100?”
“Dottie assures me it will be fine. She’s picked out a Drellian cargo vessel and my pets are heading there as we speak, even Wobble.” Leti checked his comm, then continued, “As for money, I’ve been saving for a long time. Do you really think I spend all the credits Father gives me monthly?”
“He’s always complaining that you drain his pocket, but I thought he was just being cheap. All you buy are books on your tablet, presents for me, and things for the pets. I think the most expensive thing you bought was the tablet. It came from the Anchor’s Rest System, right? Our system is seriously behind on tech.”
Leti nodded. “I don’t usually use more th
an a quarter of the allowance. I’ve been saving my pay from my publications too. It’s certainly not much, but I didn’t become a historian to make money. I never thought I’d have to.” Leti laughed ruefully. “I’m a privileged Prime, right?”
Draif let go of his hand and smacked his arm. “No self-deprecation allowed! We are who we are, there’s no changing that. Especially on this world. It’s not like you can change castes and become a Worker. Anyways, the gods know that no one deserves to be related to your father or psycho mother.” He smiled sadly and nodded toward Leti’s broken ankle. “Their love hurts.”
Draif looked worried. “Are you going to pack and bring my things too?”
“Of course! Melinda has already started packing for us.”
“Will she alert your father?”
Leti checked his comm again. Things were on track. “No. She’s the one who urged me to start saving credits when I was twelve. Once we leave, she’s going to go to Rothwell and work with her daughter.”
“Good.” Draif’s couldn’t seem to stop smiling. “We’re really doing this?”
“1520 to the gentleman at the front! 1600 anyone? 1600? Going once. Going twice. Sold to the gentleman in the blue coat!”
Despite his worry, Leti grinned. “Yes. We’re really doing this.”
Buy Here: My Book
Excerpt
Excerpt from The Guppy Prince, book one in The Silver Isles.
Dover Rees floated in the deepest part of his creek, enjoying the rushing sound of the waterfall to his right. Sunlight filtered through the water, glinting off the deep blue of his guppy tail. His thin and delicate caudal fin spread out like an elegant fan, dancing through the warm water as he swayed.
His favorite smooth and colorful pebbles were strewn around below him, and he admired the shells he had collected and placed beside them. Dover breathed deeply and enjoyed the peace and quiet. No one mocked him or bossed him around. No one watched him with cold eyes and hidden smirks. I wish I could stay here forever.
Sudden movement beside him jarred him from his thoughts and he laughed when Chubber grabbed a bright pink stone in his small brown paws and swam away. Dover’s otter friend liked to steal Dover’s shinies then share them with him again later.
A brook trout swam past him and Dover debated grabbing it for an early lunch, but he wasn’t too hungry yet. Lately, he’d been eating less and less, and he couldn’t make himself care.
The quiet water around him hummed as Nami quickly swam to him. His best friend’s guppy tail was a lovely pink pattern with black dots, and her short black hair floated around her head. The cat with a mermaid tail on her black tankini top made him smile. He loved her purr-maid shirts.
“Have you eaten today, Your Highness?” she asked.
Dover scowled. “Don’t call me that.”
“When you’re acting like a pouting asswipe, that’s what you get called.” Nami wrapped her arms around him and settled her head on his shoulder. “What’s wrong with you, Dover?”
Dover had no answer for her. All he knew was he felt empty inside and it was harder and harder to get up in the morning. “I think I ate some bad clams.”
“Every day for the past two months?” Nami leaned back and glared at him, her dark eyes seeing right through him.
Chubber came to his rescue, swimming in between them and wrapping his lean body across Dover’s shoulders. “Chubber wants to get a snack.”
Nami sighed, bubbles filling the water around her. “Mom is in your cottage making lunch. You’re worrying us, bluetail.”
Dover stroked a hand through her hair, then shoved her down and pushed up, swimming toward the surface.
“Damn it!” Nami swam after him.
He laughed, heart warming. Someone cares about me. It wasn’t his family, but Nami and her mom were closer to him than his parents or any of his twelve siblings.
Chubber clung to his back and nibbled on his ear until he mentally apologized. Chubber cared about him the most.
His creek was deep, but it didn’t take him long to reach the surface. Shauna waited for them on the shore, hands on her hips. Chubber’s mother, Shell, stood on her hind legs beside the mermaid, chirping loudly. Uh oh. He really was in trouble.
“You didn’t eat breakfast, did you?” The wind blew strands of Shauna’s pink hair across her face, ruining her glare.
“Sorry, Shauna.”
She sighed. “I made your favorite.”
“Grilled shrimp salad?” Dover’s stomach rumbled.
“With avocado, papaya, mango, and pineapple. All your favorites.” Shauna gave him a soft look. “Come eat, bluetail.”
Dover summoned his human legs and a few seconds later, walked out of the creek, naked, with Chubber clinging to his shoulder. Shauna handed him a deep teal sarong, and he tied it about his waist.
Shell crawled up his leg and into his arms, then rubbed her slick furry face against his. She was a bit heavier than Chubber, but he was still a baby.
“Why does he get all the loving?” Nami asked, grumbling as she tied a sarong around her own waist.
Dover chuckled when Shauna arched an eyebrow at her daughter. “Did you say something, sweetness?”
“No, ma’am,” Nami said, wincing.
“You two come eat lunch.” Shauna turned around and walked toward Dover’s large cottage.
Dover closed his eyes for a moment and savored the feel of the moss-covered rocks under his feet, and the comfortable breeze quickly drying his curly blue hair. He loved his home so much. It was his sanctuary.
Buy Here: https://amzn.to/2q9Q8en