Just Released!
COIN OPERATED BOY
by Bryl R. Tyne
Noble Romance Publishing
Cover artists: Fiona Jayde & Bryl R. Tyne
COIN OPERATED BOY Copyright 2009 Bryl R. Tyne
Excerpt:
THE SIXTH ABANDONMENT:
Seven years later . . . .
Abandoning Earth was simply a formality, Rye tried to convince himself as he made his way over the stony ground to the house. His mistake had nothing to do with Kiara. He knew that. Run from the authorities or serve time right alongside him, those were her choices. What better place to disappear than The Sixth Abandonment—a breeding ground of crime and filth. Outcasts, from any society, were welcomed with open arms.
His Kiara resided here, settled in, setup home amongst these heathen. She had been his savior, the light he counted on in his dark work. Hesitating, knuckles seconds from her door, he exhaled. Kiara wasn't his any longer. Gently, he rapped.
"See you found me." She greeted him with the nonchalance of an aged tiger. Leaving the door ajar, she retreated into the house.
Rye let himself inside.
"Figured I'd be seeing you. Has it been seven years already?" Her words dripped sarcasm as she disappeared through a doorway across the room.
She wasn't happy to see him; he figured as much. Maybe just his perception, but he vowed not to stick around long enough to find out. In search of a washroom, he took the only hall. "Just a quick shower and I'll be out of your hair." His voice reverberated off the bare hallway walls, through the starkly furnished front room, and back.
"Go ahead." She hollered. "Take your time. You look like you could stand to put some meat on them bones."
To his right, he found the washroom and pushed open the door. Once he got cleaned up, maybe ate a decent meal, he'd be out of her life once and for all. That she could live with. He was certain.
Of all the people he'd let into his quirky life, which wasn't many, Rye trusted Kiara. She had never betrayed him, though he'd betrayed her with his phony love, the marriage for appearance’s sake. He sighed as he leaned over the sink. Even as he stood trial for violating the Android Fair Usage Act, she'd been beside him—in spirit.
Guilt, persistent and strong, rolled over him in waves as he took in his reflection, noting wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth, deeper than should be for thirty-five years of age. Disgusted with life and with himself, he stepped into the shower. Minimum security or not, seven years confinement had taken its toll.
* * * * *
Kiara placed a plate on the table, piled high with mashed potatoes, butter dripping, and, he was sure, enough salt to fill a week's rations for a small army. Set off to the side on another plate, a handful of pigs-in-a-blanket accompanied a huge dollop of ketchup. "Sit down. Eat something before you dart out of here."
Squeezing the water from his hair into a towel, Rye plopped into the only kitchen chair in sight. "Can't waste . . . .You kept my bike, like I requested?"
"Tracked him down already, did you?" She slammed a tall mug of green tea next to his plate, shaking her head. "Yeah. I got it. Polished and maintained to grand pappy's instruction." With a roll of her eyes, she pointed over her shoulder. "Out back, in the shed."
Almost an angel, he thought, stuffing another forkful of potatoes in with his mouthful of wiener-biscuit-ketchup combo. Her cooking boiled straight from the pits of hell. He smiled around the rim of his cup as he forced the offered meal down with cooled tea. At least she'd supplied a drink he enjoyed.
To help forget the taste, bite after bite, he admired her busyness. Stir a pot, check the oven, rinse a dish, she moved. Always busy, but then, he supposed, teaching English, the outpost's common language, to the constant influx of intergalactic rebels kept her that way.
After his release, he'd sought the services of a highly skilled retriever. The computer wiz claimed he could uncover information on anyone—anywhere. Give me a name and I'll tell you what their granny ate for breakfast. He'd sold Rye with that line.
According to the hack, Kiara had done well for herself. Rye glanced around the quaint room. Her language classes were far from cheap, but from the looks of the dilapidated twenty-third century appliances, her lifestyle remained as it had on Earth—as simple as possible.
"Have to go." He shoved away from the table. Standing, he twisted his damp hair into a tight roll then fastened it in place with a band from his wrist. "You're doing okay for yourself, I take it."
"Good as can be expected in this Godforsaken place." She walked with him, even as he stepped outside and to the shed.
He couldn't force himself to face her as he pushed his bike to the street. Her reaction, after all these years, wasn't something he was prepared to handle. Gloves and helmet secure, he kicked his bike to a fine roar, revved it once, and then zoomed away. Dealing with emotions, of any kind, was never his forte.
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4.75 out of 5 stars!
Boys of the Bite is an Anthology that explores the gay male side of vampire mythology. Stories from R.R. Angell to Bryl R. Tyne give us a different and alluring aspect to the sexy and beautiful vampires we know and crave. From modern vampires to vampires in our history you will be locked into these stories feeling as if you are there with them. Each one has its own alluring taste of blood and flesh but with a sexy side that is sure to appease any vampire fan. -- Zollyanna@Night Owl Reviews
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