After four years of hell on a ship with a deadly crew, all Rich wants is a second chance. Get some sun, relax, maybe hook up with a cute guy. But old scars, bad habits, and an insane AI aren't going to make it easy...
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Rich Merrill, gene-tweaked supersoldier by birth and AI support technician by vocation, is done fighting. Finally reassigned after four hellish years aboard the Sympatico, a dysfunctional ship with a deadly crew, all he wants is to make the most of his second chance.
The survival skills that got him through his last posting aren't going to help him on the Reliant, though. In among a kinder, gentler crew, Rich's old scars and bad habits are just as much of a problem as vengeful ex-crewmates, or the Sympatico's corrupted AI, which wants him back.
Rich wants to be a better person. He wants to make some friends, finally. He'd especially like to be friends--or more--with Basil Wright, a brilliant teen rival who's grown up captivatingly handsome; or Liam Beaker, a beautiful, mercurial botanist and fellow tweak. Rich wants to reconnect with what's left of his family, pick up some hobbies, get some sun, learn to relax. But if he can't learn how to leave his old life behind, his new life won't be worth living.
Content warnings: past sexual assault, trauma, abuse, alcohol use, food insecurity, violence, consent issues
If you want to buy After the Storm, you can get it at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1003186. It will also be made available to read on royalroad.com.
After being left for dead in the woods, Viper never thought he would find his happily ever after, not since the brutal murder of his best friend- his twin sister. Once he became the Capo of the most influential mafia, The Wolfe Pack, life became nothing more than blood, sweat, and tears.
When he's sent on an assignment to gather intel on an illegal trafficking ring in his city, he wasn't prepared for his heart to start beating once again in his stone cold chest after laying his eyes on the blond Adonis beating his opponent to a bloody pulp in the fighting cage.
After being orphaned at the age of 13, Dante was shipped off to a group home where he was raised till he chaptered out of the foster system. Dante was on a scholarship at the local university where he was approached by a scout wanting him to join his program, and he hopped at the chance doing the thing one he loved the most, wrestling.
But after an incident that left him fighting for his life, he found himself forced into a life of servitude.
Five years later, he's a shell of his old self, going through the motions and just trying to survive. Then one night, he's thrown into a room with a male with obsidian eyes who would change his life forever.
But would it be for the better or worse?
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⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
This book is DARK, containing triggering themes and is NOT suitable for minors.
This book is also about a relationship between two adult men. If that ain't your cup of tea then you better back out now because this is not the book for you.
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