Image by Peace,love,happiness from Pixabay

Meet Oberon.

Tall, dark, muscular and handsome, black eyes that pierce your soul and grasp your fate through time and space—at least in this particular incarnation. He’s the very portrait of an exceptional god, one capable of creating a world of dreamers and artists and lovers, a world of technology and innovation and life—such life so doted upon by its divine king and queen—that long ago radiated its wondrous symphony, joining the serenade among the stars.

But even a symphony becomes silence, given enough time.

The pulse of a sun, the ebb and flow of gravity, the song of unintentional material against the chorus of celestial beings—chaos, all of it. But chaos repeated indefinitely is rendered utterly predictable. This endless void, deep space, abounds with its unchanging harmony. It vibrates through every atom until matter and memory are indiscernible from dreams.

Oberon awakens, stirred by some alien song of life, and finds he’s no longer on his world. Instead, he walks among the humans aboard a starship, wreaking havoc, making play, amusing himself watching mortals act as mortals do. He makes the most of his time on the Athenia, because who knows when the dream will end?

An ancient star rises over a dead planet with twin moons, vapid satellites as lifeless as the body they orbit. Nothing changes there save for dust urged about by the wind, eroding every rock and mountain.

Perhaps such details will wear away, remain inert and smooth as polished marble, with nothing left to reveal the god-king’s deepest secret.

Perhaps.

Yet We Sleep, We Dream by JL Peridot

Love triangles get bent out of shape when restless gods come out to play.

Relationships are complicated enough when only humans are involved — something the crew of the starship Athenia know plenty about. These children of a changing climate are no strangers to conflicts of the heart. And it seems there's a lot of conflict going on, even out in space.

When an alien dust finds its way on board, the veil between realms begins to fray. Old gods of a long dead planet resume their own romantic bickering while ancient magic wreaks havoc across the ship. Grudges resurface, friends turn to enemies, unrequited love turns to passion — or does it? It's kinda hard to tell with everyone at each other's throats.

Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; but wonder on, till truth make all things plain. Yet We Sleep, We Dream is a romantic space-fantasy inspired by Shakespeare's endearing hot mess, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was."

— Bottom, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Contains:

Friends to lovers
Second chances
Aussies in space (casual swears)
Sex, weed & waking dreams
Hot robot love action

Genre(s): Science fiction romance, science fantasy romance, space fantasy, new adult, Australian romance, futuristic romance

Heat level: 3 (#RomanceClass standards)

Available now in digital and print

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Content guidance: This book contains strong language, drug use, on-page sexual encounters, references to bullying, references to harassment and infertility, depictions of perilous situations, depictions of marital disharmony, awkward social situations, and technical language.

Excerpt from Yet We Sleep, We Dream

When Titania is done with Olek, she pads across the grass, still naked and smiling while the human sleeps. Now that she’s been fucked the way she likes, Oberon suspects she’ll be more amenable to conversation.

“I see you’ve not thrown yourself out of the airlock yet.” She joins him beneath the giant fern. “This place has become tolerable to you then?”

“Not in the slightest.”

He greets her with a kiss, savouring the softness of her lips on his. Her tongue, wet and uniquely textured, finds him. Oberon supposes the feel of it on his skin—such strange skin—and by the smug hum in his wife’s throat, he can tell she suspects his curiosity. She pulls away with a sigh and nuzzles his bare shoulder.

“You seem to tolerate this body, at least,” she teases. “Why don’t I show you what it can do?”

He smirks. “Think you can teach an old dog new tricks?”

“Never. Not when our old tricks are yet so satisfying.”

She kisses him on the neck once, twice, then nips at the skin. The sudden shock is pain, electric, exquisite. He quickens, but his will bends to hers. When her fingers close around him, a weakness consumes him in the most divine of ways, a surrender that never lost its sweetness no matter what form he deigned to take.

Her kisses move down his body, tongue along the collarbone, lips across his chest. Her teeth find his nipple in a way that makes his torso twitch, but all she gives him is a laugh and a thumb tracing his most sensitive ridge.

At last, her mouth reaches him where he wants her most. Her warm breath teases his skin, strange skin, and she looks at him with a smile. Staring into her ice-blue eyes, he finds himself afraid that she’s only playing with him, that she’ll leave him wanting in this most enjoyable suffering. Oh, how he adores her unpredictability, her chaos, and the energy she stirs within him. It’s so becoming of a god-queen.

“That mortal would never resist you.” Oberon chuckles, savouring the anguish.

About JL Peridot

JL Peridot writes love letters to the future on devices from the past. She's a qualified computer scientist, former website maker, amateur horticulturist, and sometimes illustrator. But most of the time, she an author of romantic science fiction. She lives with her partner and fur-family in Boorloo/Perth, Australia, on Whadjuk Noongar country. Visit her website at jlperidot.com for the full catalogue of her work.