Welcome to this week’s MFRW Book Hooks blog hop. Continuing with my celebration of Pride Month, I have an excerpt from my dystopian MM science fiction romance The H-Gene. Enjoy!
Blurb
When love is forbidden, the whole world’s a prison.
Dylan Moore will do anything for freedom. Seven years ago, a gay plague spread to heterosexuals, killing millions and sparking brutal anti-gay riots. The Guardians rounded up men who tested positive for the homogene and imprisoned them in remote quarantine centers like desolate Camp Malheur. Since then, Dylan has hacked the camp's security systems and hoarded spare bits of electronics, seeking some way to escape. He has concluded the human guards are the only weakness in the facility's defenses.
Camp guard Rafe Cowell is H-negative. He figures the lust he feels watching prisoner 3218 masturbate on the surveillance cameras must be due to his loneliness and isolation. When he finally meets the young queer, he discovers that Dylan is brilliant, brave, sexy as hell — and claims to be in love with Rafe. Despite his qualms, Rafe finds he can't resist the other man's charm. By the time Dylan asks for his help in escaping, Rafe cares too much for Dylan to refuse.
Dylan's plan goes awry and Rafe comes to his rescue. Soon they're both fugitives, fleeing from militant survivalists, murderous androids, homophobic ideologues and a powerful man who wants Dylan as his sexual toy. Hiding in the Plague-ravaged city of Sanfran, Dylan and Rafe learn there's far more than their own safety at stake. Can they help prevent the deaths of millions more people? And can Rafe trust the love of a man who deliberately seduced him in order to escape from quarantine?
The Hook
Hours past midnight, they happened on an abandoned gas station. A petrol-powered pickup truck at least twenty years old rusted away in front of the sagging building. The building roof had caved in and shattered glass made the floor treacherous. In the back room, Rafe found a stained mattress where he could rest Dylan’s body. After making sure that the inmate was breathing, Rafe prowled the property, looking for anything useful.
A half-moon provided some much needed illumination. Behind the station he found a pipe rising from the ground, topped by a corroded faucet. It took all his strength, but he finally succeeded in breaking through the mineral crust to turn the handle. Liquid sputtered out, muddy at first but gradually running clean. Rafe filled a battered saucepan he’d found next to an ancient propane burner in the back room. He wanted to boil the water, to sterilize it, but he couldn’t get the stove to light. The knob broke off in his hand when he tried.
A rickety cupboard above the burner held a couple of cans with shredded labels and a glass bottle with two inches of clear liquid. Rafe took out the stopper and sniffed. Gin, or something similar. He took a swig, grimacing at the burn as the liquor flowed into his belly.
Dylan moaned and coughed. Rafe crouched beside the mattress. “I’m here. But this is going to hurt.”
His monofilament shirt was too tough to tear, so he simply removed it. After soaking a sleeve in the saucepan, he dabbed at the blisters on Dylan’s face. Dylan groaned and jerked his head away.
“Sorry. You’ve got to hold still, baby.” Rafe rested his left hand on Dylan’s head, both to soothe and restrain him. He continued to clean the sores with his right. His patient whimpered but managed to remain mostly quiet. When he trickled alcohol onto the raw flesh, however, Dylan screamed and thrashed at the pain.
“Shh! I know it stings, but it’s the best I can do till we get to a town or something.” The puffiness around Dylan’s eyes had subsided somewhat. In the dim light filtering through the smashed window, Rafe saw the inmate struggling to control his reactions. The younger man held himself motionless while Rafe continued to disinfect his wounds.
“Thirsty,” Dylan croaked when Rafe had finished. Rafe held the pot to the other man’s lips and helped him drink. The water seemed to help.
“Thank you.” A hint of Dylan’s normal cockiness animated the rasping voice. “You saved my life.
“You’re not safe yet, kid.” And neither am I, Rafe thought, suddenly recognizing that he was now as much a fugitive as Dylan. What was I thinking? They’ll track us both down now and lock our asses up forever. If they don’t kill us.
“Don’t worry. They won’t catch us.” Dylan was back to his old tricks, apparently reading Rafe’s mind.
“Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?”
“They don’t care about one queer. Not enough to let people know that one of us actually escaped from quarantine. It would make people question their power.”
“What about me? A convicted murderer?”
“Once we get to Sanfran, we can disappear.” Dylan’s hand fluttered up to stroke Rafe’s bared chest. “Trust me, Rafe.”
Buy Links
Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/7233-the-hgene-after-the-plague-book-1/
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CVNK6NL
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CVNK6NL
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1032512
Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-h-gene-lisabet-sarai/1137338272?ean=2940164186050
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-h-gene
Apple Books - https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id1523511955
Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54529211-the-h-gene
Be sure to visit the other authors participating in today's Book Hooks.
3 comments:
"When love is forbidden, the whole world’s a prison." I LOVE this tag line, Lisabet. You write so well. :)
I could envision the entire scene. Nice tight writing!
I absolutely loved this hook, Lisabet. D'you want to do a guest blog over at my place about it? Especially in this month, it would perhaps help a great deal. :)
Post a Comment
Let me know your thoughts! (And if you're having trouble commenting, try enabling third-party cookies in your browser...)