Motherboards & Magic (#2)
Cyberpunk / Gay Romance / Sci-Fi
Date Published: 1/3/25
Publisher: Changeling Press
Dark clouds are gathering. Icarus is the light at the end of the tunnel.
And in his wake: Chaos.
Even though dark clouds gather in the distance, Asher, Vers, and Korya
start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That “Light” is
named Icarus, and with him comes chaos. Even as the trio’s immediate
problem is solved, more people are out to get them.
With danger at every turn, they can only depend on each other. Who is this
mysterious alien called Icarus? Is he there to help protect them from the
DPL or are they about to become victims of an insidious plot to end the
planet? Either way, the friction is burning as they take one step closer to
unraveling the mysteries of Asher’s parents’ death, and what the
DPL is hiding.
Excerpt
Copyright ©2024 Stephanie Burke & Areana Senoj
TO THE INDIVIDUAL WITH THE GOLDEN BLOOD:
WHOEVER IS THE RH NULL,
I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU.
WE HAVE ISSUES TO DISCUSS THAT ARE PARAMOUNT TO THE PROTECTION OF THIS
PLANET.
MEET ME AT THE SAHARA, LAS VEGAS
THE ALEXANDRIA SUITE (OF COURSE)
Even on second reading, the message made no sense to Korya. “Okay,
what the fuck?”
Vers immediately pulled up Korya’s keyboard and began a trace.
“You might want to get the boss,” Vers snapped, eyes intent as
zis four-fingered hands flew over the keyboard. “I can’t find
any trace, or even how they broke through your firewall.”
Korya, not needing to be told twice, spun on her pink fuzzy slippers and
raced to the bathroom. “Asher!” she called out as she swung the
door open and… froze.
Asher stood before her, absently toweling his waist-length hair, completely
and utterly naked as the day he was born. His long hair flowed in inky waves
down his back, the ends, dyed a lighter blue, drawing her attention for a
moment before her gaze returned to his… other attributes. Oh, every
creator god that ever existed, was that dick real?
But then her focus shifted back to his face and questioning look. His head
tilted to the side, his cybernetic eye flared wide blue before a silver line
overtook the red bar that had been there since he received news about his
parents.
Her gaze wandered again, trailing over his golden skin, noting how soft and
supple it looked, then back to his heart-shaped face — and down his neck.
Even though he was breathing and swallowing normally, she didn’t
notice his neck muscles constrict.
“Korya?” His voice box looked off, like it didn’t move
naturally.
Her attention then traveled to his right arm, muscular and powerful looking
as he rubbed at his scalp. His other hand let go of his fall of hair to rest
on his hips as he adjusted his stance, then shifted his weight on his legs.
And that was where the jaw-dropping confusion reasserted itself in
Korya’s brain.
His left arm and hand were a strange, steel gray with what looked like
swirls of silver. It covered his left arm from the shoulder down to his
fingertips and both legs. The water flowed along the metal muscles that
looked and moved as natural as flesh but strangely was not. Fuck.
She’d forgotten that he had lost both of his legs and one
arm…
But… how? If not for the color and the too graceful and smooth
movements of his body, she would have totally forgotten the greater portion
of his physiology was cybernetic.
But what beautiful technology, she decided as she tracked the shifting
movements under the metallic skin of his thick thighs, down to his toes
flexing on her shower mat, and then back up to his calves.
Her new boss was metal… well, mostly. Her gaze darted back up to his
left shoulder where she would be damned if she could even see how the flesh
attached to the metal. It was a smooth, seamless transition. Only the fact
that the golden flesh tones of his skin faded into the stark steel-gray
metal gave away his android leanings.
But damn, each muscle was defined and sculpted beautifully. Her gaze
dropped to his hips where his perfect Adonis belt melded into metal in a
beautiful flow that only the world’s best artists or poets could do it
the most justice.
“There are veins!” she all but shouted as she moved closer,
dropping to her knees and reaching out a tentative hand for the closest
thigh.
She didn’t even notice his flinch, only that he stepped back a bit
and stared down at her, his confused look turning incredulous as she got a
closer look at what so fascinated her.
Truly, Asher would be flattered but he knew her fascination had nothing to
do with him and everything to do with the hardware he sported.
“Can I help you?” he asked as she looked up at him, flushed
bright red, and pulled her hand back.
“Uh… I mean… did this hurt?” Then she winced,
thinking her previous question the most stupid that had ever fallen out of
her mouth. “That was a dumb question. Of course, it hurt. How in the
galaxy did they manage… I mean the seams are nonexistent. And you
look so real…”
“Yeah, just like a real boy.” His tone was pissy at best, but
he really didn’t care. There was a woman kneeling at his feet and
reaching for parts of his body that only he and his many varied
doctors… okay. He really didn’t care who was staring at him,
any parts of him. His shame had died a hard death when they had to lift his
dick for him to take a piss. The legs came first, after all, and over time
they’d built the graphene skeleton for his left arm and replace the
pulverized bones in his right. The legs were an easy build and began to look
more and more human as the augmentation therapy advanced, but the
arms… He remembered standing under the water of a hot shower for the
first time in months when they finally got his legs attached and
healed… and the complete humiliation of someone having to scrub
between his butt cheeks after every time he took a shit when they finally
allowed him solid foods. They were kind enough to do scar removal from the
colostomy bag but by that time, he had been poked, prodded, scanned,
examined, and touched on every part of his body, intimate or not. A female
on her knees before him while he was naked was something he’d
experienced several times before. Someone who was neither a medical nor
scientific doctor touching him and without his consent,
however…
“Did you need something, really, or is this just a thing you do? If
it is, I’m sure Vers will be more amenable –”
“I’m sorry.” Korya moaned, slapping both hands over her
eyes and lowering her head, giggling nervously.
No, not nervously — more like she was shocked by her actions. But not too
shocked, because yes, that was her, parting some fingers to get another look
at his junk… or… what was she staring at?
About the Authors
Areana Senoj is a multi-genre writer of erotic romance, paranormal, and
sci-fi fantasy fiction. She’s been an actress, singer, dancer,
educator, and, briefly, a stay-at-home “tennis, soccer, and band
mom,” as well as a small business entrepreneur. Now she’s
enjoying a new career living life as a full-time writer. She’s
thrilled to join Changeling Press, where she’s teamed up with USA Today Best
Selling Author Stephanie Burke, co-authoring Motherboards and Magic.
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Stephanie Burke is a USA Today Best Selling, multi published, multi
award-winning author, Master Costumer, handicapped, wife and mother of
two.
From sex-shifting, shape-shifting dragons to undersea worlds, sexually
confused elemental Fey and homo-erotic mysteries, all the way to
pastel-challenged urban sprites, Stephanie has done it all, and hopes to do
more.
Stephanie is an orator on her favorite subjects of writing and
world-building, a sometime teacher when you feed her enough tea and donuts,
an anime nut, a costumer, and a frequent guest of various sci-fi and writing
cons where she can be found leading panel discussions or researching varied
legends and theories to improve her writing skills.
Stephanie is known for her love of the outrageous, strong female
characters, believable worlds, male characters filled with depth, and
multi-cultural stories that make the reader sit up and take notice.
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