Crawling Into Bed With
Shax,
the Demon Prince of Thieves
(from the Brimstone series by Angel Martinez)
And a Good Book
Hi,
Lee! I’m going to leave Shax with you. He’d fairly well behaved…most of the
time.
Important things first,
are these sheets silk or cotton?
*Shax
crawls up from the foot of the bed, and flops down with a wink* Silk, of
course. I knew you wouldn’t insult me with cheap sheets. Good silk, too. And
blue, my favorite color. *nuzzles Lee’s ear*
What are you wearing?
*Shax
spreads his arms to show off his black satin pj’s* Lovely, aren’t they? Ness thought I needed them for those evenings when we
want bed to be a formal occasion. Not that I would ever have them on for long,
you understand. Perhaps partially. Ness is
very tactile. He may want to have them off partway while he bends me over
the…whatever’s the matter, Mr. Brazil?
You’ve turned bright red.
What are we snacking on
in bed while we read tonight?
After
a recent visit to Opal, I’ve rediscovered my love for the gastronomic. So
absurdly fun and someone told me you like to…experiment. I’ve brought us cherry
tarts with wasabi ice cream. Should I feed you the first bite?
If I open this
nightstand drawer, what will I find?
*Shax
leans over and rummages* Oh, let’s see…my sonic lockpick…magnetic scrambler…one
of Ness’s feathers…Dostoevsky, you know, a little light reading…packet of dehydrated
mangoes, never know when you’ll need a snack…fuzzy handcuffs…metal
handcuffs…ball separator…several dildos, various sizes and colors…bottle of
aspirin…various flavors of lube…What? You were expecting condoms? Demons don’t
use condoms.
Do you roll up in the
blankets like a burrito, or kick the covers off during the night?
Does
rolling up in Ness’s wings like a burrito
count? Much softer than any mundane blanket and when he caresses me with them…
*Shax takes a spoonful of wasabi ice cream and closes his eyes on a sinful
moan.*
Can I put my cold feet
on your calves to warm them up?
Of
course you can, sweetie. I run a little hot most days anyway. Get you all nice
and toasty in no time.
What are we reading?
(include your cover art, buy links & excerpt)
We
have the new Mischief Corner anthology, Not In the Stars. It’s a serviceable
collection of Science Fiction stories, but I can’t imagine there’s a more compelling
reason than to read my story. *Shax opens the book* See? This one. It’s called
“Shax’s War.” Angel wrote it as the third Brimstone story. I do like Angel, but
I wish she’d stop screwing with my life so much.
Toni Griffin, Angel
Martinez, Freddy Mackay and Mathilde Watson
Since the dawn of human expression,
man has gazed up at the heavens in wonder, inspired by the wheeling of the
stars to explain his surroundings. While our perception of those surroundings
have changed, from thinking of the Earth as a flat, stable plane to realizing
we’re falling through space in a tiny atmospheric bubble, our wonder remains
constant.
Space stations, alien races, far-flung planets—join the Mischief Corner authors
as they explore the possibilities the stars might offer. The catch? Returning
to mundane old Earth might be harder than you think.
Excerpt:
Shax yelped as the trauma ball hummed against his palm, the
surface shifting from swirling orange toward yellow. Before it could deliver
its nastiest shock, he flung the thing at Verin’s head.
“Bastard!”
Sparks
flew as Verin swung his horns and batted the ball away. He aimed right for Ness, who sidestepped and caught the ball as it powered
back down to blue. Wings spread for balance, tip of his tongue protruding from
the corner of his mouth, Ness spun and ran the
three steps up the ramp at the court’s far end, aiming for the hovering sphere
goal.
At the last second, the goal moved left and Ness’s shot caught the magnetized lip, which hurled the
trauma ball back at him at some ridiculous, unsafe speed. Shax winced at the
sharp crack when hard ball met angel head.
“Ow.” Ness flopped down at
the top of the ramp, rubbing at his temple.
“Someone gonna explain to me again how this is fun?” Corny
called from where he balanced on the swinging planks that made up mid-court.
He’d been stuck on the water hazard for several plays, his
muscular body and high center of gravity an indisputable disadvantage since the
wrong move would send him into the water and cost him a five minute penalty.
Their cowboy had figured out the hard way in the first quarter that the pool
itself enforced the penalty and didn’t let the penalized player out a second
before.
Good thing he can
tread water.
The ball was now happily rolling along the elevated sidewall
ramps and Shax prepared to jump for the rings that would put him at the right
height to catch it when it rolled free. Had they been playing teams…but no one
could agree on a fair way to pair the four of them up, so solo it was.
Shax cocked his head, listening to the rumble of the ball as
it trundled downward. Ness was still on the
ramp. Corny was stuck. Verin was navigating the sponge quadrant where his claws
were sticking. Perfect. He leapt, caught a ring in either hand, got a good swing
going, and let go with his right hand just in time for the ball to drop from
the chute.
With a whoop, he swung free and dropped with the ball
clutched to his chest, only to be hit from behind with the force of several
megatons. Wind knocked out of him, he could only watch as Verin snatched up the
ball.
“Attempted murder isn’t supposed to be part of the game,” he
wheezed as Verin took his shot. It seemed to be too far right, but the sphere
turned and the ball shot inside.
“You’re all right, you baby,” Verin growled. “Get up before
you really get fucked up.”
Shax heaved himself to his feet, staggering a few steps
before the floor decided he’d been in one place too long and started bucking.
Ness had moved now, too.
“Shax? Sure you’re all right, love?”
“I’m good. There are two of you right now. Don’t mind. Two
of you are nice.”
All four of them managed to reach the sand quadrant closest
to the near goal where they crouched in anticipation, waiting for the sphere to
spit out the ball. Shax got Verin’s elbow in his ribs and a playful shove from
Corny as they jockeyed for position but they might as well have stood still.
The sphere rumbled and disgorged the trauma ball with a hacking cough, sending
it high and wide. Ness, with his superior
height and reach, snagged it easily, holding it up to keep it out of reach.
Any second, Verin and Corny would charge him and then Shax
wouldn’t have a chance. An evil thought percolated in his mind and he sidled up
close to Ness, blew a breath across his bare nipple, and reached down to cup Ness’s balls through the tight game shorts. A strangled
whimper caught in Ness’s throat. His jaw
slack, eyes saucer-wide, he fumbled the ball and dropped it.
Shax caught it before it hit the sand, snatched a quick
kiss, and bounded away toward the far goal. He slammed the trauma ball into the
sphere just as it hummed over to yellow again.
“Ha! That’s three for me! Game!”
Please include purchase
links and web links where readers can find you.
Readers can find Shax’s
other books as well we more of Angel’s and all of the Mischief Corner crew at: Mischief Corner Books
For a complete listing
of Angel’s work, please visit her website:
But this time, let's have some fun with it! 
