Given that everyone’s being a little shy on FaceBook 
… I’m changing the format of Random Read Day a little. Instead of working off of a quote posted by someone, I’ll find a quote at random myself every week, and post a little, brand-new, free read based around the spirit of that quote and how it inspires me. And to make things a little more fun, I’m going to mix it up a bit and make the day completely random…You’ll never know what day of the week it’s going to be posted on! So keep checking the blog to see what’s newly posted, and happy reading!!
Tag Archive: Free Reads
Due to how hectic my Mondays are, I never seem to have time to post my request for starter lines on Facebook, so I’m moving Random Day from Wednesday to Thursday. So, if you haven’t gone over to my FB page and posted your submission for Random Day, you still have time… And if you’re looking for the free read, be sure to stop back tomorrow!
My first published series from a few years ago – and a fan favourite – is making a comeback! Underground’s first book, TAMIA, will be released from Under The Moon in e-book at the end of this year, and in print early next Spring. In celebration of that, this week’s Flash Friday is from TAMIA… Hope you enjoy!
As always, if you read, leave a comment! I love to know what people think (good OR bad)
“Confrontation” – Excerpted from Underground #1: TAMIA
copyright 1992 by Esther Mitchell
The sound of voices, from Communications, reached him. The first shivered along his awareness, and he knew instantly that was Tamia. The other was familiar, and male, but Rick couldn’t place it. His brow furrowed as he wondered what happened; Rick strode across the command center to the open door of Comms, and froze as the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head.
Tamia sat at the console, her head bent forward so that her hair fell across her face. Behind her stood Matt Clipper, a grin on his face that Rick wanted to pound out of him as the darker man’s hands massaged her exposed neck and shoulders, wringing a small groan from the woman.
“God, that’s good.” Tamia’s voice was tinged with laughter. “Okay, so I stand corrected. You do have God’s hands.”
A shaft of pure rage avalanched through Rick at sight and words combined. Dammit, if he couldn’t touch her, he sure as Hell didn’t want anyone else pawing her, either! His eyes narrowed. Matt and Tamia were both products of the streets; they probably had more in common than he and Tamia did. Just how close were these two, anyway?
“I keep tellin’ ya, Chinagirl. Black is be—” Matt stopped as his gaze flicked over, and met Rick’s scowl. Rick watched with dark humor as the other man’s eyes widened, just before his hands fell away from Tamia and he muttered, “Oh, shit.”
“Why’d you stop?” Tamia asked from behind the curtain of her hair, then straightened to look around. “What’s the mat—? Rick!”
Matt swallowed hard and took a step away. His eyes moved nervously to the outside door of Comms. “I’m outta here. See ya later, Blade.”
With that, he beat a hasty exit, Rick’s glare following him into the corridor. As soon as Matt was gone, Rick turned his frustrated rage on Tamia.
“What the hell was going on in here?”
“Not that it’s any of your business.” Her posture was instantly defensive. He knew he took the wrong tack with her, but damn it all, he was too pissed to care. And he sure as hell couldn’t tell her why he was pissed. Especially not with that red fire that flashed in her eyes. “Matt just stopped in to drop off his mission notes. He was helping me work the kinks out of my neck and shoulders.”
“Damn it, Tamia!” He stalked over to her, yanking her seat around as he bent over her and let her see the frustration that burned in him. The flicker of fear in her eyes lasted only for a second, but it was enough to turn his roar of frustration into a hot accusation. “What is it with you? Do you get some kind of rise out of tormenting people, or something?”
She jerked away in clear anger as she rose to her feet and grabbed up a file. She ignored him as she headed for the Command Center. At the door, she finally stopped to look back at him. “I don’t recall doing anything of the kind. Just who am I supposedly torturing, anyway?”
“Me,” he growled. He caught her just inside the doorway as he dropped his head to cover her lips in a punishing kiss. She gasped against his mouth, and the sound of paper hitting the concrete floor filtered through his consciousness, only to be swept away by a raging flood of hunger as he drank in her sweet response.
Today’s Fly-by comes from a Science Fiction series of mine, set on Mars…
Calliope McKinney has the dubious honor of being a member of one of Mars’ famous First Families, and Psi. But when her position as a member of a prestigious family places Calli in the middle of a fight for the survival of all Psis on Mars, she’ll have to decide where her loyalties lay, and whom to trust, because if she’s not very careful, she could end up dead.
Excerpt from DEAD MEN… :
Her gaze dropped sadly to the body, again, and she reached to touch Bryana’s hand – something she hadn’t dared to do with the real body. “Drugs would have messed with the image, eventually, and Bryana was all about her image.”
She blinked, and looked up, surprised to find him crouched on Bryana’s other side, his expression concerned. “You knew her, didn’t you?”
Calli’s eyes dropped away from his, again, determined to not let him see any real emotion. Her gaze dropped to Bryana, and she blinked again. Too bad she couldn’t blame it on allergies, here in the Lexus. “She was my friend.”
Her gaze focused on Bryana’s hands, which were clenched in fists against her chest. Calli’s brow furrowed. A dull glow emanated from the body’s clenched fists. That was something she couldn’t remember noticing at the real crime scene. And yet, she must have, to recreate it here, right?
“What is it?”
Calli ignored Drew as she grasped the Lexus image’s wrist, and eased it away from her body. The arm was stiffened with rigor, and she had to wrestle it over to where she could work the fingers apart. She stared down at the shimmery, phosphorescent substance that covered the inside of Bryana’s palm. “What the hell is this?”
He leaned closer, and she swore she caught the scent of him. No one was that good, when it came to avatar building. She stared at him, and his eyes met hers as he looked up. “VRDs.”
“Excuse me?”
“Virtual Reality Drugs. That’s what killed your friend here. They’re—”
“I know what VRDs are, Drew,” she cut him off in exasperation. “They’re sensation enhancers that can fool people into believing that what happens in the Lexus is real. It could definitely explain why she looks like she’s scared out of her mind. But how do you translate application of VRDs into the real world?”
He shook his head. “You don’t. They don’t exist out there; they’re little more than programming sequence meant to fool the brain. That’s probably why you saw no signs of this out there. The drug only shows up here.”
She frowned, knowing he was right. It was a twisted kind of logic that had originally led to the development of Virtual Reality Drugs. Mostly, they were used in sexual experimentation, but like everything else, they were quickly perverted into a way to detach from reality, and to take another mind captive. She shuddered as she met Drew’s gaze again. “So, how do I find out which VRD did this?”
A small, wry smile pulled up his lips as Bryana’s body faded from view. “Do you trust me?”
That was the million-credit question, and she hadn’t the faintest idea how to answer him. One look from those amber eyes turned her body into liquid fire, but her mind was crystal clear, and full to the brim with questions. But she didn’t want to tip her hand, yet, so she played it cool.
“Do I have a choice?”
The crooked, rakish grin he favored her with caused her heart to skip a beat. Great cyberspace, she was in deep shit, now.
