Alice - black & white

Furious pounding startled Jingo from a deep sleep. Last night’s entertainment lay sprawled across the bed next to her, oblivious to the racket. Jingo shifted in the bed, planted the soles of her feet against the sleeping man’s back and shoved.

The man let out a startled yelp that ended with a cry of pain when he hit the floor.

“See who dares to wake the Empress at this unearthly hour,” Jingo said.

The young man, still nude, scrambled for his clothing.

“Now! Forget your clothes.” Jingo pressed her palms against her temples. “Just make that noise cease!”

The young man, she thought his name might be Akihiro, raced for the door.

A warm flush spread over Jingo’s chest at the memory of the young man’s bedroom prowess. He might be worth inviting back. Jingo shivered as another thought formed. Before she could capture it, her evening companion yanked the door open, halting the insistent pounding.

“Who dares to wake me with such rudeness?” she asked.

An officer of the Royal Navy took a small step into her chamber, eyes averted from her nakedness. He bowed deeply and held the pose. Next to him, Akihiro stood shivering, his hands cupping his genitals.

“The Navy is back, Highness.” The hulking officer’s voice trembled. “The Koreans have defeated them. Captain Tadashi wished to bring you the message himself, however he was gravely wounded.”

Anger deepened the flush on Jingo’s chest. “Turn your backs,” she said. When they had turned, Jingo slipped from her bed and wrapped a light kimono around her body.

“You may face me.”

Both men turned.

“You!” She pointed a finger at Akihiro. “Leave us.”

The young man bowed and slipped away.

“Where is Tadashi now?”

“In the infirmary, Highness. They are trying to save his arm.”

Jingo was quiet for a moment, memories of the powerful warrior’s lovemaking tumbled through her mind. She sighed. An armless man was unworthy of sharing the Empress’s bed. Shame. Tadashi had been one of her favorites. Perhaps too favored. Well, no more.

“Return to me when he is able to speak. I want to know everything that happened.”

“Yes, Highness.” The soldier bowed and left.

# # #

Jingo sat in her tea house, enjoying a light meal. She watched in annoyance as one of her least favorite courtiers approached.

“Yes? What is it, Yuki?” Jingo let her displeasure show in her voice.

“Forgive me, Highness. I bring you the news that Captain Tadashi is ready to see you.”

A single butterfly sprang to life in Jingo’s belly. She quashed it by thinking of yet another defeat at the hands of the Koreans.

After five tense moments of silence, Jingo said, “Have him escorted to my sleeping chamber this evening.” She flicked a dismissive hand at her servant. “Go, now.”

The woman curtseyed and scurried away, leaving Jingo to work out the details of her plan. Korea must be her’s.

# # #

The Empress watched the last of her ladies retreating from her room. When she was alone, Jingo turned toward the mirror, admiring her own beauty. Royal robes, ivory hairpins, kohl eyes, crimson lips. And underneath the decorations, the lithe form of a siren. Empress or not, no man had ever refused her advances.

Two sharp knocks sounded, bringing the butterflies to light in her belly again.

She smoothed the front of her kimono and turned toward the door. “Enter!”

Her door swung open granting Tadashi access to her room. The sling that held his right arm to his chest marred the clean lines of his fresh uniform.

“Highness,” he said. “It is with deep shame that I must report our second defeat to the Koreans. They are fierce in defense of their homeland. We suffered many casualties.”

Jingo stood. “It is of no consequence. We will simply rebuild our ranks and try again. I must have Korea.” She stamped her foot for emphasis.

“It will take some time to rebuild and train new men. Perhaps as long as two years,” he said.

“Two years? Impossible!” Jingo paced, her robes swirling around her. “We must attack them again soon. They won’t be expecting us to come so quickly on the heels of another defeat.”

“Highness, I don’t think I’ve managed to convey the extent of our casualties. We’re nothing but a skeleton crew. Most of our officers are dead or severely maimed.” He shrugged his wounded arm for emphasis. “The lower ranks are all but wiped out. It will take years to rebuild.”

“Nonsense. Leave the Navy to me.” Jingo swept toward her captain in a rustle of fabric and jasmine-scented air. “Let us take a break from all this unpleasantness.” She untied the sash of her kimono and let it fall away. “You’ve been away so long, Tadashi. I’ve missed you.”

More and more, I’ve been receiving requests for additional eBook formats from readers so that they might enjoy my work on their iPhones and Kindles. I want you to have it your way and Smashwords makes it easy to give you what you want.

I’ve started the process of converting some of my work for use with most eReaders and mobile devices. The first offering is Look Both Ways, a story of a voyeuristic young man who is infatuated with his beautiful new neighbor.

Click to Sample

LOOK BOTH WAYS

An obsessed young man hides in the shadows to spy on his neighbor. Night after night, he stands in the darkness, smoking and watching through her window. Her reaction when she catches him takes him far beyond his wildest fantasy.

~*~

You can read an excerpt at Smashwords. It is also available for purchase.

Check back often as I’ll be uploading more of my work, including free stories, to Smashwords in the near future.

Happy Reading!

~Alice

It’s been a while since the desire to write has taken hold of me. It thrills me to no end that when that desire struck, it focused on my WIP novel. Forgive me. This piece is very raw and has only seen the smallest bit of editing. It is what it is: a start. And for that, I’m grateful. #amwritingagain

# # #

It took an act of God to convince Erich to let me return to my rooms alone. There was no way to gauge whether he’d left or whether he stood lurking in the shadows. I had to trust that he’d accepted my promises to return to him in the morning. There was unfinished business between Noam and myself and no time to waste second-guessing the situation. I had no choice but to track Noam down and silence him.

A glance at the clock showed that I had nine hours until Erich showed up to collect me and my belongings. I hoped it was enough.

It took two hours to gather everything I planned to take with me to Erich’s apartment. I left the window shades open and all the lights on. If Erich was out there in the darkness, I wanted to make sure he saw me. I spent another hour in a hot bath then made a big show of closing up for the night.

Once the shades were drawn and the lights out, I moved quickly, feeling the pinch of time. The lingerie from Erich seemed appropriate attire to wear under my disguise though wearing it meant I had to leave my breasts unbound. The uniformed shirt was large enough to hide my feminine form so long as no one gave me more than a passing glance. Dressing as a man had become routine enough that it took only minutes to transform myself.

The first shadow of doubt stole over me. What if Noam had been telling the truth, not only about Moshe but also about my father? Moshe was dead and until a few short hours ago, I’d believed my father was dead as well. Noam hadn’t said where my father was. I had to assume he’d been deported to a camp along with all the countless others. He could be anywhere or nowhere. Regardless, it didn’t matter whether he was alive or dead other than my own selfish desire to rescue the one person who still loved me. The only way to save him lay in my ability to carry out my orders.

I stood in the dark quiet of my bedroom, steeling myself for the pivotal next five minutes. There were only two scenarios that would play out: either Erich would be waiting for me or he wouldn’t. If he were, everything would come to a screeching halt. There was a distinct possibility that less than ten minutes from now, I’d be dead or dying.

The white square of paper trembled in her fingers, refusing to fold along the lines she dictated. Tears of panic and frustration filled her eyes. Stupid, the whole idea was stupid and pointless and never going to work. Why she’d ever agreed to her therapist’s suggestion was beyond her. The idea that folding paper into intricate forms would help ease the pain and horror of her traumatized mind was ridiculous. She saw that now.

Claire blinked, hot tears spilling over her lashes. Her fingers formed claws around the paper, preparing to rip and shred. She was like the paper, flat and plain but with the potential to become something whole and beautiful if she could just bend herself along the right lines and like the paper, she refused to yield, afraid to face the memories that would come with each crease. Her face crumpled at the impossibility of it all. Wanting the paper to reflect her emotions, she snapped her hands closed, crushing it into a useless ball.

The urge to crumple into an identical ball under the desk and let loose the fear and anguish almost overtook her. A public display of her instability would only make things worse. The last thing she needed was an embarrassing escort from the library for shattering its serenity with her madness. She squeezed the ruined paper harder, fighting back her emotions, trying to gain control of them so she could slip away to her apartment and really let go.

“You look like you could use a little help with that.”

The silken voice startled the breath from her. Good thing or she might have filled the library with her terrified screams. The expression of sympathy and compassion on the face of the speaker pulled her back from the precipice though she still couldn’t draw enough breath to speak.

“I’ve never seen anyone let a piece of paper upset them so much.” He smiled then, his face soft and unthreatening.

Claire managed to draw a ragged breath but was still unable to speak. He seemed harmless but then so had…no, not now, not here. She wanted to run but terror lanced through her, freezing her in place. Her eyes, the only part of her she still had control over, squeezed shut, the small reflex unable to hold back the horrifying images in her mind. Teeth slashing at her tender throat. The heavy, impossible weight of him holding her down. Delicate bones snapping under iron fists. The searing, unbearable heat of his ultimate violation.

It wasn’t him, wasn’t the one who’d done so much to hurt her. A quick peek at the stranger told her it was true. This man was slim and dark where the other was a hulking, sinister blond. She thought he might be Japanese but wasn’t sure. Something about him gave her an unfamiliar feeling, not bad, just a feeling of something long forgotten.

Claire opened both eyes, looking down at her clenched fists. “I’m sorry,” she managed to whisper.

The only sounds were the quiet flipping of pages, soft murmured conversations, books sliding from shelves, normal library sounds. Claire dared a glance at the man only to find that he was gone. Relief flooded through her, slumping her bunched shoulders and loosening her grip on the paper. Freed of her paralysis, she made a quick, cursory survey of the library but saw no sign of him.

She heaved a sigh, felt some of her reserve come back. Time to leave before he came back. The ball of paper went into the wastebasket. Claire abandoned the book she’d chosen on the desk, gathered her things and stood to leave.

“I’ll be here the day after tomorrow, if you want help with your origami.”

Claire spun around, adrenaline readying her for flight.

The man stood ten feet away, leaning against a book stack. “I’m very skilled in the art. If you aren’t interested, I’ll understand but I can help you.”

“Why do you care?” she asked.

He smiled again and the unfamiliar feeling grew stronger though she still couldn’t identify it.

“Origami is more than just folding pieces of paper. I’ll be here on Thursday. If you are not, you won’t see me again.” He turned and disappeared between the stacks.

The urge to follow him and demand a better explanation was hard to fight but she thought it best to take her leave. He was a stranger and Claire had more than a healthy fear of strangers.

She has enough rope
The lies will hang her high
Suspended cunt

Vamp ire is she
To prey on ether emotions
False diety is she

The lover’s taint
Denies his position, refuses the truth
That he is nothing

As long as you play
By her rules and tides
Blessed art thou

Forget the rules
Deny the tides
Back to nothing; Oblivion