Smolder, page 1
SMOLDER
IGNITE SERIES BOOK TWO
NORA PHOENIX
Smolder (Ignite Series Book Two) by Nora Phoenix
Copyright ©2020 Nora Phoenix
Cover design: Jay Aheer (Simply Defined Art)
Edited by Tanja Ongkiehong
All rights reserved. No part of this story may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form by any means without the written permission of the copyright holder, except in case of brief quotations and embodied within critical reviews and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The use of any real company and/or product names is for literary effect only. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
This book contains sexually explicit material which is suitable only for mature readers.
www.noraphoenix.com
CONTENTS
Connect with Nora
Did you know?
Names and Terms
Publisher’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Sneak Peek Burn
Books by Nora Phoenix
More About Nora Phoenix
Acknowledgments
For my son.
Know that you are loved, buddy, no matter what. There’s nothing you could ever do or say that would make me stop loving you. My deepest wish for you is to be yourself…and for you to love yourself just as you are.
CONNECT WITH NORA
Connect with me on social media:
Hang out in my FB group Nora’s Nook
Follow me on Instagram
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on Bookbub
Sign up for my newsletter
Become my patron on Patreon
And for an overview of all my books and audio books, head over to my website!
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know there’s a box set of the Ignite series that contains all three books plus bonus content, including a novella about Pax? (You’ll meet him in the first book…) It’s exclusively for sale through my website, and compared to buying all books individually, you’ll save 50%!
You can grab it here.
NAMES AND TERMS
Some terms to explain the world of Ignite:
EUS: Eastern United States (Capital: New York)
CUS: Conservative United States (Capital: Houston)
WUS: Western Unites States (Capital: LA)
CSA: Conservative Space Agency (formerly NASA)
Reintegration Camp: a camp where gay, bi, and trans men between 18 and 28 are locked up until they are reformed, meaning straight, and released back into society. Gay men above 28 go to prison.
Counselor: guard at a reintegration camp
Camper: a “prisoner” in a reintegration camp
Foets: new arrivals at camp, new campers (short for foetus aka fetus)
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This series takes place in a fictional world, based on an alternative reality in the United States. Please note trigger warnings for the entire series for homophobia, violence, sexual aggression, and rape.
This novel is the second in a series and ends in a soft cliffhanger. There will one more book. No harm will come to the three main characters, and the series will end with a HEA for all romantic relationships.
1
Austin woke up disoriented, the bed way too soft, too comfortable. A warm body pressed against him, limbs sneaked in between his. Tan. He remembered, and the tension left his body. The farm, Doug and Ruthie’s farm. That was where they were.
Outside in the hallway, Newt whimpered, probably distressed because he was separated from the humans. It had been three and a half weeks since the attacks, Austin calculated, having kept track of the days, so if Doug and Ruthie had left soon after, the dog would’ve been alone for at least two weeks before they had shown up. No wonder he longed for companionship.
He carefully extracted himself from Tan and slid out of bed. Tan let out a murmur, then turned around in bed and sought Mack’s presence. Austin smiled, a warm feeling in his belly, as Mack pulled Tan closer in his sleep. He’d come a long way, their scared little rabbit. And what they had experienced two days ago had been amazing. Kissing, Mack’s face filled with wonder, his mouth both eager and pliant, so happy to please. It had been everything Austin never knew he’d craved.
He grabbed the clothes he’d discarded on the floor, then slipped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him with a soft click. Newt pressed his face against his legs, his wet nose cold on Austin’s warm skin.
Austin crouched down and rubbed his head. “We’re still here, big guy. Don’t you worry now.”
The dog let out another whimper, then licked his hand. Austin grinned. Animals were so much easier to please than humans. They didn’t care what you looked like or who you loved or fucked. All they wanted was for you to love them, and in return, you got endless devotion till their dying day.
He put his clothes on, Newt watching his every move as if he was scared Austin was gonna disappear on him. As soon as he was dressed, he walked into the kitchen, where he put out some kibble for Newt and filled his bowl with fresh water. The dog attacked his food immediately. Austin scratched his head one last time and left him to it.
One look at the complicated stove that Tan had handled with such ease made Austin decide coffee could wait. His mouth was watering at the thought of coffee, but he’d better not get used to it. Not only did they have enough coffee for a week or two at the most, since Doug and Ruthie appeared to be tea people, but they hadn’t determined how long they would stay here. Right now, the farm was a little slice of paradise, but for how long?
He drank a glass of water, then poured himself another one, his throat a bit parched. He debated with himself for all of two seconds before deciding two Oreos would make an excellent appetizer to breakfast and moaned when the taste hit his tongue. How could those taste so freaking good when before he hadn’t cared that much for them?
With the glass of water in his hands, he stood in front of the kitchen window, looking outside. A cold hand clamped around his heart when he spotted the telltale signs of frost, the thin white layer that topped the brown grass. Winter was coming, and where would that leave them? He shivered, taking a sip of his water.
They couldn’t outrun winter, could they? They’d have to go west fast, but they’d never make it through Wyoming before snowfall. They still had hundreds of miles to go before they reached Nevada. Hundreds of miles of nothing, as the area between them and Salt Lake City was sparsely populated. They’d have nowhere to stay except out in the open, and the little tent would not be enough to keep them warm. Plus, what would they eat or drink? They might hit upon the occasional farm like this one, but the chances of them being abandoned were slim, and they might get shot before they could ask for help.
And of course, the not unsubstantial problem of the threat of military conscription loomed over their heads. If that plan materialized—and Austin had little doubt it would, since the government would need all hands on deck if they wanted to defeat the Zagorians—they’d be fucked six ways till Sunday. Everyone who spotted them would know they should be serving, and would report them.
He let out a long breath. Staying here might be their better option but only for the short term. It wouldn’t bring them freedom, and if by some miracle the government would manage to beat the Zagorians, Mack, Tan, and he would be sent back straight to camp. Or worse. They had not only escaped from camp—a federal offense that could land them in prison for at least ten years—but they had also killed federal officers.
Everything might be in chaos now, but if the government ever found out what they had done, they’d be sentenced to death. The CUS had no qualms whatsoever about executing the death penalty, having abolished many of the legal options to appeal that had been customary for many years. It would be a short road between trial, sentencing, and death.
“Morning,” Mack’s soft voice spoke up, and seconds later, he found a spot beside Austin in front of the window.
After a short hesitation, he stepped closer, his shoulder bumping Austin’s, and Austin smiled. Sweet, shy Mack. He nudged him gently with his elbow. “Morning.”
“Frost,” Mack said as he looked outside. “It won’t be long till we get snow.”
“No,” Austin said, his heart cold all over again. What the hell were they gonna do? Could they afford to ride winter out here? It could last till April, and so many things could change and go wrong in six months.
“We have some decisions to make,” Mack said, his voice carrying the same gravity Austin felt. That relieved some of the weight on his heart. He wasn’t in this alone. They were together, a team, and they each had unique talents and knowledge that would help.
“Tan still asleep?” he checked.
Mack grinned. “No, but he said he wasn’t gonna leave the bed until he smelled coffee. Something about deserving to be pampered for once.”
“He’s not wrong, but I was too scared to touch the stove, so you’ll need to boil water.”
“I’m on it.”
When he stepped aside, Austin reached for him with his free hand, pulling him close. “Can I get a good morning kiss first?”
That pretty blush Austin loved spread over Mack’s cheeks. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted one,” he mumbled, glancing at Austin before looking at the floor again.
Austin made sure his voice betrayed none of the anger that flared up in him as it hit him how damaged Mack was. “Of course I do,” he said, gently tugging until Mack got the hint and stepped in, raising his face.
Austin pressed a soft kiss on his lips, not trusting himself with more right now. Deep inside him, a fire ignited to show Mack more, but he wasn’t ready for all that. And truth be told, neither was Austin. Things had happened fast, and he wasn’t sure of his own feelings and motives. Until he was, he owed it to all of them to tread carefully.
He sat down at the kitchen table as Mack got busy with boiling water and making coffee for the three of them. “You can turn the radio on if you want,” Mack said. “It’s set to one of the pirate stations I found.”
“Is my coffee ready yet?” Tan called out from the bedroom, and Austin laughed. From anyone else, he would’ve felt it spoiled, but not from Tan. If anyone deserved to be pampered and cherished, it was him. A lifetime of being taken care of would still not make up for what he’d been through.
“Working on it!” Mack shouted back.
“Well, get a fucking move on, then!”
Austin and Mack shared a grin. “You heard his majesty,” Austin said. “We’d better make him breakfast too.”
They worked together in a comfortable silence to make coffee and breakfast, putting it all out on the kitchen table. When it was ready, Austin walked into the bedroom, where Tan was snuggled under the blankets up to his nose. “Breakfast is served, Milord,” he said, sitting down on the bed.
Tan pushed the covers down, faking a haughty look. “How dare you socialize with me in such a familiar way, you peasant.”
But before he reached the end of the sentence, his face split open in a grin, and Austin chuckled. “You may wanna consider a different career than acting.” He leaned in for a quick kiss, Tan’s soft lips too tempting to resist. “Come on, babe, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
They chatted easily during breakfast, and it felt surreal, as if the outside world wasn’t an absolute horror right now. As if they were just three friends staying on a farm for a few days. Still, even knowing it couldn’t last, Austin soaked it up, grateful for the short reprieve.
When they were done eating, Mack made them a second cup of coffee, and as if by unspoken agreement, they settled at the kitchen table. “We’ve had the first frost,” Austin said.
“We got lucky it wasn’t sooner,” Tan said. “Frost was late this year.”
Austin blinked twice. It was so easy to forget that Tan knew what he was talking about, having grown up on a farm. Hell, he and Mack knew ten times more about this than Austin did.
“Snow won’t be long now,” Mack said softly.
“Yeah, and that’s gonna be a bitch,” Tan said.
“We need to make a decision whether we’re gonna stay here or move out,” Mack said.
They shared uneasy looks. “Look, we don’t have enough information to make that decision,” Austin finally said. “The threat of winter is a good reason to stay, and so is the risk of being forced into serving in the armed forces, but there may be good reasons to leave as well.”
“Like people showing up here, desperate for food,” Tan said.
“Yes,” Mack replied. “Or an increased alien presence. Let’s not forget that even a small town like Wright had alien spider bots.”
Austin frowned. “Yeah, that still doesn’t sit well with me. You’d think they would have much bigger towns to focus on. There’s got to be an explanation why they’re here, but I can’t figure out what. There’s literally nothing here but farms and coal mines.”
“And oil,” Mack said, and he and Austin both froze.
“Oil,” Austin repeated slowly. “Could it really be as simple as that, that they attacked Earth for oil?”
“It wouldn’t be the first war over oil,” Tan said. “History has shown natural resources are a mighty good reason to wage war.”
“But the field here was hard to drill, you said,” Austin brought up.
“If you care about environmental impact, yes,” Mack said. “But if you’re not concerned with that, I reckon it’d be a lot easier.”
“If that’s true, they’d focus on all areas where there’s oil,” Austin said. “Texas, the Gulf of Mexico. Florida, I think?” He ticked them off on his fingers.
Mack nodded. “Yeah. The southern East Coast, I guess. And Alaska, of course. And that’s just within the former Unites States. Other than that, we’re talking South America, the Middle East, some North African countries. The Stan-countries.”
“None of them have the military power North America has,” Austin pointed out. “They’d be a lot easier to overrun.”
“I’d imagine so, especially if they set up an EMP attack there first as well. So maybe they’re concentrating their biggest forces here?” Mack said.
“Is this oil field worth that much effort?” Austin wondered. “I can’t help but think that if it were that big, they’d have tapped it sooner, damn the consequences. It’s not like that has ever stopped them before when money was on the line.”
Mack shrugged. “True, but maybe the aliens know something we don’t. Looks like their technology is superior to ours, so maybe they’ve concluded there’s either more than we thought or they have an easier way to get it out. But let’s not forget we’re just speculating here. We don’t know for a fact that they’re after oil.”
“Let’s say they are, what does that mean for us? For our plans?” Tan asked.
Austin’s shoulders dropped. “Considering we’re right on top of that damn oil field, I’d say our chances are not good.”
2
Silence hung heavy in the kitchen after Austin’s words. Oil. Mack couldn’t believe how obvious it was. So many wars had been fought over oil, but how disheartening to realize that even aliens were after fossil fuels. Not that it would have been less gruesome if they’d had a loftier goal for attacking Earth, but still. This felt so banal, so common for what would go down in history as the first intergalactic war. Almost anticlimactic.
“Maybe Mack is right and we don’t have enough information to make a good decision,” Tan said with a slight tremble in his voice.
“I agree,” Austin said. “We need to know more before we can decide to head out or stay.”
Mack nodded. “Let’s make a list of questions we have or things we want to weigh into our decision.” Mack grabbed the little notebook and pen from the kitchen table, thanks to the ever-practical Ruthie, and started writing. “So, we want to know for sure if the Zagorians are after oil. What else?”
