New Sion

In this romantic sci-fi novella, the main character Finn gets a second chance at happiness. Her whole life is about to change, and if she can only find the courage to trust, love is waiting for her.

E-book available from Amazon

Pretending to be a man isn’t easy. Finn Colville has pulled it off for years, but things get complicated when she falls for her new bounty hunting partner, Eamon Sullivan. On the planet New Sion, it’s against the law for a woman to wear pants and carry a gun, much less shoot people for a living. What will happen if Eamon discovers her secret?

On a backwater planet, at the edge of a galactic war, one man, one woman, and one desperate alien cross paths. Together they embark on the road trip of a lifetime, bound for revelation and redemption.

Excerpt

Finally Finn and Eamon took their leave, bidding everyone good night and thanking Mrs. Buckner for the meal. Wilfred gave them a lantern to light their way through the darkness to the barn. It was still pouring outside, so they both got more than a little damp running across the yard. As she climbed the ladder to the barn loft, Finn couldn’t stop shivering.

“Here,” Eamon said, helping her with her jacket and wrapping a blanket around her. “We need to get you warmed up.”

“I’m just tired,” she murmured, sagging against the wall. “I thought that meal was never going to end.”

“I know it was rough for you,” he said, laying their jackets out to dry. “I could see how tense you were, but I thought it went pretty well.”

“You were great,” she told him through chattering teeth. She was just so damn cold.

“Maybe we should sleep together tonight,” he suggested, “you know, to share body heat.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on.” He stepped closer and rubbed her icy hands. “I’m not going to take advantage.” He lifted her hands and blew on her fingers to warm them. “I’m worried about you catching a chill. I can’t light a fire in here, obviously, and our heavy clothes are all wet. You’ve just got me and a couple of blankets. I don’t want you getting sick.”

“All right. I guess it makes sense.”

“It does.”

“But don’t get any ideas,” Finn warned, as she walked over to their sleeping area.

“No ideas,” he promised, following her. “Not a single one.”

It was pleasant lying next to him, their shared blankets forming a cocoon around them, keeping out the night air. He rested on his back and she on her uninjured side, curled close against him for heat. She could feel his heart beating under her hand and his breath in her hair. Gradually her shivering stilled, and she felt blissfully warm.

“Hank Buckner would be jealous,” Eamon said with a soft laugh.

“Why’s that?” Finn asked sleepily.

“I’ve got the sweet, pretty woman he was dreaming of holding through the storm. Little did he know who was sitting across the table from him.”

“You really think I’m pretty?”

“I do…though you make a point of hiding it.”

“Well, you have to admit I’m not sweet,” she said, to cover her pleasure.

“I’ll admit no such thing. But I will say that “sweet’, as a word, doesn’t do you justice.”

“What word does?”

Eamon was silent for a moment. Outside the rain lashed against the barn roof, and wind rattled anything loose enough to move. “I would have to say you are extraordinary”¦the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever known.” His voice was little more than a whisper, but she heard it, and felt him kiss the top of her head. Peace and comfort washed over her, banishing the cares of the day. It was like coming home, after a long and arduous journey.

“Sleep well,” he said, and she did.

Available in ebook from Amazon