My memories of life before the island keep slipping away from me. I think I had an office job of some kind and was good at making money but bad at relationships. I took a cruise to get over the last woman who'd dumped me for being so distant, and I was thrown overboard in a storm. I'd been wearing my swim trunks when it hit, and I washed ashore naked.

CHAPTER 3

Gradually the waves of pleasure dissipated and, slowly, oh so slowly, her reason returned. Something had happened. At first she could not recall what. She imagined she had dreamed. Perhaps she had fallen, and hit her head. She? She knew that was wrong. She was he. He was he. His sister had been here…with a lover. That’s when she had started dreaming of things that could not be. The hunger no longer gripped her. Like fog fading in the morning sun, the mists clouding her mind began to clear.

PROLOGUE

He lived among men and women, yet he was always apart from them; perhaps even more isolated from normal people than the others of his kind. He was human, right enough. He had hands, and feet, two eyes, two arms, and two legs. His skeleton, brain and bone were indistinguishable from his more common brothers and sisters. Down to his DNA, he was human.

But he did not, could not, live as did other men. None of them could.

Trust Me

By

Julie O

Edited

By

Itinerant

Mike Doyle’s life is changed forever when he accepts the business offer of Heather Green

T he Platinum Chef: A Tale of Delacroix

Ch. 1

Fantoccini’s Feline
By Paul Calhoun

A certain someone mentioned that I don't do sweet/sentimental/positive sex scenes. Simple answer to that: it's usually my clients who want the hardcore stuff and I like to go the discreet path in my more upbeat work. However, I figured Kelly and Reg getting together was a really special occasion, so enjoy some sex scenes in which everyone is happy, knows who the partner is and is having a blast.

Kelly gets the Blue Fairy Treatment and we have spoilers/foreshadowing for the Allie series.

It was the end of the summer, which was one of the best times on the mountain. The air was still warm enough that no one needed to wear a coat and there were still a few weeks of life left in the world before the chill set in and all the trees that weren’t evergreens started to lose their leaves. To Christina, it felt as though she were walking through an insubstantial world of dust. While everyone else in town was holding on to the last vibrant breath of summer, Christina felt the onset of fall on every inch of her skin.

"I can't believe you," Christina said as she shook her head. "You're so disgusted that you went through all this just to make sure no one in Oak Grove found out about me."

"Is that what you really think?" Richard said with a mix of hurt and anger.

"Why else, then?"

"If I was so ashamed, do you really think I would have told all of my business partners?" he shot back. "Why do you think I cashed in every last favor I had with them to convince them to keep up this charade against their best instincts?"

Christina shook her head. She didn't want to listen to a word he was saying. She eventually asked, "Why?"
 

Amiss.*
by
Angharad

*‘Something not functioning properly.’ (Guardian Quick Crossword 12.3.13).

"Uncle Alek?" Christina pleaded. "Where are we? What happened to me?" Her thoughts, which had been sluggish and unfocused, were now racing in her mind as they processed the darkness and the intense pain.

Alek placed his hand on his niece's head and stroked her hair. "Tina," he said softly. "Tina," he repeated, this time commanding the girl's attention. "You are in the hospital. You have had an accident." Alek was fairly certain that "accident" was not the correct term, but that wasn't important right now. "You had an accident but you will be alright."

Christina nodded slowly. She felt completely disoriented and untethered to the world except for the feeling of her uncle's hand on her head. "It hurts," she winced.

"I know Sweetheart," Alek said as he reached for a plastic bulb hanging from a wire on the wall. He felt the button on its tip and pressed it, summoning the nurse.

On the way back to Nina's room, Christina felt a mechanical rumble from the back pocket of her jeans. She took out her cell phone and saw that Richard was calling. She immediately froze, feeling a slight tightness in her chest. She was transfixed by the name on the tiny screen and was unable to move her fingers on the device before the call went to voice mail. Christina waited for the notification that indicated there was a new voice message, but it never came. Instead, there was a second rumble indicating that she'd just received a text message. She felt her stomach sink and it was though she'd temporarily lost her ability to differentiate up from down. She forced herself to read the message.

It read simply, "We should talk."
 

"Forget your contract. You're fired. I'm firing you for cause. You have betrayed me - and him, in my opinion."

		Trans. Plant. Heart. Chapter 6 (conclusion) by **Sigh** Copyright © 2013 plaintivesigh All Rights Reserved.

Oh, my God - I'm in love with him! I - I can't be in love with him!

		Trans. Plant. Heart. Chapter 5 by **Sigh** Copyright © 2013 plaintivesigh All Rights Reserved.

"Fish! God, no! Not that, not again! Please don't! What will your wife think?"
"Hell, Honey. I'm filming this. This gets my own rocks off," laughed Mamie.

		Trans. Plant. Heart. Chapter 3 by **Sigh** Copyright © 2013 plaintivesigh All Rights Reserved.

Alek walked alongside his wife as they passed various vendors offering hot dogs, cotton candy, and all the other delights of summer found at the county fair. While everyone around him was having fun, he was in a particularly foul mood. Not only had Christina left Boris with him, soon after, the girl and her boyfriend had disappeared. Keeping a sharp eye on his daughter and her ginger haired boyfriend who were walking several paces ahead of them, he vowed not to lose another one of his girls.

Looking over her shoulder, Christina saw the man she loved, though she'd never seen him in such a state. It was clear that he hadn't shaved, and judging by the way his hair stuck up at the part on the left side of his head, it was evident that he'd either not showered or hadn't spent any time on his hair that morning. Christina had never seen the man with so much of as a thread out of place. Seeing him, she picked up her pace, which was promptly matched by her cousin and Steph.

"Wait," he begged.

Turning around, Andrei stopped and threatened, "Stay away from her."

Good Friend, Girlfriend
By Paul Calhoun

Wednesday July 26

Dearest Diary,

Had another great day, even if I didn’t got to see Mike. But I think I am getting to find my new style! I know, I used to dress really boring and not taking much time to make myself presentable. But now, I discover all these really cute clothes I have that I never bothered with before. Can you imagine?