Note? What note? #SciFi by Kayelle Allen #MFRWhooks #MFRWorg

Royal District, Royal Arms Hotel Suite 1221

NarrAy tipped the hotel android and tucked the note he'd delivered into the pocket of her robe. "Senth?" She walked back into the bedroom, heard water running, and poked her head inside the bathroom. Steam frosted the glass-enclosed shower. "Senth, honey, there's a--Whoa!"

Senth was pressed against the glass from his firm behind all the way up to his shoulders.

NarrAy gulped against a rush of pheromones. "Uh, there's a...a note."

"What?" Senth stepped away from the glass and came to the opening, both hands in his soapy hair. Shampoo bubbles trickled down his upraised arms, onto his shoulders, and down across his chest. Senth's nose wriggled. He'd done that several times during the night, inhaling her scent. It shot a tinge of warmth down her body. "I couldn't hear you, sweetie. There's a what?"

"Nothing." NarrAy cast off her robe and stepped into the shower, right into Senth's slippery, soapy, slick, sexy, and open arms.

A Stolen Heart, Antonello Brothers Series

A Stolen Heart is a full length novel set in the Antonello Brothers Science Fiction Romance series. The book is currently in progress.

The scene below is the critical moment of the story when Luc Saint-Cyr meets Senthys (Senth) Antonello for the first time. This massive, enhanced warrior turned businessman has the empire by the tail -- so long as no one finds out what Luc really is. Enter a tiny three-year-old boy running as if fleeing a monster, and that solid hold on all things "normal" quickly turns to mush. The teacher has showed up, and while Senth hides, Luc redirects her elsewhere...

After she left, Luc stepped back. "It's safe to come out now. She's gone."

Sticking one finger in his mouth, the boy crept forward, peeked around the door, and burst into tears.

Even Luc, whose experience with children could be recorded on his palm, could tell his cry reflected genuine relief. The boy had been terrified.

Monster chasing him indeed. What had that woman done?

The little one ran, but instead of heading for the door, he made a beeline for Luc and threw both arms around one of his legs, sobbing.

Luc stiffened.

Children didn't run to him. They fled.

Imperturbable, Pietas had called him. Seeing him now, his king would guffaw.

Luc bent at the knees only enough to pat the boy on the head. "There, there."

The child cried harder.

What if the headmistress showed up and found him with a sobbing child? How did one coax a child to cease crying? Her office held no toys or distractions. This room was all business, a showcase for prospective clients, not children.

"Stop crying, little boy." He tacked on, "Please."

Wailing harder, the boy looked up at him, blue eyes red-rimmed.

Heart in his throat, Luc took stock.

A terrified child. Him.

That ratio was supposed to work only one way.

He showed up. Children ran.

Why didn't this one?

An adult with issues, Luc could handle. That was territory he knew. When one lived with Pietas, one became an expert out of necessity.

His training, both military and in business had taught him three steps. Identify the problem. Acknowledge the problem. Solve the problem.

All right. He knew the problem, so the solution was not to stand there like a dolt, but instead treat this little one with respect. Like a tiny adult.

Or Pietas.

Luc went down on one knee. "You're afraid." He stroked the mass of curly hair away from the boy's tear-soaked face. "It's okay. I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you."

Hiccupping, the boy reached up to him.

Back to awkward.

Hacking the storeroom #SciFi #SpaceOpera Bro by Kayelle Allen #MFRWhooks

Folks in this town never referred to Luc Saint-Cyr by name. You heard the capital letters when they called him the Man, or they referred to him as the Harbinger. Senth's father was the daddy crime lord all the baby crime lords wanted to be.

"Ooh, big scary Man." He thumbed off the device. "Please let this be a job and not him finding out I hacked Planet Fun."

Senth crossed the street and entered the Miraj City Bakery Café. No crowd this early, though a group of professors shared drinks at one of the tables in the back. There were no undergraduate classes this week. Cloak distribution had overturned the beehive.

A clean smell of freshly brewed coffee pulled him deeper into the room.

The android on duty rolled up to him. "Welcome, Blue Shadow. How may I serve you today?"

"Like to use your storeroom a minute." He flashed his father's hand sign. "Private business."

"Of course, sir." The droid offered a keycard.

"Oh, please. I've broken into that room so many times, I prolly owe you guys rent."

On the droid's nametag, a bar of yellow lights indicated confusion. "Pardon, sir?"

"It was a joke. Owing rent for--" Senth held up both hands. "Never mind. No key needed."

He followed the maze of corridors to the back. At the door, he pulled out his lockpick and adjusted the settings. When he pointed it at the lock, the device signaled a lockout error and the tiny screen flashed nonsense letters at him.

What in the worlds did PROBATA mean?

He twisted the tip of the pick and floated the stats as a holovid. Probata Corporation. Wasn't that the system his prof in Premium Fingersmithing ranted about? Something about useless upgrades and pointless codes. What did she say about a bypass trick?

"Think, Senth. You sat there listening to the woman fume for two solid wasted hours."

Oh, no he hadn't.

No, that was the day Senth had flaked out of classes and spent a full day at Planet Fun with his mates. He'd recorded it instead. But had he transcribed it to his code book?

Of course not. And didn't that make this encounter so much more fun? He pinched the bridge of his nose, but his father always did that so Senth stopped it at once.

Why was a lock on a coffee shop's storeroom door harder than a security system at the planet's busiest amusement park? What were they storing in there? The Empress's private coffee stash?

Curiosity over the message from his far-from-patient father burned through his mental pockets. Wait. His father. Surely, he'd have the new codes.

Yes, and then he'd want to know why Senth didn't and no way was he explaining to dear old Dad how he hacked into Planet Fun for "a planetful of fun" instead of going to class.

That fortune Dad paid for Senth to attend classes at the guild academy? Yeah, wasted a full day of it to impress a few girls, which was why he was calling needing a bail out.

And no way was he going back to the droid, stand right in front of a table full of professors, and do the Hey can I borrow your key thing.

Riiight.