Aliens?
Spaceships?
Breeding programs?
And life-changing events that’ll
take me on a journey that will lead to the love of a lifetime.
Life changed for all of humanity in
the year 2050 when the aliens first appeared. The name of their planet was
Tah’Nar—and it was dying. Originally, the Tah’Narians were an intersexed
warrior race. Chemical warfare had essentially rendered them sterile. Many
scientists, from all over the world, eagerly volunteered their assistance to
aid the alien race. The benefits to our own world hovered foremost in the mind
of every government official present at the meeting.
The Tah’Narians required DNA for
their harvesting program. Since we couldn’t duplicate their technology, those
males who were to participate had to be transported to their world, which, of
course, triggered all sorts of questions from people. If these aliens were so
advanced, why couldn’t they extract the needed DNA? Why did humans have to be
taken off-world? The story had more holes in it than Swiss cheese.
After about a week of this, a press
release from our government stated that the two strands of DNA were too fragile
to be frozen and transported through space. The release claimed that the
nucleobases—the four molecules that form
the genetic building blocks of DNA—would be damaged and might even disintegrate
once the alien starships jumped to star drive, the method used to travel
through time and space so quickly. People, however, could be protected in ways
that extracted DNA couldn’t.
Agreements were reached with each
government—and boy, didn’t that take
a while—that these men would be returned to Earth once the program was
completed. Here in the United States a lottery system was set up, and each
young man between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight was assigned a
number. Once a year, for the next five years, numbers would be drawn and a new
set of one thousand men would be collected and escorted to holding centers.
Medical and psychological tests
would be run on the subjects, and, if they passed the tests, they’d be
transported to waiting spaceships. Other industrialized nations followed our
example and set up their own lottery systems. Word soon leaked that only gay
men were being targeted, but our government vehemently denied this accusation.
The media coined the expression
‘The Harvest’ for the times when the Tah’Narians would return to collect these
young men. I was seventeen when the aliens first appeared, so my parents
assumed I was safe. The final collection would be done before I turned
twenty-three. I didn’t fall within the guidelines the aliens had established,
so I thought I had nothing to fear.
I was wrong.
My name is Dale Michaels. A simple
name, right? Nothing very memorable about it, that’s for sure. Or about me,
either. I’m just a regular guy with average looks, a loving family who didn’t
care I was gay, and good friends.
Just a guy.
Little did I know just how special
I was to one Tah’Narian spaceship captain named Keyno Shou, or how he would
change my life. *shakes head* Don’t think he swept me off my feet. He didn’t.
What he did do was have me harvested
below the agreed age limit, take me from my family, mutate my DNA so I could
have kids, tell me I have a deadly disease, claim me as his mate, and destroy
the life I knew.
I was not happy, to say the least.
Pissed didn’t even cover what I felt. But what’s a guy to do on a spaceship
orbiting Earth surrounded by a bunch of aliens with technology far more
advanced than ours?
While I was still trying to figure
out what to do or how to handle the attraction I have for Keyno, a bunch of men
who were harvested revolted and tried to take over Keyno’s ship… and I got to
see how deeply Keyno cared for me. I also met the person who staged the
rebellion, the infamous gang leader, Colt 45.
And that was just the beginning of
what was to come, lol. This is the beginning of my story; a story that’s
action-packed, emotionally tough, and truly is the love of a lifetime.
Blurb:
In the year 2050, humanity finds
out they are indeed not alone.
Massive space ships appear without warning above the capital cities of all major nations. The planet Tah'Nar is dying. Chemical warfare has reduced the once-intersexed warrior race to sterility. They need fresh DNA in order to reproduce and have an idea for a harvesting program... and so they turn to Earth.
Earth governments negotiate a lottery, and Dale Michael assumes he's safe since he's under the Harvest age limit. How wrong he is. He's illegally harvested and claimed by Tah'Narian starship captain Keyno Shou. From the moment Keyno sees Dale, he knows he must claim the spirited human male for his own. What he doesn’t expect is a spitfire with a mind of his own—and a deadly disease that will require a risky procedure to cure.
Massive space ships appear without warning above the capital cities of all major nations. The planet Tah'Nar is dying. Chemical warfare has reduced the once-intersexed warrior race to sterility. They need fresh DNA in order to reproduce and have an idea for a harvesting program... and so they turn to Earth.
Earth governments negotiate a lottery, and Dale Michael assumes he's safe since he's under the Harvest age limit. How wrong he is. He's illegally harvested and claimed by Tah'Narian starship captain Keyno Shou. From the moment Keyno sees Dale, he knows he must claim the spirited human male for his own. What he doesn’t expect is a spitfire with a mind of his own—and a deadly disease that will require a risky procedure to cure.
Excerpt:
“Where the hell am I?” Soft sheets
rubbed against my bare skin as I sat in the bed. My heart picked up speed. This
wasn’t good, really not good. I was all alone and in a bed, someone’s personal
bed. All sorts of horrifying images paraded through my head as to why I was
there, but I wasn’t sore and there wasn’t any physical evidence, so rape wasn’t
a concern. Yet. I needed to get out of the damn bed—that was top of the ‘do
right-fucking-now list’. And God help me, I needed to get dressed—why offer up
an easy target, after all?—and find a weapon.
I had worked up a good head of
steam when another door in the room slid open. There stood the same Tah’Narian
from before. Now that I wasn’t loopy from whatever they gave me, I remembered
that these aliens had deeply tanned skin and were damn well tall. I wasn’t
exactly small—I stood an inch or two over of six feet and weighed two hundred
pounds—but most of them were bigger and taller than me, including this one. He
had to be over six feet five inches of densely packed muscle—and my ass was
still in bed.
“Dale, you're awake. Excellent.”
The white-haired Tah’Narian slowly
advanced into the bedroom with me, his movements cautious. My mouth fell open.
Of all the things I had expected, and I had built up a horrible list, this
wasn’t one of them. My nerves actually settled down to just jumping madly.
“I-I can understand you. But how…?
Why…? Um, what do I call you? Who are you? Why am I here? I shouldn’t be here.
Ah, and where exactly is here? And
what the hell am I doing in bed?” Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have pointed out
that last one.
“Please stay calm, Dale. I mean you
no harm. My name is Keyno Landium Shou. I think it’ll be easier for you to call
me Keyno. Let’s start with the easiest thing first. While you were asleep, a
translator was surgically implanted in your brain.” He walked farther into the
room. “It translates over ten thousand known languages.”
“You… you… you... put something in
my head?” That was his idea of easy things first? My hand shot up to my head,
fearfully searching for an incision as I watched him.
“There is no incision. We have
medical equipment that can regenerate tissue and leave no scar. I have a mirror
if you’d like to see, check and make sure there is no scar.” He reached for a
drawer by the bed.
Suddenly it struck me why he was so
familiar with this room. This was his room, his bed—and here I was, sitting in
it unclothed and completely at his mercy. Fear slammed into me again as the
implications of that sunk in.
“God, this is your room, isn’t it?
Oh, please don’t—” Shaking, I pulled the sheet up to my chin. It wasn’t much of
a barrier, but it was all I had. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“I won’t hurt you.” Keyno froze by
the bed, horror showing on his face. “Dale, never would I hurt you. You’re safe
with me, understand?”
I didn’t answer, just stared at
him, unsure what to say or what to do. He called this safe? What was his idea
of safe, anyway? Bet it differed from mine. Maybe he needed to switch channels
on that communication thingy.
“Okay.” Keyno took a deep breath
when I didn’t answer. “Why don’t we just… tell you what. Would you like something
to eat or drink? You’ve been asleep for nearly twelve hours.”
Was he kidding me? Eat? Anything I
put in my stomach was going to make a reappearance. “Can I get dressed? I don’t
have... all my clothes are... Jesus.” I wanted out of his bed, the sooner the
better.
I huddled beneath the sheets,
terrified of this creature that had overseen me being forcibly questioned and
who had admitted to sticking stuff in my brain, suspicious, and more than a
little angry. Why was he acting so nice and concerned? I had no reason to believe he was nice. Was this a trap?
Was he trying to trick me for some reason? That guard had told me that I’d been
chosen, and I’d been harvested illegally. Then the human doctor had told me
that this alien had called me ‘my chosen’.
I had put two and two together and
didn’t like what I’d come up with. I had many questions I needed answers to,
but I didn’t know which one to start with and wasn’t sure I could hold on to my
temper. Then there was the little problem of stark raving fear. But one thing I
knew for sure—I wanted to be dressed. Sitting here naked had me at a distinct
disadvantage.
Author bio:
M.A. Church lives in the southern
United States and spent many years in the elementary education sector. She is
married to her high school sweetheart and they have two children. Her hobbies
are gardening, walking, attending flea markets, watching professional football,
racing, and spending time with her family on the lake.
But her most beloved hobby is
reading. From an early age, she can remember hunting for books at the library.
Later nonhuman and science fiction genres captured her attention and drew her
into the worlds the authors had created. But always at the back of her mind was
the thought that one day, when the kids were older and she had more time, she
would write a book.
By sheer chance she stumbled across
a gay male romance story on the web and was hooked. A new world opened up and
she fell in love. Thus the journey started. When not writing or researching,
she enjoys reading the latest erotic and mainstream romance novels.
My links:
Twitter @nomoretears00
Facebook: M.A. Church http://www.facebook.com/pages/MA-Chur...
The Harvest FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/theharvest00
I just finished reading this, and I absolutely loved it! I can't wait for the sequel!
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