About Wanna Be Your Dog
by Glyn Soitiņo
pages / 17000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-940-8
Available file types -
html, lit, pdf, prc, epub, Sony Reader pdf
Having decided to take a break from the road, shapeshifter Ethan is
living the quiet life in a dog refuge. He has no intention of allowing
himself to be adopted, but when handsome Luke visits the refuge, seeking
to take home a rescue dog, and chooses Ethan, the prospect suddenly
seems far more attractive.
Luke's loneliness after dumping his abusive boyfriend has now been
banished by the comforting presence of his beautiful new dog. But when
Luke's ex, bent on revenge, launches an attack on his life, Luke soon
finds out that he got more than he bargained for when he adopted Jet.
Sample
The peace was suddenly shattered as the side window
imploded. A beer bottle, spewing gasoline from around the flaming plug
of wadding in its neck, landed on the rug beside Ethan. He jumped to his
feet and shook himself. The acrid stench of burnt hair filled his
nostrils, and he rolled from side to side on the hardwood floor, quickly
extinguishing the sparks that had settled in his fur.
Standing up again, he surveyed the damage. The sheepskin rug had caught
like tinder, a bright puddle of flame on the floor, fueled by the book
that Luke had been reading, its pages blackening and shriveling in the
heat. The sofa, where Luke had been sitting, was smoldering in a dozen
places. But where was Luke?
"Jet?"
The voice came from behind the sofa. Ethan hurried over. Luke was
crouched on the ground, coughing, choking. Ethan nuzzled at his face,
then glanced around. The room was filling with smoke, little pockets of
fire taking hold all over the place. Luke raised a hand and laid it on
Ethan's head, holding his gaze.
There was no time for dissimulation. Ethan licked at Luke's cheek and
shifted. "Get out of here, Luke," he ordered, his voice rough and rusty
from lack of use.
Luke's eyes went wide as he stared up at Ethan. "What? Who?"
"I said, get out of here!" He grabbed Luke by the arm and dragged him to
his feet, then placed a swift but passionate kiss on those soft, full
lips. "Go now, get! I'll deal with this."
"But--"
"Just go. I'll be with you in a minute."
Ethan waited just long enough to see that Luke had obeyed, then grabbed
the throw from the back of the sofa and approached the Molotov cocktail,
which was now lying on the wooden floor, still aflame, still intact.
Ethan didn't know whether the damn thing would explode or not, but if it
did, it could set the whole house alight. Holding his breath, he pulled
out the burning plug and threw it onto the remains of the rug, then
swaddled the bottle in the throw and hurled it back out the broken
window.
The immediate danger was past -- now to see to the rest of it. Ethan
looked around him, assessing his priorities. The sheepskin rug was a
pile of greasy ashes, only the flames from the plug still alive. The
sofa was scarred and smoldering, but not yet actually on fire. Patches
of fuel still burned on the floor, but the sturdy wood resisted. Ethan
tore down the curtains and used them to smother the flames, then ran
into the kitchen and fetched the little fire extinguisher from its
bracket on the wall, next to the stove. Aiming the nozzle at the sofa,
he squirted it again and again, until the cylinder was empty.
Ethan's eyes were stinging from the acrid, thick black smoke filling the
room. As far as he could see, the flames had all disappeared. The sofa
was secure. There was nothing more he could do. All in all, he
considered, it could have been much worse. Except that now, having
involuntarily outed himself to Luke, he'd have no choice but to leave
and go back on the road. Surprised at how much the prospect pained him,
he succumbed to a fit of coughing as the sound of approaching sirens
reached his ears.
Ethan glanced at his blistered fingers and palms. His face and left
shoulder stung from where sparks had lingered too long in his fur. Apart
from that, he appeared to be intact. "Well," he murmured, "I guess it
was good while it lasted." Stifling another cough, he shifted back into
doggy form and went outside to join his soon-to-be-ex master.