The Black Mask

By Samuel King

Charlie is torn between two men—one who seems unreachable, the other a superhero who steps out of a poster.

Charlie is the young, handsome writer of The Black Mask superhero adventure series. Recently broken up from his long-term boyfriend, he finds himself developing feelings of lust and love for his editor, the gruff, clearly straight Sam. Charlie's love life takes an even more unexpected twist when his fantasy creation, The Black Mask, somehow becomes a reality—and his lover.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Jun 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9781786517937

Book preview

THE BLACK MASK

SAMUEL KING

The Black Mask

ISBN # 978-1-78651-793-7

©Copyright Samuel King 2019

Cover Art by Erin Dameron-Hill ©Copyright June 2019

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2019 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.

Pride Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

Charlie is torn between two men—one who seems unreachable, the other a superhero who steps out of a poster.

Charlie is the young, handsome writer of The Black Mask superhero adventure series. Recently broken up from his long-term boyfriend, he finds himself developing feelings of lust and love for his editor, the gruff, clearly straight Sam. Charlie’s love life takes an even more unexpected twist when his fantasy creation, The Black Mask, somehow becomes a reality—and his lover.

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Underground: London Underground Limited

Post-it Notes: 3M Company Corporation

Chapter One

Sam Bradley is giving me a lecture about the latest installment of The Black Mask, the series I write for his fantasy fiction magazine, Exciting Adventurers. I don’t know why I still make a habit of coming to his office. It’s cluttered and pokey and, lately, Sam always seems to be giving me a stripping down—and not in a good way.

Actually, I do know why I keep coming back. It’s because Sam is hot—not in a fantasy boyfriend kind of way, but in a ‘real man, needs a shave, could do with a haircut but is still so sexy’ way. It started out that I just fancied him. I’ve always been a sucker for unobtainable men. But over the months that I’ve been making excuses to pop up to his office, I’ve developed a real thing for the guy. There’s another side to him, apart from the whiskey-drinking hard man he projects. He doesn’t show it often, but the softer Sam is caring. When his last girlfriend ended their relationship for another guy, he was devastated and we ended up talking for hours as he opened up. I think that’s the point where my feelings went from pure lust to actually caring. But what can I do? Sam is one hundred percent straight.

The other reason Sam is not boyfriend material, besides the being-straight part, is that he sometimes seems a bit homophobic. Unlike most fantasy fiction magazines, Exciting Adventures is yet to embrace the gay community. Sam likes to keep things very heterosexual, and he’s not happy that the character I invented, Alex Dark, aka The Black Mask, has started flirting too obviously with other guys.

I don’t mind him flirting in a blokey way with gay guys, says Sam, resting his elbows on his desk. You know, like he’s being friendly but has no interest in them, but in this latest installment when he tells that guy he has a cute butt? That’s going too far.

Well, what if I see The Black Mask as bisexual? I ask.

Well then, I’d say take him to another magazine, says Sam.

I wish I could tell Sam how I know for sure that The Black Mask is bisexual, but even I don’t quite understand. When I wrote the first story about The Black Mask, it was as if someone was dictating it to me—or actually, more like I was seeing a film in my head of how the story should