Born a Halfling

By M.D. Stewart

Michael: After a troubled childhood and becoming a Marine, I returned from war injured and alone. I found myself again when I discovered Drag. I love being a Queen almost as much as I love the boy I’ve dreamed of since I was a child. Now he needs my help and I’ll fight hell itself to save him.

Te’Garth: My mother is a demon, my dad is an angel, and their love is legendary. I hope to have that kind of passion with Michael, a man I’ve shared dreams with since childhood. But first I need to reverse a forced mating claim, or death will take me from my true love.

Jessie: I met Michael in Afghanistan, and helped the injured Marine heal in body and soul. Together we explored our forbidden desires until he was sent home months later. We lost contact, only to meet again at Chasers, a gay bar, where he’s a Drag Queen and I provide security. I still want him -- and the man he’s in love with. But something dangerous is hunting Garth. If I want to save them both, I must overcome my fears. Even if it means risking more than my life…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Sep 26, 2019

Book preview

life…

Prologue

Michael

Fifteen years ago

Camp Eggers, near Kandahar, Afghanistan

I opened my eyes, smiling at the familiar surroundings. The thick green grass felt soft against my body in the tree’s cool shade. So much better than Afghanistan’s desert sand and the hot tent I had fallen asleep in.

Hey, you. Soft lips pressed against my cheek. I turned my head so I could focus on gorgeous whiskey-colored eyes. Even in the shade, Te’Garth’s fair skin gave off a pearlescent glow, courtesy of his mother’s heritage. He carried his father’s genetics in his thick auburn locks, worn long down his back. I loved seeing his smile and touching his warm skin. He always smelled like the air after a summer storm.

Rolling to my side, I faced the man I loved more than life. Our eyes met as I drew him closer. When our lips touched, my body lit up at the contact.

I broke the kiss and traced the smooth skin of his face with my fingertips. Today has been bad, Te. The fighting was so brutal in the heat. It feels like I’ll always taste that gritty sand, and feel my eyes burning from the glare.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me on top of him. And the constant pretending has to be exhausting. He didn’t have to elaborate. We both knew I could never come out, especially while I was fighting in this goddamn war in the desert. Thank fuck, no matter where my body was, I could close my eyes and find him.

I’m so tired, Te. I want to give up. I’d be able to come to you for good. No more living halfway in this world and halfway in mine. It would be easy to do in that hellhole. Just drop my guard, you know? I rubbed my face against his chest, wiping away the tears.

He’d been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. It started as childhood dreams where we would play in his world, running through the tall grasses or tree-barren lands of the Underworld. It wasn’t until we were in our teens that we admitted our feelings for each other were more than youthful friendship. We’d fallen in love.

We were separated right now. As a supernatural, he lived in the Cross Roads, where mortals go after dying before heading to heaven. I was still barely surviving on the Mortal Plane. Only in my dreams could we be together.

Don’t give up your life, Michael. You know I’d love to have you here with me all the time, but I have nothing to offer you. His hand caressed my shaved head. My family… Well, our situation hasn’t changed. We’re on the fringes, and I know my family would love you and take you in, but I want to give you more. You deserve it. We both do.

What he said was true, but it still hurt. I love you so much, I want to be with you for real. These dreams have been the only thing to keep me sane. I promise you this; I will find a way for us to be together and happy. I kissed him then and ground my hard cock against his.

We were out of breath and panting when I pulled away. I watched his full lips smile, showing perfect white teeth.

We’re meant to be together, baby. I know we’ll figure it out. His voice held such conviction that I knew the words had to be true.

A thunderous boom sounded, startling me. He must not have heard it since he didn’t react, but I jerked and looked around. The world around me began to ripple and shimmer. I didn’t want to leave yet, but whatever was happening in my world was about to pull me away.

He turned concerned eyes to me. What’s happening, Michael?

I looked down at the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. The only one who knew my secrets, knew I was gay. The man who owned my heart and soul.

Another sound dragged at my consciousness.

Something’s wrong. The fighting is too close. I love you. Just as I was bringing my lips to his, pain ripped through my side, jerking me away. I awoke in my cot, blood covering me where an insurgent’s bullet ripped through my body.

The world exploded in chaos.

* * *

It turned out I’d been injured in a surprise insurgent attack on our camp. A bullet had barely missed my kidney before tearing through part of my intestine. I was lucky that one of the men bunking in my tent was a medic. As it was, I’d nearly died from infection and blood loss.

After emergency surgery at Bagram Air Base, I was placed on suicide watch and sent to therapy. It seems that in my drugged state I kept begging them to let me die so I could join Te in his world. The doctors felt I was willing to take my life. They really weren’t too far off the mark.

I was diagnosed with PTSD, sent to counseling, and given a plethora of medications. Some of them suppressed my dreams so I could sleep.

During my daily sessions, the psychiatrist convinced me all those dreams of my Te’Garth were coping mechanisms to escape my abusive childhood. Who could travel to a different world while sleeping? He explained that my ‘love’ for Te’Garth was my way of dealing with homosexual feelings, since I couldn’t out myself to my abusive father or in the military. Sadly, it made sense.

The one good thing that came from my injury was meeting an Air Force Security Forces guard at Bagram who helped me feel comfortable in my skin. We were both deeply closeted, but feeling his hands on my body, letting him have my virginity, I knew without a doubt I was gay. I started my healing process both physically and mentally.

After the lengthy out-processing from the Marines due to my injuries, I was sent home with Uncle Sam’s thanks, a few scars, and the name of a therapist trained in post-traumatic stress disorder. I gradually weaned myself from most of my medications, but my life had changed in more ways than I could grasp. Not only had my dreams disappeared, so did the young Halfling I’d grown to love.

Chapter One

Michael

Present day

I grabbed the powder and gave my face another dusting. I heard years ago that when you think you’ve put on enough powder, apply more powder. I smiled at my reflection as I adjusted my boobs, made sure I didn’t have lipstick on my teeth, and checked my eyeliner. I heard the music starting and knew I had about half an hour before I took my turn on the stage.

I took a breath and grabbed a tissue to blot my chest. Management dropped the temperature in the dressing room, but wearing a corset, hose, tight silk underwear, and a silk-lined sequined dress created a sweat factor. At least I didn’t wear a wig. I’d grown my own hair out and got highlights done every couple of months.

All this heat reminded me of my years in the military. Helmet, uniform, and pounds of gear had made my desert deployment hotter than hell. And not in a good way. I shook my head, trying to stop the flow of memories my time in the Marines always brought up.

I’d fought my sexuality from age thirteen. At the time, I thought something was wrong with me. Only sick men were attracted to other men. Or so my old man beat into me after every Sunday sermon he gave on the subject.

So, when I hit eighteen, I did the manliest thing I could do: join the Marines.

I excelled in basic training because I thought it would drive the gay away. Hand-to-hand combat, easy. Marksmanship, a cinch. Physical fitness exams -- breezed through them. Swim week, I was a fucking fish. Week after week; warrior training, military history, highest scores of all the recruits in my class. After graduating, I got shipped overseas to fight. With my high marks, the Marines wanted to send me to officer school, but I wanted to bury my true self. So, I went to an unfriendly country, I carried a rifle, and I shot at other people. Fucking manly, right?

So why did I want to die? Not just from depression but wanting to join him, in case all those dreams were of a real place. Just end it all and see if… No, I wasn’t going to think about it.

But back then, all I thought about was dying. I fought that suicidal urge even now, but I didn’t want to give my old man the satisfaction of thinking I was burning in hell.

So, I came home from the desert with my injury, my medals and my bad dreams, and accepted that denying my sexuality had been wrong. I was gay, period. I