The Face of the Wicked: Forbidden Hearts, #1

By J.K. Jones

In a dark and dangerous world...
Yuli, an assassin, finds himself uncontrollably drawn to Ren Hirokazu, a notorious criminal and murderer. Despite the obedience collar that forces him to carry out orders for the powerful Yakuza organization, Yuli cannot resist the allure of Ren's dangerous charm.
He kills for pay, accepting the poison that keeps him delirious as a necessary evil.
But when a mysterious discovery leads him to defect and become a hunted traitor, Yuli's world is turned upside down.
Hunted by the Yakuza and other powerful enemies, Yuli has nowhere left to turn until Ren offers him a way out, a chance for freedom.  But at what cost? As they navigate a world filled with danger, secrets, and betrayal, their forbidden love becomes a liability. Will they survive and trust each other enough to make it out alive? Or will their enemies destroy them?

 

Warning: this a dark MM 40k novella romance, gay sci-fi romance, mm cyberpunk romance, mm enemies to lovers romance which includes gore, violence, mentions of sexual abuse, dystopia, short story, novella, mm sci-fi fantasy, mm possessive romance, mm second chance romance with a HEA ending. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: jkjones
• Release date: Oct 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781998809097

J.K. Jones

Hey there, I'm J.K. Jones, a Canadian author who likes her coffee black and loves to write dark M/M romance novels. I grew up in the bustling city of Toronto, and it's given me a bit of a different take on things. I'm just passionate about telling stories that grab your attention. I've been into creative writing for a while, and it's cool how I can naturally put together characters and plots that keep folks hooked. You might have come across my books like "Claw of Exile" and "Weeps Indigo." They're all about diving into the messy parts of love and relationships. I've been hanging out in Toronto for as long as I can remember, just doing my thing and spinning tales. I hope my writing connects with you and adds a little something to the world of dark M/M romance.

Book preview

The Face of the Wicked

J.K. Jones

Disclaimer

This is a self-published work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. This book contains harsh language, scenes of violence, sexuality, sensuality, human trafficking, rape, and other mature subject matter. It is not intended for a younger audience. No part of this book may be reproduced in any electronic or mechanical means, including any information storage and retrieval system. Furthermore, it is a work of fiction. We do not condone any form of racism, sexual harassment, incitement, religious hatred, misogyny, or child pornography, or make light of such grave matters . This book contains M/M sci-fi romance, M/M cyborg romance, M/M childhood friends to lovers, M/M best friends to lovers, M/M gay sci-fi romance, and M/M torture romance. Extreme warnings: Cyberpunk, vivid imagery, hallucinations, graphic rape, torture, sexual assault, novella, short story.

Copyright © December 30th by J.K. Jones

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Characters & Locations

Yakuza (Assassins)

Location: Lucent Colony, Discipline Division

Shima Ruka

Yuli

Tani Akikazu

Kita Matsusuke

Yokono Mashiro (The Jade Serpent)

Kurisu Ringo

Yamaguchi Gumi (Assassins)

Location: Lucent Colony, Discipline Division

Ren Hirokazu (defected)

Civilians

Location: Cloud City

Hirata Mikio

Hirata Kara

Hirata Kakuei (Kuma)

Jo Eizo

Hase Hidetsugu

Other:

Baleful Leaf: a poisonous addictive substance injected into an obedience collar

Dalith: Android or AI

The Union of the Blue Phoenix: assassination group rumored to be a rebel freedom group, signifiers a phoenix pin

Oiran: upper-class entertainment, a high-ranking courtesan.

Contents

1.Virtual Sparks

2.Quantum Embrace

3.Neural Desires

4.Starlit Serenade

5.Love Among Cyborgs

6.Cosmic Unions

7.Romance in Zero Gravity

8.Orbital Whispers

9.Bonding Beyond Human

10.Timeless Affection

11.Destined Across the Stars

12.What’s Next?

13.Author’s Note

1

Virtual Sparks

Japan 2074 Lucent Colony

Aweb of clouds is backlit by the sun sinking below the horizon. Mist billows through the skyscrapers, masking the sky in a ghostly gray. Yuli remains still, his elbows resting on the floor with his hands sitting on a long-range rifle set up before him.

On a mere square meter of patchland far below stands a cherry blossom tree. The military already requisitioned its besieged branches for various purposes. Luminous buildings with cloudy storm lights thunder in the distance. In the slums, clothing lines sway about in every direction in the treacherous winds.

Reflecting the sickly orange-red of the running lights, the smoggy clouds of the city hang low. It’s never dark in this part of the city, and the litter-choked streets trap the residual heat from the outdated houses.

Do you copy, three-one-two-four-one? Target in sight.

Metal concrete spreads like molten lava on each surface, impenetrable on the power infrastructure. Yuli’s eyes zoom in on a flower, daring to erupt through the seams.

The flower’s strength catches Yuli. The depths of its roots from where it sits wedged in concrete. From here, all he can see are pink-white clouds, stark and clean amidst dark gray. He squints, dry mouth sticky with thick saliva, head pounding as memories stuffed into the abyss try to inch towards the surface.

One day, we’ll travel the world and see all the cherry blossoms outside these walls; see greenery and real flowers for once. Not this fake shit, Tani Akikazu says.

Yuli laughs at the absurdity of it all. As if he could ever be free. Soon enough, brother.

These skyscrapers and these silver geometry trees reach sunward, inviting the eye up into the blue. Radio static bursts within his ear, and Yuli grunts as light erupts in front of his peripherals.

Tani Akikazu floats away, nothing more than a ghost. The images are a balloon under his cranium, inflating. Pressure mounts as waves of nausea add to his growing misery.

The baleful leaf drug pulses in his blood, thrumming through his veins like an electric spark. It made his hallucinations more vivid. Real. As if his brother is right there beside him.

Report now, three-one-two-four-one.

Copy, Yuli grunts out as he takes a moment to assess the weather, glancing at the high-speed wind and the setting sun on the horizon. Leaning forward, he stares through the scope.

The businessman is moving down a pre-arranged tunnel to his private jet. Yuli can’t see him for now, observing the guards standing at every corner instead, but knows where he will emerge, where he will board the jet and sit in the exact seat Yuli has his rifle aimed at.

He can’t miss it. If he does, there will be hell to pay.

His teeth click as he waits, eager to make the shot. It will be one of the best shots he’ll make in his life—300 meters, from the roof of a 20-floor-tall building, through a tiny jet window.

His target emerges from the tunnel, boarding the jet. Yuli counts down from ten, focused on the perfect spot through the scope, finger already on the trigger. He just needs ten seconds, and then the man will be in the perfect spot. Ten… Nine… Eight…

The target sits down by the window, looking out at the airport runway ahead of them. Yuli clicks off the safety.

Three… Two…

The bullet pierces through the window, blood splattering on the glass and the surroundings inside the well-designed, expensive private jet.

Yuli's eyes dilated. He examines his weapon and finds the bullet still in place.

Someone else has shot his target.

What the fuck? Nobody was supposed to know about this.

Fury erupts inside of him. That guy is such a fucking ingrate. It would have been the perfect shot, one that would have gone down in history, especially for the Discipline Division.

Who else could have made such a precise shot, beaten Yuli to his target by a mere second, and planned this entire situation, knowing the exact place to be at this exact time?

He already knows the answers to those questions.

A Dalith.

Yuli ducks as an object comes crashing down beside him. Flying metal blasts towards him, reverberating up his back and spine. Damn it. With impressive speed, he packs up his instruments, grabs the rifle, and takes off to the next building.

When it’s safe, he goes back to the scope, aiming his rifle higher up and searching for the person who stole his target from him - who royally fucked them all.

For the first time, genuine fear grips him. If the Jade Serpent finds out they botched the job, they’ll end up dead, or worse, in Jigoku (hell).

It’s where all the rejects of society go that cannot fulfill their duties. Yuli steels his nerves and tracks the trajectory of the bullet, adjusting the rifle to follow a straight line up and up—until he finds the motherfucker.

A man on the rooftop of a building opposite Yuli, multiple streets over.

It’s a mirror image. The man is lying down on the rooftop; his own rifle pointed Yuli’s way now that he’s taken care of the target. Beneath his Jingasa hat, his midnight hair sails in the wind like a flying flag, visible against the setting sun.

Not a man. An Android. A Dalith.

His uniform is sleek, black, traditional feudal Japanese equipped with several samurai swords. Yuli freezes, the ground moving from his feet as his heart hammers in his chest.

His skin is lit up with various red small bolts through his uniform, incandescent against the darkening day. Yuli bristles. This idiot again. Why the hell did they keep meeting this way? This guy who followed him like a damn shadow has thwarted every single mission.

They’ve met several times in the past, and each time he’s foiled Yuli and botched his missions. Yuli grits his teeth; anger boils inside him as the man lifts one of his hands to give a teasing wave, lips stretched over an enormous grin.

A familiar heat coils in his stomach, spreading like liquid warmth through his veins. It’s the drug. He thinks, but Yuli knows deep down that it’s not. More than once his body has responded to the android, hot and hard, cock swelling whenever the Dalith was in reach. Sweat drips between the crease of the metal collar around his neck. It digs into his skin and stings like the lash of a whip.

Yuli will never admit that this cat-and-mouse game turns him on.

To be captured.

Fuck. Yuli rips his gaze away from the scope, a snarl working its way through his mouth. The idiot botched his mission. Again.

Target deceased.

Yeah, I fucking know, Yuli mutters, packing up his equipment and stuffing whatever else he can in the rifle case.

Fucking Yamaguchi Gumi.

The Dalith stands on the rooftop, his body lithe, black uniform swaying in the wind. It’s impossible to see at this distance, but the man lifts his finger, points it at himself, and then brings that same finger up, pointing up to symbolize one point. He then points Yuli’s way, closing his fist.

1:0

Bastard, Yuli growls in response, not even hesitating to point at the idiot’s head and press the trigger, hoping to wipe off the stupid smirk. The Dalith ducks before the bullet even leaves Yuli’s rifle, already disappearing into the building.

***

Lucent Colony Discipline Division

The windows of the bunker are hidden by ominous spidery black lines, making it look like a relic from a bygone era compared to the sleek, advanced building systems of today. Rusted vehicles line the roads, their metal frames consumed by decay and corrosion, leaving them as crumbling skeletons. The hover grids that used to levitate above the slums have long since stopped working, leaving any vehicles that dare to drive through the dangerous streets to rely entirely on their own power. Far beneath the radiant Lucent Colony lies the dark, foreboding realm of the slums - a forgotten place inhabited by dangerous deadheads, desperate squatters, and the brutal Yaka meta-gangs. The city government pretends this place doesn't exist, and corporations steer clear of its dangerous alleyways.

Yuli storms through the halls of the bunker.

Several Yakuza soldiers wade around, their massive weapons and artillery still in place as they wait for their next orders.

He’s fucked.

Not once, but twice, did he let the Dalith get the drop on him? If it happens again, he will become ineffective. Once the Jade Serpent finished with him, he’d be better off dead.

Shima Ruka spares him a scathing glance, like a cobra seeking its prey, her short, white hair and glittery eye shadow making her look far more menacing than any general could ever be.

"What the hell was