The Libertine

By William Holden

Adam, an assassin for the Dutch Army, has specific instructions to infiltrate the pirate ship The Libertine at any cost and ensure the pirates will be defenseless when the army attacks.

Using his body and his seductive charm, Adam captures the attention of Captain Blair. With the battle of Willemstad days away, and The Libertine's weapon expert suddenly murdered, Adam is placed aboard the ship to assure their arsenal can outlast the Dutch Army.

As the battle draws closer, the Quartermaster Gregor, who has an agenda of his own, befriends Adam. Their friendship quickly develops into something more. Playing a three-way game of fire, Adam has only a few hours to decide what to do. Assassinate the Captain and Gregor and return to the army a hero? Or betray the army for the love of Gregor, a man he doesn’t know and isn’t sure he can trust?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Feb 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781634863216

William Holden

William Holden lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his partner of thirteen years. His writing career spans more than a decade, with over forty published stories of erotica, romance, fantasy, and horror. His short story “Words to Die By” was a finalist in the 2010 Saints and Sinners fiction contest. Holden has served as fiction editor for RFD Magazine. He is co-founder and co-editor of the website Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews, www.outinprint.net.

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The Libertine

By William Holden

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2017 William Holden

ISBN 9781634863216

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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For Mark.

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The Libertine

By William Holden

Hindsight is everything. Looking back, I realize I would have fared better if I had let him kill me. At least then I would have reunited with my mother and father in heaven. Instead of living a life of lies and deceit on the streets of Kralendijk, the capital city of the Isle of Bonaire, one of the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean. However, when the time came and death faced me, I chose to live. Thinking back to those moments between life and death, and knowing what may become of me, I wish I would have let him fire his flintlock upon me—but I did the unthinkable. I reached out and caressed Captain Blair’s leg.

I would like to feign ignorance for my action, but, alas, there is no comfort for me there. I knew the risks involved in expressing my less than acceptable behavior with such bold abandonment. I also knew this path was expected of me, even commanded of me. After all, the Dutch Army had made me their pawn, and my orders were to infiltrate the enemy by any means possible. Knowing my penchant for the male body, I do not believe I would have changed a thing even if the choice of life and death had been mine to make.

The fact of the matter is quite straightforward—action thrilled me. The sounds of cannons exploding all around me, the desperate cries of people breaking through the night sky, and then their silence, which followed as the soldiers extinguished their lives. The chaos of war led to my prick stiffening. The fear of the unknown caused my groin to ache with a blazing fire only a man could satisfy. For me, desire and passion were about life and death, all at once, and all around me in a single glorious moment. There was also, of course, Captain Blair, who stood before me in all his might and glory. We were alone in a dark, desolate alley with his men bellowing as they pillaged nearby. His pistol aimed and ready to extinguish my life. If chaos of such magnitude does not get a man aroused, then he deserves to be put to death.

Fear had no place within me. A deep longing and desire to be with another man had burrowed inside of me, even if those feelings resulted in my execution. The muscles in his leg tightened at the first touch, yet he didn’t pull