Under an August Moon

By K.L. Noone

Wesley Kim loves watching his boyfriend work. Even when he can’t help worrying about it.

Wes knows his boyfriend’s a genius actor -- after all, Finn Ransom used to be a household name. And Finn’s so compelling, even on the set of a television superhero show where he’s a recurring fan favorite, not the star. He’s brilliant. And Wes gets to tell him so. Repeatedly. In bed.

But this role is physically demanding. Late nights, action scenes. Wes has seen Finn in the hospital before. He never wants to again.

Then Finn gets an offer: the chance to become a series regular ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Aug 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685502287

K.L. Noone

K.L. Noone loves fantasy, romance, cats, far too sweet coffee, and happy endings! She is also the author of Port in a Storm and its upcoming sequel, available from Less Than Three Press, and numerous short romances with Ellora’s Cave and Circlet Press; her fantasy fiction has appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress anthologies. With her Professor Hat on, she teaches college students about Shakespeare and superhero comics, and has published academic articles and essays on Neil Gaiman’s adaptations of Beowulf, Welsh mythology in modern fantasy, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

Book preview

Under an August Moon

By K.L. Noone

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2022 K.L. Noone

ISBN 9781685502287

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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 everyone who loves Wes and Finn as much as I do. And for Awesome Husband, who also buys me candles.

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Under an August Moon

By K.L. Noone

Chapter 1

The secret superhero base—former superhero; Lightwave had retired years ago—glimmered in darkly reflective surfaces, in polished glass and stone. Wide windows, built into the curve of the mountain retreat, both revealed the world and held it at bay: kept behind glass, looking down. The frantic knot of other younger heroes tumbled out of the elevator in a splash of garish crimson and blue and yellow spandex, and pleaded, Are you here?

All the eyes—human, and camera lenses—swung to the slim brooding darkness in a corner. The artificially constructed set was more brightly lit than it would be in the final television episode; digital wizardry would take care of that.

Wesley Kim realized he was holding his breath. Made himself stop that.

Finn Ransom, with only a shift of weight, an adjustment of stance, came out of the shadows and became a presence: the presence of Adrian Light, billionaire, former savior of the world. Older than the youthful team who’d come for his aid, though not by much. Finn in real life was also older than most of the main cast of League of Tomorrow, though, again, not by too much: more or less between them and Wes’s own age. In years, at least.

He was beautiful. He was captivating. He wore a suit—not a film-costume super-suit, but a jacket, tie, crisp clean lines that spoke of rigid control—as if born to do exactly that. His hair tumbled the perfect amount, blond and icy. His eyes were summertime blue.

He said, wearily, Leave me alone.

Wes nearly made a sound—that was his Finn, so tired and so wounded, but it wasn’t his Finn, of course. The role. Filming. He couldn’t interrupt.

You don’t mean that. The super-team leader took a step forward. I know you don’t.

Finn laughed, bitter. You don’t know anything.

Their director and showrunner, Henry Chou, young and energetic and bespectacled, looked thrilled, behind a monitor. Of course he was thrilled; Finn was everything any director could want. Wes stayed where he’d been told to, out of the way, and watched some more.

He’d been allowed to be here in Vancouver—normally a mostly closed set, to avoid mega-hit superhero television show spoilers getting out—because Finn had asked, and everybody liked making Finn Ransom happy. This was in part because Finn could make everybody