Title: A Hellish Thing
Series: The Arrow and the Flame, Book Two
Author: AE Lister
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 03/24/2026
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 208
Genre: Historical, action/adventure, age gap, BDSM, established couples, pirates, witches, magic/magic-user, foul-mouthed bird, menage, tentacled demon
Description
Simon White never expected to find his soulmate on the pirate ship, the Arrow, but once he and Captain Martin meet, nothing can stop their sensual alliance. Now, after saving the captain and the crew many times with his surprising powers, Simon has been promoted to officer and has a secure place in the captain’s bed and his heart.
A trip to visit an old friend of Captain Martin’s on Talamanca is a respite from shipboard living and from the disturbing nightmares that have been plaguing Simon—terrifying dreams of a horrifying creature that sings a seductive song.
Once back aboard the Arrow, however, Simon’s nightmares return and strange events begin to occur. Is something evil on board, or is Simon going mad? When the bizarre occurrences begin to affect the entire crew, the men become aware a paranormal presence is at work.
Excerpt
A Hellish Thing
AE Lister © 2026
All Rights Reserved
“Hillier, I’ve changed my mind.”
I glanced up from my task of dusting the mahogany desk to peer at Captain Martin with surprise. For a moment he was only a silhouette against the sun streaming in through the bank of windows, but then he turned and became solid.
Sometimes when I looked at Dinesh Martin, Captain of the Arrow, and realized that he truly was mine in all the ways that counted, I could barely believe it. He took my breath away every single day. Well, except when I was cross with him, but even then I knew how lucky I was.
“Have you? What about, pray tell?” Hillier, the quartermaster, asked, with fond affection.
They were friends, even closer now that the former quartermaster, Donatello, had passed so unexpectedly and cruelly in a skirmish with another ship.
“I’d like to pay a visit to Francis Bell and his wife, if you and the crew don’t mind,” he said.
“Oh!” Hillier exclaimed. “But Talamanca is in the opposite direction to where we had planned to sail, Captain.”
Hillier didn’t seem overly upset, only concerned at such a sudden alteration of plans, I supposed.
“Yes, I know. I hope it isn’t a very great inconvenience to everyone,” Dinesh said.
“To be honest,” Hillier said, “I expect the men will be thrilled. Mr. Bell was almost as well-liked as you.”
“That is high praise from you, and I do hope you’re right.”
When Hillier had gone to tell the crew about the new destination, I asked the question I’d been dying to put forward.
“Who’s Francis Bell?”
“How’s the dusting going, Rooster?”
Rooster was the captain’s nickname for me since I sported a shock of red hair on my head and…in other places.
Dusting the furniture in the captain’s cabin was not a job I would have chosen. However, it was a way for me to serve him, and keep myself busy and out of harm’s way most of the time. I didn’t hate it as much as I let on.
I stood, crumpling the rag in my hand. “Almost done. So, who is he? And where is Talamanca? And why are we going there?”
Captain Martin leaned against one of the posts of his—well, our—gigantic bed and crossed his arms.
“Francis Bell is a former crew member and a very good friend of mine. And Talamanca is a coastal paradise in the Americas where he fell in love with an indigenous woman and decided to abandon us to the joys of domestic living. They’ve recently had their second child.”
“But…that’s quite far, isn’t it?”
He gave me a quizzical look. “Yes. A few months sailing. Believe me, it will be worth the journey.”
“I only mean, how on earth did you find out about the child? The second one? Or even the first one?”
“I received a missive from him whilst we were in Port Royal, before I ran into you and my life was changed forever.”
I smiled, recalling the day he’d agreed to let me onto the Arrow and what had happened since.
“There aren’t many ships that pass through that part of the world, so he must have gone to some trouble to send it. And I miss him.”
“Well,” I said. “Then we must go.”
He grinned and shoved off the post, coming towards me with nefarious purpose.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m interrupting your housework,” he said, licking his lips and giving me a leer that would have made a whore blush. And it did. Perhaps I wasn’t a whore, but I had many of the same interests and abilities.
“For what reason?” I asked, and then squeaked when he grabbed me around the waist and slid his hand down my trousers.
We left the dusting for another day.
Captain Martin’s frigate, a former navy vessel called the Arrow, was a welcomed utopia for me and for many others aboard. Our small society was equitable—or as much as possible, in terms of race and religion—and nobody batted an eye at the ‘most unnatural and detestable sin’ of loving a member of your same sex. The men of this crew had been privy to acts of horrible cruelty and injustice in their previous lives. In contrast, what two (or more) men did with their bodies was less of an issue. A life at sea was treacherous and a man could perish at any moment, so any attachments were considered precious and valid. The crew knew about Captain Martin’s preference for other men in his bed—in fact, several had indulged him in the past—and nobody judged him for the practice. He and I were treated as though we were married, and we might as well have been.
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Meet the Author
AE Lister is a Canadian non-binary author with a vivid imagination and a head full of unique and interesting characters. They write explicit, adult LGBTQ+ romance. They also write much less graphic Young Adult LGBTQ+ romance under Alison Lister.
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