Stars Dancing [Dreams-To-Lovers Romance]

I figured out the design—how to do what you told me to do. You've given me 150 years, but you didn't tell me when to start the 150 years. So, I'm going to use your birth certificate. Not your other certificates. Do you know how many certificates you have?

That gives me 97 years. Ninety-seven years to tell our story. Our story—yours and mine. The Shurwinn. The Known Cosmos. Because it's all related, isn't it? Isn't it just one story?

Ninety-seven years to set the stage.

- Sibsil Creed, Stories of Shurwinn (2764)

PEYDRAN

This meeting was a first for Produced by Pedran: I had to woo a reluctant client. Ryst wasn't going to like what I had to say, so I'd say it in a way that would convince her. Slowly. Step by step. And I had two middle-aged friends on my side.

We were sitting around my dining table, pretending we were not ganging up on Ryst. I opened the meeting, "Thanks everyone for coming to hear my proposal. Ryst, to get started, the three of us are going to give you honest feedback about Within and Without." She nodded, biting her lower lip and looking like she was bracing herself for a storm.

I started small, "Ryst, this isn't a book. It's my best friend in ink on paper. It was one word on a page, and my life changed. Just like meeting you."

Then Sorchen: "The Known Cosmos needs this book. Erotica belongs to all." That's right, Sorchen, go big! Turn up the pressure.

Denten smiled gently, "I am in agreement with these two. But the choice is yours." Yes, bring it back down to something manageable, Denten.

Ryst's eyebrows pinched. Hit us with it Ryst, give us allllll the objections!

"Guys, no way. Do you know how many creepers will come calling? And I don't want Living Foods to become just a sex thing— I don't want to be a sexpert. I mean, I like to help people and will talk to them about it, but I don't want that to become the main focus of my business. Not to mention, fucking stars! That's like—"

I put my left hand (yes, the metal one) on hers, and cut her off before she freaked out and got up to start pacing, "Ryst, hear me out. I have a strategy that I think will work. Just give me a minute, okay?"

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

And I didn't tell her about my second business. The one she didn't know about. The one that already handled all the creepers. There were lots of them. She was pretty. Her body was all over the stream in a flurry of confetti and fringed skirt. But those creeps never creeped again.

Punished by Peydran— my second business; my private hobby. I was a secret assassin. Only electronically, of course. There were no bodies, but there were punished. They didn't creep around her again.

Instead, I slid a piece of paper in front of her. It was a new title page for the book.

Within and Without:

A Tindin Journey With Erotica

By Sibsil Creed

Her face softened, and she whispered, "A pen name: Sibsil Creed." She started tracing the title with one finger, nodding. "Sibsil Creed. I like it."

She looked up at me, smiling. "Sibsil— it's sort of like Sibyl and Siblin, right? Is it a made up word?"

I grinned back at her, "It is, and Creed is one of the most popular surnames on Shurwinn."

She nodded, and before she rejected it, I hovered a pad over to her. It displayed an uncomplicated stream site. Much like her book without tables of contents and indexes, it was simple. The title of the book was on a sketch of an old arched doorway. When you tapped on the door, it opened and took you to a new page— the beginning of the book.

There were warnings of course, saying what kind of book it was, but it was as anonymous as you could get. Alright, Ryst, give us the next set of objections.

"So, the whole 9 Galaxies?" she asked in a small voice. "Really, my whole soul out there for every one to read? What if?"

"Ryst, there's no way anyone can ever trace it, but if they do, which won't happen. But if they do, Sibsil Creed will be Produced by Peydran. It's my business account. I produced it. End of story. Move on, nothing to see here." And hit her with the next bit, Peydran.

"Then, once it gets attention, and Sorchen will make sure it does." Ryst winced at that, but she'd know it would make sense— it was Sorchen. She was all obscure books and hidden knowledge and erotica. "Then publishers will contact Sibsil Creed. It will become a fully published book."

She grimaced. Then she crossed her arms over her chest and glared, "And then what, Peydran? Book tours? You've got to be kidding me."

"No. Sibsil Creed never has to announce an identity. Publishers do this all the time, Ryst. If you want to talk to them, talk to them. If not, we'll handle it anonymously. I'll never even tell them it's Produced by Pedran. It will be layers and layers between you and them. The financials will be solid."

"Financials? Oh stars, Peydran. Money is traceable!"

I just stared at her flatly. Think about who you're talking to. I'm not an amateur. Her eyes flicked to my forehead like she had actually heard me think it.

She nodded once, "Okay."

Then she put the heels of her hands to her forehead and stared groaning, "Stars. Stars. That's what it was. It's all clicking into place now. The tangle is unwinding. What comes next. It is decided. It's done."

But I had no ears to hear Ryst anymore. There was a new message on my pad. There was a new message on my pad that should not have been there.

I barked out: "I have work to do. Meeting adjourned. Sunshine and all that." I left them in the main room and went to my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

Ren: Meet me for dinner? J's Ale House? 7:30?

I read it again.

Ren: Meet me for dinner? J's Ale House? 7:30?

I read it again.

Ren: Meet me for dinner? J's Ale House? 7:30?