An unimaginable crime.
An unexpected hero.
An unbelievable reward.
Simon lived a comfortable life: a steady job; a wife that shared his interests; an active social life. Yet he knew deep down that something had gone awry; that perhaps the contentment he felt with his life was an illusion. That gnawing discomfort falls to the wayside, however, when his world is shattered after he crosses paths with a monster hell bent on committing a heinous crime; and his act of heroism attracts the attention of a divine presence who grants him literally unfathomable powers in recognition of his sacrifice.
This sets Simon on an epic adventure of discovery as he tries to evade those furious at his heroic intervention, and shadowy government figures intent on discovering the 'secret' behind his new-found abilities. His quest will lead him to parts of the world he never knew existed as he experiences passion, joy, betrayal and heartache unlike anything he could have imagined. In the end, he will grapple with the question of if his 'gift' was in fact a curse, and if a man with his abilities can ever truly deserve happiness.
Freewill is the tale of a simple man given abilities which make him a god among men, and his journey to find the one thing his powers cannot grant ... but which all men desire.
Author's note:
This novel is a work of contemporary fantasy adventure. I've split it into five sections for publication here.
For fans of the Dean, this novel began as a thought experiment along the lines of, 'what if Stranger was about a regular guy being granted that powerset, instead of a man born on another planet and raised by aliens (not to mention swapping out a frankly unforgiveable amount of bigotry found in that seminal work with a whole heap of on-page sensuality and a sprinkling of ideas inspired by other works of popular fantasy)?' and grew from there.
Make no mistake, this novel delves into some weighty subject matter. Trigger warnings for significant on-page violence (including a mass shooting and multiple hate crimes), depression and suicidal ideation.
All sensuality (on page or otherwise) takes place between characters who are eighteen or older.
Forty-Nine
Simon awoke early the next morning, having opted to forgo the withdrawal his body craved to continue much needed repairs in favor of the singular pleasure of sleeping next to Nia. He had bathed in the beauty of her soul as they slumbered wrapped in each other's arms. He opened his eyes and gazed upon her still sleeping face. The beauty he found there filled him with contentment and a desire to stop at nothing to make her happy.
He remained motionless for many minutes, memorizing the way her flawless naked body felt nestled up against the crude matter which covered his skeleton. Her full breast rested heavy in one of his palms while her taunt belly slowly rose and fell beneath the other. Her rounded ass cradled his manhood deftly. But it was the tiny features which most fascinated him: the way the tiny hairs protruding from the ends of her braids tickled his chest whenever she moved; the way her hip moved in a tiny figure of eight in time with her breathing; the way she softly hummed with each exhale.
"Are you watching me sleep?" she murmured with a smile in her voice.
He chuckled and said, "It sounds kind of creepy when you say it like that. I was merely enjoying the way your unparalleled body looks and feels against me while you happened to not be awake."
"You could just say yes. I'm not upset. I'm glad you enjoy the view."
"More than anything. You're a work of art, my dear. We must steer clear of the museums while in this beautiful country lest I be accused of theft."
"Now you're just being ridiculous. But, speaking of museums, what should we do today? And please don't say stay here and fuck like rabbits all day. I'm obsessed with your marvelous penis, but my bits and pieces will take a little while to get into midseason form. I'd actually given half a thought to waking you up by going down on you, but you went and ruined it by waking up first."
"I could go back to sleep if you like."
Her shoulders shuddered as she chuckled silently. She murmured, "There will be plenty of time for fellatio later, dear man. And many other things. It always struck me as odd the fantasy of being woken up by your partner going down on you. I mean, I get the part where they're showing you how much they're into you by pleasuring you awake. But there are at least two problems with that."
"Do tell," Simon replied mirthfully.
"One, with what I suspect are extremely rare exceptions, the reason you wake someone up by going down on them is because
you
want to have sex. It's just a nicer way to ask then nudging someone's shoulder or, God forbid, just going to town on their unconscious body. That last one's for the fellas."
"The rapey fellas, if you ask me."
"You're not wrong. I mean, I'm all for giving a trusted partner a free pass. For instance, I feel completely comfortable telling you that you have carte blanche to do whatever you please to my body. But part of why I feel comfortable saying that is because I know you won't abuse it.
"The second issue with such a wake-up call is that almost without exception, the first thing I want to do when I wake up is pee. I'd also, if I had my druthers, like to freshen up a bit before you get your mouth, or really any part of you, near my lady garden. Speaking of which, I need to visit the little girls room."
Simon climbed from the bed and offered his hand to Nia. She accepted it with a smile, giving him a brief kiss for his effort. She emerged from the bathroom several moments later, still wearing not so much as a pair of earrings, to find Simon consulting the room service menu. She sauntered over to him and peered over his shoulder.
She said, "What looks good?"
He gazed longingly at her full breasts, which just happened to be at eye level. He murmured, "Quite a bit."
"I meant for food, you cad."
"I'm still running at a deficit from rebuilding my body, so I was kind of thinking of ordering everything. What do you think?"
"I think it's unbelievable how much you can eat. If I'd eaten a tenth of what you had for lunch yesterday, I would have required medical attention. Where do you put it all?"
"Since I'm still replenishing lost tissue, I convert most of it to biomass and allocate it rather than trying to digest it."
"But...how. I mean, you're still a man." She sat down next to him on the couch and rubbed along his inner thigh, causing the outward manifestation of his gender to take immediate notice. "How can you do things which should be physiologically impossible?"
"It's part of the
gift
that I was given. I'm able to, when I focus, control aspects of my body that should be autonomous. You could do it too, if I taught you the First Language."
"I could never learn it," she scoffed. "I couldn't even get my arms around Spanish, despite taking four years of it in high school."
"Well, my method of teaching is a bit different."
"How so?"
"The biggest part is that you can already understand, at least on an emotional level, the language. So when I speak it, you're not just hearing gibberish. The other part is that we would just lie in bed, or on the couch. Anywhere where you're comfortable and there aren't any distractions. Then I just talk to you, like I'm doing now, and your brain will start to absorb it. With Dani, she was able to repeat a few phrases within the first week. By the time we got to week ten, she was thinking in it."
