Breach by Katica Locke
A retelling of the Beauty and the Beast with the original catch that here both heroes, Roan and Ishaan, are at the same time Beauty and Beast. Plus there is the universe, as complex as a melting pot of genres.
Roan is a incubus that is stranded in a small town without a whorehouse, the usual place where Roan can satisfy his thirst in the guise of being a male prostitute; at the local inn he finds an unexpected answer to his problem, they are searching for a “babysitter” for the local villain, Ishaan. Ishaan is the son of a very wealthy man, but all the money of his father cannot cure him from his illness: by night Ishaan turns into a raper; it’s like sleepwalking, only that Ishaan rapes people to satisfy is sexual animalistic instinct. He is not aware of what he is doing, and as soon as he awakes, even if he doesn’t remember anything, he hates himself for his doings. So Ishaan wants someone living with him to lock him into his room every night, not letting him out for any reason.
To Roan that is the answer: he will have sex with Ishann by night, while the man is not “conscious”, and then will play the role of the humble servant by day. The plan is perfect if not for the little detail that Roan falls in love for Ishaan and the feeling is mutual. How can he now admit to Ishaan that he was using him for months?
Both Roan than Ishaan are really young, and in a way, naïve. Sex for them is almost a trouble more than a pleasure, and so their relationship is built more on the mutual interest, that, being they so young, are really “innocent”: cooking, gardening, hunting and fishing… their love is more similar to that of teenage boys than that of young men. Maybe since not Roan or Ishaan had the chance to live their teenage years, they are not make up for the lost time.
As I said the setting is another important element; this is a futuristic world, a planet in another galaxy, after what you can probably call an “energetic” apocalypse. Common energy is not more available to the average people, only the very rich can afford it; computers, televisions, cars are still existing, but they are luxury items. Most people reverted back to the use of horses and coal, and they are now living in small town, sharing the space with paranormal creatures: the sheriffs and other police officers are shapeshifter dragons, mages living among humans are ordinary events, and so on. There was a little bit of steampunk feeling, maybe for the train arriving and living the city being the only connection with the outside world. In any case, the mix was good and nothing was “clashing”.
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