The world is coming to an end. Allan is pretty sure that's the only explanation for the rain of salt that's been falling for days, killing people in the streets with its insidious power, spoiling the earth, and bringing Armageddon on a bit sooner than everyone expected.<br><br>Knowing he'll probably die empowers Allan to quit his job, break up with his cheating boyfriend, and even put his fear aside when he meets Ricky, a mysterious man with a gun.<br><br>They connect in a way that makes him sad that the end of the world is so imminent. A few lusty moments seem to be all they manage to steal ... until the morning.

World Enough and Time

“What’s your name?” I ask as I sit down


beside him. This way the gun’s facing away from me. I pour half a


glass of whiskey for him and as he sips at it, I fill my glass to


the top. I need this after the day I’ve had.


“Ricky.” He coughs from the whiskey. When he


holds out a cracker slathered with mustard, I look at it dubiously.


Can that actually taste good? “Here. Try it.”


“Thanks.” I take the cracker and bite at the


edge, where the mustard isn’t. Then I sigh. “For, um, well…”


I don’t want to say for rescuing me. I’m not


some damsel in distress. So I settle on, “For helping me out back


there.” That sounds lame, doesn’t it? God.“I’m Allan.”


“Allan.” Ricky says my name like he’s trying


it on. Then he eats another cracker, sips at the whiskey again, and


stares at the gun on the table. “I like that.”


“What’s with the gun?” I nibble around the


mustard on the cracker until I can’t avoid it any longer and I’m


surprised to find it doesn’t taste half bad. When he gives me


Chapter 7