Not everyone can be a prince. Sometimes, though, an everyman will do.
Talent comes in all shapes and sizes, but some talents are a heck of a lot more useful than others. Hal’s particular gift? Talking to doors—a natural lead-in to an unglamorous career of locksmithing. What else would he do with himself when popping a lock comes as naturally to him as breathing? Other than burglary, of course. A guy’s gotta have some scruples.
Leave it to Hal to find someone locked in a five-story building without a single door leading to his prison. Sure, it’s probably a setup, and no, Hal doesn’t relish the idea of being played for a chump. The guy in the window is clearly accustomed to batting his eyelashes and getting his way. But if he really is stuck, Hal can’t just leave him high and dry.
Freeing him will merely involve outsmarting the gigantic tattooed bully that’s holding him hostage. How hard can it be?
This retelling of Rapunzel originally appeared in the anthology Torqued Tales.
(novelette - 10,200 words/35 pages - explicit gay content)
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