Afterlight

When Sashen fled his human space cult to live among the aliens, he had dreams about what a life in space would mean. A decade later, he hasn't even been off-station, instead dancing in a marn den where he's paid to eavesdrop on gossip and provide companionship to paying clients. But when he receives word that the cult that he fled from is looking to bring him back, he's willing to put his life on the line to escape them, even if it means going on galactic television in a win-or-die-trying contest on blood-soaked sands.

Of course, Sashen needs to catch a ride to the distant arena first and as fate would have it, the shy alien who's been watching him dance for the past week - Araxis of Creche Thiel - is headed that way and has space to spare. Sashen is happy to have a ride and a cute distraction on the way to what he expects may be his imminent demise. What he can't anticipate as he heads off to his galactic broadcast debut is the gravitational pull he feels to Araxis. With the deadly tournament looming, Sashen will need to figure a way to escape his past, while also charting a way to the future he desperately wants.

Afterlight is a queer human/alien romance with humour, heart, drama, betrayal, and also swords - in space! You can expect a HFN ending working toward HEA by the end of the second book of the series. For a complete list of content notes and tropes, please visit the author's website.