Shara's Challenge
by Lorie O'Clare

Shara Dar fought to lead South Passage, and although she now leads her people, the battle isn't over. New towns need governing, laws need to be made, and a hole in the ocean wall offers the opportunity to explore the surface of Earth.

Shara's only way to escape, to clear her head and regroup, is to assume a disguise and sneak off to shady bars where she has sex with strangers. It's not the secretive sex that excites her, it's having it in front of strangers, on a stage, where anyone can watch.

Having sex with someone she knows would complicate her life and put a strain on the public image she fights to uphold. Romair Tosk believes Shara will be a great leader. He's supported her climb to the top. Always by her side, he's adored her quietly, knowing she's all business and not interested in sex or the casual affairs he indulges in.

The night he sees her at Venezuela's Private Club, providing "entertainment" for a captive audience, everything changes. Shara's secret life is about to end. Romair will finally have the woman he's lusted over for years. Now to convince Shara of that...

Note: The "world" in this story follows on from that created in Dead World. Although the stories can be read as stand-alone, for reader enjoyment it is suggested that Dead World be read prior to Shara's Challenge.

Lorie O'Clare's Bio

All my life, I've wondered at how people fall into the routines of life. The paths we travel seemed to be well-trodden by society. We go to school, fall in love, find a line of work (and hope and pray it is one we like), have children and do our best to mold them into good people who will travel the same path. This is the path so commonly referred to as the "real world". The characters in my books are destined to stray down a different path other than the one society suggests. Each story leads the reader into a world altered slightly from the one they know. For me, this is what good fiction is about, an opportunity to escape from the daily grind and wander down someone else's path. Lorie O'Clare lives in Kansas with her three sons.

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