Authors: Harper Fox
Driftwood (26 page)
“Do you speak French?”
Russell's voice had startled me, and I spun 'round. He'd changed into jeans and a baggy red T-shirt that made him look like his own kid brother. “Haven't done in years,” I said, shrugging.
He gave a shy smile. “You'd probably pick it up again all right if you tried. Um. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet, no,” I told him with a smile, sitting on the well-stuffed sofa and putting my arm along the back. I casually rested my right ankle on my left knee, giving him a good look at my package. Laying my cards out on the table, so to speak. “What do you fancy?”
I watched him perch awkwardly on the edge of an armchair and tried not to sigh. He was like a tortoise, I decided. Retreating into his shell every time I tried to get close.
Was he even actually gay?
Still, as long as he let me stay here until the end of Finals, what did I care? I sat forward again. “If you've got some food in, I'm not bad at cooking. Or we could get a takeaway? If you've got the money, that is,” I added, as it was probably time we got the business details out of the way. “Tom told you I'm skint, right? So I can't afford any rent, but I'm happy to pay my way in other ways. You knowâyou scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Or, you know, any other bits you want scratching⦔ I left it hanging, but I didn't lick my lips. I've got some class. And he'd probably have run off screaming.
I could see Russell's Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed. “Tom saidâ¦he said you didn't have any money.” He frowned. “But you don't need toâ¦you know.” He stopped, looking like he'd rather be at the salon getting a back, sack and crack.
Shit. He wasn't gay. I was going to
kill
Tom.
Driftwood
Harper Fox
What the tide washes in, the past can sweep away.
All Dr. Tom Penrose wants is his old life back. He's home in Cornwall after a hellish tour of duty in Afghanistan, but while the village is the same, he isn't. His grip on his control is fragile, and it slips dangerously when Flynn Summers explodes into his life. The vision in tight neoprene nearly wipes them both out in a surfing mishapâand shatters Tom's lonely peace.
Flynn is a crash-and-burn in progress, one of only two survivors of a devastating rescue helicopter crash that killed his crew. His carefree charm is merely a cover for the messed-up soul within. The sparks between him and Tom are the first light he's seen in a long, dark tunnel of self-recrimination, which includes living in sexual thrall to fellow crash survivor and former co-pilot, Robert.
As their attraction burns through spring and into summer, Tom must confront not only his own shadows, but Flynn'sâbefore the past rises up to swallow his lover whole.
Warning: Contains explicit m/m sex, hot helicopter pilots and skin-tight wetsuits. Also, in true British tradition, a tiny bit of joystick innuendo.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
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Driftwood
Copyright © 2010 by Harper Fox
ISBN: 978-1-60928-157-1
Edited by Sasha Knight
Cover by Natalie Winters
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: August 2010
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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