by Pandora Pine
“I do, Gregor. God help me, I do.”
28
After Noble hung up with Gregor, he’d gotten into bed beside Landon, curling his body protectively around him. Charlie was lying on the other side of Landon.
Touching his face, Noble could feel that his skin was still cool to the touch, but not what he’d consider cold. Landon’s body had started to shiver, which Noble knew was a good sign. It meant his body was working to warm itself up.
According to what Gregor had told him, he’d done everything he could for Landon. All that was left to do now was wait for him to wake up. What Noble needed to do now was figure out what he was going to say when Landon was up to hearing him out.
“I love you, Landon Fairchild,” Noble whispered, running his hand down the side of his face. He should have told Landon how he felt the minute he recognized his feeling for what they were.
After Vincent died, he’d never given falling in love again a single thought. He figured he’d had his one shot at happily ever after, but he’d been wrong.
It hadn’t happened all at once like in the movies. His love for Landon had grown over time. Noble smiled, snuggling closer to his boyfriend. It was the way that Landon smiled at him and the sexy way he’d kiss Noble with his eyes wide open. It was a million little things that drew Noble closer and closer until falling in love had been inevitable.
All he needed now was the opportunity to tell Landon all of these things and more. Something large thudded against the plywood next to the French doors, startling him and Charlie. Sitting bolt-upright, Noble saw a frown settle onto Landon’s face. “Landon? It’s Noble, can you hear me, Wordsmith?”
Landon’s frown smoothed out, but he stayed silent.
“That’s okay, baby. You sleep. Come back to me when you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere without you.” Sighing, Noble pressed a kiss to Landon’s head and settled back down next to him.
What he should do with this quiet time was think about how he wanted to apologize when Landon was finally awake, but watching the flames dance in the hearth, all he could think about was what kind of future he wanted to have with Landon.
Noble didn’t want his boyfriend to leave Sand Dollar Shoal when Killer Instinct was finished. He wanted Landon to stay here at the hotel with him and eventually move into one of the beach cottages with him. He wanted all of his friends to meet Landon and get to know for themselves why Noble had helplessly fallen in love with him. He wanted to fall asleep every night with Landon in his arms and wake up the same way every morning.
He closed his eyes, resting his head against Landon’s shoulder while linking hands under the covers. Thankfully, Landon’s hand was warm. Practicing the deep breathing exercises he’d learned in rehab, Noble fell asleep.
XX
Landon was hot. He tried to shift away from the heat scorching him but seemed powerless to move. He cracked an eyeball open and was assaulted by a bolt of nausea as the room started to spin while a sharp pain ripped through his skull. What the hell is going on?
Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again. A smaller wave of nausea broke over him, but not enough to make him slam his eyes shut again. He could see the dance of the flames on the ceiling. Turning toward the weight resting on his right shoulder he saw Noble curled up against his side fast asleep. Moving his head to the left made his aching head throb. He could see Charlie cuddled up against him. Her ears pricked up and she moved to lick his face.
“Hi, princess,” Landon whispered, trying to move his left hand out from underneath the blankets. The movement sent off a wave of pins and needles through his fingers. He had absolutely no idea what could have caused these problems with his body.
Finally freeing his hand, he reached out to Charlie sending another bolt of pain tearing through his head. He lifted his hand to scalp and felt a bump and what he thought was a large band-aid of some sort. The howling wind caught his attention and suddenly he remembered. “The blizzard.”
A second later everything came flooding back. All of the writing he’d done on Killer Instinct, Noble coming in and starting an argument, the cruel words they’d said to each other and him stupidly running out into the raging storm. “Noble?” Landon croaked.
Noble’s blue eyes popped open. “Landon? Jesus, thank you!” He sat up and bent down over Landon, cupping his face in his large hands.
“What happened? How did I get back here? Why are you praying?” Landon didn’t understand any of this.
“You were out in the storm because I’m the biggest dick in the world.” Noble’s voice sounded ragged and hoarse.
“I remember,” Landon said softly. He could hear the ugly words they’d traded echoing in his head.
“I’m not sure, but I think you got hit by a flying lobster trap or something. When Charlie and I found you, you were lying face down on the ground and your head had been bleeding.
That explained the large band-aid and the bump on his head. “I don’t remember any of that.”
“Gregor said that might happen.”
“Gregor?”
Noble nodded, swiping his hand against his eyes. “I couldn’t wake you up, so I had to drag you back to the hotel. Thank God for Charlie, otherwise I don’t think I could have found my way back.”
“My hero.” Landon smiled, reaching out to the dog who responded by resting her face on his chest.
“I got you back inside and under the covers to warm you up and called Gregor.”
It hurt when Landon furrowed his brow. “He’s a chef.”
Noble burst out laughing despite his tears. “Yeah, he’s also a former SEAL and I knew he had a bit of medical training in case something went wrong on a mission. He told me what I needed to do to take care of you physically and…”
“And what?” Even though his skull felt like it was going to split apart straight down the middle, he still wanted to hear Noble out.
“He told me to focus on how to apologize to you when you woke up.” Guilt flashed through his watery blue eyes.
Landon sighed. Did he actually want to listen to Noble’s apology? Hell, it’s not like he had anywhere else to be. “I’m listening.”
Noble nodded, taking a deep breath. “I can’t un-say any of the terrible things I said to you. I’m so sorry that I accused you of not helping me and of being lazy.” Noble sucked in a ragged breath. “I’m so sorry that I told you to fuck off. Landon, I-” Whatever Noble had been about to say next was lost in a sob.
“Come here.” As hurt and as angry as he’d been at Noble when he’d gone out into the storm, Landon couldn’t sit by and watched the man he loved suffer like this. “It’s okay, Noble. Everything is gonna be okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Noble whispered through his tears. “I hurt you and broke your heart. I should have just been honest with you from the beginning.”
“Honest about what?” The nausea was back, but not from the splitting pain in his head. Was Noble regretting letting him stay at the hotel? Or starting a relationship with him?
Noble took a deep breath and sat up. “I love you, Landon. I have for a while now. I should have just manned up and told you when I realized how I felt, but I was scared.”
Noble was in love with him? Maybe he was dead. He was dead and this was heaven. Only in heaven there were no tears, right? Noble was crying enough for both of them. “Scared of what?” He held his breath waiting for the answer.
“Scared of loving you and then losing you. I don’t know what got into me today. There’s no excuse for the way I acted. I should have just let you write and let the snow pile up outside. I shouldn’t have been out there trying to keep ahead of it. I should have stayed inside with you and Charlie.”
The dog’s ears pricked up at hearing her name.
Landon started to nod, but that started the room spinning again. “The fight wasn’t all your fault, Noble. I shouldn’t have been so defensive and I definitely shouldn’t have yelled at you and brought up Vincent. I’m so sorry I did th
ose things. Can you forgive me?”
“I forgave you hours ago, Wordsmith.” Noble pressed a kiss to Landon’s cheek.
“I’ve never been in a relationship like this before. I had no idea what to do when you started yelling at me, so I just started yelling back. I’ve spent so much of my life keeping people at arm’s length. You’re the first person I wanted to come closer, but I didn’t know how to tell you. I should have just told you how I felt about you when I realized it myself.”
“How do you feel about me?” Noble shut his eyes.
Landon reached a shaking hand up to the side of Noble’s face. “I love you. I never knew I was capable of feeling that way about anyone until I met you.”
Charlie gave a sharp bark.
Landon smiled. “Okay fine, I didn’t know I was capable of loving someone without four legs and a tail. Better?”
Charlie gave a small woof and settled back against Landon.
“You love me? Me?” Noble looked stunned.
“Don’t look so surprised. You’re an easy man to love, Noble.”
“An easy man to love.” Noble shook his head as if he were having a hard time believing what Landon had just said to him.
“I want to kiss you but the room is already spinning.”
“Kisses can wait. All I want now is for you to feel better and for you to stay here with me at Sand Dollar Shoal.”
“You want me to stay here even after I finish my book?”
Noble nodded, setting his head back down on Landon’s shoulder. “I want you to stay here forever.”
Pressing a kiss to the top of Noble’s head, Landon smiled again. He could do forever.
Epilogue
April
“I can’t believe Sand Dollar Shoal has a famous writer living here and dedicating books to her,” Griffin Fox gushed, holding up his bottle of water in a toast.
Landon blushed, reaching toward Griff to knock their bottles together.
“Here we are, more firewood.” Noble knelt by the fire pit and started stacking the wood.
“I was just telling Landon that I finished reading the advance copy of Killer Instinct and it blew me away!” Griffin was all smiles as he took a sip from his bottle.
“Me too,” Nick Killington agreed, reaching down to rub a hand over Charlie’s silky back. “I especially liked the part when Norris kissed Marcus Pike just as the killer pointed the gun at Norris’ head.”
“I was crying.” Presley held his palm up to God. “I didn’t want to read what happened next. It would have killed me if anything happened to Norris.”
“Aww, poor Pres!” Gregor slapped a hand on his shoulder. “My favorite part was when Marcus pushed Norris out of the way and took the bullet himself. It’s exactly what I would have done.”
“That’s why I wrote it that way.” Landon grinned at Gregor. It was still hard to believe all that had happened in the last three months. He’d taken a week off after his accident in the blizzard, but once he’d sat back down in front of his computer, the end of Killer Instinct just poured out of him like turning on the kitchen faucet. Frank, his agent, had loved the book, but had been worried the publisher wouldn’t like the idea of Marcus and Norris becoming a couple.
Thankfully Frank’s worry had been for nothing. The publisher was thrilled at the idea of being able to promote a gay main character in one of its books. They’d loved it so much that they added two more books to his contract and sent him a hefty advance to get started on the next Marcus Pike/Norris Fulsome novel.
Things with Noble had also gotten back to normal after Landon had recovered from his concussion. The plow Griff promised had been delivered soon after the blizzard ended and Noble had taken on the responsibility of snow removal without ever asking Landon to lift a finger to help him. Landon hadn’t been so thrilled with that idea, so he’d rode in the truck with Noble when he plowed. They’d play silly games like twenty questions to pass the time and get to know each other better.
Noble had finished the hotel’s guest rooms a week ago, just in time for his friends’ arrival, thanks to the help of his father. Landon had loved having Nick Killington back at Sand Dollar Shoal. Now that he and Noble were solidly together, Nick had been treating him like a second son. In return, Landon had been treating him like the father he’d always wanted.
Now that the work on the guest rooms was done, Noble had started working on the beach cottages that all of their friends would be staying in. For now, everyone was staying in the second floor guest rooms which Griff and Presley had been working hard on decorating. Landon had been so thrilled the day they got to move into their own room and off the dining room floor, although he missed falling asleep to the crackle of the roaring fire.
Living under the same roof with Noble’s rowdy friends had been a dream come true for him. This was the experience Landon had missed by only having gone to community college. Gregor had started working on his own recipes and treated everyone to three incredible meals a day, leaving Landon more time to write or help Noble on their cottage. Presley entertained them every night with his guitar, while Griffin worked nearly non-stop on his marketing plan for the hotel’s grand re-opening on Memorial Day weekend.
What Landon loved the most about Noble’s friends coming to stay at Sand Dollar Shoal was how easily they all accepted him.
“I’ve got something for you boys,” Nick said, breaking Landon out of his own thoughts.
“What is it?” Noble asked curiously.
Reaching into his shirt pocket, he pulled out a small envelope, handing it to Landon, who was sitting in the chair next to his.
Landon opened it to see a small picture of him in his ghost costume standing with his arm wrapped around a vampire. He shot a confused look at Noble. “What’s your dad doing with a picture of me?”
“Picture of you? That’s a picture of me!” Noble took the photo from his hand, studying it in the firelight.
“Seriously?” Landon pulled Noble’s arm closer so he could get a better look at the image. He remembered Noble saying Nick had taken him to the Haunted Halloween parties at Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill when he was a kid just like his parents had taken him. It seemed unlikely, but by looking at the picture he and Noble had met before.
“It’s both of you!” Nick rolled his eyes. “After Landon mentioned his parents taking him to the castle I started going through our family albums when I got back home and came across this little beauty. I remembered Landon saying he was always a ghost and had a feeling that ghost was our Landon.”
Our Landon… He would never get tired of hearing Nick say things like that about him. “I don’t have any memories of this day at all Nick, do you?”
Nick grinned. “The two of you were working next to each other at the Jack O’ Lantern station and after that were thick as thieves the entire day. Just as we were about to head home after the costume parade, Noble insisted I take a picture of him with his new best friend.”
“Best friend, huh?” Landon grinned, knocking his knee against Noble’s.
“Just as true then as it is today, Wordsmith,” Noble agreed, reaching over to brush a kiss against Landon’s lips.
“Love you, babe.”
“Love you more!” Noble laughed, his blue eyes dancing in the firelight.
Who was Landon to argue with that?
I’m thrilled to announce the entire On The Radio series will publish as a bundle on February 14, 2017! The pre-order is available now!
Book two in the Sand Dollar Shoal series, Riptide, will publish on April 4, 2017. The pre-order is available now!
ONE DARK PAST, TWO SCARRED HEARTS…
Reeling from an HIV scare that sent him into retirement, former gay porn star, Drake DeMelo, aka Damien Lovecock, is looking for a fresh start. Wanting to get as far away from his old life in California as possible, Drake packs his car and heads to Cape Cod.
Presley Forrester, day manager of Sand Dollar Shoal, wasn’t expecting to find a handsome man soaked to t
he skin pounding on his door late one night. With the grand reopening of the hotel fast approaching, Pres needs all the extra hands he can get. He hires the mysterious but handsome man to do odd jobs.
Presley and Drake are undeniably drawn to each other, but as they get closer, Drake keeps his past a secret, not wanting anything to ruin his newfound happiness. When a hotel guest recognizes Drake during the masquerade ball to celebrate the reopening of the hotel, the new life he has built comes crashing down around him.
Will Presley forgive Drake’s deception and accept his past, or will their love be lost like the outgoing tide?
I’d like to introduce you to the Reading, Writing and Romance series. Book one, A Little Lesson, will publish on March 7, 2017.
Facing a custody battle that threatens to rip his young son from his life, librarian Bronson McKinnon is hyper-vigilant, not wanting to give his ex-wife any ammunition to use against him in court.
Kindergarten teacher Nash Spencer is fresh off a bad break-up. Meeting the handsome single father on the first day of school is the last thing his battered heart needs, but he’s drawn to Bronson.
With the help of Bronson’s five year old, Tucker, the men start spending time together. Despite Bronson’s fears of his sexuality costing him custody of his son, he can’t help developing feelings for his son’s teacher. When Tucker shows up to school with bruises, Nash is pulled into the court case, and the custody battle turns into an all-out war.
Are Bronson’s and Nash’s feelings for each other strong enough to win the day or will their love become a casualty in Bronson’s fight to save his son?
The preorders for these books are available at my Amazon page. http://www.amazon.com/Pandora-Pine/e/B013BSSBX0/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1453654665&sr=8-2-ent
You can find all of my books here: http://www.amazon.com/Pandora-Pine/e/B013BSSBX0/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1455742290&sr=8-2-ent
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