It started to snow when they reached the outskirts of Exeter. It wasn’t settling, of course, this low, but as they began the familiar climb to the moors it became increasingly white. Ben had been extremely quiet the whole trip. For him. And he hadn’t asked to stop for food every half hour. Which, again, was unlike him. They came up the very familiar narrow lane to the collapsed gate. Ben steeled himself. He had to see it sometime, he supposed.
§ § §
Nikolas had Ben stop the car at the top of the ridge with the view down into the valley. He’d timed it just right, as he’d planned. The sun had just risen in the east and was flooding the little valley with weak winter sunshine. The snow was thick on the ground now—something he couldn’t take credit for, but it did add to the impression he’d wanted to create. This was either one of the dumbest things he’d ever done in his life or one of the most right, and for the whole year of organising it, supervising it and paying for it, he hadn’t been able to decide.
There was a house in the valley. Not an ancient manor house of stone with small, dark windows and heavy, wood-panelled rooms, but a house of glass. It appeared to float, which Nikolas supposed, in a way, it did. It was one of the most innovative designs for a house ever built in England, and he’d used his connections with someone who had very strong opinions about architecture and who owned most of Devon and Cornwall to push through his plans for this house on this site. It was built in two wings, one on each side of the stream, and the wings were joined by a glass bridge that enclosed a swim lane of pure blue glass alongside a walkway over the dark brown water of the river and pond. The rear wing was built out of the side of the tor, a vast prow of glass supported by tension cables anchored into the granite. It was a complete anachronism for what had once been a place that harboured secrets and lies and small, dark spaces.
But it was Ben’s land, not his.
Nikolas had commissioned this vast house of glass to be built on Ben’s land without asking or consulting him. It was his taste, his desire to live in the sunshine and not the shadows anymore that had driven its design, his desire to spend twenty million pounds of his own fortune on creating this for them. He’d done it. Always him. He knew this, and he was afraid.
§ § §
Ben couldn’t take it in. His mind seemed to shut down on what he was seeing, just as it had shut down on the horror of his time in the coffin. He drove on down into the grounds, which were now not overgrown, but beautiful. The tennis court was restored with a small oak pavilion to one side, matching the design and construction of an oak stable block. He pulled up outside the house in the same place he had a year ago with his piece of paper alongside him declaring that as far as he was concerned he belonged to Nikolas for life.
And suddenly, he got it.
The fog and darkness that had lived in his brain for the whole year since the horror just lifted. It lifted on glass and sunshine and brilliant white snow, which crunched underfoot as they went into the house.
This was Nikolas’s way of saying he too was Ben’s for life. He couldn’t actually just come out and say this, of course. He was still Nikolas, after all. But he’d acknowledged it pretty effectively, in his own way.
No shadows, no darkness, no lies.
To Be Continued in This Other Country…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John spent twenty-two years in the military, perfecting the art of looking busy whilst secretly writing. He left as a senior officer when his tunnel was ready for use. He is now living in New Zealand until he can raise enough money to leave. Although he has no plans to return to the army, he can occasionally be caught polishing his medals.
TRADEMARKS ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Time Magazine: Time, Inc.
This Morning: ITV, plc.
Jonathan Ross: British Broadcasting Corporation
Google: Google, Inc.
Financial Times: Pearson PLC
Beechcraft: Beechcraft Corporation
Ducati: Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.
Merc – Mercedes: Daimler AG
Range Rover: Rover: Jaguar Land Rover, Limited.
Lada: AvtoVAZ
Louis Vuitton: Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A.
Hugo Boss: Hugo Boss AG
Hostel: Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation
Armani: Giorgio Armani S.p.A.
The Economist: The Economist Newspaper Ltd.
The Independent: Independent Print Limited
The Sun: News Group Newspapers Ltd.
MLR PRESS AUTHORS
Featuring a roll call of some of the best writers of gay erotica and mysteries today!
Derek Adams
Kyle Adams
Vicktor Alexander
Z. Allora
Simone Anderson
Victor J. Banis
Laura Baumbach
Ally Blue
J.P. Bowie
Barry Brennessel
Jade Buchanan
James Buchanan
TA Chase
Charlie Cochrane
Karenna Colcroft
Jamie Craig
Ethan Day
Diana DeRicci
Vivien Dean
Taylor V. Donovan
S.J. Frost
Kimberly Gardner
Kaje Harper
Stephani Hecht
Alex Ironrod
Jambrea Jo Jones
DC Juris
AC Katt
Thomas Kearnes
Kiernan Kelly
K-lee Klein
Geoffrey Knight
Christopher Koehler
Matthew Lang
J.L. Langley
Vincent Lardo
Cameron Lawton
Anna Lee
Elizabeth Lister
William Maltese
Z.A. Maxfield
Timothy McGivney
Kendall McKenna
AKM Miles
Robert Moore
Reiko Morgan
Jet Mykles
Jackie Nacht
N.J. Nielsen
Cherie Noel
Gregory L. Norris
Erica Pike
Neil S. Plakcy
Rick R. Reed
A.M. Riley
Rob Rosen
George Seaton
Riley Shane
Jardonn Smith
DH Starr
Richard Stevenson
Christopher Stone
Liz Strange
Marshall Thornton
Lex Valentine
Haley Walsh
Mia Watts
Lynley Wayne
Missy Welsh
Ryal Woods
Stevie Woods
Sara York
Lance Zarimba
Mark Zubro
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Check out titles, both available and forthcoming, at
www.mlrpress.com
GLBT RESOURCES
RAINBOW ROMANCE WRITERS
Raising the Bar for LGBT Romance
RRW offers support and advocacy to career-focused authors, expanding the horizons of romance. Changing minds, one heart at a time. www.rainbowromancewriters.com
THE TREVOR PROJECT
The Trevor Project operates the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves lives though its free and confidential helpline, its website and its educational services. If you or a friend are feeling lost, alone, confused or in crisis, please call The Trevor Helpline. You’ll be able to speak confidentially with a trained counselor 24/7.
The Trevor Helpline: 866-488-7386
On the Web: http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
THE GAY MEN’S DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROJECT
Founded in 1994, The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project is
a grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions and participation of the community. The Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project supports victims and survivors through education, advocacy and direct services. Understanding that the serious public health issue of domestic violence is not gender specific, we serve men in relationships with men, regardless of how they identify, and stand ready to assist them in navigating through abusive relationships.
GMDVP Helpline: 800.832.1901
On the Web: http://gmdvp.org/
THE GAY & LESBIAN ALLIANCE AGAINST DEFAMATION/GLAAD EN ESPAÑOL
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
On the Web: http://www.glaad.org/
GLAAD en español: http://www.glaad.org/espanol/bienvenido.php
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT).The SLDN provides free, confidential legal services to all those impacted by DADT and related discrimination. Since 1993, its inhouse legal team has responded to more than 9,000 requests for assistance. In Congress, it leads the fight to repeal DADT and replace it with a law that ensures equal treatment for every servicemember, regardless of sexual orientation. In the courts, it works to challenge the constitutionality of DADT.
SLDN Call: 800-538-7418
PO Box 65301 or (202) 328-FAIR
Washington DC 20035-5301 e-mail: sldn@sldn.org
On the Web: http://sldn.org/
THE GLBT NATIONAL HELP CENTER
The GLBT National Help Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that is dedicated to meeting the needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and those questioning their sexual orientation and gender identity. It is an outgrowth of the Gay & Lesbian National Hotline, which began in 1996 and now is a primary program of The GLBT National Help Center. It offers several different programs including two national hotlines that help members of the GLBT community talk about the important issues that they are facing in their lives. It helps end the isolation that many people feel, by providing a safe environment on the phone or via the internet to discuss issues that people can’t talk about anywhere else. The GLBT National Help Center also helps other organizations build the infrastructure they need to provide strong support to our community at the local level.
National Hotline: 1-888-THE-GLNH (1-888-843-4564)
National Youth Talkline 1-800-246-PRIDE (1-800-246-7743)
On the Web: http://www.glnh.org/
e-mail: info@glbtnationalhelpcenter.org
If you’re a GLBT and questioning student heading off to university, you should know that there are resources on campus for you. Here’s just a sample:
GLBT SCHOLARSHIP RESOURCES
http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/tell-us-about-an-lgbt-scholarship
Syracuse University
http://lgbt.syr.edu/
Texas A&M
http://glbt.tamu.edu/
Tulane University
http://tulane.edu/studentaffairs/oma/lgbt/index.cfm
University of Alaska http://www.uaf.edu/woodcenter/leadership/organizations/active/index.xml?id=61
University of California, Davis
http://lgbtrc.ucdavis.edu/
University of California, San Francisco
http://lgbt.ucsf.edu/
University of Colorado
http://www.colorado.edu/GLBTQRC/
University of Florida
http://www.multicultural.ufl.edu/lgbt/
University of Hawaii, Mānoa
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/lgbt/
University of Utah
http://www.sa.utah.edu/lgbt/
University of Virginia
http://www.virginia.edu/deanofstudents/lgbt/
Vanderbilt University
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/