Page 23 of Waiting for a Prince (Island Tales #1)

Sam sighed. “I asked her about it. She didn’t react well. Then I discovered her dad had heard the same stories. Rebecca told me he was trying to get her to attend some anger management course on the mainland.”

Mark snorted. “I take it she didn’t want to go.”

Sam shook his head. “She didn’t think she needed anger management, and she thought her dad was overreacting.

But then he started making noises about how she had to attend the course, or he’d start thinking about cutting her allowance.

” He shuddered. “This is a girl who would die without her credit card. She needed a way to convince him the ex-boyfriends were lying.”

Mark widened his eyes. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

“And I was the one who handed her the perfect plan, though not on purpose. The first time Rebecca visited my flat, I ran out of milk, so I popped out to the local supermarket. She said she’d stay there and look at her phone.

” Another sigh. “I didn’t think, did I? And when I got back…

” Sam slumped into the seat cushion. “She’d used the time to go through my chest of drawers. ”

“Of course she had.” Mark scowled. “I’m guessing she found something you didn’t want her knowing about.”

He gazed at Mark, his chest tight. “My gay magazines—and my Fleshjack. Not to mention a few other toys. She didn’t need to be a genius to work it out, right?”

“What happened?”

Sam forced out a bitter laugh. “You know, I was relieved at the time. I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve inadvertently given her a reason to break it off between us. Except that wasn’t how it worked out.

” He frowned. “Rebecca had other plans.” He gulped.

“She told me we were going to stay together and that I had to somehow convince her dad there was no truth to the stories—or else she would go straight to my dad and tell him his son was gay. She’d spent enough time around him to know exactly how he’d react to that bombshell. ”

Mark tensed. “That bitch. That blackmailing little bitch !”

Sam’s chin trembled. “I had no choice, Mark. I had to agree to it. So she began arranging meals out with her family, giving her dad plenty of opportunities to see how great we were getting along.” He gave a sardonic laugh.

“I must be a really good actor, because her dad took me aside to tell me how pleased he was that we were together and that I was obviously a good influence on his daughter.”

Mark expelled a long breath.

“Sam, look in the mirror. This is more than Rebecca having a temper. Where will it stop?”

Sam opened his eyes wide. “But it has stopped. I left her. I couldn’t stay with her after this.”

“What about your dad?”

Sam stiffened. “Can’t do anything about that now. It’s coming. She said as much last night.” He drew a sharp intake of breath. “But I’ve had six months of this shit. No more. To be honest, it only got bad in the last few weeks, when….” He heard the catch in Mark’s breathing, and his heart pounded.

Do you already know what I’m about to say? Have you guessed?

It was too late to stop now.

“When I started to realize I had feelings for someone.”

The words slipped out into the quiet room and Sam met Mark’s gaze.

Mark’s heart gave a leap. Oh God, please ….

“Sam, I…”

“Yes?” There was such a hopeful expression on Sam’s face that Mark couldn’t breathe. “Mark?”

Mark laid his hand gently on Sam’s scratched cheek and leaned in close, their lips meeting at last. Sam’s eyes closed and Mark simply gave himself up to the sweet, tender kiss.

How long they kissed, Mark had no idea. He lost all concept of time, aware of nothing but the silkiness of Sam’s lips, his sweet breath, the heat radiating from his body.

When at last they parted, Mark let out a contented sigh.

“Oh Sam, I love you.”

Sam became still. Those soft lips parted as he stared at Mark, his eyes so large and round. That poor, damaged face was never lovelier. “I love you, too. I wanted to tell you how I felt, but?—”

Mark laid a finger gently on Sam’s lips. “It’s okay. I know.” His face broke into a smile of sheer joy. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say those words.” He hadn’t removed his hand from Sam’s face. He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Say them again.”

Sam’s face was wreathed in a beautiful smile. “I love you, Mark.”

Mark let out his breath in a slow, steady exhale before moving closer once more to take Sam’s mouth in a kiss that seemed to spin out into yet another time-stopping moment. Sam sighed into his mouth, the sound swallowed up as Mark kissed him softly.

Reluctantly Mark broke the kiss and pulled away. “I have to tell you, I’m so relieved you broke up with Rebecca.” He focused on Sam, his eyes narrowing. “But why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”

Sam’s cheeks were flushed and he tried to look away, but Mark wouldn’t relinquish hold of his face, forcing him to look Mark in the eye.

Sam’s breath suddenly hitched. “How could I tell you? The idea of telling anyone, even you, that a woman hit me. I mean, women don’t hit guys, do they? God, Mark, I was so ashamed.”

Mark let out a soft sigh.

Oh, Sam, if you only knew .

Then Sam yawned, and a second later, Mark joined in. Sam gave him an inquiring glance.

“How much sleep did you get while I was on the couch?”

He bit his lip. “Some?”

Sam smiled. “Is that Mark-speak for ‘I didn’t sleep because I was too busy watching you, Sam’?”

Mark chuckled. “Maybe?” His head was still in a spin after hearing Sam confess to loving him.

And the rest . Talk about a night of revelations. Except it was morning, and he’d never felt so tired.

As though he’d seen Mark’s thoughts, Sam cupped Mark’s cheek and gazed into his eyes. “Love you.”

Mark’s heart soared. “Love you too.” He curled his hand around Sam’s nape and pulled his face closer, their lips meeting once more in a lingering kiss. Sam sagged against him, and that was all Mark needed to bring the conversation to a close.

He broke the kiss and gave Sam a searching glance. “Wonderful though this is, you need some rest. Me too. We can talk more later.” He got to his feet and held out a hand. Sam stared at it, his brow furrowed. Mark smiled. “Come to bed. I want you in my arms tonight.”

The look on Sam’s face made his heart sing. “Oh yes,” he breathed, his face alight.

Mark took hold of Sam’s hand and led him to the bedroom in silence.

Even after spending a number of Mondays naked on the beach with him, Sam’s cheeks were flushed as he stepped out of his jeans, leaving his boxers in place.

Mark followed his lead and left his briefs on.

At that moment the only thing on his mind was to get Sam into bed and hold him.

The soft murmurs that emanated from Sam when Mark spooned up around him, told Mark that Sam was more than content to lie in his arms. They kissed briefly, but it soon became clear both men were badly in need of sleep.

“Mark?” Sam covered Mark’s hand with his own. “This isn’t a dream, is it?”

He kissed Sam’s shoulder. “You’ve had bad dreams for a while. They’re over now. This is reality.”

Before Mark drifted off into a deep, velvety sleep, one thought flitted through his head.

I hope the nightmare is over for him.