Like No One Is Watching

by Jaime Samms

  “You’re talking to a wall, dude. Talking. To. A. Wall.” Adam found his fingers clenched to fists in an effort to forestall the creeping mixture of excitement and regret, want and annoyance.

  Peridot raised one eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. “I believe I am sometimes, yes.”

  “That’s the saying,” Adam snapped. “Sometimes I think I’m talking to a wall. That’s what you say to a person who’s being a dick and not listening to your good advice.” He snapped his mouth shut.

  Peridot said nothing.

  The silence stretched.

  “I’m going to go warm up,” Adam said, losing the attitude and dropping his shoulders. “I’ll be ready for class.” He worked his fingers loose and shook out his cramped hands.

  “Thank you.” Peridot’s own voice had dropped even lower, sounding defeated. “I appreciate that.”

  When Adam glanced back over his shoulder, he caught only a glimpse of the older man’s back as he left the room.

  What the hell was the matter with him? He’d volunteered to help Peridot with the adult ballet classes, so why was he so tense whenever Peridot spoke to him in so reasonable a way?

  “Because you’re hot for him, you dumb fuck.” Adam pursed his lips, holding in further vulgarity. This space, the dance studio, the office, the building itself, was a sanctuary. He’d learned when he had moved here from the first studio he had studied at that Conrad ran a different sort of studio. A clean one. A family-oriented space where street talk and attitude were not welcome.

  He hadn’t found it difficult to purge the affectations of his rough high school from his speech and thoughts when he was here. Much like he had never had all that much difficulty being nice to the girls his parents wanted him to date. Just because he didn’t want to make a life with them didn’t mean he hadn’t enjoyed dating them, or kissing them, or even fondling the ones willing to explore sex with him. None of those things, bending himself to fit the forms the people around him preferred, had been all that difficult. Not until Peridot.

  Peridot Nascimbeni had changed everything, and Adam wasn’t sure he liked it.

  More from Jaime Samms

  After filing charges that put his abusive ex-Dom behind bars, Jesse Turbul relocates halfway across the country, hoping to escape his past—but, of course, it’s never that easy. When Jesse meets third-year law student Aadon at the library where he works, their mutual attraction is instant and obvious.

  Despite the sparks, they just can’t seem to make it work. Aadon is mired in guilt over his inability to help his older brother, damaged by events far too similar to Jesse’s past. Jesse is stuck in his own desperate wish to forget the painful shadow that continues to threaten him and any hope of a happy future.

  The only way to move forward is for Jesse to acknowledge he’s broken and for Aadon to accept he can’t make him better.

  With so many fences between them and happily ever after, two men wonder if it’s worth opening the gate.

  Ten years ago Eddie Crane, an actor on the rise, loved his costar and dreamed of the day they could be together. But his love, with his submissive nature, couldn’t handle fame, and before Eddie could help him, he died in a car accident—with Eddie at the wheel.

  Now, guilt-ridden, Eddie buries himself in bad decisions and prays that a stunt—on or off camera—will go wrong.

  Teenaged fantasies about the actor on his wall distracted Arthur Pike from real life—his dead father, runaway mother, gruff grandparents, and his unrequited love for his cousin’s straight husband. Now grown and off the farm, Pike is a horse stuntman hired to teach a reluctant Eddie to ride.

  Pike is drawn to Eddie’s dominant nature despite the sadness clinging to the actor. Eddie let one lover down, but in Pike’s submissiveness, he sees the possibility for redemption.

  Growing up in foster care has left Kerry Grey with little self-esteem or hope for his future. A college dropout, Kerry scrapes by on a part-time job at a garden nursery. His friendship with his boss and working with the plants are the only high points in Kerry’s life. He’s been dating the man who bullied him at school, but when his boyfriend abandons him at a party, Kerry wanders down the beach to drown his sorrows in a bottle of scotch.

  Malcolm Holmes and Charlie Stone have been together for fifteen years. Despite Charlie’s willingness to accept Malcolm’s unspoken domination in bed,something is missing from their relationship. Early one morning, they rescue a passed out Kerry from being washed away by the tide and Charlie immediately senses a kindred spirit in the lost younger man. When Kerry’s roommate kicks him out, Malcolm and Charlie invite him into their home. As Charlie and Kerry bond over Charlie’s garden, Malcolm sees Kerry may be just who they have been looking for to complete their lives. All they have to do is show Kerry, and each other, that Kerry’s submissive tendencies will fit their dynamic.

  But someone is sabotaging Kerry at every turn. As he struggles to discover the culprit, he fears for the safety of his new friends. If Malcolm and Charlie cannot help, their lifelong search for their perfect third may not end with the happily ever after they imagined.

  Out and uninhibited Ian McVeigh has been playing the field for years, so he can’t fathom the unexpected desire and feeling of protectiveness he experiences when he first sees rugby playing, unemployed David, his boss’s newest and most delicious-looking squeeze. David Kelly is a hustler, and he’s way out of Ian’s league. He’d never look twice at a guy like Ian, a guy with little means to woo the needy but to-die-for David.

  Yet one day, David not only looks, but touches, flirts, and all but invites Ian to lure him away from his sugar daddy. But David can’t let anything break his carefully constructed walls. Ian doesn’t know much about David’s past, and what he doesn’t know could hurt them both.

  Ian says David’s past doesn’t matter, but when he sees David with another older gentleman, he immediately thinks the worst. Both men must embrace honesty or lose each other for good.

  Don Jenkins will do anything for a happy, thriving family and home, but keeping his farm going is a constant challenge. He’s always depended on Griff McAllister, his partner and first love, to support him in his work and in his need to submit in the bedroom. When he discovers Griff might be losing faith in him, he’s at a loss for how to mend the relationship. Then Howard Campbell—a man Don and Griff both love beyond words—is added to the mix. With jealousy threatening their bond and the viability of the farm in question, Don’s dreams begin to crumble.

  Nearly losing Howard in an accident serves as a wakeup call. They begin to pull their relationship out of the muck and work to remember why they came together in the first place. If they can figure out how to help one another and balance the dynamics of dominance and submission between them so each man gets what he needs, the trio might build the loving future they’ve dared to hope for. They must be brave enough to commit every resource they can muster—especially trust, understanding, and acceptance—and realize true love is never as easy as it looks.

  Singer Coby Kennedy and his drummer twin, Bruce, have a band called Patchwork Heaven. They have been rising steadily up the country music charts, but unfortunately, that rise has attracted unwanted attention. Faced with anonymous letters, sinister gifts, and the wanton destruction of their personal space, they hire The Detail, a specialized security firm. Coby never anticipated Gregor, The Detail’s owner and his personal guard, would be quite so intriguing.

  As the stalker gets closer and more violent and questions pile up, Gregor fears his past might get in the way of him finding who is threatening his client when he becomes suspect number one. Even though Coby is convinced Gregor is not behind the threat, Gregor is not sure he’s the right man to keep Coby safe, either from the stalker, or from his own interest in the singer.

  Spaceship captain Tom lost copilot and lover to a slipstream accident, but he refuses to accept Briak is dead. As he loses himself to his obsession, his ship begins to exhibit technical glitches and personality
traits not normal for a shipboard computer. It gets worse as Tom finds a new pilot and decides to manipulate the slipstream to go back in time and stop the accident from happening. But if Tom can’t figure out the problem, the space-time jumps may tear the ship—and his dreams of reunion with Briak—apart.

  The violent implosion of Lawrence McKenna’s last relationship left him floundering at the bottom of a bottle. Recently unemployed and struggling with his newly discovered submissive tendencies, Laurie needs his best friend, Jeff, more than ever. One sleepless night of detox and a desperate kiss convince him that the attraction they’ve battled all their lives has become too hard to ignore, but Jeff has other responsibilities that take him far away from Laurie and his self-destructive behavior.

  When Jeff leaves, all Laurie wants is to be left alone to wallow. Instead, he finds himself riding herd on his friends who have quit their jobs to achieve their dream of starting their own manga publisher. Those same friends return the favor by riding him: about the booze, talking about what happened, seeing a doctor—and about Jeff, whose abandonment left Laurie bitter and resentful. Laurie knows they can’t have a relationship without forgiveness, but when Jeff returns, can he be what Laurie needs?

  After a disastrous five years away at college, Joe returns to his aunt's farm and finds his childhood sweetheart Cameron eager to rekindle their relationship. Joe has a hard time confessing that he didn't come home until now because he's only just managed to leave Andre, his controlling boyfriend, and has a harder time renewing his submissive role in his affair with Cam. Cam thinks he has to find a way to remind Joe how to be strong. But what Cam doesn't realize is that Joe is strong, strong enough to leave behind a life of shame—though he's terrified his past will catch up to him. Joe must confront his ex and take back his own life, on his own terms, before he's able to give Cam everything they both desire.

  When Allan Song’s ex, Mac, shows up to model for the life drawing class Allan teaches, he turns everything upside-down. Mac is still as infuriatingly attractive as when Allan first met him—and still trying to figure out where he fits on the gender spectrum. He’s more than a little out of control, and he’s taken some stupid risks that have come back to haunt him. If they’re going to get back together, Allan wants a real relationship—but for that, he and Mac will need to look below the surface.

  Off Stage: Book One

  Damian Learner and his grunge band, Firefly, are on a meteoric rise to success. If they get the right break, fame awaits. Seeking more professional management, Damian independently strikes a bargain with the best agent in the business, Stanley Krane. Unable to afford the penalty for breaking old contracts, Damian agrees when Stan’s best friend, country and Western megastar Vance Ashcroft, offers to buy him out of his old contract.

  Overwhelmed by a crippling loan, secretive guilt, Stanley’s expectations, and a volatile relationship with Lenny, Firefly’s lead guitarist, Damian disintegrates. Bad habits of too much sex, booze, and drugs create a rift in the band. Finally Vance, with his understanding of Dominant/submissive behavior, sees that submissives Damian and Lenny are falling into chaos, clinging to each other to try to avoid the inevitable crash.

  When the pressure to perform becomes too much and the unthinkable happens, Damian and Lenny have to decide: accept that they need something they can’t get from each other, or burn out and take Firefly with them. Vance is ready to claim Lenny, but even Stan’s hesitant agreement to give Damian the direction he needs might not be enough for Damian—or the band—if he loses Lenny.

  Off Stage: Book Two

  Lenny Stevens was the lead guitarist of the up-and-coming grunge band Firefly until he crossed the line with the band’s lead singer. Now he’s faced with the impossible task of rebuilding his life without the music that had kept him together. Struggling with his fear and rage, he creates the same damaging patterns in his relationship with his lover, Vance Ashcroft.

  Vance knows that Lenny is the submissive meant for him. He is convinced he can save Lenny from his demons and puts faith in his ability. But when Len’s temper leads to him physically hurting Vance and destroying property, both men realize Len’s issues are too big for them to work through alone.

  Seeking the help of the people who know Len best, Vance invites his former bandmates to the ranch for Len’s belated birthday party. Together, they try to create a safe haven for Len to come apart and, hopefully, rearrange himself into a man who can live with his past and create a future worth having.

  A Wings of Faith novella

  Twin Angels Jophiel and Ariel are servants of Heaven bound to help the humans of a world headed for ruin. But for them to become the independent Angels they need to be, their bond must first be broken.

  Jophiel takes his duties seriously, answering a call from an artist struggling with his dominant, sadistic nature. But Ariel, embittered after being tortured and killed by human captors and returning to Heaven in shame, hesitates. The choice is taken from his hands when he is sent to Earth, wingless and without any memory of who or what he is. Until he regains the faith in the humans he’s meant to help, he’ll never reach his full potential and be readmitted into Heaven. From somewhere within himself, Jophiel must find the courage to let go of his twin and trust Ariel to be strong enough to Rise again… or they will never be together.

  JAIME SAMMS has been published since the fall of 2008, although she’s been writing for herself far longer. Often asked what’s so fascinating about stories where men fall in love with other men, she’s never come up with a clear answer. Just that these are the stories that she loves to read, so it seemed to make sense if she was going to write, they would also be the stories she wrote.

  These days, you can find plenty of free reading on her website in addition to her stories scattered across several publishers.

  Spare time—when it can be found rolled into a ball at the back of the dryer or cavorting with the dust bunnies in the corners—she’s probably spending time crocheting, drawing, gardening (weather permitting, of course, since she is Canadian!), or watching movies. She has a day job, as well, which she loves, and two kids, but thankfully, also a wonderful husband who keeps her fed and caffeinated.

  She graduated some time ago from college with a Fine Arts diploma and a major in textile arts, which basically qualifies her to draw pictures and create things with string and fabric. One always needs an official slip of paper to fall back on, after all….

  Website: jaime-samms.net

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000982219151&ref=tn_tnmn

  Livejournal: dontkickmycane.livejournal.com

  Deviantart: dontkickmycane.deviantart.com

  Twitter: twitter.com/#!/JaimeSamms

  Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/jaimesamms

  By Jaime Samms

  Better

  Bound to Fall

  The Foster Family

  Grand Adventures (Dreamspinner Anthology)

  Like No One Is Watching

  My Rugby-playing Twink

  New Linen

  Not As Easy As It Looks

  Patchwork Heaven

  Paying the Piper

  Renegade

  Scars on His Heart

  Stained Glass

  Still Life

  Wishing on a Blue Star (Dreamspinner Anthology)

  OFF STAGE

  Off Stage: Right

  Off Stage: In the Wings

  WINGS OF FAITH

  Angel Elegy

  Angel Requiem

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or lo
cales is entirely coincidental.

  Like No One Is Watching

  © 2015 Jaime Samms.

  Cover Art

  © 2015 Aaron Anderson.

  aaronbydesign55@gmail.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-62380-729-0

  First Edition November 2015

  Printed in the United States of America