by Sue Brown
Sam looked somewhat startled at Gabriel agreeing with him. “That you deserve to be loved fiercely?”
“I thought love was a one-time deal, Sam. I thought that was it for me. I’d found my soulmate, and once she was gone, I was destined to be alone.” Gabriel had seen his future, and it had stretched out interminably. He’d been convinced he would end up as a lonely old man, still standing watch over the bay.
Sam nodded as though he understood, although Gabriel didn’t know how he could, because he barely understood it himself. “And now?”
“Now I think that I can love and be loved again. It won’t be the same, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m not looking for a replacement for Jenny.”
“What are you saying?” Sam asked, his voice cracking.
Gabriel stared into Sam’s stormy-grey eyes and begged, “Please let me kiss you.”
Sam’s expression was troubled. “There’s nothing more I want than to kiss you, but are you sure it’s what you want? I don’t think I could kiss you and then take another rejection.”
“Yesterday was never about you. You know that.”
“It’s not you, it’s me?” Sam smiled, but the laughter didn’t reach his eyes.
Gabriel cursed himself for putting the sadness in Sam’s eyes. “Something like that.” Gabriel looked at their joined hands. “I was never rejecting you.”
“Just the idea of an us.” The idea of an us again after so long had been a terrifying idea. “It doesn’t seem so frightening now.”
Sam blinked, his long lashes fanning over his eyes. “You mean that?”
“I mean it.”
“Then show me.”
Gabriel could do that. His emotions were still on a roller coaster and he didn’t have a clue what would happen next, especially to Sam, but he was ready to show Sam exactly how he felt about him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured, his fingers carding through Sam’s hair to cup his head.
“You’re just biased,” Sam said shakily.
“I am.”
Gabriel contemplated Sam’s mouth for a moment—lush, full, a little chapped by the weather but ultimately kissable.
“Don’t tease,” Sam pleaded.
“Not teasing. Just thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
Gabriel wrapped his free arm around Sam’s back and inclined his head. “The best way to kiss you.”
“Stop bloody thinking. Just do it.” Sam growled and reached up for Gabriel’s mouth.
“Not this time,” Gabriel whispered as he pulled back.
Thwarted in his attempt to kiss Gabriel, Sam furrowed his brow. “Not this time what?”
“I’m kissing you this time.”
Sam’s arms wrapped around his neck. “Yes, please.”
Gabriel closed the distance between them and nibbled on Sam’s full bottom lip. Okay, so maybe he was a bit of a tease. Sam melted into his arms, and then Gabriel needed more. He pressed his mouth to Sam’s, feeling it lush and alive under his. Sam was passive, taking Gabriel’s order/plea to heart and not trying to control the moment. Gabriel kissed Sam gently and licked along the seam of his lips until Sam’s mouth opened for his.
Sam pressed himself flush against Gabriel, almost on tiptoes in his anxiousness to be close to him. Gabriel wanted to cup his arse and hold him closer, but even in his haze of pleasure, he was still conscious they were in public. The kissing wasn’t going to stop, though.
He explored Sam’s mouth with lazy contentment—tongue, teeth, lips again. Gabriel was aroused but not unbearably so. He was more interested in learning the feel of Sam from his soft mouth to his hard, lean body against him. From the strength of Sam’s arms around his neck, Sam felt exactly the same way. All the pent-up energy Sam had been showing was being poured out through his kiss. It was overwhelming to be the focus of all that energy.
They broke their kiss to breathe and rested their foreheads against each other. Gabriel stroked down Sam’s sun-heated back, and Gabriel felt it was almost as intimate as kissing. Sam unlocked his arms from Gabriel’s neck and took the slightest of steps back.
“Wow,” Sam said somewhat breathlessly.
“Wow,” Gabriel agreed.
They stared at each other, wide-eyed and breathless, and Gabriel had a sudden urge to put Sam over his shoulder again and haul him back to his cave.
“Your eyes go almost black when you think about fucking me,” Sam murmured.
“In a moment,” Gabriel said. “I have some more kissing to do.”
He put one finger under Sam’s chin and kissed him again, demanding Sam’s full attention. Sam gave it to him willingly, trading him kiss for kiss, filling his senses, making him unaware of his surroundings until a shout penetrated the haze he was in.
“Storm Maitland?”
Chapter 14—Sam
“STORM MAITLAND?”
It was the first word that caught Sam’s attention. All of him was involved in Gabriel’s kiss, the touch of his lips slightly chapped by the wind and rain, the taste of coffee and peppermint, and the soft feel of his jumper beneath Sam’s hands.
“Who’s Storm Maitland, Lisa? Is he a friend of yours?”
“For God’s sake, Mum, you’re being embarrassing.”
It was obvious to Sam their moment together was over. Reluctantly, he drew back from Gabriel, still thrumming with thwarted desire. He gave him an apologetic smile and turned to see four people staring at him—a man with a bright-red nose and cheeks, a woman wearing a floppy straw hat, and two teenagers. He noticed the family similarity between the kids and the adults. Then he saw the shocked, openmouthed expressions of the teenagers. The man and the woman looked quizzically at their kids.
The teenage girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen, took two steps towards them and stopped; her expression wary. “Are you Storm Maitland?” She wore a mustard coloured floral dress and strappy shoes, more suitable for a night out than a walk on the cliffs.
It sank in she was aiming the question at him. Before he could ask what she was talking about, the boy beside her answered.
“Course he is. He looks just like him. Didn’t know he was gay.”
She rolled her eyes at her little brother. “Course he’s gay. Everyone knows that.”
“They do?” Sam murmured.
Gabriel stiffened and moved so he was between Sam and these strangers. “You know who he is?”
His voice was harsh and unfriendly, and the two kids looked back at their parents for reassurance. They moved closer to their children, their expressions changing from quizzical to wary.
“What’s going on, Lisa?” the woman asked. She had the same honey-blond hair that her daughter had, although Sam was pretty sure hers was out of a bottle.
Lisa pointed at Sam. “He’s Storm Maitland, the pop star who went missing a couple of days ago. You remember. He was on the news. It’s been all over Twitter.”
Sam’s first thought was amazement that his name really was Storm, not Sam, and his second was utter panic.
“What are you talking about?” Gabriel snarled, and Sam’s panic lessened as he realised he was going to have to speak to the family before Gabriel frightened them away.
He stepped around Gabriel and smiled at the girl, hoping to reassure her and calm the deep scowl on Gabriel’s face. “Hi Lisa. You know more than me at the moment. I banged my head in an accident.” He turned to show her the bruise on his temple. “I can’t remember much except I like tea and I hate coffee.”
She pulled a face. “I hate coffee too. You’ve got amnesia? That’s so cool.”
Unless you’re the person who can’t remember a thing.
Sam gave a wry smile. “It’s a bit frustrating. You say my name is Storm Maitland and I’m a pop star?”
At least now he understood why he could play the guitar.
Lisa blinked. Then she pulled out her phone and scrolled furiously while her brother looked at Sam as though he were a unicorn. “Here.” She thrust out her phone
.
Sam drew closer and looked at the screen. Gabriel peered at it too. It was the BBC news with the headline, Pop Star in Mystery Disappearance. Underneath was a picture of someone who looked very much like him.
“May I read it?” He held his hand out, and after a moment, Lisa reluctantly gave up her phone.
He scanned it, and Gabriel read over his shoulder.
Storm Maitland, 23, a singer-songwriter on the brink of mega-stardom, has been missing for four days, his record company revealed. He disappeared after dinner on Thursday, September 8 and has not been seen since. Coldstar Records is offering a reward for any information leading to Maitland’s safe return.
Gabriel snorted in his ear. “You could be a lost dog.”
Sam thought the same thing. His record label was missing him? What about family or friends?
“No one knew where you were,” Lisa said uncertainly.
Sam snorted. “I didn’t know where I was. If it hadn’t been for Gabriel here, I’d have drowned.”
“You saved him?” Lisa gave Gabriel the kind of dubious I-don’t-think-so look teenage girls were notorious for.
Sam nearly burst out laughing, which wouldn’t have gone down well with either Lisa or Gabriel. “I was lucky he saved me, but you found me.”
“Lisa should get the reward,” her brother said.
Sam blinked at him. “What?”
“She found you, so she should get the reward, not him.” He pointed a sandy finger at Gabriel.
“Alfie, don’t talk nonsense,” his mum said.
Alfie pressed his lips together in a mutinous fashion. “It says there is a reward for whoever has information. Look!” He pointed to Lisa’s phone.
Sam held up his hands. “I’m sure there’ll be a reward for Lisa. First, we need to contact the police and my record company to let them know I’m safe. Lisa, I’m going to call the company, but if you leave me your phone number, then I’ll get the reward sent to you.”
Lisa started to recite her number, but her mother stepped forward.
“She’s not giving her phone number out to a strange man. I don’t care how famous he is,” she said as Lisa protested. “You can take mine.”
Sam nodded, not wanting to get involved in any safeguarding issue that could blow up in his face on social media. He might not remember who he was, but that sort of thing had to be tricky, didn’t it?
He was aware of Gabriel almost vibrating next to him, and he smiled up at him apologetically, aware the man was as ashen as though he were ready to pass out. “I don’t have a phone. Could you take Lisa’s mum’s number?”
It took a moment, but then Gabriel nodded and pulled out his phone. A few taps, and he handed it to Lisa’s mum. “Put your number in here.”
She looked as reluctant as Gabriel, but she did as asked. Sam exchanged an apologetic look with Lisa.
“How much?” Alfie demanded.
Sam blinked. “How much what?”
“How much is the reward? Is it a million pounds?”
“Don’t be so stupid.” Lisa shoved him hard and he stumbled, but he recovered quickly and launched himself at his sister with a loud yell.
To Sam’s amusement, Gabriel put himself between the warring teenagers and Sam. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “I think they want to fight each other, not me.”
Gabriel grunted and didn’t move an inch. Wonderful, ridiculous man.
If they’d been on their own, Sam would have drawn Gabriel into his embrace and kissed him again until they were both breathless.
Lisa’s mum huffed, and she looked embarrassed at her offspring’s behaviour. “For heaven’s sake, you two, cut it out.” She looked at Sam. “I’m so sorry.”
He grinned at her. “It’s okay. But I think we’ll go back to the cottage now. I’ve got a lot to do.”
Alfie looked up from trying to punch his sister. “Don’t forget about the reward, or I’ll put it on Twitter.”
“You haven’t got a Twitter account,” Lisa said scornfully.
“Have too,” he yelled.
“Have not.”
They launched at each other again, and Sam tugged at Gabriel’s jumper. “Get me out of here,” he muttered.
Gabriel turned on his heel and guided Sam away without another word. Sam’s ears were ringing with the shouts from Lisa and Alfie, and he could feel a headache brewing at his temples.
“So… you’re a famous rock star,” Gabriel said as he strode back to the cottage.
Sam had to hurry to catch up with his long strides. “So it seems,” he agreed somewhat breathlessly. He would have preferred being dragged back for a morning of sweet fucking than this angry march.
“Huh.”
When Gabriel didn’t elaborate, Sam looked at him. “Huh?”
“Didn’t see that one coming.”
“Me neither,” Sam said honestly.
Gabriel carried on walking. “You played my old guitar, and you didn’t remember anything about being a rock star?”
Sam thought about it for a long moment. There was nothing in the void of his memories, not even a hint that he’d been a musician, let alone a celebrity. “Not a thing. Even when I played the guitar, it was muscle memory rather than actual memory. I knew I could do it, but I couldn’t relate it to anything in my life.”
They crunched over the gravel. Just before they reached the cottage, Gabriel’s phone rang. For one awful moment, Sam thought it was Archie demanding the reward again, but Gabriel said, “It’s Toby.”
“Don’t… don’t tell him yet,” Sam begged. He just needed a moment alone with Gabriel to process what was going on. Even Toby would be too much.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow, but he nodded. “Hey, Tobes.” He listened for a moment. “Yeah, okay, but later, yeah? Sam’s got a headache. No, nothing serious. He’s going to lie down for an hour. Yeah, sure. Come over later. I’ll call you when he’s awake.”
Sam expelled a long breath when Gabriel disconnected the call. “Thanks.”
“The headache isn’t a lie, is it?” Gabriel asked shrewdly, and the anger seemed to drain out of him.
He leaned against the wall by the door and shook his head. “I should take a couple of paracetamol.”
“Come and sit down,” Gabriel said as he opened the door and gently pushed Sam through. Then he shut the door on the rest of the world. “I’ll get the tablets. You close your eyes for a moment.”
Sam felt he could breathe again now they were on their own. In here, he was safe with Gabriel. Outside the door, he was suddenly a whole new person and someone he didn’t know. Storm Maitland. Who the hell was he?
“Hey.”
Sam looked up as Gabriel cupped his jaw. “Uh….”
Gabriel stared down at him, his eyes dark and intense. “It’s okay, Sam. You don’t have to do this by yourself.”
“Promise?” He knew it sounded weak, but he was a heartbeat away from a panic attack. His hands were clammy, and blood pounded in his ears.
“I promise. We’ll find out who you are together.”
Gabriel’s deep-thunder-in-the-distance voice soothed him, and when Gabriel drew him into his arms and pulled him against his chest, he felt even better. Sam leaned his cheek against the soft jumper and soaked up the lavender and spices he’d come to associate with Gabriel. He swallowed hard. This might be the last time he was held by Gabriel. Once he made that call to the record company, he’d be sucked into his old life. Tears pricked at the back of his eyes. He wasn’t ready for that yet.
Sam raised his head, dashing the tears away with an impatient hand. “I should call people. Do I call the police again? ‘Hey, you remember me. I’m the famous pop singer who went missing.’ My record company? Do I have any family? I still don’t know who tried to kill me.”
“One thing at a time,” Gabriel said. He steered Sam to the sofa and sat down beside him. “The problem is that what we don’t know is still far more than what we do know.”
“We have a name… my
name.”
“Let’s start from there. I’ll get my laptop and tablet. I’ll make tea and coffee, and we’ll do research.”
“How long do you think Alfie will give us before he starts yelling about rewards on social media?” Sam asked dryly.
Gabriel’s lips twisted. “You have to admire his persistence, if not his motives.”
“He’s right, though. Lisa recognised me. If there is a reward, she deserves it.”
“Let’s find out if you really are Storm Maitland before you hand over half your fortune.”
Sam blinked at the thought. “Just the idea I have money is amazing. I have nothing at the moment. Not even the clothes I’m wearing are mine.”
“When we call whoever, they can bring you some of your own clothes.” Gabriel stood and looked down at Sam. “You’re not alone, Sam. You have me and Toby and even, God help you, Damien.”
Sam curled his fingers and held back the urge to fall at Gabriel’s feet and beg him not to send him away. Dammit, he was supposed to be a musician, not a drama queen. “It’s good to know,” he said huskily.
Chapter 15—Gabriel
GABRIEL WAS grateful for a few minutes alone in the kitchen to process his thoughts. He’d felt icy to the core the moment he realised someone recognised Sam. He wasn’t ready to have the world intrude on him, but now it looked as though he didn’t have a choice. He went through the motions of making tea for Sam and coffee for himself, knowing that in a few moments, Sam would confirm his true identity, make a couple of phone calls, and their time together would be over. As he poured the boiling water over the coffee granules, he wondered if this time together had been some kind of sick joke the cosmos was playing on him. He sucked in a breath.
“Get over yourself, Pennant. This is about Sam, not you.”
Five minutes later, steaming mugs on the coffee table, Gabriel typed in Storm Maitland and tapped Enter. He held his breath as he waited, damn sure that Sam wasn’t breathing either.