Steven Macklin wakes up in a ditch one morning in foul, wet weather with no idea where he is or how he came to be there. Seriously injured, he struggles across bleak heathland to find shelter. The only house he finds is weather-beaten and deserted, although he's too sensible a guy to fall for the cliche of a haunted mansion.<br><br>Isn't he?<br><br>When he collapses and is taken in by the handsome Eliot, Steven finds himself in a very disturbing situation -- and  in the bed of this strange, possessive man.

His Gift

I felt a stab of anger. The listless, sensuous man who lay with Eliot every day and night and whispered into his ear…that particular Steven seemed far away. Now I felt the adrenaline course through my body, energy and disturbance flowing in equal measures. It was like a resurrection inside me. I struggled on. My head ached badly, from the stress, I assumed. The pain in my side returned, though I’d had no trouble with it for a long time now.


I stumbled out from the forest again, but something had changed in the view since I last saw it. There was a large object rearing out from the ditch where I first woke, a hulking mass against the pale sky. It was a stationary car. For a wild moment I thought it might be mine and I could drive home. 


Don’t drive.It was the voice in my head again. You’re an idiot. Fucking idiot. Look, I’ll apologise, if you want me to. If it makes any fucking difference.


Chapter 16